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The shift to Abundance
Scarcity, the feeling of never having enough, seems to be a fundamental value in our society and in economics. What if we started from the standpoint of abundance instead? What different strategies will we discover for dealing with the natural world, with our economy and for our own choices in life? Understanding the shift to abundance helps companies and organisations to contribute to their mission. We can all design and shape the future through our professional roles. Change the world by changing your thinking.
Reframing: learning to think differently
Why do we do the things that we do? And: how could we do things differently? All of our thinking and actions are based on assumptions, most of which remain unexamined. We can analyse our assumptions in order to reframe our approach and experiment with new actions. We can do this with personal questions, organisational projects, and large societal paradigms.
Innovation Mindset workshop
The world is changing rapidly on many levels. This is a challenge for established businesses but also provides great opportunities for innovative approaches. Paradigm shifts help us to make sense of these momentous changes: we analyse the disruptive consequences and golden opportunities of paradigm shifts in your sector.
We use the Reframing methodology to overturn our core beliefs. By questioning our assumptions, we can start to think differently about products, projects, stakeholder, business models and customers. We design experiments based on radical assumptions to turn our innovative thinking into immediate action.
This workshop can be customized from a half-day to a two-day programme. It has been given for small teams of 6 people, but also for groups of 120 participants. | https://karimbenammar.com/en/keynotes-workshops |
Roscoe Driver Services Facility will be closed Jan. 3-17 as COVID cases increase
Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases statewide, all Secretary of State departments - including the Roscoe Express drivers license facility at the Village Hall - will not conduct in-person transactions from Jan. 3 through Jan. 17, 2022. They will be closed to avoid face-to-face transmission of the COVID virus and will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
While the facility is closed, renewals of drivers licenses and vehicle registrations can still be done online. The Roscoe location doesn't handle new licenses or registrations even when it's open.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is encouraging the public to visit ilsos.gov online for the following services which are usually available at the Roscoe location:
- Renewing a license plate sticker.
- Renewing a driver’s license or ID card for those who qualify (call 217-785-1424 to confirm their eligibility or to obtain their PIN).
- Obtaining a duplicate driver’s license or ID card.
- Obtaining a driver record abstract.
- Filing Business Services documents, such as incorporations and annual reports (not available at the Roscoe location).
In addition, the Drivers and Vehicles Services hotline phone number will remain open at 800-252-8980. Customers with issues involving administrative hearings may email [email protected] or call 312-793-3722 or 217-782-7065. The Roscoe Express location doesn't handle administrative hearings.
For most drivers, there's no rush anyway. White has extended all driver’s license and ID card expiration dates to March 31, 2022. This extension does not apply to commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) and CDL learner’s permits.
“After careful consideration and out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to close all Driver Services facilities beginning Jan. 3, 2022, through Jan. 17, 2022, due to the spike in COVID-19 cases,” said White. “The health and safety of employees and the public remains paramount, and face-to-face transactions potentially increase the further spread of the virus. Our goal is to safely reopen all offices and Driver Services facilities on January 18 for face-to-face transactions.”
In addition, White greatly expanded remote renewal for driver’s license and ID card holders. Since this fall, White’s office mailed letters to eligible customers with expired driver’s licenses and ID cards requiring them to renew online, by phone or by mail. The office estimates that this helps to eliminate the need for approximately 1 million people to visit a facility.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has extended the federal REAL ID deadline to May 3, 2023. A gold star in the upper right corner of your drivers license indicates it is a REAL ID. If you don't have a passport, a REAL ID will be required to fly on domestic flights or visit secure federal facilities. REAL IDs are not offered at Roscoe, Diversey, Lockport, Orland Township, or Rockford Auburn Street.
This article was based on a news release from Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. The popular White, whose name appears on each of his facilities, has served as Secretary of State longer than anyone else. He announced in 2018 that he would not run for a seventh term in 2022, when he would be almost 89 years old. He is the first African-American to hold the position. | https://roscoenews.com/g/roscoe-il/n/57938/roscoe-driver-services-facility-will-be-closed-jan-3-17-covid-cases-increase |
MANAGEMENT ISSUES This section deals with subjects, which highlight organisation and management problems in delivering palliative care. They may include subjects like communication, planning, volunteer work, financing in palliative care and innovative projects. Editing rules are described in Instructions for authors.
This section will host comments and/or present a discussion by experts upon recently articles published in the field of palliative care and related areas.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This section will present letters from readers, which express their comments about the articles published in the journal. The editor-in-chief has the right to refuse publishing a letter.
Manuscripts will be submitted as attachment to the email in Word format (to [email protected]. The manuscript will be registered, and the registration number will be communicated at the earliest convenience to the authors, by e-mail. Note: The authors must provide a correspondence e-mail address.
The editor-in-chief or the deputy editors will verify if the manuscript complies with the editing criteria.
-If the manuscript does not comply with the criteria, the corresponding author will receive a letter with the request to rewrite the manuscript according to the editorial criteria.
-If there are serious errors of content and/or editing, the manuscript will be rejected by the editor-in-chief. The corresponding author will receive a rejection letter.
-If the manuscript complies with the editing requirements, two peer-reviewers will be invited to review the manuscript. Both reviewers are not related with the work or institutions of the authors of the manuscript.
If the manuscript gets approval with alterations ,the anonymous comments of the reviewers will be send together with a statement of the editor-in-chief. The corresponding author shall send the altered variant of the manuscript within four weeks (complying with the initial submittal requests, mentioning the initial registration number of the manuscript), together with a letter/Word document as attachment to an e-mail where he/she responds item by item to the comments of the reviewers and specifies how the manuscript was modified. This mail is addressed to the editor-in-chief ([email protected]) .
-If the peer reviewers consider the corresponding author’s answer is only partially satisfactory, they will request through new item by item comments an additional review of the manuscript. The editing process following the same route as in the case of the first revision.
-If the peer reviewers consider that either on the first, or the second revision, the corresponding author did not meet/or met poorly the revision requests, they will advice to reject the manuscript for publication, which will be communicated to the authors by the editor-in-chief.
• the degree of coverage for the different sections of the journal. | http://www.paliatia.eu/new/about/procedures/ |
Detailed characterization of the lipid profile associated with cardiovascular outcomes in T2DM provides new insights into the dysregulation of lipid metabolism that may be contributing to the disease pathogenesis, points out Meikle.
Large-scale plasma lipidomic profiling identifies lipids that predict cardiovascular events in secondary prevention.
- Biology, MedicineJCI insight
- 2018
The improvement in the prediction of cardiovascular outcomes, above conventional risk factors, demonstrates the potential of plasma lipidomic profiles as biomarkers for cardiovascular risk stratification in secondary prevention.
Plasma metabolomic profiling in subclinical atherosclerosis: the Diabetes Heart Study
- MedicineCardiovascular Diabetology
- 2021
Background Incidence rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are increasing, partly driven by the diabetes epidemic. Novel prediction tools and modifiable treatment targets are needed to enhance risk…
Lipidomics Profile Changes of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Acute Myocardial Infarction
- Biology, Medicine
- 2019
The changed plasma concentrations of lipids were significantly associated with T2DM with AMI, which showed great value to be biomarkers, though it requires a prospective cohort study for further validation.
Plasma fatty acid metabolic profiling coupled with clinical research reveals the risk factors for atherosclerosis development in type 2 diabetes mellitus
- Medicine, BiologyRSC advances
- 2019
Plasma fatty acid metabolic profiling based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was combined with the analysis of clinical biochemical indices and suggested that C20:0, C22:6n-3, glycosylated hemoglobin, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio are likely to be closely related to T2DM complicated with atherosclerosis.
Plasma concentrations of molecular lipid species predict long-term clinical outcome in coronary artery disease patients patient-oriented and epidemiological research
- Medicine
- 2018
We investigated the associations of ten previously identified high risk molecular lipid species and three ceramide ratios with the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) during a median…
Plasma concentrations of molecular lipid species predict long-term clinical outcome in coronary artery disease patients[S]
- MedicineJournal of Lipid Research
- 2018
The data together show the circulating ceramide lipids investigated here are associated with adverse cardiac outcome during long-term follow-up independent of clinical risk factors.
Lipidome as a predictive tool in progression to type 2 diabetes in Finnish men.
- BiologyMetabolism: clinical and experimental
- 2018
Deep Lipidomics in Human Plasma: Cardiometabolic Disease Risk and Effect of Dietary Fat Modulation
- MedicineCirculation
- 2022
A subset of lipids was beneficially altered by a dietary fat intervention that supports the substitution of dietary saturated FAs with unsaturated FAs as a potential tool for primary disease prevention.
Ceramides as risk markers for future cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in long-standing type 1 diabetes
- MedicinemedRxiv
- 2022
Specific ceramides and ratios associated with 6-year cardiovascular risk and all-cause mortality in a T1D cohort were associated with kidney failure, highlighting the strength of ceramide association with vascular complications and presents a new potential tool for early risk assessment if validated in other cohorts.
References
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Lipid profiling identifies a triacylglycerol signature of insulin resistance and improves diabetes prediction in humans.
- MedicineThe Journal of clinical investigation
- 2011
A relationship between lipid acyl chain content and diabetes risk is identified and how lipid profiling could aid in clinical risk assessment is demonstrated.
Lipidomics Profiling and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in the Prospective Population-Based Bruneck Study
- BiologyCirculation
- 2014
This study applied mass spectrometry-based lipidomics profiling to population-based cohorts and identified molecular lipid signatures for cardiovascular disease that outperform the conventional biochemical measurements of lipid classes currently used in clinics.
Plasma Lipidomic Analysis of Stable and Unstable Coronary Artery Disease
- Biology, MedicineArteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology
- 2011
Traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) fail to adequately distinguish patients who have atherosclerotic plaques susceptible to instability from those who have more benign forms, so plasma lipid profiling may contribute to a new approach to risk stratification for unstable CAD.
Contemporary model for cardiovascular risk prediction in people with type 2 diabetes
- MedicineEuropean journal of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation : official journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology
- 2011
Major cardiovascular events in contemporary populations with type 2 diabetes can be predicted on the basis of routinely measured clinical and biological variables and can be used to quantify risk and guide the intensity of treatment in people with diabetes.
Plasma Lipid Profiling Shows Similar Associations with Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
- Medicine, BiologyPloS one
- 2013
Lipid classes and species associated with type 2 diabetes provide support for a number of existing paradigms of dyslipidemia and suggest new avenues of investigation.
Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and risk of coronary disease, stroke, and mortality: collaborative analysis of 32 prospective studies
- MedicineThe Lancet
- 2010
General Cardiovascular Risk Profile for Use in Primary Care: The Framingham Heart Study
- MedicineCirculation
- 2008
A sex-specific multivariable risk factor algorithm can be conveniently used to assess general CVD risk and risk of individual CVD events (coronary, cerebrovascular, and peripheral arterial disease and heart failure) and can be used to quantify risk and to guide preventive care.
Secondary prevention of cardiovascular events with long-term pravastatin in patients with diabetes or impaired fasting glucose: results from the LIPID trial.
- MedicineDiabetes care
- 2003
Cholesterol-lowering treatment with pravastatin therapy prevents cardiovascular events, including stroke, in patients with diabetes or IFG and established CHD and the absolute benefits of statin therapy in these patients were confirmed.
Plasma lipid profiling in a large population-based cohort[S]
- BiologyJournal of Lipid Research
- 2013
We have performed plasma lipid profiling using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry on a population cohort of more than 1,000 individuals. From 10 μl of plasma we…
The UKPDS risk engine: a model for the risk of coronary heart disease in Type II diabetes (UKPDS 56).
- MedicineClinical science
- 2001
The model is diabetes-specific and incorporates glycaemia, systolic blood pressure and lipid levels as risk factors, in addition to age, sex, ethnic group, smoking status and time since diagnosis of diabetes, which provides the estimates ofCHD risk required by current guidelines for the primary prevention of CHD in Type II diabetes. | https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Plasma-Lipidomic-Profiles-Improve-on-Traditional-of-Alshehry-Mundra/c33d075ca19037bccbbddb69c220da1635b2a07e?p2df |
post-fire forest development. In summary, fire that is severe in the forest overstory, at the forest floor, or both, can impede the movement of air and water into soil. Chemical weathering changes the composition of rocks, often transforming them when water interacts with minerals to create various chemical reactions. MSE design criteria remain more or less valid. Organic matter at or above the soil surface includes the live and dead vegetation as well as the partially decomposed plant litter, or duff, that rests on the soil surface. (2 nutrients are converted into gases and lost to the atmosphere. We cannot predict the behavior of a concrete pavement with only tests of the cement, water and aggregate. Of all nutrients vital to plant growth, nitrogen is most readily oxidized and lost to the atmosphere. We will discuss this phenomenon more thoroughly in the next section, which details fire's influence on nutrient availability in forest soils.
Agriculture is one of the most significant causes of deforestation. The first form of agriculture that will be examined is slash-and-burn agriculture. Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soil, and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the Earth s atmosphere, water, and biological organisms.
In reality, pure water rarely acts as a H donor. Substantial loss of soil insulation can also increase the frequency of freeze-thaw events in northern Rocky Mountain forests. And because this process can be very slow - especially in cold, dry forests - the demand for these vital elements by plants likely always exceeds their supply in forest soil. With wide grid spacing and negligible confinement, backfill particles in MSE structures can more readily dilate, thus stability is maintained mostly through interparticle shear. Variable amounts of ash, particulates, and other debris can be carried off-site by wind or surface runoff following fire.
Contents Physical weathering Physical weathering, also called mechanical weathering or disaggregation, is the class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without chemical change. As organic matter is burned, hydrocarbons are distilled. Doi:10.1002/ppp.620.) need to be updated. "Mineral weathering by bacteria: ecology, actors and mechanisms". Intense localized heat can rapidly expand a boulder. These processes include frost shattering, frost-wedging and freezethaw weathering.
Psychology research paper on dreams, Sports and drugs research paper, Best college paper writing service reviews, | http://100-procent.eu/66162-research-paper-on-soil-erosion-pdf.html |
The extensor tendon is a tendon that passes along the top of foot. The function of these tendons is dorsiflexion of the toes. Extensor tendonitis is a medical condition where there is inflammation of these tendons. This condition can be very painful, so much so that it can be mistaken for a fracture of the foot. Individuals who are physically very active or involved in sports such as runners, hikers, skiers and cyclists are commonly affected by this condition.
Symptoms of Extensor Tendonitis
- Pain is present on the top of foot.
- Worsening pain with activity.
- Swelling is present on the top of foot.
- Bruising may also be present.
- Tenderness to touch.
- Pain upon passive stretching of the tendons.
- Difficulty in walking.
- Pain increases if the patient wears inappropriate or tight shoes.
Causes of Extensor Tendonitis
- Overuse or repetitive strain.
- Tight or ill fitting shoes causing pressure on the top region of foot.
- Change in the training regime of an athlete such as running on the terrain or uneven surfaces especially running uphill or downhill. The extensor muscles have to work harder while running uphill and downhill.
- Running on slippery surfaces.
Treatment for Extensor Tendonitis
- Rest till the pain subsides.
- Ice or cold therapy helps in pain and swelling.
- Change of foot wear or wearing proper fitting shoes.
- Shoe laces should not be strongly tied.
- The shoe can be padded in the forefoot area to decrease the pressure.
- Patient should seek consultation of a sports injury specialist.
- Anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen and naproxen help in reducing pain, swelling and inflammation.
- Metatarsal stress fracture should be ruled out by taking x-rays.
- If there is no benefit and the problem becomes chronic, then steroid injections can be given.
- Patient should enroll in a rehabilitation program comprising of strengthening the extensor muscles and stretching the calf muscles to improve range of motion and flexibility.
- Surgery is done only when the extensor tendons are completely torn. Otherwise it is rarely required. | https://www.epainassist.com/sports-injuries/foot-and-heel-injuries/extensor-tendonitis |
As a storyteller, I used to say my first mission was to entertain, and I have written many fun, little stories. But taboo subjects are, by far, more interesting to write.
Looking for ways to question, overturn assumptions, startle moral codes, and catch readers—and myself—off guard, I examine each work before I begin to decide how to best accomplish these things, for they have become the very point of most of my stories.
|The Satanic Calvery, Felicien Rops|
I enjoy flipping expectations on their heads by the end of my tales, having led the reader through the dark and scary forest maze of transgression, into the safe clearing on the other side, sometimes with a new set of feelings and understanding of my subject.
Original writing is not born on the non-offensive-to-anyone-politically-correct middle ground, but always at the fringe. Taboo subjects make us think and can bring about changed minds. Or show us new worlds. Or close doors. It shows us who we, and others, really are. So why write a boring story when you can do all that?
Taboo Subjects and Themes, Creativity, and Censorship
Writing requires not only freedom but also the assumption of freedom. If a writer is afraid of the penalties of their creative choices, themes, or treatment of subjects, then their work will not be formed by their talent or creativity, but by fear.
When censorship hinders writing, it becomes the subject; the writing is stamped “censored or banned”, and that is how the world sees it forever. The censored work is believed to have earned and deserved censorship. The censor’s falsehood replaces the writer’s truth. Other’s beliefs and preferences control the writer, and the reader’s perception of the work is formed before it is read because of a label.
Now, I know writing need not only entertain. At its best, good writing is ground-breaking. Revolutionary. Writers should have no barriers to creativity, and no subject should be off-limits. Publishers must be braver; retailers and readers have a right not to buy or read things they have no interest in. Not to have their perspectives touched. But, again, how boring is that world?
The Free Expression Policy Project (a think tank on artistic and intellectual freedom) provides research and advocacy on free speech, copyright, and media democracy issues to protect the rights of writers and readers worldwide.
Links and Resources
To learn more, or get involved in policy making and the fight for writers' freedom of expression, check out this comprehensive list of organizations working to protect artists' rights, fight censorship, support free expression, create media policies, better copyright laws, and control the public domain while still allowing for intelligent and safe digital sharing of intellectual property. | http://www.zandervyne.com/search/label/On%20Writing |
You are not the first person who wants to write about his or her life. Many famous writers, artists, politicians, and businessmen create autobiographies to share their wisdom and experience with a wide audience. Find the autobiography that belongs to the author whose personality inspires you and read it in order to get a basic understanding of autobiographical writing.
Write out your life timeline. Start writing your autobiography by conducting research on your own life. Creating a timeline of your life is a good way to make sure you include all the most important dates and events, and it gives you a structure to build upon. You can consider this the "brainstorming" phase, so don't hesitate to write down everything you can remember, even if you don't think the memory will make it into the final version of the book.
This guest post is by Richard Campbell. Campbell is co-author of Writing Your Legacy – The Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Life Story, published worldwide in July 2015 by Writer’s Digest Books. Richard teaches Legacy Writing to adult learners in Ontario, Canada, as well as to guests on board transatlantic crossings with a major cruise line. He is passionate about life story writing and has guested on several Top 50 U.S. radio stations. He would love to hear from you and can be reached at [email protected].
I honestly think, as put by George Burns, it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate. It is not a failure if you enjoyed the process. Even if you fall down, don’t worry. Have a fresh view. The world looks different from the ground. You can take from every experience what it has to offer you. Do better the second time. You never know when you success is at threshold. It’s very difficult to come up with new, creative, and novel ideas unless you are passionate about your work. Leave your reputation and invest in character. Cheers to a new year; another chance for us to get it right with a new resolution.
Why it helps: There’s no need to do the actual examination and investigation now. Instead, just focus on identifying what it is you might delve into someday—in a memoir or in the pages of a journal or just in your mind. What truth is important for you to get at? You have a structure (your three sentences), you have a crucial event (that may have caused or contributed to that life story) and now you have a purpose—a reason for writing that will let you learn, enjoy and even be surprised by the story you’ve been waiting to tell yourself and—maybe, just maybe, the world, as well.
That’s it. Writing these ten themes will result in a concise story that covers all essential aspects of a life well lived. For added context to your story, Writing Your Legacy offers 25 additional themes, including those on your life values, greatest personal achievements, your cultural heritage, life after retirement, and life miracles. It can be your New Year’s Resolution to create the perfect gift to your children or grandchildren. For free downloads, try www.guidedlifestories.com.
People usually tend to think that writing all this will be monotonous for them and boring for their potential readers, but you will soon find your life to be unique from anyone else’s as you undertake this task. Add in information like interesting snippets from the lives of your ancestors, their achievements and the popularity of your place of birth. This will inspire readers to gather even more information from other sources.
2. Share your stories with your family. A few weeks ago, I told my 7-year-old son about a story I’m writing for kids. I mentioned that I’d been working on this story for months. “How come you never told me before?” he wanted to know. He was genuinely shocked—maybe even a little hurt—that I’d kept the plot points to myself. “I guess I didn’t think you’d be interested,” I told him truthfully. He is obsessed with soccer and ice hockey, and mine is a story of girls, time travel, and shyness. But it bothered him that I had a story I’d chosen not to mention. From now on, I’ll err on the side of sharing the things I dream up even if they have nothing to do with soccer balls and hockey pucks. | https://thesecretbuzz.com/who-wrote-the-arrival-how-to-write-your-memoir-in-30-days.html |
As part of the Barbican Centre's season bringing the city of St Petersburg to Londoners' doorsteps, three weekends of classic Russian films highlighted different aspects of Russia's history and its "window on the West". The first weekend, supposedly portraying the city itself, was in fact devoted to the October Revolution. The films shown are a revealing insight into the debate which raged amongst directors, theoreticians and Party officials a decade after 1917 as to how the Revolution and indeed "truth" should be presented cinematically to the masses.
Although billed as an exploration of representations of St Petersburg, the first weekend of films in fact only showed the city as a backdrop. The real star of these screenings were the events of the October Revolution in 1917, with one of the definitive portrayals of the phantasmagorical nature of Peter the Great's city - Kozintsev and Trauberg's Shinel' (The Overcoat, 1926) -curiously shunted off into the second weekend of films made by the Lenfilm studios.
The "St Petersburg" weekend included two films commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the Revolution, in 1927: Efsir Shub's documentary Padenie dinastii Romanovykh (The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty) and Sergei Eisenstein's docu-drama Oktyabr' (October aka Ten Days that Shook the World). In addition, Dziga Vertov's 1926 newsreel about Lenin - one of a series which went under Vertov's banner of Kinopravda meaning "film truth" -was screened as an opening short before Shub's film. Vertov's contribution to the celebrations came a year later in the form of another newsreel Odinnadtsatyi (The Eleventh Year, 1928). Although the Barbican did not show this film, it is similar in method to Kinopravda, and the three illustrate an interesting trichotomy in Soviet practices in cinema. Fierce debate raged around these three films over the most appropriate methods by which the Revolution's course should be captured on screen, and the best way to represent "fact".
Found footage
Shub's film, Padenie dinastii Romanovykh, is composed of spliced archive footage, which aims to show the iniquities of the Tsarist regime, the rise of popular unrest throughout the First World War and the final victory of the masses. After the exposure to countless TV documentaries and broadcasts using archive footage, a modern audience may view Shub's film as unremarkable and even boring. However, Shub's pioneering efforts in this field are remarkable. In her reminiscences, Shub recalled how she spent countless hours "opening" film documents which had lain forgotten or discarded in basements, cellars and cupboards, often unidentified as to the time, place and significance of the subject. She was even forced to track down films which had been sold abroad, and to watch hours of newsreel footage purchased from America in her attempt to find appropriate images.
Previously insignificant or trivial scraps of film attain new importance within the sequence of Shub's editing. For example, a shot of a regional Tsarist governor and his wife sipping tea in their garden, while their bulldog gambols at their feet, becomes a scene of despotic cruelty when it is intercut with shots of peasants toiling in the fields. Shub overlays the film with lengthy intertitles and uses quotes from speeches, banners and declarations to link the film fragments and place them in an appropriate historical framework, so that the viewer is left little latitude to interpret events for himself.
Dynamic documentary
Vertov's documentary technique is in marked contrast to Shub's. Vertov also uses footage of actual events, but unlike Shub, who utilised footage from a variety of sources, all of Vertov's footage was shot by his own team of cameramen and then stored in a library to be edited into sequence as needed. Vertov's film is far more fluid and more obviously experimental than Shub's. It abandons a pedestrian chronology to compile a dazzling kaleidoscope of events relating to Lenin's work in the aftermath of the Revolution. Thus, while Padenie dinastii Romanovykh presents the Revolution as a closed and finished event, Vertov attempts to explore its living legacy by creating a rhythmic and dynamic work. The vital nature of the Revolution and of Lenin is demonstrated decisively in the closing sequence, in which a shot of Lenin speaking is superimposed above his mausoleum, while young Pioneers gaze on, enraptured and inspired.
The entire structure of Vertov's film is dynamic, as demonstrated by his use of intertitles. Whereas Shub's are conventional typed sentences held statically in front of the camera, Vertov's titles move to invade the film sequences and animate them. For example, footage of Lenin speaking is intercut with short snatches of his speech, in an attempt to recreate the crowd's excitement at hearing the full statement emerge. Elsewhere, written statements appear within the moving film frames themselves: carried aloft as banners or pasted up as placards on buildings. In some ways, this forms an interesting parallel with Lenin's own vision of "Monumental Propaganda", as revealed in his Plan of 1918. Cities were to be plastered with inspiring and educational statements as well as sculptures and frescoes. Lenin's faith in the power of slogans is evidenced by the fact that in some cases, Tsarist monuments were allowed to remain in place after new words had been carved into their base.
So, it is fitting that in a film dedicated to Lenin, words should exist as such vital elements within the urban space. However, in Vertov's film, words are granted even more power and presence than in Lenin's own vision, because they do not exist as static elements which are carved in stone or painted on banners, but they grow and move. Intertitles to sequences are often made up of words of different proportions: one appearing after another like the blasts of a trumpet. Towards the end of the film, words spring to life in a short animated sequence in which they shoot out arrows to attack the goggling face of a foreign bourgeois. In contrast to both Shub's film and Lenin's Monumental Propaganda Plan, Vertov's words are not dead statements, but living elements which still retain a primal energy.
A film which shook the world
The third and most famous film in this screening, Eisenstein's Oktyabr', is an acted recreation of the events of the October Revolution It is directed with such dazzling mastery of cinematic timing and montage that the audience can hardly fail to swell with righteous indignation and thrill with excitement as the revolutionary struggle surges towards its climax. Oktyabr' is the third film in Eisenstein's trilogy charting the build up of dissent which led to the Revolution: Stachka (Strike, 1924) shows the stirring of consciousness amongst the provincial proletariat and their doomed attempt to better their conditions, Bronenosets Potemkin (Battleship Potemkin, 1925) depicts the spreading of discontent from the shipboard sailors to the whole population of Odessa, and in Oktyabr' revolution finally sweeps into the old imperial capital and up the steps of the Winter Palace.
Again, in this film words are important. Whereas in Stachka and Potemkin intertitles are minimal, in Oktyabr' words are everywhere: lengthy intertitles repeat crucial speeches and, once more, banners carry words through the moving frame, a representation of the Party view that the revolution only succeeds once correct theory is present to direct the people's will. Yet, although words are accorded a more dramatic role than in Shub's film, they are still held as static fragments and not allowed the animation of Vertov's film.
Contemporary debates about the films of these three directors centred around the question of what was the most appropriate method of portraying historical events. Shub criticised both Vertov and Eisenstein for the "manufacture of facts," claiming that careful splicing of archive footage was the only way to portray reality, although ironically her montage techniques mirrored those of Eisenstein in their subjectivity. Other critics agreed that Vertov distorted the footage by allowing experimental technique to overwhelm the raw material. Vertov's critics even included the theorist Osip Brik, friend of the futurist writer and poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and editor of the radical arts journal LEF (Left Front of the Arts), which had previously fiercely advocated experimental art but which now embraced the "literature of fact" and began to criticise overtly avant-garde work. In the pages of LEF, critics also pounced on Eisenstein's film, claiming it was misguided to use an actor to play Lenin, and that throughout the film the "truth" about the Revolution had been distorted to meet the demands of the dramatic plot.
Showing the years
The question obviously arises as to which film appears the most successful to modern audiences. Padenie dinastii Romanovykh is certainly a worthy attempt, but watches rather like a school history film - with its lengthy shots of named characters and First World War trenches. It does much to display the misery leading to the Revolution, but does little to thrill the audience to its romance.
In contrast, Eisenstien stirs and moves the audience, using comedy, pathos and suspense to keep it on the edge of its seats and to send it charging from the cinema, ready to race down darkened streets enthused with the spirit of the revolution. But, as critics at the time pointed out, the blurring of historical fact and artistic licence can be confusing and at times uncomfortable. One minute we are asked to accept acted scenes as authentic recreations of events, and the next to interpret a series of images - such as the famous raising of the bridges sequence and Kerensky ascending the stairs of the Winter Palace - as a complex and abstract metaphor.
Possibly the greatest danger of Oktyabr' is that precisely because it is so powerful and emotionally engaging, it can crowd out the true and more boring picture. Legend has it that because of the lack of original photographs and film footage, sequences and stills from the film have been used in subsequent documentaries and history text books purporting to be primary material. Vertov's films are difficult even for modern audiences, which are used to the quickly changing, multiple images of TV, video and computers. However, perhaps by demanding that the audience must concentrate to interpret the dynamic and shifting film sequence, Vertov ensures that his images do not degenerate into cliches, like some of Eisenstien's, or into stale historical footage, like Shub's, but remain thought-provoking and forceful throughout.
Isobel Hunter, 21 June 1999
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The present invention relates to an antimicrobial agent which is applicable to fibrous products, paper, leather and porous material.
As antimicrobial agents applicable to fibrous products, paper, etc., antimicrobial metals such as silver, copper and zinc are known. It is considered that antimicrobial metals exhibit antimicrobial property because when metal ions are absorbed into microbial cells, they inhibit respiration and basal metabolism of electron transfer system and the transport of substrate in cell membrane.
Among antimicrobial metals, silver is a safe metal because silver in metallic state is little absorbed in human body. Thus silver is used as tableware and artificial tooth. In ionic state (e.g. aqueous solution of silver nitrate), it exhibits antimicrobial activity as disinfectant.
But agents in liquid state are troublesome to handle and limited in use. Thus some antimicrobial agents support silver on activated carbon. But such agents cannot continue antimicrobial effect because of too rapid elution of silver ions. Also they had a problem in safety.
Other solid state antimicrobial agents include ones having silver ions supported on zeolite (which is an inorganic ion exchanger) or clay. But such agents can not continue antimicrobial effect because silver ions elute. Also, silver ions supported in the inside of a hard three-dimensional structure of a silicate are difficult to contact microbial cells efficiently and thus are not satisfactory in their function.
As antimicrobial agents supporting silver on an organic compound, agents consisting of a copolymer of styrene monomer and monomer (such as acrylic acid or metacrylic acid exchanged by silver ions) containing carboxyl group are known (unexamined Japanese patent publication 53-109941).
Also, as antimicrobial agents using cellulosic polymers which have affinity with fiber, there are known compositions having sulfadiazine silver and carboxymethylcellulose dispersed in an acrylic adhesive (unexamined Japanese patent publication 2-147063) and sheets containing zeolite ion-exchanged by silver and copper ion and water-absorptive polymer such as carboxymethylcellulose, which keep freshness for leaf vegetable (unexamined Japanese patent publication 3-148470).
But conventional compositions containing silver or silver compound and carboxymethylcellulose will not exhibit antimicrobial property safely and effectively if they do not have predetermined composition. Therefore, such compositions cannot be used as antimicrobial agents, directly mixed or impregnated in fiber or other matrix.
None of conventional silver-containing antimicrobial agents have both of long-lasting antimicrobial activity and affinity with fiber. No antimicrobial agents are available which achieve required sterilization ratio when mixed in paper or fibrous products. Also, antimicrobial agents containing a silver compound in carboxymethylcellulose are liable to change in properties or color due to heat and light.
None of such conventional silver-containing antimicrobial agents achieve a sterilization ratio over 40%, which is the minimum effective value at 12.5ng/ml of silver (at this concentration, even silver nitrate cannot have antibacterial activity), when measured with the Shake Flask Method stipulated by Association of Antibacterial Treatments for Textiles, Japan (hereinafter referred to as "Shake Flask Method").
An object of the present invention is to provide a silver-containing antimicrobial agent which has good affinity with fiber and such a good antimicrobial property as to meet the antimicrobial requirement and which is stable to heat and light and will not cause the product to change in color or quality.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an antimicrobial agent which has water resistance and thus maintain antimicrobial property in water-contacting environments.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an antimicrobial agent which comprises carboxymethylcellulose containing silver in the amount of 0.01 to 1% by weight and having a degree of substitution of carboxymethyl group of not less than 0.4.
The degree of substitution to carboxymethyl group may be 0.4 to 1.
The carboxymethylcellulose in the agent may be a crosslinked compound.
The antimicrobial agent according to the present invention is a silver salt of carboxymethylcellulose (hereinafter referred to as CMC). By limiting its degree of substitution to carboxymethyl group and the silver content to predetermined ranges, the dissociation rate speed of silver ions is suppressed.
Since CMC is a cellulose derivative, silver salts of CMC has good affinity with paper and fiber. Because of flexible structure, it is easy to contact microbial cells. Thus, even if it contains a relatively small amount of silver ions, it will exhibit antibacterial and antifungal properties efficiently. In other words, with the antimicrobial agent of the present invention, the total amount of silver ions necessary to exhibit a sufficient antimicrobial property may be small. Thus, the antimicrobial agent is difficult to be oxidized by visible light, ultraviolet or heat.
Such silver salts of CMC suppress the dissociation of silver ions, provided that they have a degree of substitution to carboxymethyl group in a predetermined range and a relatively small amount of silver. Thus silver salts of CMC have good safety and high, sustaining antimicrobial activity and stability to heat and light. They can provide an excellent antimicrobial agent which is applicable to fiber without any problems.
Crosslinked CMC are insoluble to water and are usable to applications where they contact water. In case that the raw material sodium carboxymethylcellulose (hereinafter abbreviated as CMC(Na) has a higher degree of substitution than 0.4, it is soluble to water. Thus, it is reacted with a crosslinking agent such as epichlorohydrin into a crosslinked form which is insoluble to water.
The CMC used in the present invention is represented by Formula 1 and has a degree of substitution to carboxymethyl group per anhydroglucose (hereinafter abbreviated DS) and its silver content restricted in predetermined ranges. It may be a crosslinked CMC. FORMULA 1
(wherein R is a hydrogen atom or a carboxymethyl group or its silver salt. DS to carboxymethyl group is 0.4 or more. The silver content is 0.01 to 1 weight %. n = 100 to 2000)
In case that the silver content in CMC is less than 0.01 wt%, the antimicrobial agent could not achieve the sterilization ratio of over 40% as measured with the Shake Flask Method at the low silver concentration (12.5ng/ml). In case that the silver content is over 1 wt%, the antimicrobial agent would not exhibit antimicrobial property sufficiently because the silver ions are liable to dissociate. Also, it would be unfavorable in economy and safety.
If CMC has a DS value of less than 0.4, excess carboxyl group to silver would be small in number, so that silver is liable to dissociate from CMC. If CMC has a DS value of over 1.0, CMC would turn from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and would not exhibit the antimicrobial property satisfactorily. Also, the manufacturing process would be complicated particularly in the step of introducing carboxymethyl group. This would affect economy and utility unfavorably.
Provided CMC contains silver as an essential component in the abovementioned content, the antimicrobial agent may contain salts of other metal in such contents as not to inhibit the effect by the present invention. Such metals may be copper or zinc. Alkali metals coexisting with them may be lithium, sodium or potassium. Alkaline earth metals such as calcium may coexist with them. The antimicrobial agent may contain ammonium salts.
Silver salts of CMC (hereinafter abbreviated as CMC(Ag)) may be manufactured by use of sodium salts of CMC(Na). CMC(Na) may be manufactured by etherification, that is, mixing alkaline cellulose and sodium monochloroacetate to dissolve and precipitating with methylalcohol. Also, commercially available CMC(Na) may be used such as sodium cellulose glycolate, Carmellose sodium and sodium carboxymethylcellulose. The degree of polymerization for CMC should be 100 to 2000, more preferably 200 to 1200.
The degree of substitution (DS) to carboxymethyl group was determined with the method described below. It was measured by drying CMC(Na), weighing it, and incinerating at 575°C, titrating the sodium carbonate thus obtained with standard sulfuric acid, and calculating the DS value from the titration value.
CMC(Ag) may be obtained by substituting sodium in CMC(Na) with silver. In case that the CMC(Na) used is water insoluble, it is suspended in water or an aqueous organic solvent. In case that it is water soluble, it is suspended in an aqueous organic solvent. A required amount of silver nitrate is added to the suspended CMC(Na) for substitution. As an aqueous organic solvent, aqueous methanol solution (mixing ratio, water: methanol = 2:8) is preferable.
The silver content of the CMC(Ag) obtained was determined by drying the specimen, weighing and incinerating it at 900°C, dissolving the metal silver obtained in a nitric acid solution into a silver nitrate solution, and titrating it with a standard ammonium thiocyanate (Vollhard method). Or atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to determine the silver content.
A water-insoluble CMC(Ag) in the form of crosslinked polymer may be obtained by adding one of the following crosslinking agents to CMC(Na) and crosslinking CMC(Na) in a reaction solvent.
The crosslinking agent may be aldehydes such as formaldehyde, glutaric aldehyde or glyoxal; N-methylol compounds such as dimethylolurea, dimethylolethyleneurea or dimethylol imidazoline; polyhydric carbonic acids such as oxalic acid, maleic acid, butanedioic acid, malic acid or polyacrylic acid; polyhydric epoxy compounds such as ethyleneglycol diglycidyl ether, polyethyleneglycol diglycidyl ether, or diepoxybutane; divinyl compounds such as divinyl sulfone or methylene-bis-acrylamide; polyhydric halogen compounds such as dichloroacetone, dicholoropropanol or dichloroacetic acid; halohydrin compounds such as epichlorohydrin or epibromohydrin.
The molar ratio of crosslinking agent to anhydroglucose should be 0.5 to 3, more preferably 0.7 to 2. As a reaction solvent, a mixture of water and organic solvent may be used with the mixing ratio being about 2:8 (water : organic solvent). As organic solvents, for example, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, ethanol or methanol may be used.
CMC(Ag) in the form of a crosslinked compound may also be manufactured by crosslinking a cellulose and carboxymethylating the crosslinked cellulose. The degree of polymerization of cellulose before crosslinked should be 100 to 2,000. The cellulose may be crosslinked by use of epichlorohydrin at a reaction molar ratio (to anhydroglucose) of 0.7 to 2, using the above described solvents or water only as a reaction solvent. The carboxymethylating may be done with an ordinary solvent method.
The degree of substitution (DS) of the crosslinked CMC(Na) obtained should be not less than 0.4, more preferably 0.4 to 1.0. The degree of swelling to water of the crosslinked CMC(Na) should be small for a practical use. But if the degree of swelling is too large, crosslinking may be repeated.
The antimicrobial agent comprising CMC(Ag) obtained may be used by dissolving or suspending it in a binder, applying the solution obtained to the surface of an equipment to be protected from bacteria or fungus, removing the solvent, thereby forming a coating of CMC (Ag). Or else, it may be used by impregnating the material with it and removing the solvent, or mixing it with wood pulp or cellulose fiber and making paper.
The binder used in coating the agent may be selected according to application and according as whether CMC(Ag) is soluble or insoluble to water. The binders usable include natural polymers or their derivatives such as starch, casein, soybean protein, cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, methylcellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose; synthetic polymers such as polyvinylacetate and its copolymer, polyvinylalcohol, polyvinylacetal, polyacrylate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene and its copolymer, polystyrene-butadiene copolymer, silicone, amino resin, alkyd resin and polyurethane.
The antimicrobial agent according to the present invention may be applied, impregnated or mixed (for making paper) to boards such as corrugated cardboard, white board and separate sheets; cardboard as construction material; cardboard for core board. Also, it may be impregnated in fiber, non-woven fabrics, leather, sponge and wood. Further, it may be used with objects which are not cleaned or uncleanable, such as beddings, tatami (traditional Japanese straw mats), wall paper, wall plate, furniture, porous heat insulating material, filter documents and shoes.
In order to improve or adjust the antimicrobial effect, the antimicrobial agent according to the present invention may be used with an antioxidant, masking agent, ultraviolet absorber, coloring agent, surface-active agent, coupling agent or other additive.
5.0527g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 0.53, water content: 12.6 wt%) was suspended in 100ml of water in a 200ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 3.35mg/10ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 71 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 4.996g of white powder crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 10.26 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
The specimen was dried, weighed and incinerated at 900°C. The metal silver obtained was dissolved in a nitric solution into silver nitrate solution. It was heated to remove NO₂ gas and titrated with standard ammonium thiocyanate with ferric ammonium sulfate added as an indicator.
As a result, in Example 1, the silver content was 0.048 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.043 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.001.
3.5g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 0.53, water content: 14.71 wt%) was suspended in 60ml of 80% methanol in a 200ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 2.91mg/5ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 135 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 3.1937g of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 6.46 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.048 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.045 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.0009.
5.896g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 0.51, water content: 15.22 wt%) was suspended in 100ml of 80% methanol in a 200ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 11.47mg/5ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 112 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 5.3370g of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 6.82 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.114 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.106 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.0021.
21.447g of cellulose (CF-11, Whatman, n≒200, water content: 6.75 wt%) was suspended in 320ml of 3% sodium hydroxide. 22.8g of epichlorohydrin was added to the suspension to react at 50°C for one hour. The reaction product was filtered, washed with water and then methanol, and air-dried. 20.68g of crosslinked cellulose (water content: 15.59 wt%) was obtained.
7.9347g of crosslinked cellulose (water content: 1.68 wt%) was suspended for 30 minutes in a solution containing 4.07g of sodium hydroxide, 18.53g of water and 86ml of isopropyl alcohol (hereinafter abbreviated as IPA). A solution containing 3.94g of monochloro acetic acid and 8.5ml of IPA was added and the mixture was stirred at 70°C for one hour. After reaction, the mixture was filtered while heating and the residue was neutralized with acetic acid in 80% methanol, fully washed with the solvent and dried under reduced pressure. 12.58g (water content:12.49 wt%) of crosslinked CMC(Na) was obtained. The ion-exchange capacity was 3.037 meq/g, DS was 0.65.
6.0g of the crosslinked CMC(Na) obtained in step 2) was stirred for one hour in a solution at 83°C containing 6.1ml of 4N NaOH, 23ml of water, 2.27g of epichlorohydrin and 111ml of IPA. Then the mixture was neutralized with acetic acid in the same manner as in step 2) and dried with reduced pressure, so that 6.5183g (water content: 16.39 wt%) of re-crosslinked CMC(Na) was obtained. The ion-exchange capacity was 2.872 meq/g and DS was 0.60.
4.0g of the re-crosslinked CMC(Na) obtained in step 3) (DS = 0.6, water content: 16.39 wt%) was suspended in 70ml of water in a 200ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate aqueous solution (AgNO₃: water = 3.24mg/10ml) was added to the suspension and the mixture was shaked for 87 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 3.7197g of re-crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 11.55 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
The silver content was 0.067 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.059 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.0013.
5.3287g of CMC(Na) (Tokyo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd., DS = 0.56, water content: 6.17 wt%, n = 1050) was suspended in 50ml of water in a 200ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 30.6mg/50ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 2 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate obtained by adding 3 liters of methanol was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 2.5681g of water-soluble CMC(Ag) (water content: 5.21 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-soluble CMC(Ag) was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.479 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.45 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.01.
53.25g of CMC(Na) (Tokyo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd., DS = 0.56, water content: 6.17 wt%) was suspended in 1000ml of 80% methanol. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 222.5 mg/25ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 153 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 39.116 g of water soluble crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 14.00 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-soluble CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.048 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.041 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.009.
12.3061 g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 1.35, water content: 18.74 wt%) was suspended in 200ml of water. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 10.68 mg/10ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 158 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 11.4479 g of white powder crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 21.35 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.048 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.037 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.0012.
4.102g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 1.35, water content: 18.74 wt%) was suspended in 100ml of 80% methanol. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 3.63 mg/1ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 144 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 3.5059 g of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 6.22 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.040 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.037 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.001.
4.171g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 1.35, water content: 18.74 wt%) was suspended in 100ml of 80% methanol. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 7.23 mg/1ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 95 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 3.6062g of white powder crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 6.97 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.115 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.107 wt% (for water-containing specimen), and the degree of substitution to silver was 0.0028.
The specimens obtained in Examples 1-9 were tested for (a) heat stability and (b) light stability. The results are shown in Table 1.
A small amount of each specimen was put in a microtube and heated at 105°C for 72 hours in an oven. The specimen after heating was compared with the one before heating for color tone.
A small amount of each specimen was put in a microtube and exposed to sunlight through a window glass for 20 days. The specimen after heating was compared with the one before heating for color tone.
3.6367g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 0.53, water content: 12.6 wt%) was suspended in 250ml of water. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 1.4167 g/50ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 19 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 4.0202 g of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 5.028 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the crosslinked CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 18.63 wt% (for anhydride) and 17.68 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
3.6299g of CMC(Na) (DS = 0.12, water content: 10.73 wt%) was suspended in 200ml of water. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 0.414 g/10ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 19 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 3.5099 g of water-insoluble crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 3.96 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-insoluble CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 4.973 wt% (for anhydride) and 4.775 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
To 23.81g of cellulose (CF-11, Whatman, water content 5.09 wt%), were added sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH: water = 38g/86ml) and monochloro-acetic acid (0.12g was dissolved in 20ml of water). The mixture was stirred at 70° C for one hour and then neutralized with 54ml of acetic acid. After adding water, the mixture was subjected to centrifugal separation.
The residue was washed with water and made to acidic with 1N hydrochloric acid.
The separate residue was washed with water and then ethanol. The humid substance obtained was adjusted to pH 10 by dripping sodium hydroxide solution (1g/50ml) while stirring. The insoluble portion was centrifugally separated, washed with 50% ethanol and then 100% ethanol, and dried under vacuum to obtain a water-insoluble CMC(Na).
5.7006g of water-insoluble CMC(Na) (DS = 0.10, water content: 12.29 wt%) was suspended in 100ml of water. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 5.17mg/10ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 68 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 5.5207g of water-insoluble CMC(Ag) (water content: 8.45 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-insoluble CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.064 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.059 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
The Comparative Examples 1-3 were tested for (a) heat stability and (b) light stability. The results are shown in Table 1.
The Table shows that for Examples 1-9 the specimen that was white before testing turned light yellow or yellow or remained white. In contrast, for Comparative Examples 1-3, in which the silver content or the DS value was not within the desired ranges, the specimens showed browning remarkably.
53.25g of CMC(Na) (DS = 0.56, water content: 6.17 wt%) was suspended in 1000ml of 80% methanol. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 127 mg/25ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 144 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 36.9879g of water-soluble CMC(Ag) (water content: 9.50 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-soluble CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.010 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.009 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
3.64g of crosslinked CMC(Na) (DS = 0.53, water content: 12.6 wt%) was suspended in 250ml of water in a 500ml graduated flask. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 76 mg/50ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 19 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 50% ethanol and then with a 100% ethanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 4.050 g of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (water content: 6 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the water-soluble CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 1.00 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.94 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
12.04g of CMC(Na) (DS = 0.4, water content: 8.81 wt%) was suspended in 250ml of 80% methanol. A silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 8.34 mg/5ml) was added to the suspension, which was shaked for 137 hours under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% methanol and then with a 100% methanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 11.747g of CMC(Ag) (water content: 11.27 wt%) was obtained.
The silver content of the CMC(Ag) obtained was measured with the ammonium thiocyanate determination method.
As a result, the silver content was 0.045 wt% (for anhydride) and 0.040 wt% (for water-containing specimen).
To a monomer compound consisting of 50g of styrene, 40g of ethylacrylate, 9g of acrylic acid and 2g of divinylbenzene (containing 45 wt% ethylvinylbenzene and diethylbenzene), 150g of aqueous solution containing 0.75g of ammonium persulfate and 7.5g of emulsifier (NOIGEN EA 160, Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) was dripped to disperse. Polymerization was started at 70°C while stirring the mixture in nitrogen atmosphere and maintained for five hours. A white precipitate was formed when the reaction was complete. It was filtered by centrifugal separation, washed with water and then ethanol, and vacuum dried. This produced 118.24g (water content 6.49 wt%) of polyacrylic acid copolymer.
To 10.41g (dry weight: 9.747g) of the polyacrylic acid copolymer obtained, a silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 3.098g/60ml) was added and the mixture was shaked for one hour under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% methanol and then with a 100% methanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 7.2241g of compound (water content: 27.165 wt%) was obtained.
To 10g (dry weight: 9.36g) of the polyacrylic acid copolymer, 3.6% silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 1.49g/40ml) was added. The mixture was shaked for 40 minutes under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% methanol and then with a 100% methanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 8.2174g of compound (water content: 40.311 wt%) was obtained.
To 10g (dry weight: 9.36g) of the polyacrylic acid copolymer used in the Comparative Example 4, 0.4% silver nitrate solution (AgNO₃: water = 0.144g/40ml) was added. The mixture was shaked for 80 minutes under light shielded.
The precipitate was filtered with a glass filter, washed with a 80% methanol and then with a 100% methanol and dried with P₂O₅ + silica gel for three days. 4.483g of compound (water content: 4.67 wt%) was obtained.
For the specimens obtained in Examples 2, 3, 6, 7, 10-12, Comparative Examples 1, 3, 4-6, antibacterial tests were performed. Table 2 shows the results of the tests.
Stapylococcs aureus
Tests were carried out at 30°C by use of phosphate buffer under the Shake Flask Method prescribed by Association of Antibacterial Treatments for Textiles, Japan. The test conditions are as follows: Shaking speed: 180± 10rpm, Shaking time : 1 hour, the bacteria used: (IFO 12732): silver concentration: 12.5 ng/ml. It was confirmed that all the specimens containing silver showed 100% sterilization ratio with the final silver concentration of 100 ng/ml or more.
As will be seen from Table 2, in Comparative Examples 1 and 3 in which the DS value or silver content were not within the desired ranges or Comparative Examples 4-6 in which the high polymers were other than CMC, the sterilization ratio was less than 40%.
In contrast, all the specimens of the Examples meeting all the requirements showed a sterilization ratio not less than 40%, which means excellent antibacterial property. Also, the results of Examples 2 and 6 show that if CMC has the DS value and the silver content in the desired ranges, the antibacterial agent would exhibit high sterilization ratio irrespective of whether CMC is crosslinked or not.
In the antibacterial property test, the sterilization ratio was determined with the silver concentration of 12.5 ng/ml. This was because the antibacterial effect of silver nitrate almost disappears at the silver concentration indicated above. Thus, it is considered that sterilization ratio shown in Table 2 is not the antibacterial effect by free silver ions, but that by fixed silver ions that do not elute.
The concentration of silver nitrate was adjusted to give the silver contents (µg/g) indicated in Table 3.
The concentration of zedite ion-exchanted by silver and copper ion (BACTEKILLER, KANEBO) was adjusted to give the silver content (µg/g) indicated in Table 3.
For the specimens of the Example 2 and Comparative Examples 7 and 8, the fungus resistance test was carried out. The results are shown in Table 3.
Filter paper was disintegrated with distilled water and the antifungal agent (Example 2 or Comparative Examples 7 and 8) was mixed. Paper was made from the mixture. The paper was cut into a size 50mm square. The specimen thus obtained was tested under TAPPI Standard T-487 pm85 prescribed by Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, USA.
Aspergillus niger
Inorganic salt agar medium mixed with 0.5% dextrose as a nutrient for fungus was used. As the test fungus, (TUA 234) was used. Culture was carried out for 14 days. The test results were evaluated in terms of the following three categories:
2:
1:
0:
Area where hypha grows exceeds one third of the total area
The area does not exceed one third
The growth of hypha is not observed
From Table 3, it is apparent that the specimens for Comparative Examples 7 and 8 do not show satisfactory antifungal property even if the silver content is as much as 10 µg/ml whereas the specimen for Example 2, which contains crosslinked CMC(Ag) and meets the requirements, show remarked antifungal property with silver content of 10 µg/g.
In order to examine the safety and stability for Example 1 and comparative Example 1, they were tested for elution of silver.
The specimen was weighed so that the silver concentration in 10ml will be 10 µg/ml. It was suspended in 10ml of distilled water or phosphate buffer, the same as the one used in the antibacterial property test. The suspension was shaked at 31 C at 180rpm for one hour. After filtering, the concentration of silver that eluted into the solution was determined with the atomic absorption spectroscopy.
The results are shown in Table 4.
Table 4 shows that Comparative Example 1, which is a high silver substitution product, shows low elution in distilled water but high elution (40%) in phosphate buffer. This means that its safety and stability are not satisfactory.
In contrast, Example 1, which is a low silver substitution product, showed extremely low elution (1% or less) both in distilled water and phosphate buffer. This means that it has excellent safety and stability.
The antimicrobial agent of the present invention contains silver salt of carboxymethylcellulose having the degree of substitution to carboxymethyl group and the silver content restricted to specific ranges. This improves affinity with fiber and inhibits the elution of silver ions contained. It exhibits good sterilization ratio by contact of silver and microbial cells.
Also, it exhibits excellent stability to heat and light and its substrate little changes in color or quality.
[TABLE 3]
Silver content (µg/g)
Evaluation mark
Example 2 Crossliked CMC(Ag)
0.0
2
2.5
2
5.1
2
10.0
0
20.0
0
39.9
0
Comparative Example 7 Silver nitrate
0.0
2
2.5
2
5.0
2
10.0
2
20.0
0
40.0
0
Comparative Example 8 Zeolite ion-exchanged by silver and copper ion
0.0
2
2.6
2
5.1
2
10.3
2
20.5
0
41.0
0
[TABLE 4]
DS value
Silver content (wt %)
Test solution
Concentration of silver added (µg/ml)
Concentration silver eluted (µg/ml)
of Elution ratio (%)
Example 1
0.53
0.048
Distilled water
10.0
< 0.1
< 1
Phosphate buffer
10.1
0.10
1.0
Comparative Example 1
0.53
18.68
Distilled water
9.6
0.15
1.6
Phosphate buffer
10.0
4.07
40.7
If crosslinked CMC is used, the antimicrobial agent is insoluble to water and has good water resistance. Thus, it can continue antimicrobial property in applications where it contacts with water.
EXAMPLE 1
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.53, silver content = 0.048 wt%)
(Ammonium thiocyanate determination method (Vollhard method))
EXAMPLE 2
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.53, silver content = 0.048 wt%) by using methanol as a solvent for substitution.
EXAMPLE 3
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.51, silver content = 0.114 wt%)
EXAMPLE 4
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.6, silver content = 0.067 wt%)
1) Synthesis of crosslinked cellulose
2) Synthesis of crosslinked CMC(Na)
3) Synthesis of re-crosslinked CMC(Na)
4) Synthesis of re-crosslinked CMC(Ag)
EXAMPLE 5
Preparation of water-soluble CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.56, silver content = 0.479 wt%)
EXAMPLE 6
Preparation of water-soluble CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.56, silver content = 0.048 wt%)
EXAMPLE 7
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 1.35, silver content = 0.048 wt%)
EXAMPLE 8
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 1.35, silver content = 0.040 wt%)
EXAMPLE 9
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 1.35, silver content = 0.115 wt%)
(a) Heat stability test
(b) Light stability test
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.53, silver content = 18.63 wt%)
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2
Preparation of water-insoluble CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.12, silver content = 4.973 wt%)
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 3
Preparation of water-insoluble CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.10, silver content = 0.064 wt%)
EXAMPLE 10
Preparation of water-soluble CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.56, silver content = 0.010 wt%)
EXAMPLE 11
Preparation of crosslinked CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.53, silver content = 1.00 wt%)
EXAMPLE 12
Preparation of CMC(Ag) (DS = 0.4, silver content = 0.045 wt%)
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 4
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 5
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 6
(c) Antibacterial Test Method
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 7
COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 8
(d) Fungus resistance test
Evaluation mark
(e) Silver elution test | |
KNOW YOUR VASCULAR HEALTH
Which Area Are You Concerned About?
Understanding the cardiovascular system and how it effects your overall health is important. We believe the more informed you are about the different types of vascular diseases, including the causes, risk factors and symptoms, the better equipped you will be in making the right health decisions.
Use the body on the right to click and receive more information about a particular area or to schedule an appointment.
Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
Peripheral artery disease occurs when there’s a narrowing or blockage of an artery in the leg resulting in reduced blood flow, sometimes causing pain or cramping when walking or exercising. This hardening of the artery (atherosclerosis) is a buildup of plaque inside the artery which over time can cause heart attacks, strokes, gangrene and even amputation. The main risk factors for PAD include a family history, an inactive lifestyle, smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Carotid Artery Disease
The carotid arteries are two of the four arteries in the neck that deliver blood and oxygen to the brain. When these arteries narrow (usually from the buildup of plaque) they reduce blood flow to the brain, which could result in a stroke. There are several factors that can increase your risk for carotid artery disease including genetics, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, obesity and lack of exercise. The condition often doesn’t present any signs or symptoms until it progresses enough to cause a stroke or “mini-stroke” (TIA).
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)
Aneurysms are an abnormal widening of an artery. As the aneurysm grows over time, the arterial wall gets thinner and weaker with more of a chance that it will rupture. Aneurysms can occur anywhere in the body, the most common being in the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body running from your heart through your chest and abdomen. AAAs typically grow slowly without symptoms, though sometimes you may notice constant pain in your abdomen or back along with a pulse near your bellybutton. Some risk factors of an AAA include a family history, age, smoking, being male and white.
Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) & Varicose Veins
Over 40% of Americans have Chronic Venous Insufficiency which occurs when the valves inside the leg veins become incompetent or fail, making it difficult for blood to return to the heart from the legs. This leads to increased pressure (reflux) causing other connecting veins to bulge, stretch and become varicose veins. Common signs of CVI include swelling in the lower legs and ankles, as well as leg pain, fatigue, itching, cramping, skin discoloration and ulcers. There are many risk factors, the most important being a family history, obesity, pregnancy, inactivity, smoking, being female and over the age of 50.
Hemodialysis Access – Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF)
When the kidneys fail, hemodialysis is necessary to replace the function of the kidneys. In order to receive hemodialysis, vascular access must be created and maintained. An arteriovenous fistula is one of the main ways this is achieved. An AVF connects a vein to an artery allowing the vein to enlarge and get thicker. This provides the best method for dialysis as there are no foreign bodies thus reducing the risk of infection and increasing longevity of the access.
Hemodialysis Access – Central Venous Catheter
When the kidneys fail, hemodialysis is necessary to replace the function of the kidneys. In order to receive hemodialysis, vascular access must be created and maintained. Hemodialysis usually starts with a catheter, which is a doubled plastic tube that is inserted into a large vein in your neck near your heart. This allows immediate access however it is a temporary solution as it can be problematic if used over a long time period. | https://tcvcg.com/patient-info/self-assessment/ |
Often they are treated separately in different segments of a course. In fact, the principles governing the organization of three-dimensional structure are common to all of them, so we will consider them together.
We will begin with the monomer units.
We will describe the features of representative monomers, and see how the monomers join to form a polymer.
We will then look at the monomers in each major type of macromolecule to see what specific structural contributions come from each.
The three-dimensional structure of each type of macromolecule will then be considered at several levels of organization.
We will investigate macromolecular interactions and how structural complementarity plays a role in them.
The stories for proteins, monosaccharides and nucleotides are just variations on the same theme. So you'll need to learn only one pattern, then apply that pattern to the other systems.
We will conclude this section of the course with a consideration of denaturation and renaturation -- the forces involved in loss of a macromolecule's native structure (that is, its normal 3-dimensional structure), and how that structure, once lost, can be regained.
Let's begin.
The main point of the first segment of this material is this: THE MONOMER UNITS OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES HAVE HEADS AND TAILS. WHEN THEY POLYMERIZE IN A HEAD-TO-TAIL FASHION, THE RESULTING POLYMERS ALSO HAVE HEADS AND TAILS.
These macromolecules are polar [polar: having different ends] because they are formed by head to tail condensation of polar monomers. Let's look at the three major classes of macromolecules to see how this works, and let's begin with carbohydrates.
Glucose is a typical monosaccharide. It has two important types of functional group: a carbonyl group (an aldehyde in glucose, some other sugars have a ketone group instead.) hydroxyl groups on the other carbons. This is what you need to know about glucose, not its detailed structure.
Glucose exists mostly in ring structures. ( 5-OH adds across the carbonyl oxygen double bond.) This is a so-called internal hemiacetal. The ring can close in either of two ways, giving rise to anomeric forms, -OH down (the alpha-form) and -OH up (the beta-form)
The anomeric carbon (the carbon to which this -OH is attached) differs significantly from the other carbons. (note: it's easy to pick out because it is the only carbon with TWO oxygens -- ring and hydroxyl -- attached.)
Free anomeric carbons have the chemical reactivity of carbonyl carbons because they spend part of their time in the open chain form. They can reduce alkaline solutions of cupric salts. Sugars with free anomeric carbons are therefore called reducing sugars. The rest of the carbohydrate consists of ordinary carbons and ordinary -OH groups. The point is, a monosaccharide can therefore be thought of as having polarity, with one end consisting of the anomeric carbon, and the other end consisting of the rest of the molecule.
If two anomeric hydroxyl groups react (head to head condensation) the product has no reducing end (no free anomeric carbon). This is the case with sucrose
If the anomeric hydroxyl reacts with a non-anomeric hydroxyl of another sugar, the product has ends with different properties.
Since most monosaccharides have more than one hydroxyl, branches are possible, and are common. Branches result in a more compact molecule. If the branch ends are the reactive sites, more branches provide more reactive sites per molecule.
Let's now turn to nucleotides and nucleic acids.
There are four dominant bases; here are three of them:
The fourth base is (a pyrimidine)
Be aware that uracil and thymine are very similar; they differ only by a methyl group.
You need to know which are purines and which are pyrimidines, and whether it is the purines or the pyrimidines that have one ring. The reasons for knowing these points relate to the way purines and pyrimidines interact in nucleic acids, which we'll cover shortly.
A 3'->5' phosphodiester bond is thereby formed. The product has ends with different properties.
Let's look at the conventions for writing sequences of nucleotides in nucleic acids. Bases are abbreviated by their initials: A, C, G and U or T. U is normally found only in RNA, and T is normally found only in DNA. So the presence of U vs. T distinguishes between RNA and DNA in a written sequence.
Sequences are written with the 5' end to the left and the 3' end to the right unless specifically designated otherwise.
Phosphate groups are usually not shown unless the writer wants to draw attention to them. The following representations are all equivalent.
uracil adenine cytosine guanine | | | | P-ribose-P-ribose-P-ribose-P-ribose-OH 5' 3' 5' 3' 5' 3' 5' 3' pUpApCpG UACG 3' GCAU 5'
(Note that in the last line the sequence is written in reverse order , but the ends are appropriately designated.)
Branches are possible in RNA but not in DNA. RNA has a 2' -OH, at which branching could occur, while DNA does not. Branching is very unusual; it is known to occur only during RNA modification [the "lariat"], but not in any finished RNA species.
The naturally occurring amino acids are optically active, as they have four different groups attached to one carbon, (Glycine is an exception, having two hydrogens) and have the L-configuration.
The R-groups of the amino acids provide a basis for classifying amino acids. There are many ways of classifying amino acids, but one very useful way is on the basis of how well or poorly the R-group interacts with water
The product has ends with different properties.
Conventions for writing sequences of amino acids.
Abbreviations for the amino acids are usually used; most of the three letter abbreviations are self-evident, such as gly for glycine, asp for aspartate, etc.
There is also a one-letter abbreviation system; it is becoming more common. Many of the one-letter abbreviations are straightforward, for example:
Others require a little imagination to justify:
Still others are rather difficult to justify:
Question: What do you suppose "Q" represents?
You should be aware this is becoming more and more commonly used, and you should have the mindset of picking it up as you are exposed to it, rather than resisting.
Sequences are written with the N-terminal to the left and the C-terminal to the right.
Although R-groups of some amino acids contain amino and carboxyl groups, branched polypeptides or proteins do not occur.
The sequence of monomer units in a macromolecule is called the PRIMARY STRUCTURE of that macromolecule. Each specific macromolecule has a unique primary structure.
This concludes our consideration of the relationship between the structures of biological polymers and their monomer subunits. Biosynthesis of these macromolecules will be covered in subsequent lectures. Let's now begin to investigate the three-dimensional shapes of these macromolecules in solution and the forces responsible for these shapes. It turns out that
THE REGULAR REPEAT OF MONOMER UNITS HAVING THE SAME SIZE AND THE SAME BOND ANGLES LEADS TO HELICAL (SPIRAL) POLYMERS.
IF THESE HELICES CAN BE STABILIZED BY SUITABLE INTRA- OR INTERMOLECULAR INTERACTIONS, THEY WILL PERSIST IN SOLUTION, AND WILL BE AVAILABLE AS ELEMENTS OF MORE COMPLICATED MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURES.
Just what is a helix? A helical structure consists of repeating units that lie on the wall of a cylinder such that the structure is superimposable upon itself if moved along the cylinder axis.
A helix looks like a spiral or a screw. A zig-zag is a degenerate helix.
Helices can be right-handed or left handed. The difference between the two is that:
Right-handed helices or screws advance (move away) if turned clockwise.
Helical organization is an example of secondary structure. These helical conformations of macromolecules persist in solution only if they are stabilized. What might carry out this stabilization?
Starch (amylose) exemplifies this structure.
The starch helix is not very stable in the absence of other interactions (iodine, which forms a purple complex with starch, stabilized the starch helix), and it commonly adopts a random coil conformation in solution.
In contrast, beta (1 -> 4) sequences favor linear structures. Cellulose exemplifies this structure.
Cellulose is a degenerate helix consisting of glucose units in alternating orientation stabilized by intrachain hydrogen bonds. Cellulose chains lying side by side can form sheets stabilized by interchain hydrogen bonds.
The purine and pyrimidine bases of the nucleic acids are aromatic rings. These rings tend to stack like pancakes, but slightly offset so as to follow the helix. The stacks of bases are in turn stabilized by hydrophobic interactions and by van der Waals forces between the pi-clouds of electrons above and below the aromatic rings.
In these helices the bases are oriented inward, toward the helix axis, and the sugar phosphates are oriented outward, away from the helix axis.
Two lengths of nucleic acid chain can form a double helix stabilized by
Base pairs of this size fit perfectly into a double helix.
This is the so-called Watson-Crick base pairing pattern.
Double helices rich in GC pairs are more stable than those rich in AT (or AU) pairs because GC pairs have more hydrogen bonds
Now, Specific AT (or AU) and GC base pairing can occur only if the lengths of nucleic acid in the double helix consist of complementary sequences of bases. A must always be opposite T (or U). G must always be opposite C. Here's a sample of two complementary sequences.
...ATCCGAGTG...
...TAGGCTCAC...
Most DNA and some sequences of RNA have this complementarity, and form the double helix. It is important to note, though, that the complementary sequences forming a double helix have opposite polarity. The two chains run in opposite directions:
5' ...ATCCGAGTG... 3'
3' ...TAGGCTCAC... 5'
This is described as an antiparallel arrangement. This arrangement allows the two chains to fit together better than if they ran in the same direction (parallel arrangement).
Consequences of complementarity.
In any double helical structure the amount of A equals the amount of T (or U), and the amount of G equals the amount of C. -- count the A's. T's, G's and C's in this or any arbitrary paired sequence to prove this to yourself.
Because DNA is usually double stranded, while RNA is not, in DNA A=T and G=C, while in RNA A does not equal U and G does not equal C.
Three major types of double helix occur in nucleic acids. These three structures are strikingly and obviously different in appearance. You could see the difference if it were out of focus, and you could feel the differences in the dark. This is critically important, because SO CAN AN ENZYME! Such as the enzymes that control the expression of genetic information.
DNA usually exists in the form of a B-helix. Its characteristics:
Double-stranded RNA and DNA-RNA hybrids (also DNA in low humidity) exist in the form of an A-helix. Its characteristics:
RNA is incompatible with a B-helix because the 2' -OH of RNA would be sterically hindered. (There is no 2' -OH in DNA.) This is a stabilizing factor you should know.
DNA segments consisting of alternating pairs of purine and pyrimidine (PuPy)n can form a Z-helix. Its characteristics:
The link between the deoxyribose and the purine has a different conformation in Z-DNA as compared to A-DNA or B-DNA. Z-DNA is stabilized if it contains modified (methylated) cytosine residues. These occur naturally.
The detailed shape of the helix determines the interactions in which it can engage. The geometry of the grooves are important in allowing or preventing access to the bases. The surface topography of the helix forms attachment sites for various enzymes sensitive to the differences among the helix types. We'll see some detailed examples of this later.
The DNA triplex (triple helix):
Start by imagining a B-DNA helix. It is possible under certain circumstances to add a third helix fitting it into the major groove.
A triplex can form ONLY if one strand of the original B-helix is all purines (A and G) [why you need to know purines from pyrimidines] and the corresponding region of the other strand is all pyrimidines. Regions of DNA with these characteristics are found in control regions for genes, and triplex formation PREVENTS EXPRESSION OF THE GENE.
The triplex is stabilized by H-bonds in the unusual Hoogsteen base-pairing pattern shown in the slide (along with standard Watson-Crick base pairing).
The existence of this structure was known for 20 years, but no one knew what to make of it. Now, recognizing that it occurs naturally in gene control regions, it is getting a great deal of attention in the research literature.
Currently artificial oligonucleotide drugs are being synthesized that form triplexes with specific natural DNA sequences. Other drugs are being developed that stabilize naturally occurring or artificial triplexes. These are showing promise as antitumor and antibacterial agents, as well as potential agents to modify enzyme activity by controlling enzyme synthesis. It's too new to be in even the most modern text, but you will be seeing more and more of this in the near future. Be aware of this structure, know where it is found in the gene (at control regions) and its effect on gene expression, and that it is the subject of promising clinical investigations.
As a result of having double bond character the peptide bond is
These characteristics restrict the three-dimensional shapes of proteins because they must be accommodated by any stable structure.
The second major property of the peptide bond is that the atoms of the peptide bond can form hydrogen bonds.
Now let's look at some of the structures that accommodate the restrictions imposed by the peptide bond. The first is the alpha-helix. The alpha-helix is a major structural component of proteins.
Occurrence of the alpha-helix.
Alpha-keratin has high tensile strength, as first observed by Rapunzel. It is found in hair, feathers, horn; the physical strength and elasticity of hair make it useful in ballistas, onagers, etc.
The beta-pleated sheet is a second major structural component of proteins.
The beta-pleated sheet resembles cellulose in that both consist of extended chains -- degenerate helices -- lying side by side and hydrogen bonded to one another.
The polypeptide chains of a beta-pleated sheet can be arranged in two ways: parallel (running in the same direction) or antiparallel (running in opposite directions). An edge-on view shows the pleats.
Sheets can stack one upon the other, with interdigitating R-groups of the amino acids.
Occurrence of the beta-pleated sheet.
Collagen has an unusual structure. It consists of three polypeptide chains in a triple helix. This is the structure:
The stability of the collagen triple helix is due to its unusual amino acid composition and sequence. One third of the amino acid residues is glycine, and the glycyl residues are evenly spaced: (Gly X Y)n, where X and Y are other amino acids is the amino acid sequence of collagen. This places a glycyl residue at each position where the chain is in the interior of the triple helix. There would be no room for a bulky R-group in this position (glycine's R-group is H). The high glycine content (with its small R-group) would otherwise permit too much conformational freedom and favor a random coil.
Proline and hydroxyproline together comprise about one third of the total amino acid residues, and Gly Pro Hypro is a common sequence. The relative inflexibility of the prolyl and hydroxyprolyl residues stiffens the chains. The high (proline & hydroxyproline) content prevents formation of an alpha-helix.
Collagen occurs in tough, inelastic tissues, like tendon. The collagen helix is already fully extended. Unlike the alpha-helix, it cannot stretch; tendon ought not to stretch under heavy load.
Collagen is the single most abundant protein in the body; fortunately collagen defects are rare.
The next level of macromolecular organization is
Tertiary structure is the three dimensional arrangement of helical and nonhelical regions of macromolecules. Let's look first at the
Superhelicity introduces strain into the molecule. (Think of holding a coil spring by the two ends and twisting it to unwind it; it takes effort to introduce this strain) The strain of superhelicity can be relieved by forming a supercoil. The identical phenomenon occurs in retractable telephone headset cords when they get twisted. The twisted circular DNA is said to be supercoiled. The supercoil is more compact. It is poised to be unwound, a necessary step in DNA and RNA synthesis.
RNA -- most RNA is single stranded, but contains regions of self-complementarity.
This is exemplified by yeast tRNA. There are four regions in which the strand is complementary to another sequence within itself. These regions are antiparallel, fulfilling the conditions for stable double helix formation. X-ray crystallography shows that the three dimensional structure of tRNA contains the expected double helical regions.
Large RNA molecules have extensive regions of self-complementarity, and are presumed to form complex three-dimensional structures spontaneously.
Hydrophobic R-groups, as in leucine and phenylalanine, normally orient inwardly, away from water or polar solutes.
Polar or ionized R-groups, as in glutamine or arginine, orient outwardly to contact the aqueous environment.
Some amino acids, such as glycine, can be accommodated by aqueous or nonaqueous environments.
The rules of solubility and the tendency for secondary structure formation determine how the chain spontaneously folds into its final structure.
R-CH2-SH + R'-CH2-SH + O2 = R-CH2-S-S-CH2-R' + H2O2
(Under reducing conditions a disulfide bridge can be cleaved to regenerate the -SH groups.)
The disulfide bridge is a covalent bond. It strongly links regions of the polypeptide chain that could be distant in the primary sequence. It forms after tertiary folding has occurred, so it stabilizes, but does not determine tertiary structure.
Globular proteins are typically organized into one or more compact patterns called domains.
This concept of domains is important. In general it refers to a region of a protein. But it turns out that in looking at protein after protein, certain structural themes repeat themselves, often, but not always in proteins that have similar biological functions. This phenomenon of repeating structures is consistent with the notion that the proteins are genetically related, and that they arose from one another or from a common ancestor. In looking at the amino acid sequences, sometimes there are obvious homologies, and you could predict that the 3-dimensional structures would be similar. But sometimes virtually identical 3-dimensional structures have no sequence similarities at all!
The four-helix bundle domain is a common pattern in globular proteins. Helices lying side by side can interact favorably if the properties of the contact points are complementary. Hydrophobic amino acids (like leucine) at the contact points and oppositely charged amino acids along the edges will favor interaction. If the helix axes are inclined slightly (18 degrees), the R-groups will interdigitate perfectly along 6 turns of the helix. Sets of four helices yield stable structures with symmetrical, equivalent interactions. Interestingly, four-helix bundles diverge at one end, providing a cavity in which ions may bind.
All-beta structures comprise domains in many globular proteins. Beta-pleated sheets fold back on themselves to form barrel-like structures. Part of the immunoglobulin molecule exemplifies this. The interiors of beta-barrels serve in some proteins as binding sites for hydrophobic molecules such as retinol, a vitamin A derivative. What keeps these proteins from forming infinitely large beta-sheets is not clear.
Now let's look at combined alpha/beta structures. Beta/alpha8 domains are found in a variety of proteins which have no obvious functional relationship. They consist of a beta-barrel surrounded by a wheel of alpha-helices.
Beta-sheet surrounded by alpha-helices also occur. This is a variation on the theme of beta-structure inside and alpha-helix outside.
Now that we are familiar with the structures of single chain macromolecules, we are in a position to look at some of the interactions of macromolecules with other macromolecules and with smaller molecules.
If covalent links exist (such as disulfide bridges) then the structure is not considered quaternary. In proteins with quaternary structure the deaggregated subunits alone are generally biologically inactive.
Here are some examples of quaternary structure.
Quaternary structure in proteins is the most intricate degree of organization considered to be a single molecule. Higher levels of organization are multimolecular complexes.
Many different kinds of compound are found in conjugated proteins. A few examples are:
Nomenclature: the word "conjugated" is from the Latin, cum = with and jugum = yoke. The protein and nonprotein moieties are yoked with one another (like oxen) to work together.
Sometimes other organic or inorganic compounds share metals with proteins.
Lipoproteins resemble micelles in some respects. The structure of lipoproteins typically includes the following features. Their outer surface is coated with polar lipids, with protein intermingled. Their interior is a region of randomly oriented neutral lipid.
Lipoproteins are usually much larger than two molecules across. The role of the polar lipid and protein on the surface is to solubilize the neutral lipid interior. Protein interacts with the lipid of lipoproteins through amphipathic helices. Alpha-helical regions of apolipoproteins have polar amino acids on one surface, and nonpolar ones on the opposite surface. The helix lies on the surface of the structure, with the polar groups oriented outward toward the water, and the nonpolar groups buried in the lipid. (Recall the four-helix bundle domains of proteins, in which contacts between helices involved hydrophobic residues at the contact points.)
Consequence of charged surface: (not unlike many proteins) a tendency to stick to things.
Membrane proteins are lipoprotein-like in that they have nonpolar amino acids in strategic locations to permit interaction with the membrane lipid. Proteins of the membrane surface may be structured like the apoproteins of lipoproteins, with amphipathic helices.
Some membrane proteins transverse the membrane. The region of the protein that is completely immersed in membrane should consist entirely of hydrophobic amino acids. A common structural motif to accomplish this is an alpha-helix consisting of at least 22 hydrophobic amino acyl groups. This makes an alpha-helix long enough to span a membrane. In arrays of membrane-spanning helices, helices in the interior of the array could be shorter.
The problem of proline in transmembrane "helices:" Mostly you find hydrophobic residues in transmembrane helices, and their length is about right, around 24 residues. You also find PROLINE. This is very common. Does it violate the prohibition against proline in the helix? Probably not. The current opinion of qualified protein chemists is that when we eventually determine the exact structures of these molecules, we will find the expected kink in the helix at each P residue, and that it will prove to be important in the biological function of the protein.
Glycoproteins have two major types of functions.
The first is recognition: carbohydrate prosthetic groups serve as antigenic sites (e.g., blood group substances are carbohydrate prosthetic groups), intracellular sorting signals (mannose 6-phosphate bound to a newly synthesized protein sends it to the lysosomes), etc.
Or they may be structural components of the organism: E.g., the proteoglycans of cartilage. The central core is a polysaccharide called hyaluronic acid. Many glycoprotein branches are attached to the hyaluronic acid noncovalently. Each branch is a glycoprotein (core protein) with many carbohydrate chains (chondroitin sulfate -- alternating galactosamine and galactose -- and keratan sulfate -- alternating glucosamine and galactose) attached covalently (xylose beta-> O-ser). The attachment of the core protein to the hyaluronic acid is mediated by a protein called link protein.
We've now seen interactions between protein and metal ions, lipid and carbohydrate. Let's now turn to
Zn complexed to His and/or Cys maintains the structure of the domain.
Other amino acyl residues in the loop are involved in binding to specific nucleotides of the nucleic acid or helping to maintain the folded structure of the domain.
Zinc fingers occur in proteins occur in tandem arrays. They are joined to nearby zinc fingers by short linking regions of peptide. They are spaced to fit into the major groove of DNA, with the bases of the alpha-helices down in the grooves, and the beta-loops touching the double helix.
A protein designed to bind at such a site might also be symmetric; this could be accomplished if the protein were a head-to-head dimer.
A class of DNA binding proteins appears to form such dimers through alpha-helices having regularly spaced leucyl residues along one edge. Interaction between the protein monomer units is thought to be through leucyl residues along the edges of the amphipathic helices, sort of like the 4-helix bundle, but with just two helices.
Originally it was thought that the leucyl residues interdigitated (hence the name, "leucine zipper"), but it is now believed that they face each other (reality in the form of x-ray crystallography strikes again). In any case, the symmetric dimer binds to the symmetric region of the DNA through special binding domains.
A dimeric protein can have a helix-turn-helix motif in each subunit, and if the monomer units are identical it can thereby recognize and bind to symmetric DNA structures.
Denaturation is the loss of a protein's or DNA's three dimensional structure. The "normal" three dimensional structure is called the native state.
Denaturation is physiological -- structures ought not to be too stable.
Loss of native structure must involve disruption of factors responsible for its stabilization. These factors are:
Note that no break in the polymer chain (disruption of primary structure) is involved in denaturation.
Denaturing agents disrupt stabilizing factors.
Heat -- thermal agitation (vibration, etc.) -- will denature proteins or nucleic acids. Heat denaturation of DNA is called melting because the transition from native to denatured state occurs over a narrow temperature range. As the purine and pyrimidine bases become unstacked during denaturation they absorb light of 260 nanometers wavelength more strongly. The abnormally low absorption in the stacked state is called the hypochromic effect.
Urea and guanidinium chloride -- work by competition These compounds contain functional groups that can accept or donate hydrogen atoms in hydrogen bonding. [picture of structures] At high concentration (8 to 10 M for urea, and 6 to 8 M for guanidinium chloride) they compete favorably for the hydrogen bonds of the native structure. Hydrogen bonds of the alpha-helix will be replaced by hydrogen bonds to urea, for example, and the helix will unwind.
Organic solvents, such as acetone or ethanol -- dissolve nonpolar groups.
Detergents -- dissolve nonpolar groups.
Cold -- increases solubility of nonpolar groups in water. When a hydrophobic group contacts water, the water dipoles must solvate it by forming an orderly array around it. The array is called an "iceberg," because it is an ordered water structure, but not true ice. The ordering of water in an "iceberg" decreases the randomness (entropy) of the system, and is energetically unfavorable. If hydrophobic groups cluster together, contact with water is minimized, and less water must become ordered. This is the driving force behind hydrophobic interaction. (The clustering together of hydrophobic groups is also entropically unfavorable, but not as much so as "iceberg" formation.) At low temperatures, solvation of hydrophobic groups by water dipoles is more favorable. The water molecules have less thermal energy. They can "sit still" to form a solvation "iceberg" more easily. The significance of cold denaturation is that cold is not a stabilizing factor for all proteins. Cold denaturation is important in proteins that are highly dependent on hydrophobic interaction to maintain their native structure.
pH extremes -- Most macromolecules are electrically charged. Ionizable groups of the macromolecule contribute to its net charge (sum of positive and negative charges). Bound ions also contribute to its net charge. Electric charges of the same sign repel one another. If the net charge of a macromolecule is zero or near zero, electrostatic repulsion will be minimized. The substance will be minimally soluble, because intermolecular repulsion will be minimal. A compact three-dimensional structure will be favored, because repulsion between parts of the same molecule will be minimal. The pH at which the net charge of a molecule is zero is called the isoelectric pH (or isoelectric point).
pH extremes result in large net charges on most macromolecules. Most macromolecules contain many weakly acidic groups. At low pH all the acidic groups will be in the associated state (with a zero or positive charge). So the net charge on the protein will be positive. At high pH all the acidic groups will be dissociated (with a zero or negative charge). So the net charge on the protein will be negative. Intramolecular electrostatic repulsion from a large net charge will favor an extended conformation rather than a compact one.
Agents with free sulfhydryl groups will reduce (and thereby cleave) disulfide bridges.
Example:
2 HO-CH2-CH2-SH + R1-S-S-R2 = R1-SH + HS-R2 + HO-CH2-CH2-S-S-CH 2-CH2-OH
Some proteins are stabilized by numerous disulfide bridges; cleaving them renders these proteins more susceptible to denaturation by other forces.
Renaturation is the regeneration of the native structure of a protein or nucleic acid. Renaturation requires removal of the denaturing conditions and restoration of conditions favorable to the native structure. This includes
Usually considerable skill and art are required to accomplish renaturation. The fact that renaturation is feasible demonstrates that the information necessary for forming the correct three-dimensional structure of a protein or nucleic acid is encoded in its primary structure, the sequence of monomer units. But...
This folding may be slow; what happens in the cell during protein synthesis? Guidance may be needed for it to occur correctly and rapidly.
Molecular chaperones are intracellular proteins which guide the folding of proteins, preventing incorrect molecular interactions. They do NOT appear as components of the final structures. Chaperones are widespread, and chaperone defects are believed to be the etiology of some diseases. Medical applications of chaperones may be expected to include things such as
Return to the NetBiochem Welcome page. | https://library.med.utah.edu/NetBiochem/macromol.htm |
PUC’s world languages & cultures program not only prepares students to speak another language but also learn to understand and appreciate different cultures for a greater understanding of our increasingly interconnected world. Students are encouraged to study abroad where they can fully immerse themselves in a new environment, giving them an unparalleled collegiate experience.
Programs offered:
- Major in Language and Culture Studies, B.A.
- Emphasis in Arabic
- Emphasis in French
- Emphasis in German
- Emphasis in Italian
- Emphasis in Portuguese
- Emphasis in Spanish
- Major in Spanish Studies, B.A.
Alumni Highlight
Shanna Crumley, ’12, an intercultural communication and Spanish alumna of PUC, was part of a team that built an app using blockchain technology for use by refugees and others who no longer have access to personal records. The app won the SIPA Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant competition in 2018, a year-long entrepreneurship challenge consisting of several rounds and culminating in a $30,000 first-place award. Read “Rebuilding Their Futures: Alumna & Faculty Win $30K Grant for Refugee Work” to learn about Shanna’s experience creating the app.
Fast Facts
- Through Adventist Colleges Abroad, students have the opportunity to spend time learning languages in the countries where they are spoken, including places such as Spain, France, Germany, Italy, England, and Argentina.
- Graduates from world languages & cultures programs have obtained employment in state government, education, business, medicine, and many other fields where their language skills and cultural knowledge are a tremendous asset.
- As the world becomes more global and connected, the demand for professionals who can work well with others from a variety of cultures and backgrounds will continue to grow. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of interpreters and translators is projected to grow rapidly, at about 18 percent from 2016 to 2026, which is much faster than the average for all occupations, with a median pay of $49,930 in 2018. For foreign language and literature teachers, while employment projections are not available, the median pay for those occupations was $79,160 in 2018.
What You Can Do With This Major
Equipped with the skills to communicate with people from different cultures across the globe, there’s no telling where you might end up with a degree in world languages & cultures.
- Ambassador
- Law
- Library science
- Social work
- Teaching
- Tourism
- Translation/Interpretation
- Writer/Journalist
- Youth/Mission outreach
Learn more about the department of world languages & cultures at puc.edu/academics. Our team of admissions counselors can answer any questions you have about these programs, or the other majors the college offers. Call (800) 862-7080, option 2 or email [email protected] to get connected with a counselor now and start learning about all the options available to you! | https://blog.puc.edu/2019/08/05/academic-spotlight-world-languages-cultures/ |
Wetland in Tianjin sees improved environment for bird species
The Qilihai Wetland in north China's Tianjin municipality is an important stopover site for migratory birds. It is also a vital part of the ecological resources in north China’s Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
Photo shows oriental white storks observed in north China's Tianjin municipality. (Photo/Wang Jianmin)
In summer, a mixed fragrance of various flowers and herbs can be smelled in the moist air in the wetland. Through comprehensive environmental treatment and multiple protection measures, the Qilihai Wetland has made positive and remarkable progress in bird protection over the recent years, and is seeing more and more bird species.
The natural wetland is a major stopover site for birds migrating from East Asia to the western part of Australia. In the past migratory season, over 400,000 migratory birds rested in the wetland.
It’s unusual to see such a wetland that is only about 30 kilometers away from downtown Tianjin and 100 kilometers away from the Chinese capital Beijing.
Five years ago, the wetland was unattractive for migratory birds, when the river upstream of the wetland went empty and immoderate urban expansion had led to a series of environmental challenges.
To restore the ecology in the wetland, Ninghe district of Tianjin made a plan for ecological conservation in 2017 and started implementing a series of projects to regulate water resources, restore reed beds and protect bird species.
The district government put 130,000 mu (8,667 hectares) of weed beds, water and land surface under protection, dredged 37 kilometers of river courses, restored 20,000 mu of vegetation and expanded the water area in the wetland by over 50 percent.
As a result, the Qilihai Wetland has gradually recovered its biodiversity. There are currently 258 bird species in the wetland, up from 182 ten years ago. The number of migratory birds making stopovers in the wetland also increased from around 200,000 to 500,000 a year.
According to Yu Zenghui, a consultant of the management committee of the Qilihai Wetland nature reserve, reed parrotbills, dubbed the "panda of birds," have been observed in the wetland after a decade of absence.
"Some migratory birds even become residents in the wetland," Yu said.
Photo shows birds in the Qilihai Wetland, north China's Tianjin municipality. (Photo courtesy of the management committee of the Qilihai Wetland nature reserve)
To provide a better habitat for the birds, the management committee of the Qilihai Wetland nature reserve has built and reconstructed 100 bird islands, to form a "lake-island" ecological layout. Through scientific control of the water level, they were divided into a 15,000-mu shallow area and a 13,000-mu deep area according to different habits of birds.
Oriental white stork, herons, and egrets can be seen in shallows of varying heights, while the deep area is more suitable for swans, gulls, wild ducks and cormorants to rest.
To ensure ecological security in the wetland, the management committee circled the wetland with 49-kilometer fencing and installed a video surveillance system. Rangers are on daily patrols to discover, stop and deal with illegal practices such as bird-catching and damage to the wetland.
Apart from the daily patrols, cameras are installed at important sites in the wetland and there are staff members on duty watching the surveillance video 24 hours a day. Besides, a drone is employed to protect the safety of the birds in the wetland.
Han Kewu, head of the ranger team in the Qilihai Wetland nature reserve, discovered an injured oriental white stork on a patrol mission in the winter of 2020. The bird was later sent to a rescue station and released after it recovered.
"We used to be very excited seeing rare birds such as oriental white stork, but now it’s not a surprise as they are seen more and more frequently here," Han told People's Daily.
Since October 2020, over 5,000 oriental white storks have been seen migrating across Tianjin.
Photos
Related Stories
- Scenery of Chishan Lake National Wetland Park in Chuzhou, E China
- China tops the world in number of Wetland City Accreditation
- In pics: Chishan Lake Wetland in E China
- Explore the charming scenery of wetlands in south China's Hainan
- Xi stresses importance of wetland protection
- China's wetlands protection law takes effect
- Yongnianwa Wetland Park in Hebei provides ideal habitat for wild birds after decade of ecological restoration efforts
- Regulation issued on China's first national wetland park
- Aerial view of Zhangjiang National Wetland Park in Jiangxi
- Botany teacher devotes himself to protection of wetland home for waterfowl species in Hainan
Copyright © 2022 People's Daily Online. All Rights Reserved. | http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0713/c90000-10122419.html |
Don Grant is easing toward retirement, but will have his Lewiston bakery renovated for the remaining two business partners before he hangs up his apron. “We have been putting off the renovation for 10 years,” Grant said. “It’s time.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Grant’s Bakery is baking up a sweet renovation.
The Lewiston bakery is closing next Monday and Tuesday to kick off an interior update.
President Don Grant said the company has only painted the space a few times since moving the bakery to Sabattus Street in 1988.
“We look very 1980,” he said. “Floor tile are worn through. We need to brighten and freshen things up. As long as I have been in the business, 50-plus years, we have never closed down for anything, even the ice storm.”
Plans include replacing flooring and changing wall finishes, ceiling and lights. Grants anticipates the retail showroom space will be closed until July 26.
Beginning July 17, however, the bakery will be open to answer the phones and take orders. Customers will have to head to the back of the building for pickup.
Forget that it is closed and show up anyway? The Grant’s staff may be able to help you with pastries, cookies and pies from the freezer, he said. | |
The Inn Collection Group - multi-award-winning pubs with rooms in outstanding locations across the North of England are looking for more Front of House superstars to join the team at the The Pheasant Inn.
Our Front of House team are key to giving our customers a memorable and enjoyable visit.
A successful Bar Staff team member will:
- Preferably be someone with previous experience working in a customer-facing role.
- Be enthusiastic and passionate about food and beer and people.
- Deliver excellent customer service and great teamwork in a fast-paced and pressurised environment.
- Be someone who can deliver the experiences they would like to receive themselves.
Bar Staff duties include:
- meeting and greeting customers
- taking food and drink orders
- bar service
- general duties to add value to customer experience
- working with the kitchen team to deliver great food
- delivering bills and taking payment efficiently
- being supportive and proactive with your team
- sticking to standards to keep everyone safe
- anything else that makes a memorable visit for our customers
Benefits working in the Bar Staff: | https://www.leisurejobs.com/job/2852709/bar-staff-the-pheasant-inn-cockermouth |
In this paper, we consider existing approaches to ontology definition and validation. Popular techniques include the use of domain experts or reliance on formal logic. We consider these contemporary techniques, their motivation and limitations, and then suggest an empirical approach that statistically identifies knowledge ontology within contextual databases using factor analytic techniques. We find that this method improves upon the process of identifying existing, codified knowledge ontology, and that it can be integrated into other methods to improve upon the efficiency of knowledge ontology identification, validation, and evolution. It can facilitate collaboration and inter-organizational progress by providing a common foundation, empirically supported.
Theresa Edgington, T. S. Raghu, Ajay S. Vinze
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Biometrics
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HICSS 2005
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Knowledge Ontology
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Knowledge Ontology Identification
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Ontology Definition
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System Sciences
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Theresa Edgington, T. S. Raghu, Ajay S. Vinze
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Closing date:22 Mar 2018Expiring in 2 days
We are looking for an inspirational teacher who will inspire imaginative and effective approaches to learning and teaching across the Academy, and make a major contribution to improving student attainment by raising the quality of teaching and learning in Geography.
The successful candidate will support other teachers to improve their effectiveness, modelling excellent practice and providing professional mentoring and to consistently teach high quality lessons which bring about excellent outcomes for students.
Principal accountabilities include:
To inspire imaginative and effective approaches to learning and teaching across the Academy, and make a major contribution to improving student attainment by raising the quality of teaching and learning in Geography.
· To work as a co ordinator in Geography to develop teaching and learning strategies that are effective and enable students to achieve challenging targets.
· To work with the Director of Humanities to identify students at risk of underachieving in Geography and advise and lead on appropriate intervention strategies to raise attainment.
· To raise student achievement and attainment in Geography across the Academy as evidenced by external examinations and internal assessments.
· To develop staff expertise in all areas of Geography.
· Keep up to date with current educational research and disseminate relevant information to colleagues
· To prepare and use performance and contextual data to track individual students and inform performance
· Be committed to the use of new technologies to improve teaching and learning.
· Perform role of form tutor.
· To work with the Director of Humanities to develop appropriate curriculum content for each level of learning which is challenging, engaging and differentiated to meet the needs of all students.
- To contribute to the quality assurance of Geography teaching by working with the Director of Humanities to ensure rigorous monitoring and evaluation of progress towards Team and Academy Development Plans
· To actively support the vision, ethos and policies of the Academy
Sirius Academy is situated in a state-of-the-art £48m facility. If you seek a new challenge and want to be part of a first class team, come and join us.
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HA NOI (VNS)— The Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday revealed new developments in the investigation regarding a case of fraud involving the Hoa Mai Hoi (Apricot Flower Association) last year.
According to the investigators, the suspects working under the Apricot Association had used different names to appropriate assets, persuading people to contribute money to fund excavations.
Earlier in September last year, the ministry arrested Nguyen Thanh Chon for falsely claiming possession of a multi-billion dollar treasure under the umbrella of the Apricot Society, a fake organisation set up in Viet Nam and abroad.
Following efforts by the authorities to track the organisation, the group changed its name to Gia dinh nha Rong (Dragon Family), listed as a branch of the Apricot Association, to continue operations across the country.
The Dragon Family reportedly targeted retired state workers and foreigners to join the organisation and create an image of prestige, only to turn their members into victims.
Head of the Dragon Family organisation, Le Van Dung, who referred to himself as General Ba Vuong, cultivated trust among members by alleging to own a number of treasures and stores across the country, including one in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.
Dung reportedly enlisted the help of Ngo Van Han as a lieutenant-general, Nguyen Phu Quoc as director of the QK Southern Construction Investment Company and a man named Vinh, who appointed himself ‘treasure keeper' in Lak District in Dak Lak Province.
According to a local resident, the men travelled to the province in August last year to inventory the treasure and even excavated a garden belonging to Y Nor Ong. Reports also indicate that the men failed to show any papers upon the request of local authorities and left the area.
Y Nor Ong later sent a letter requesting help from local authorities fearing reprisal attacks from victims of the Dragon Family, who would come looking for the treasure.
Nguyen Xuan Mung, deputy director of the ministry's Security and Investigation Department, said a number of people were swindled by the Dragon Family and lost assets.
"The swindlers took advantage of people's greed and credulousness to seek profits. The ministry wants to send warning to residents to avoid these kinds of organisations who want to exploit them," he said. | https://vietnamnews.vn/society/250524/investigators-unveil-new-details-of-apricot-association-swindle.html |
The Big Bang theory of the formation and expansion of the universe is supported by what observation?
1 Answer
Feb 10, 2016
Red shift of Galaxies and cosmic micro wave back ground radiation.
Explanation:
Edwin Hubble found out by the study of septum that Galaxies are receding fro m us from each other by red shift .
George Gamow predicted that the remnants of big bang will be every where in the universe.Robert Wilson and Arno penzisas found it out while they w ere testing communication antenna for satellites. | https://socratic.org/questions/the-big-bang-theory-of-the-formation-and-expansion-of-the-universe-is-supported- |
Lumps behind the ear can have many possible causes, including problems in the skin or bone. Swollen lymph nodes, infections, and certain cancers can also lead to lumps. Most cases of a lump behind the ear do not present a cause for concern, however, and normally resolve without treatment.
What does a hard lump behind the ear mean?
Lumps behind the ear can be caused by infections in the throat or neck, such as pharyngitis, a cold, the flu, mononucleosis, otitis, conjunctivitis, herpes, cavities, gingivitis, or the measles. This happens due to the swollen lymph nodes in the area, which increase in size as the body fights the infection.
Is lump behind ear dangerous?
In most cases, lumps or nodules behind the ears are harmless. They may signal a need for medication, as in the case of an infection, but they rarely are a sign of a dangerous or life-threatening problem. Several conditions may lead to knots, lumps, bumps, or nodules behind your ears.
Do babies have lymph nodes behind ears?
For example, the lymph nodes in the neck, under the chin, or behind the ears may swell and hurt a little when your child has a cold or sore throat. And an injury or infection in a leg or foot can make the lymph nodes in your child’s groin swell. Treatment depends on what caused your child’s lymph nodes to swell.
Is it normal for babies to have swollen lymph nodes?
In children, it is normal to be able to feel some lymph nodes as small, movable lumps under the skin. But if the nodes get bigger than usual, your child may have an infection or other problem.
What is a tumor behind the ear?
Acoustic neuroma is a rare noncancerous tumor. It grows slowly from an overproduction of Schwann cells and is also called a vestibular schwannoma. The tumor then presses on the hearing and balance nerves in the inner ear. Schwann cells normally wrap around and support nerve fibers.
How do you tell if a lump is a tumor?
Bumps that are cancerous are typically large, hard, painless to the touch and appear spontaneously. The mass will grow in size steadily over the weeks and months. Cancerous lumps that can be felt from the outside of your body can appear in the breast, testicle, or neck, but also in the arms and legs.
Can you get cancer behind your ear?
Cancer of the ear is a rare cancer. Most of these cancers start in the skin of the outer ear. Between 5 and 10 out of 100 skin cancers (5 – 10%) develop on the ear. Those that develop inside the ear are very rare.
Can you feel lymph nodes behind ear?
If your lymph nodes are swollen, you can often feel them by pressing lightly and circling your three middle fingers: Behind the ears and under the jawline. On both sides of the back of your neck.
Where are lymph nodes located behind ear?
The preauricular lymph nodes are the ones located just in front of your ears. They drain lymph fluid from the eyes, cheeks, and the scalp near your temples. Generally, lymph nodes swell in only one area of the body at a time (localized lymphadenopathy). The problem, such as an infection, can usually be found nearby.
Can teething cause swollen lymph nodes behind ear?
Teething can also lead to swollen lymph nodes and blood blisters when the tooth comes in.
When should I worry about baby’s lymph nodes?
Does your child need to see a doctor about swollen lymph nodes? You should take your child to the GP if: your child has had swollen lymph nodes for a few days, and there’s no obvious reason for them, like a sore throat, runny nose or other mild infection. the lymph nodes get bigger than the size of a small marble.
How long do lymph nodes stay swollen behind ear?
They last for longer than two weeks – Swollen glands caused by an infection will normally go down within two or three weeks (i.e until the infection has been naturally dealt with). Make sure you visit your GP if your lymph nodes don’t seem to be improving within this time or aren’t getting better with antibiotics.
How do you treat swollen lymph nodes in babies?
If lymph nodes are painful or tender, do the following at home to relieve your child’s symptoms:
- Give your child over-the-counter medicine, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, to treat pain and fever. …
- Apply a warm compress to any painful or tender lymph nodes.
How long do lymph nodes stay swollen in babies?
Lymph node swelling usually disappears after the illness that caused it is gone. The glands gradually return to normal over a period of weeks. You should call the pediatrician if your child shows any of the following: Lymph glands swollen and tender for more than five days.
How long do swollen lymph nodes last in babies?
What to Expect: After the infection is gone, the nodes slowly return to normal size. This may take 2 to 4 weeks. | https://kizzyandizzy.com/newborn/why-does-my-baby-have-a-lump-behind-her-ear.html |
This strategic position is responsible for infrastructure technology (“IT”) and solution architecture governance and reports to VP of Global Customer and Technical Operations. With a sound understanding of all aspects of managing a diverse IT infrastrucure, this leader with vision will design, champion, and deliver the transformation of foundational infrastructure and operations platforms to a streamlined, state-of-the-art IT Department.
The ideal Director, IT Operations has a high degree of business insight with demonstrable ability to lever a technical practice which drives competitive advantage. As a focused business and technical leader, they will lead from a place of experienced authority and lead by example thru their willingness to roll-up their selves to get the job done while actively crafting systems, processes and procedures which scale to meet the needs, risks, challenges and opportunities of a high-growth organization.
The Director of IT is responsible for the overall planning, organizing, and execution of all IT functions at Glu HQ and 5 remote locations. This includes directing all IT operations to meet business requirements as well as the support and maintenance of existing applications and implementation of new technical solutions.
The Director of IT is a hands-on professional who enjoys rolling up their sleeves and working with cross-functional teams to deliver a great service to internal customers, to improve IT operations and develop the existing infrastructure and application landscape.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS/KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Long-Term Strategic Planning
- Drive the roadmap to streamline, standardize, and strengthen performance, reliability, robustness and scalability across the company.
- Provide strategic direction for infrastructure and end-user support; deliver extraordinary customer service for end-user support.
- Provide senior management with an enterprise-wide perspective and put strategies and plans for Information Systems into context with other projects and associated risks.
- Set strategic and tactical direction for the use of Information Systems throughout Glu, which includes budgets and return on investment.
- Oversee IT operations budget.
- Establish, implement, and evaluate, information systems policies and procedures.
- Manage multiple IT projects and deliver end results on time and on budget.
- Support, communicate and reinforce the mission, values, philosophy and culture of the organization.
- Establish and maintain working relationships with vendors and suppliers to ensure quality, best pricing, delivery and timeliness
Ensuring daily IT operations
- Manages the deployment, monitoring, maintenance, development, upgrade, and support of all IT systems.
- Leads company wide system and process improvement projects to improve cross-functional collaboration.
- Ensure effective performance, 24X7 availability, and proper change control of the production Information systems.
Supervisory Duties
- Select, train, motivate and evaluate assigned team members; provide team member training; work with team members to correct deficiencies; implement and or approve discipline as appropriate.
- Manage, lead and mentor IT staff, along with third-party contractors as appropriate.
- Lead employee selection, training, guidance, performance management and development to ensure department objectives, goals and performance standards for the department are met.
- Manage remote teams at international locations successfully.
- Develop a team of technology professionals capable of providing tactical support for day to day operations.
- Lead the team to maintain data integrity and documentation for all computer networks and personnel computers through proper backup, recovery and information security policies, procedures and practices.
- Manage team to analyze information and evaluate results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Qualifications
Skills & Knowledge
- Effective written and verbal communication in conjunction with training skills.
- Ability to work multi-functionally with all levels of internal staff.
- Highly-organized, self-motivated; leadership style of continuous improvement.
- Strong leadership presence with a high-motivation to meet personal, team and corporate goals
- Ability to research and quickly resolve technical issues.
- Ability to handle multiple, concurrent priorities.
- Demonstrated ability to provide excellent customer service.
- Strong Knowledge of Office 365 and Google Applications.
- Strong Active Directory and Windows and Linux Server administration knowledge.
- Strong Networking skills with Cisco and Palo Alto Networks technology
- Experience managing and improving General Computing Controls and working with auditors.
- Experience designing and leading IT resources, budgets and return on investment analysis.
Education / Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field or equivalent experience
- 10+ years of information technology experience
- 5+ years in a leadership role/manager role
- Experience working closely with business process owners on continuous process improvement and the application of technology toward this end
- Legally eligible to work in the United States
Life at the cutting edge of wireless technology is an exciting but demanding place to be. Glu is always on the look out for exceptionally talented individuals to join our team. We reward talent, creativity, and the ability to get the job done. At Glu, you’ll find dynamic people, a hip, forward-thinking culture, a team-oriented environment, and opportunity for advancement. If you are interested in mobile technology and want to be part of a team that makes the future of wireless technology happen, then Glu is for you!
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. Glu is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. We welcome people of different backgrounds and experiences to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace. | https://nationalcybersecurity.com/director-it-2/ |
MEMBERSHIP:
Membership questions?
Genealogical Society
c/o Grand Rapids
Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI
49503-3268
Email - [email protected]
|
|
THINGS TO
KNOW
|QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - KENT COUNTY CLERK|
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The Website is
www.accesskent.com
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Searchers from other countries should be able to request marriage and death certificates and pay for them by their credit card if the credit card is approved for international use. However – be advised that if a search is requested and no document is found, the requester will still be charged the search fee.
The increased postage has not been an issue. Kent county has absorbed the extra cost through the mailroom.
The "fee" of $3.00 is for up to $75 worth of requests. More is added after that cost has been reached.
For more information, call the Office Administrator. Phone number is 616-336-3554. Fax number is 616-336-2885.
|PRESERVE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY|
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The Allen County Public Library would like to remind
you of a long-standing service. For many decades, individuals who
have not had a desire to officially publish their genealogical work
have sent an inbound master copy to the Historical Genealogy
Department. In exchange for the privilege of allowing them to make
one photo copy for their collection, they provide the compiler of
the work with one complimentary, bound photocopy for his or her own
collection in addition to returning the original master copy.
|
It is a great way to make sure your work is preserved and available for future generations of researcher. In addition having a copy at their library ensures that your work is secure from any disaster that might, heaven forbid, befall your personal library.
If you are interested in taking advantage of this service, just mail your unbound master copy to:
Steve Myers, Assistant Manager, Historical Genealogical Department, PO Box 2270, Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270.
Include a note that simply reads, Photocopy Exchange Program.. (From the Saginaw Genealogical Society Newsletter, November 2004 issue)
|CANADIAN CENSUS|
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Knowing what the question and date of the enumeration was makes a difference in calculating the birth year from the census.
-From Waterloo-Wellington Branch OGS vol. 28
*Includes Kent County and the counties immediately surrounding; namely Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Montcalm, Ionia, Barry and Allegan Counties. There is some extension beyond these counties into other areas of the Western Lower Peninsula. | http://wmgs.org/things_to_know.htm |
Drawing is foundation to the artist, architect or graphic designer. Visually creative people use drawing to sketch out ideas, as well as learn how to think visually. However, learning to draw can be extremely intimidating--it can take years of practice before the student drawer can get the pencil to accurately render what the eye sees.
Things You'll Need
- Pencil
- Sketchpad
- Optional:
- Charcoal
- Conte crayon
- Pen and ink
Guidelines
-
Take your pen and sketchpad and start drawing. Look carefully at a still life, or go outside and draw flowers or trees. The key to learning how to draw is learning how to see. Spend time looking at how the light falls on the object you're drawing and all of its details.
-
Try not to draw what you think is there. A famous drawing lesson by Betty Edwards, for example, has students try drawing one of Picasso's rendering of Igor Stravinsky. They first look at the Picasso right side up, then turn the drawing upside down and draw looking at Igor Stravinsky upside down. Without exception, the second versions are better--this is because the students stop looking at Stravinsky as a seated man in bow tie and glasses and see a collection of lines and shapes.
-
Set different amounts of time to complete drawings. Do quick sketches of one to five minutes, and focus on capturing the main lines of the object you're drawing. Try longer drawings as well--capture the main lines and shapes first and then develop details and shading.
-
Take life drawing classes--these help students learn how to draw the human body. Drawing people can be difficult, as there are a number of proportions to the human face and figure that you just don't know until somebody tells you. For example, the eyes are actually halfway in between the top of the head and the bottom of the chin--though most of us usually think the eyes are higher up on the face.
Related Searches
References
- Frederick Franck, "Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation," 1973
- Betty Edwards, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," 1989
- Photo Credit pencil image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com
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Some people seem to be more in control of their emotions while others are clearly consumed and greatly influenced by their emotions. Those who seem to be in control of their emotions are generally calm and patient in times of either extremes of emotions, be it very positive or very negative emotions. Those who are not in control of their emotions do not control their behaviour and activities but they allow their behaviour to be controlled by the emotions while in the moment of the emotion. But what sets this difference between the two groups of people? Which side would you rather be? These are some of the questions that we want to explore today.
First, it is important to clearly state from the onset that being in control of one’s emotions is a key driver for success – one that would be an appropriate characteristic of the rise and shine fraternity! All rise and shine enthusiasts need to aspire to either adopt or continue with the spirit of being in control of one’s personal emotions.
Turning to what makes this difference between the two types of people under discussion here – it is all down to whether one has self-awareness or not. Self-awareness is the self-observation that detects our emotions as they occur and alerts us to be conscious of how we feel in the moment. According to psychologists John Mayer of New Hampshire University and Peter Salovey of Yale University, self-awareness means being aware of both our mood and our thoughts about that mood. For example, two people may be equally angry but the first one may not have self-awareness and the second one may have self-awareness. The one without self-awareness will simply be consumed by the anger and will not really be aware that he or she is angry. On the other hand, the one who has self-awareness will be telling himself or herself “I think what I am feeling here is anger.”
Just by realising that you are angry, for example, makes you control your emotions. You are already on the course to controlling your emotions once you are aware of them. This is the power of self-awareness. By controlling your emotions, we are not talking about suppressing emotions. We all need some emotions – both the good and the bad, the positive and the negative emotions. That is what makes life thrilling and enjoyable. Life without emotions, or a life full of only positive emotions would be boring and ‘dull’! We need to be taken on some kind of roller coaster!
What is important is to strike the right balance between different emotions. What is your net result – are you typically sad or angry? Are you typically happy and positive, energetic? Mind your average and typical state of emotions. By being continuously self-aware, you stand the chance to strike the right balance in this complex mix of emotions. The knowledge that self-awareness is important in balancing off one’s emotions helps you to cultivate, nurture and sustain your own self-awareness.
The challenge comes in if you belong to a group of approximately 5% of the people according to works by researchers in this area. This is a group of people who seriously believe that there is nothing one can do about emotions and so they allow to always be carried away by their emotions. Stand apart and be counted in the top tier group of people who not just sometimes, but always use self-awareness to ‘tame’ their emotions to keep them within controllable and measurable levels.
This will set you on the accelerated path to sustainable success. With the right balance of your emotions, with a good control over your emotions, you stand to be successful because you will rarely make mistakes or wrong decisions simply because of being taken over by emotions. If you already do this, continue using your self-awareness to manage your emotions. If you have not been using your self-awareness to ‘tame’, control and manage your emotions, please start now so that you too can rise and shine! Good luck! | https://www.mwnation.com/boost-self-awareness/ |
The board discussed at its meeting Tuesday night new enrollment projections that show the size of Palo Alto elementary and middle schools will go down over the next five years, while the high schools will continue to grow. But today, the district's three middle schools — particularly Jordan and JLS, which enroll more than 1,000 students each — are overcrowded and "cramped," board members and parents have said.
Despite projected declining enrollment at the middle schools in the coming years, Superintendent Max McGee wrote in a staff report that the schools' "large" sizes merit further analysis. He recommended that staff prepare a feasibility report on opening a fourth middle school and/or a K-8 school "that could balance school sizes at the elementary and middle schools."
Four out of five board members expressed support for putting together such a report, though a majority also said they would prioritize efforts to reduce class sizes over opening a new school.
"If you ask which is more important to me, smaller school or a small class, I'm going to say a smaller class," said Vice President Terry Godfrey. She noted a new school does not automatically mean smaller class sizes, but rather a redistributing of teachers already in the district.
Board member Camille Townsend echoed that sentiment — "class size trumps" school size, she said, but it does not trump "getting the staffing levels where they need to be."
Townsend pointed to research a Jordan parent, Rita Tezlaff, conducted on class sizes that suggests a significant percentage of middle-school classrooms have average class sizes in excess of the district's targeted staffing ratio. (Tezlaff told the board during public comment that 50 percent of academic classes at Jordan, 75 percent at JLS and 63 percent of Terman classes are larger than the district's target ratio of 24 to one.)
Staff has recommended that the board approve the hiring of three to four more full-time teachers for the middle schools and up to four for the high schools for the 2016-17 school year, and McGee said Tuesday that he will be bringing further staffing requests at a May 10 budget meeting.
"Rarely have we had sufficient money to do what we really need to do and we really need that staffing," Townsend said.
Trustee Ken Dauber remained the only board member who still supports opening a new elementary school. He pointed, as he has before, to research that shows smaller elementary schools are better for students both academically and socially emotionally. This was echoed by Erin Mershon, one of a few members of the district's Enrollment Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) that argued for the opening of a 13th elementary school.
Dauber said a report that weighs the potential trade-offs and does further analysis around both a new elementary and middle school would be valuable, especially given the time the district and community has invested in looking at enrollment issues. Nine months of data analysis, focus groups and other research that the EMAC conducted in 2015 were presented to the board in January, but no action has yet been taken on its recommendations.
"We've invested an enormous amount of time — of community time and staff time in the EMAC process, (which) generated a great amount of data. What we haven't done, particularly with respect to the elementary and middle schools, is to really focus that work and take advantage of that work and examine what our alternatives really are and what the trade-offs really are," Dauber said.
A few members of the now-defunct enrollment-management committee spoke during public comment Tuesday night. Todd Collins, who chaired the group's elementary subcommittee and is running for the school board this fall, told the board that while it is "indisputable" the district has a crowding problem at its middle schools, "building a new middle school would, ironically, do nothing to address the problem we have today, and by the time we got it built, five years from now, it would address a problem that will have gone away."
Collins noted that kindergarten enrollment will shrink again next year for the sixth year in a row — a "new normal" for the district, he said. He argued that the middle schools are actually within normal ranges compared to both local and national peer schools, and to go any smaller would mean less electives and choice than the schools are able to offer today.
Focusing on the short-term enrollment problems by, for example, appropriately staffing the middle schools, is a better use of district time and money, he said.
"This should be given serious consideration for next fall," he said. "Not a feasibility study; not an assessment; but an actual plan and budget to make class sizes more reasonable."
Mershon told the board that even if enrollment is going down, the current elementary school sizes don't allow for the kind of individual teacher-student connection that students need. She urged the board to "be willing to take some risks and make some tough decisions."
"Please just don't kick the can down the road again," she said.
All but one board member also expressed support for a separate staff recommendation to release $60 million in elementary reserve funds to support improvements at the existing schools. (Dauber said he thought it was preliminary to do so before making a formal decision around a new middle school or K-8 campus.)
Townsend was the sole board member still interested in a preliminary proposal from the enrollment-management committee to open an innovative, combination middle and high school in the district. She said she continues to hear a "drumbeat" in the community for that kind of an educational experience in Palo Alto Unified.
To address another recommendation from the enrollment committee — that the district find ways to encourage more innovation at the existing secondary schools — McGee said he plans to convene a faculty committee that will do that work. | http://www.toddcollins.org/palo_alto_school_board_eyes_short_long_term_solutions_to_enrollment_growth |
Empowering students and young people
Students and Young People are not only the future for the access movement, but also a source of creative thinking, lobbyists for change and role models for other young people and potential students.
Students and Youth Ambassadors
During 2012-2013 we appointed ‘Student and Youth Ambassadors’ in many regions of the world. These Ambassadors worked in their local region to create interest and enthusiasm for the work of the congress, encourage participation in activities and events and to enable participation by raising funds and securing sponsorship. They also organised local events or projects.
World Congress Scholars
Our ‘World Congress Scholar’ program supported a small number of students and young people from around the world to carry out research projects on access issues in their local region.
Award recipients for 2012-2013 presented their projects during the Montreal 2013 Congress.
To learn more about our scholars and their projects, please watch the following two videos:
Empowering students and young people via GAPS
GAPS will place students and young people at the centre of what we do. We will focus on engaging individual students and young people but also on the organisations that work with them.
The sustainability of the work of GAPS is dependent on empowering students and young people to lead the access movement.
Through our Students and Young People work we will: | http://www.gaps-education.org/action-advocacy/empowering-students-and-young-people/ |
[Preferences of the powdered spices choice to the meal by professionally working persons in relation to the innovative changes in their manufacturing].
The objective of this study was to evaluate preferences and frequency choice of commercially available powdered spices, applied to the dishes prepared at home by professionally working persons as well as factors which determine the acceptance of innovative changes in relation to the number and type of components used for their manufacturing. It was shown that above 80% mixtures of spices contained except vegetable spices also other flavourings, spice-products and functional additives but mostly monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sodium chloride. The respondents mostly accepted multicomponent powdered spices, manufactured with the application of new technologies which permitted creation original tastes and next their health-promoting role as well as convenience in use however, without changes in recipe. The women declared that to the dishes prepared at home usually applied herb spices. Conversely, the men mostly liked and often chose spices with savoury and distinctive taste and most willingly multicomponent ones which were suitable for flavour improvement of many dishes.
| |
The last decade has seen tremendous advances in the ability of X-rays and neutrons at large scale facilities to probe microstructure at unprecedented length and time scales under unique environments that simulate manufacturing conditions. Concurrently, manufacturing is undergoing a revolution as investments are made in advanced manufacturing techniques, such as additive manufacture. It is natural that advanced manufacturing techniques should couple with advanced in-situ characterization techniques in order to accelerate the process of qualification of products for critical applications. This talk will present our efforts to characterize the processing/microstructure/properties/performance relationship of additively manufactured materials across many length and time scales utilizing both neutron and high-energy x-ray scattering techniques. As an example of studying the effect of processing on microstructure, high energy x-ray diffraction has been used to monitor microstructural evolution in-situ during additive manufacture of 304L stainless steel with sub-second time resolution and sub 0.1mm spatial resolution. Specifically, the evolution of phase fractions, liquid and multiple solid phases, is monitored immediately following deposition. On larger time and length scales, neutron diffraction has been used to monitor microstructural evolution in-situ during post-deposition heat treatment of stainless steel, an integral part of metal additive manufacture. The study is extended to include the linkage of processing to properties through in-situ neutron diffraction measurements during deformation of additively manufactured materials.
Biography
Don Brown received his PhD in Physics from the Penn State University in 1998 focusing on using x-ray and neutron scattering techniques to characterized materials confined to nano-voids. He began his career as a postdoc working at the neutron scattering center at Los Alamos National Lab. He has been the lead instrument scientist since the commissioning of the Spectrometer for Materials Research at Temperature and Stress (SMARTS) in 2003 until now. SMARTS was the first neutron scattering instrument designed for the study of engineering materials and is based on a philosophy of studying materials response to conditions simulating operation and/or processing conditions. Don has extended this philosophy to include large scale x-ray scattering facilities such as the advance photon source at Argonne National Lab. His work has focused on the study of nuclear weapons and energy materials, but included components of aerospace, automotive, and functional materials as well. Most recently, his research has included in-situ processing and performance of additively manufactured materials. | https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Seminars/2019/mse-690-seminar-speaker-dr-don-brown |
<<<<<DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 4th>>>>>>
Understanding the function of materials in reactive environments is a crucial issue to advancing knowledge in materials properties. Realistic information can be obtained by measuring under operando conditions, meaning that the systems have to be studied in their real working conditions e.g. under the appropriate atmosphere, temperature and pressure. The latest achievements in operando characterization have demonstrated that multiple probes are required to characterize complementary attributes of functional materials.
The scope of the workshop is to discuss future directions of operando characterization by using both electrons and photons based techniques with a special focus on the necessary cross-feeding between them.
Emphasis will be put on the complementary aspects of operando electron microscopy and photons based techniques and on the future perspective of broadening the applicability of these tools.
The program will comprise invited keynote lectures. Topics will include nanoscale studies of functional materials and biological samples, and under realistic or near realistic conditions, for example, in gaseous environments, at elevated temperatures, and in liquid.
We aim at providing a forum where highly reputed invited speakers and younger researchers can exchange knowledge and fruitfully discuss on progresses in the fields, to stimulate novel research and new collaborations, and to foresee instrumental upgrades. | https://coex.iom.cnr.it/ |
EL PASO, Texas - The Department of Emergency Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso plays a major role in preparing physicians and first responders for mass casualty incidents like the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso. The attack killed 23 people and injured more than two dozen others.
Approximately every 18 months, the department conducts large-scale disaster drills as part of its three-year training program for emergency medicine residents. The department’s disaster drill in 2017 on campus was based on an active-shooter scenario. In April 2019, the department ran a two-day drill on campus featuring a scenario involving trauma and toxicology: a train crash that unleashed a spill of hydrofluoric acid.
The drills typically bring together a wide range of participants, including residents training in other specialties, TTUHSC El Paso medical and nursing students, personnel from the El Paso Fire Department, and first-responder trainees from the community. Middle and high school students from area schools have also participated in the drills, sometimes role-playing as simulated patients or training as part of their high schools’ first-responder programs.
“A year after the Aug. 3 tragedy, we continue to provide education to all the students we see, but we now focus more on things we learned from that event to make our response even stronger and make our ability to handle these situations better,” said Scott Crawford, M.D., TTUHSC El Paso associate professor of Emergency Medicine and director for the Training and Educational Center for Healthcare Simulation (TECHS) at TTUHSC El Paso. Dr. Crawford also is an emergency department physician at University Medical Center of El Paso.
“We know we need to focus even more on communication, and that we can continue to provide excellent care to large numbers of individuals by focusing on individual care for each patient,” Dr. Crawford said.
Mass casualty drills are scheduled for this year for TTUHSC El Paso and learners will adhere to COVID-19 guidelines with regard to PPE requirements, surface cleaning and social distancing.
The drills won’t involve a shooting scenario, Dr. Crawford said. He said the drills will have an increased focus on interdisciplinary training, and he hopes to expand the participation of groups from on and off campus so more can benefit from the preparedness this type of training provides.
TTUHSC El Paso residents and students have the opportunity during their training to see multiple patients, one after the other, in the emergency department, but it’s very rare that it’s at the pace of a mass casualty incident, said TTUHSC El Paso Professor of Emergency Medicine Stephen W. Borron, M.D., M.S., who helps organize disaster drills with Dr. Crawford.
Local first responders and hospitals also have county-wide mass casualty drills that are run through the Border Regional Advisory Council (Border RAC) that they say help them prepare for incidents such as the Aug. 3 tragedy.
Alan Tyroch, M.D., professor and chair of surgery at TTUHSC El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine, and surgery chair for Texas Tech Physicians of El Paso, said he often reminds students and residents that a disaster will eventually occur, because every city experiences them. He never thought such an event in El Paso would be a mass shooting. Dr. Tyroch is also chief of surgery and trauma medical director at UMC.
“I really thought we would be faced with either a plane crash or some type of bus crash with a lot of victims at once, not a shooting, even though we prepared for that,” Dr. Tyroch said.
In fall 2018, local first responders and hospitals participated in a Border RAC county-wide active shooter drill at the El Paso International Airport. Border RAC’s mission is to advance the far West Texas/Southern New Mexico trauma and emergency health care system through prevention, education, preparedness and response.
“That helped us prepare for something like this,” Dr. Tyroch said.
Susan McLean, M.D., FACS, surgeon and director of surgical critical care at UMC, who also serves as a professor in the Department of Surgery at TTUHSC El Paso, echoed Dr. Tyroch’s sentiments about disaster training.
“It definitely prepares you for seeing a lot of patients at once,” Dr. McLean said. “Nothing is like the real thing, but I think noting how fast the patients can come in is very helpful.”
Dr. Borron said disaster drills help in a way that working in an emergency department can’t.
“Being able to juggle multiple balls — keeping patients alive when you’re taking care of several patients at a time, and their conditions are changing very quickly — is a skill set that almost has to be learned outside the emergency department, because we just fortunately don’t see these kinds of incidents frequently,” Dr. Borron said. | |
for hospitals, clinics, health and wellness companies.
Our mission is to connect the healthcare ecosystem to the people of the
state of Qatar. One can easily access, search and locate doctors, clinics
and hospitals and health facilities based on specialties, proximity and
many other user-friendly features available on www.qatarmedical.qa
It is our aim to continuously update the medical database and make it
easier to use. Our team will continuously strive to improve the portal to
serve the health and wellness needs of the people of Qatar.
In all the above, the objective is to put the patients’ health on the
priority list and get hospitals, clinics and doctors available at their
service round the clock! | https://www.healthlifeme.com/about-us/ |
Since ancient times heroic deeds by heroes and heroines have always been a part of our lives. Stories of warriors who gave their lives up for their people or their loved ones have made it to the box office as movies based on the lives of such persons. Heroism is not a profession but it is some form of extended generosity.
Analysis
The term hero arose from ancient Greek mythology and folklore. The term used to refer to some form of a demi-god, apparently the progeny of a deity and a mortal. Later on, the term hero and heroine were coined to refer to male and female characters that have shown or show the will of self-sacrifice and display courage in the face of adversity, danger or from a position of weakness.
Etymologically the term hero is believed to be cognate with goddess Hera the guardian or defender of marriage. As human societies evolved over the years so has the legal framework that is meant to protect them. With increasing civilization, the laws have become increasingly restrictive that acts of heroism may and sometimes do result in prosecutable offenses.
Indeed some acts of heroism have been criminalized as one man in the United Kingdom has found out. In deed, a 42-year-old fireman is at the centre of an international investigation being conducted by Tayside fire and rescue, for allegedly breaching safety rules after he attempted to rescue a drowning woman in the Tay River in Perth.
Tam brown was surprised after coming out of the water having been there for over eight minutes. When brown resurfaced we has surprised when he was told by his employer that he had acted unprofessionally by risking his life.
The young woman’s family and friends hailed tam brown a hero but on the other side of the score card the employer claimed that brown regardless of the fact that he had 15 years experience as a fire man he had broken the fire brigades ‘standing orders’ on safety procedures.
Such incidences of heroism are becoming more and more common in different parts of the globe. These acts of extraordinary bravery and or heroism are increasingly being legally treated as acts of cowardice if indeed they are a way of not making a person a hero but instead a criminal
Conclusion
Being or acting, as a hero is a good thing. It is a way of serving the society, which has molded us over the centuries. With these new laws that are coming up day after day criminalizing acts of heroic standards will definitely reduce our urge to help. It is however; hard to understand why such laws are passed. Maybe it is for our own protection but it will soon, if not later be hard to explain to a victim’s family that their loved ones could have been saved from death. However, the only thing that denied them the chance is a law or a standing order that the family does not know even where it was signed.
References
- Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. | https://ivypanda.com/essays/saving-someones-life-discussion/ |
The Aces on Bridge: Sunday June 26th, 2011
|Dear Mr Wolff:
|
You usually comment on the bidding but chose not to in a recent column. In that deal opener bid one no-trump with a 16-count in fourth seat. (I thought a fourth-seat no-trump opener showed a balancing 10 to12-plus, making the jump to three no-trump with 11 HCPs potentially disastrous.
— Henry the Fourth, Willoughby, Ohio
ANSWER: Contrast a balancing no-trump overcall of the opponents’ opening bid, which has a wide range, of 11-15 or so, and a one-no-trump opening bid in fourth seat, which remains 15-17. Your opening-bid structure is unchanged in fourth chair if there are three passes. But if an opponent opens in front of you, you want to bid when you hold a balanced minimum hand in protective seat, knowing partner has some values. It makes sense to balance with one no-trump, as opposed to doubling then bidding no-trump with the equivalent of a strong no-trump.
Dear Mr Wolff:
In a club duplicate at favorable vulnerability, I held SPADES A-10-6-3, HEARTS 4, DIAMONDS 9-3-2, CLUBS Q-J-8-7-6. In an uncontested auction my partner opened one heart, I responded one spade, my partner rebid two clubs, and now I had to decide how to proceed. Would you pass or raise? (And if you raise, would you pass your partner’s bid of three no-trump)?
— Dream Spinner, Holland, Mich.
ANSWER: This is easy for me — I can’t imagine doing anything but bidding three clubs, invitational. The real issue is whether to pass if partner bids three no-trump. I think not. I’d bid four clubs and apologize to partner if I’m wrong. The hand has too few potential tricks outside the trump suit, and the hearts won’t set up at no-trump.
Dear Mr Wolff:
In a recent column North opened one spade and South responded one no-trump with SPADES 3, HEARTS Q-8-4, DIAMONDS K-Q-2, CLUBS A-10-9-8-7-3. Do some partnerships play a different system, or has the range for responding one no-trump to an opening bid changed from the standard 6-9 points?
— Old-Timer, Eau Claire, Wis.
ANSWER: Although Standard American has advanced somewhat with the use of the forcing no-trump in response to a major, I think a footnote might have been in order. When playing two-over-one game-forcing, partner will often use the forcing no-trump in response to a major, meaning opener cannot pass and may have to introduce a three-card minor at his second turn. Responder can then rebid two no-trump with a hand of this sort. That invites game and suggests 10-11 with no fit for partner.
|Dear Mr Wolff:
|
My partner, holding SPADES A-7-6-5, HEARTS —, DIAMONDS Q-10-8-3-2, CLUBS K-J-8-6, heard one no-trump from me and two hearts to his right. He started with a cue-bid of three hearts, and I rebid three no-trump. Should he pass now? What if the opponents double? My partner actually chose to run to four diamonds. Should that be forcing?
— On the Run, Bristol, Va.
ANSWER: If you use Lebensohl (whereby direct three-level actions are forcing and two no-trump is artificial, asking partner to bid three clubs so that you can get out at the three-level), then a direct cue-bid denies a heart stop and acts as Stayman. Yes, it is game-forcing, but responder might occasionally take a view and pass if opener bails out at four of a minor. On your quoted auction I might well run from three no-trump if it were doubled — and then I think one could play in a partscore.
Dear Mr Wolff:
Members of my bridge group have varying opinions about the nature of a takeout double. For instance, when is a first double not for takeout? And does a takeout double require an answer if there is an intervening bid? Are there any other instances when a takeout double is used other than over an opening bid?
— Double Trouble, Elmira, N.Y.
ANSWER: All low-level doubles by a player at his first turn to speak (except after a no-trump opening or an overcall) tend to be takeout. Equally, whenever you bid or overcall, and your partner passes at his first turn, your second action of doubling also rates to be takeout. And when the opponents have agreed a suit, directly or inferentially, most doubles at a low level also tend to be takeout, not penalty. In summary, low-level doubles tend to be takeout till agreed to the contrary. You do not have to bid if the next hand acts in front of you.
If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, e-mail him at [email protected]. Reproduced with permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc., Copyright 2011. | https://aces.bridgeblogging.com/2011/07/10/the-aces-on-bridge-sunday-june-26th-2011/ |
Wow, how cool is that, the Government actually works in that country!
I prefer the old methods.
City-state? Are you confusing Taiwan with Singapore?
I would be interested in hearing about the effects of this law-making technique vis-a-vis “tyranny of the majority”, especially in a multi-ethnic society.
I’m part of the Canadian “civic technology” community, and I’ve been doing primary research on vTaiwan from afar for the past 2 years. In fact, I’m heading to Taiwan next month for a research fellowship to study their civic tech movement, including the part of the community that stewards the vTaiwan process
The whole process is really about using the conversational intuitions that we take for granted in small group conversations, but allowing us to use them more naturally in environments where thousands are trying to participate. Just like Roberts Rules of Order are a social technology to let 200 people interact (while preserving minority opinion), vTaiwan is a developing social technology for letting 1000s+ interact (while preserving minority opinion). Or another comparison: For talking online, vTaiwan is to Twitter, like what an incorporated co-operative is to a riot. vTaiwan is about letting us “human” better in large numbers. Because we are bad at doing that in abstract digital spaces where we can’t see one another.
As to your point: It’s actually really wonderful at preserving minority views.
For example, Pol.is is the tool for the phase where they map the “emotional landscape” of the issue. They invite citizen stakeholders to submit statements about how they feel about the issue, and agree/disagree on statements of others – then the tool allows everyone to see the groups that agree and disagree together on significant numbers of these feeling-based statements. This visualizes coherent groups whether they are 10 people or 1000 people. You can see an example here, on a pilot we ran based on electoral reform in Canada: https://mydem0cracy.ca/
A coherent group of 16 people shows just as large as a group of 260, because the representation is of the bounds of the “agreement space” of the group, not the number of people in each group.
During this phase, which runs for weeks and helps set the agenda for the more exclusive phases of decision-making, all participants essentially get the super-power of seeing a live break-down of the factions that exist. I tend to think of it as “mapping the sentimental landscape”. It’s important to know the emotional baggage (the fears and hopes and aspirations) that everyone brings to the issue, if we hope to discover the middle ground and craft legislation that everyone can accept. My big learning is that confronting and grappling with emotions is just as important as grappling with facts during effective policy-making.
Interesting, pol.is simply adds a pretty visual layer and realtime functionality to a stats tool that academics have been using forever: principal component analysis. It gives all participants (not just the moderators) view of the 10,000 ft view of who’s participating. And then in a clever fashion, the participants are told that if they can find “majority opinions” on statements they submit, then those statements will be forced onto agenda of the next phase (the livestreamed stakeholder discussions). So then the most passionate people end up exploring the visualization, trying to understand the other groups, so that they can find and submit new, ever-more-nuanced consensus statements that lie between their own groups and others’. In order to get the things they care about onto the agenda, they have to spend time trying to understand other groups. And this builds empathy as a side-effect. So the most passionate participants (who might otherwise become the most divisive if participating in other processes) spend time trying to understand other groups, so that they can get what they themselves want. It’s really clever.
If you’re interested in more recent work on group decision-making, I recommend watching this TED video. If I’ve done a decent job of explaining vTaiwan, you might agree that the vTaiwan process perhaps plays a role in cultivating and elevating “high confidence grays” in the decision-making process. These players are important in helping social groups to come to consensus
There are a few folks in Toronto and NYC and elsewhere who are stoked about the vTaiwan process and the g0v movement that it spun out of. We’ve run some workshops and given some talks so far. If you’re interested to participate or meet people, feel free to check out this website: http://g0v.network/
I would love to learn how their system combats troll armies.
Especially since Taiwan is at risk of Chinese state-sponsored troll armies to talk up unification and talk down independence.
Trolls are generally frustrated by the polis phase. You don’t get exposure for finding emotional triggers that folks will engage with and amplify, but rather for finding consensus. So it’s harder to game.
And when the more advanced attacks arrive, since it’s a stats tool based on statistical methods, I am fairly optimistic that the means to detect and ferret out suspicious activity will be more on the critical path than with other tools – stats is a great way to recognize outliers
Anyhow, Audrey Tang (main architect of the vTaiwan process) explained some of the philosophy very well here:
(The transcript is linked in the youtube description, and you can CTRL+F for “troll”
I know it’s a long talk, but walking the whole thing gives a massive a rare view into what’s going on in Taiwan. There’s no better place than that video to get up-to-speed!
talk up unification and talk down independence.
i know it wasn’t your main point, but fwiw, they usually keep vTaiwan to discussing digital-adjacent issues. They’re on shoestring budget as a citizen volunteer project, and so their time is not well-spent discussing non-digital issues for which they might get to the end and have many people [rightfully] say things like “Oh, but how can you be sure that senior citizens showed up to discuss pension reform”.
They mainly discuss digital issues to finish with high assurances that the right people had a chance to show up, and therefore won’t be kneecapped by that criticism.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed. | https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/taiwans-legal-crowdsourcing-tool-is-working-surprisingly-well-to-resolve-thorny-legislative-problems/127008 |
Lack of economic growth has overwhelmingly been the focus of studies of the economic history of post-colonial Africa. Ironically, this has diverted attention from explaining the process of economic growth. Explaining African economic growth as it happened, with attention to episodes of growth and changes in incentive structures, is much more demanding of the African growth evidence. There are serious validity and reliability issues with the Africa data. This stands in contrast with the widespread use of the data as functional evidence for economic analysis. The thesis sheds new light on both methodological and substantive issues through a comparative study of the national accounting methodologies in Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. It is found that baseline estimates and growth estimation methodologies are different across countries, and that these to an extent determine differences in measured growth, and therefore might influence conclusions in the literature. The main sources of growth evidence are compared with the national accounts data. It is shown that these different sources do not cohere. These data quality issues are serious enough to compromise research on post-colonial African economic history unless proper care is taken. The final part of the thesis analyses the growth experiences of these four countries on the basis of the national accounts data. At face value the stylised facts about averaged growth rates match the idealised typologies of African economies based on their policy and institutional frameworks. It is shown, however, that when we examine the changes in economic growth rates during the period, and the sources of those changes, the explanations from the case studies do not cohere with the orthodox narrative. While there are clear differences in the growth performance of the countries, these differences in growth rates were determined by events over which the policy makers and the institutional framework could have only limited influence. The case studies underline the importance of looking beyond the averaged aggregate growth rates, because of, rather than despite, the issues of data quality. | https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.645796 |
With 14,119 ha, it is located in the upper central Pyrenees and has two main areas: western (Aigüestortes) and eastern (Estany de Sant Maurici and Encantats). Especially abundant in glacial lakes, of which the park has more than 200, stands out the Sant Maurici lake, at 1,900 meters of altitude.
As is logical, there are also challenging peaks and cliffs: a couple of peaks that you can not miss are Els Encantats (Petit Encantat and Gran Encantat), which can be reached by the Carros de Foc trail, on a six-day excursion that covers the mountain shelters in the area.
Speaking of the subject, in this national park many guided excursions are organized. But the highlight is undoubtedly its 11 hiking trails, including Besiberri Norte from Cavallers through the Malo River, the Pessó Lakes from the Ribera Bridge or Estany Llong and Portarró d’Espot from Aigüestortes and the path of the Otter. If you want to discover more trails in this region, here we tell you about the best hiking trails in Catalonia.
South of Palma de Mallorca, in an isolated environment, this park with its 10,021 hectares is almost virgin. It is the perfect combination of mountain and beach, which can only be reached by boat from Sant Jordi and Portopetro. With 17 islands and islets, there are lots of opportunities to explore.
85% of the park belongs to the sea, so the marine flora dominates the natural wealth of this park. In solid land there are lots of Aleppo pine, wild olive, olivillo, aladiernos and lechetrezna. But as thousands of birds use the archipelago as a passage point in their migration paths, Cabrera is declared Birds Special Protection Area.
It is a great place for those who like to contemplate the yellow-legged gull, the Audouin’s gull, the gray shearwater, the shag, the Balearic shearwater, the kestrel, the peregrine falcon and the Eleonora’s hawk.
In its 40,856 ha, this is the natural home of the black stork, the black vulture and the Iberian imperial eagle that is currently in a vulnerable state of extinction.
In addition to the gastronomy of La Mancha, this park is the best place to enjoy spring trekking, both in the mountains and in the rañas. But in autumn, the protagonist is the deer, which offers to the visitors the spectacle of the bellowing.
On the park grounds you should enjoy the Horcajo de los Montes village and its ethnographic museum and the Retuerta Fauna Museum. If you want trails, here you will find the Plaza de los Moros the Sierra de Castellar de los Bueyes, the Sierra de Castellar de los Bueyes, the Colada de Navalrincón, or the Boquerón del Estena.
This huge circus with the appearance of a boiler has a slope of up to 2,000 m and an area of 4,690 ha. But in addition to the beauty of its volcanic landscape, the jewel that crowns this park is its abundance of water resources, which when combined with volcanic rock forms wonders such as Salto de la Desfondada, a waterfall of about 150 m.
Another natural caprice present in the park is the Barranco de Almendro Amargo, with reddish-yellow waters due to the presence of iron deposits. The landscape is rich in Canary pine, amagante, Canary beech, laurisilva and many endemic plants that can only be seen here.
Many walkers dare to do the 17 km from the viewpoint of Los Brecitos to Hoyo Verde. The most prepared ones can prove themselves in the route from Roque de los Muchachos to Pico de las Nieves.
Full of pine forests, marshes, lagoons, beaches, dunes and many other natural landscapes, it is logical that this National Park is also a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Here the water, next to the mouth of the Guadalquivir, has forged a wonderful sanctuary in the form of wetland and marsh, where large flocks of birds gather to nest or follow warmer lands in winter.
In addition to bird watching, in this park you can see a very variegated flora. In its 13,540 hectares there is a lot to visit: El Acebuche, Matalascañas beach, and Dunar Park on the road from Matalascañas to Mazagón, at least.
With the best laurel forest on earth, its subtropical forest was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. This virgin forest, where the rocks eroded by the trade winds and full of phonolitic gorges and basaltic rocks contrast, also houses beech trees, hollyhocks, vineyards, the white wood and the arboreal heather.
In the thicket, often covered by a dense fog, about 150 endemic invertebrates live and the Park is home to the rabiche and turqué pigeons, endemic to the Canary Islands. A true Eden for hiking lovers of 3,984 ha, where you have to visit La Laguna and the Ball Game Visitors Center, with its gazebos.
Leader in sustainable tourism, in the 8,480 ha of this national park are preserved many historical, natural and cultural treasures. Composed by the archipelagos of Cortegada, Sálvora, Ons and Cíes, it is the perfect place to camp, hike and dive.
Do not forget to go to the beach of Rodas on the island of Monteagudo: according to The Guardian, this is the best beach in the world.
Also the islands of Ons and San Martiño offer magnificent marine landscapes, thanks to the steep cliffs and the ecosystems hidden in them, where the laurel forest and more than 200 species of marine algae stand out.
On the islands, the yellow-legged gulls, the shaggy cormorants, the razorbills and the guillemots are also abundant. As access to the park is restricted to a certain number of people per day, it is advisable to book your visit in advance.
Its 17,852 hectares are crossed by the Tajo and Tiétar rivers, which endow the park with its forest and Mediterranean scrub areas and its special fauna. With more than 200 different species of invertebrates and home to such striking species as the black vulture, the Iberian imperial eagle, the griffon vulture, the eagle owl and the black stork, this National Park is one of the most important bird watching centers of Europe.
It also highlights the fauna that lives in Monfragüe, among them the otter, the mongoose, the marten, the wildcat and the badger.
You cannot miss the visitor center located in Villarreal de San Carlos, the Salto del Gitano and its viewpoints of the castle-fortress. As another attraction, this is one of the best places in Spain for night photography, because of the quality of its sky for nighttime observation.
In the Aragonese Pyrenees, there is the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, the second oldest in Spain and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is marked on the north by the French side of the mountain range and covers 15,608 ha of glaciers, forests of beech and fir, waterfalls and high deserts.
With one of the most unique ecosystems of the Pyrenees mountain range due to the erosion of the glaciers over the valley of the Arazas river, it alternates between peaks of more than 3,000 meters the Añisclo Canyon, the Escuaín Gorges and the Pineta Valley but above all Ordesa , full of waterfalls that arise between sickles and walls. In this park there are routes that will take you breath away, such as the Horsetail by the steps of Soaso, the Path of the viewpoints of Revilla in the Gorges of Escuaín and, of course, climbing the Monte Perdido peak.
With many water channels, peaks that exceed 2,000 meters, forests and lots of wildlife, the Sierra de Guadarrama may be the youngest Spanish national park, but it is one of the richest in trails. Within its 33,960 hectares there is variety, since more than 1,280 species live there, among 1,500 native plants and 30 different types of vegetation. In the fauna department, the population of this park represents 45% of that of Spain and 18% of that of Europe.
In the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park you have to visit La Pedriza, the lagoon and cirque of Peñalara, El Paular, the valley of Fuenfría and Valsaín. Definitely, there is much to explore without going too far from the capital. For this, we invite you to discover the best hiking trails in Madrid.
With Mulhacén and Veleta, the highest snow-capped peaks in Spain along with Teide on Tenerife, glaciers, valleys and plains, this park of 70,953 ha has a fauna and flora that make it a Unesco Biosphere Reserve. This is endorsed by its 60 species of endemic plants, and its populations of species such as the wild goat, the badger and the wild cats.
Both peaks are logical destinations for hiking, along with the Pradollano-Capileira road, the Alpujarras and the Pradollano ski resort, with facilities for all types of winter sports.
This is one of the most valuable wetlands in Spain and a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco for its flora and fauna. Fed by the Guadiana River and the Cigüela in its 3030 ha, it is as much home to many species as a point of passage for bird migrations, so those who like bird watching will be delighted here. As for flora, there are abundant marches of Carrizo, the masiega and the marsh.
It is worth visiting the Laguna Permanente the Torre de Prado Ancho and the Isla Pan.
Full of lava rivers, mountains of black rock and volcanic cones, the Teide peak reigns over the Las Cañadas circus. With 18,990 hectares, this landscape of contrasts is a Unesco World Heritage Site and the oldest and most popular Canarian park, and Teide has the title of being the third largest volcano in the world, measured from its base.
For more honors, it is the most visited National Park in Spain and Europe.
It is logical, due to its almost unreal landscapes, its 58 plants species are considered endemic (among them, the red tajinaste, the jara de Las Cañadas, the rosebush of the guanche and the wallflower of the Teide) and its fauna is abundant in reptiles and birds. You have to go to El Portillo, Cañada Blanca, Los Roques de García and, of course, climb the peak of Mount Teide In this National Park. Do not miss also the Ermita de la Virgen de las Nieves, the highest Christian temple in Spain.
With its 67 455 ha, Picos de Europa has the honor of being the first Spanish National Park. If you are one of those who like to combine hiking with historical, cultural and gastronomic tourism, this place is the real deal. It is dominated by beech, Scots pine, hazel, and holly, although Monte Corona has the only autochthonous forest of linden trees in Europe. Only in Japan are there forests like this one.
Do not miss the Cares Route and the Beyos Gorge, considered the most spectacular sickles in Spain. Go also to the Tito Bustillo Caves in Ribadesella, so you can discover their cave paintings.
Less known than El Teide National Park, the Timanfaya and its 5,107 ha are ideal for combining hiking and diving. But if you are into the volcanoes, here you can enjoy, because you can go through 25 of them. As it is a site in the early stages of ecological succession, there is little flora and fauna on it. But precisely this process makes it so interesting from the scientific point of view.
The Mountains of Fire, the Broken Mountain or the Caldera del Corazoncillo, with their landscapes similar to the Martian soil, are places that you will surely would like to explore.
If you are looking for ideas to go for a walk, our application will help you find your route in these magnificent Spanish National Parks. If you already have a favorite, share it in a comment so that other hikers can repeat your experience. Who knows? We may see you soon on the road. | https://blog.walkaholic.me/en/spain-trekking/15-national-parks-of-spain-good-to-hiking/ |
Dutch researchers have discovered why women are more likely to conceive non-identical twins as they get older. Their findings, published early online in the journal Human Reproduction, show that as women age, rising levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) can push their ovaries into 'overdrive'. This increases the chances of two eggs being released in the same monthly cycle, making non-identical twin pregnancies more likely. The study authors, who are based at Vrije University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, say that about half the recent rise in multiple births in Holland is down to naturally-conceived multiple pregnancies.
The scientists studied egg follicle development in 959 spontaneous cycles of 507 women undergoing intrauterine insemination, because of unexplained or mild male infertility. They found evidence of more than one follicle developing per cycle, inferring the release of more than one egg, in 105 of the participants. Of these, only five were under the age of 30, while 45 were aged between 30-35, and 55 were aged over 35. The level of FSH - the hormone that triggers egg follicle growth - also increased with age, and was higher in women who produced multiple follicles.
The scientists say that the amount of FSH increases to counteract failing ovaries as women age, but that the hormone can 'overshoot' the threshold needed for ovulation. This increases the chances of double ovulation, say the team, making twins more likely. However, it doesn't always lead to multiple pregnancies, because of the decreasing number of 'good quality' eggs in the ovaries of older women.
Co-author Cornelius Lambalk has documented the rise in multiple births over the past decade, and says it is not entirely down to increased numbers of people having fertility treatment. 'About half of the increase has been caused by the number of spontaneous multiple pregnancies, probably due to the fact that women are delaying childbirth to a later age', he said in a press release.
Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director of the UK's Midland Fertility Services, said the study confirmed that 'Mother Nature is doing what we deliberately strive for with ovulation induction or IVF when we use injections of FSH to produce several follicles in one cycle'. She told the BBC News website that given current concern over declining birth rates, 'it is interesting to speculate whether this natural mechanism may compensate to some extent for the 'baby gap''.
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You must be logged in to post a comment. | https://www.progress.org.uk/older-women-more-likely-to-have-twins/ |
There were long growing seasons. Also, the Southern Colonies had long plains, some hilly regions, long rivers, and low, flat farmland. Like the Southern and Middle Colonies, the New England Colonies had some hills, but that is the only similarity of climate and geography between all of these Colonies. The New England Colonies had short and mild summers and the winters were long and cold. They also had limited
In fact, with all their differences, the three regions later combined to create the great nation known today as the United States. One of the big differences between the three regions was their topography and climate, which led to different types of agriculture. For instance, the New England Colonies had many mountains and forests due to its glaciers. Since it had sandy soil, short summers and long lasting winters, the Puritans who landed in New England weren’t able to farm many types of crops. The cold weather negatively impacted their agriculture.
Another factor that contributed to this short growing period is the unfertile, rocky and sandy soil. The soil had become low in quality because that area had once been covered by glaciers. When they melted, all the rich soil was scraped off the ground and drifted through New England’s mountains and hills until it reached the south. The climate in the middle colonies was relatively hot. This caused a longer growing season compared to New England’s.
The Sahara brings along a harsh climate, in the morning the temperature soars “above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and at night temperatures drop below freezing” (pg 304). The temperatures in the Sahara are very extreme making it super difficult to survive in the Sahara. The Sahara also brings many “severe thunderstorms that blow sand everywhere…..and rain is very unpredictable. It many rain 3 inches in one spot and none nearby.” (pg 304).
Sloths have really cool fur. Their fur grows in the opposite direction of most mammals. Their hair grows away from their extremities because they spend so much time hanging upside down. Their fur is home to two
There is also very little water, with less than 15 inches annually. Finally, because of monsoons near Iraq, it is often windy in the summer to the
Let’s start with the North. Northern states had hot and humid summers while having frigid winters. The land was rocky and infertile, making it unsuitable for farming. As such, most food came from the South and was imported in. To follow up on that, the food there mostly came in the form of seafood.
The forest is where the most bigfoot hunters are more active but still find themselves in secluded areas and harsh environments. To be cut off from the rest of the world makes it that much worse for people to capture evidence of Bigfoot, therefore making it nearly impossible to claim this creature does in fact
The terrain of North Korea consists of 80% mountains and smaller plains. The smaller plain areas are perfect for the people to develop their agriculture—but not if it is a high elevation. The terrain causes the mountains to be open for moist air to be carried in the area which causes the wet summers and dry winters of North Korea, along with the erosion of the mountains causing slope-like areas. The wet summers make way for being either hot, humid, or very rainy. The dry winters happen to bring in winds which bring in dust and fog.
Severe air pollution, as the one experienced in Utah’s Wasatch Front and surrounding counties can have very dangerous effects on the health of individuals constantly exposed to it. In Utah, smog and air pollution is caused by inversion. Inversion is when the air closest to the Earth is colder than the air above the lower atmosphere. Inversion is common when cities or high-pollution areas are surrounded by mountains, trapping the air released by emissions in a cloud-like dense layer of pollutants. These pollutants, called particulate matter, are miniscule amounts of solid and liquid particles in the air condensed into
Mendocino,CA is an astonishing town with a great history. The things that were most important that has shaped Mendocino is geography and climate. In this essay, I will be talking about the main causes of the shaping of Mendocino,with its tall redwood trees and foggy climate,and explaining more in depth about these topics. One of the main causes is geography. Geography has a lot to do with the shaping of Mendocino for a few different reasons.
The taiga has different temperatures during different seasons. The average temperature of the taiga is 32o, in the summer it can reach up to 50o, in the winter it can reach up to 26.6o and the highest temperature in the taiga has been 104o. The taiga biome is in different locations around the world and the locations are in the Northern hemisphere, this locations are North America, Asia, Europe, Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. In the taiga it gets very cold in the winter and the lowest temperature in the taiga can be -60o!
A thin layer of rocky dirt was left. Crops did not grow well in the rocky, sandy soil. Forests and hills made it hard to farm. In New England, the summers were warm, but winters were long and cold. The growing season was only about five months long what made England the worst colonial for growing crops.
The term “community” is defined by our textbook as being, an assemblage of species interacting with one another within the same environment. A community can also be summarized by saying that the entire group species in a specific region or smaller area is considered a community, with this definition of community having respect to population diversity along with the location within the ecosystem. A community not limited to one species in particular, although it is limited to one specific area or location. When speaking of community one must know for sure exactly what given area of the ecosystem is being discussed. First of all, the Tundra is broken into two different parts which are the Alpine Tundra and the Arctic Tundra.
Define the following terms and provide an example of each: IN YOUR OWN WORDS Succession: Succession is a process where changes are made to the base of a biological community over a period of time. Primary Succession: Primary Succession is a progression in vegetation that happens in a barren landscape with no initial soil. EX: Soil developing on a newly formed island. Secondary Succession: Secondary Succession is the recovery of vegetation post natural disaster. | https://www.ipl.org/essay/Tundra-Research-Paper-FCVCXJ9AYNR |
“Selection”Chapter 8 : “Selection”Chapter 8 Instructor: Sarwat Afzal Selection : Selection Selection process is a series of specific steps used to decide which recruits should be hired. The process begins when recruits apply for employment and ends with the hiring decision. Recruiting and selection are combined and called the “employment function” in many HR departments. Process by which an organization chooses from a list of applicants the person or persons who best meet the selection criteria for the positions available, considering the current environment conditions. Selection: An Overview : Selection: An Overview Internal Selection Selection Ratio is the relationship between number of applicants hired and the total number of applicants available. No. of Applicants hired/Total No. of applicants =S R Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Selection Process : Selection Process Initial Screening Employment Test Employment Interview Reference Verification Panel/Supervisory Interview Employment Offer Medical Test Realistic Job Previews Hiring Decision Reliability and Validity of Selection Criteria : Reliability and Validity of Selection Criteria Reliability refers to how stable or repeatable a measurement is over a variety of testing conditions OR Reliability means that the test should yield consistent results each time and individual takes it Validity refers to what a test measure is and how well it has measured it. OR Validity of a test is the degree to which it measures what it is intended to measure. Steps in the Selection Process : Steps in the Selection Process Preliminary reception of applications Employment test Selection interview Reference & background checks Medical evaluation Supervisory interview Realistic job preview RJP Hiring decision Employment test“Testing Tools & Cautions” : Employment test“Testing Tools & Cautions” Psychological test Knowledge test Performance test Graphic response test Attitude and honesty test Medical test Selection Interview“Types of Interviews” : Selection Interview“Types of Interviews” Unstructured interview Structured interview Mixed interview Behavioral interview Stress interview Hiring Interviews : Hiring Interviews Structured Interviews: predetermined script and protocol; Interviews in a proper format Asked through information gathered from job analysis information Slide 10: Unstructured Interviews: no predetermined script or protocol Any thing related or not related to the job No prescribed format Slide 11: Behavioral description interviews (BDI): ask participants to relate actual incidents from their past relevant work experience to the job they are applying for. Think about you past job and tell us a time where you have committed a mistake? What was your response to the mistake? What was the nature of the mistake? Slide 12: Situational Interviews: encourage applicants to respond to hypothetical situations they may encounter on the job for which they applied. What if you are in a situation that to achieve your sales target the whole seller are asking for high commission instead of company policy? What will you do under these circumstances? STRESS INTERVIEW : STRESS INTERVIEW A special type of interview designed to create anxiety and put pressure on the applicant to see how the person responds. In a stress interview, the interviewer assumes an extremely aggressive and insulting posture. Those who use this approach often justify its use with individual who will encounter high degrees of stress on the job, such as a consumer complaint clerk in a department store or an air traffic controller. The stress interview is a high-risk approach for an employer. Consequently, an applicant that the organization wishes to hire might turn down the job offer. Even so, many interviewers deliberately put applicants under stress. Who Conducts Interviews? : Who Conducts Interviews? VideoInterviewing Individuals PanelInterviews TeamInterviews Interviews Problems/Error in the Interview : Problems/Error in the Interview HALO EFFECT Occurs when an interviewer allows a prominent characteristic to overshadow other evidence. Devil’s horns (a reverse halo effect), such as inappropriate dress or a low grade point average, may affect an interviewer as well. BIASES Interviewers tend to favor or select people whom they perceive to be similar to themselves. This similarity can be in age, race, sex, previous work experiences, personal background, or other factors. LEADING QUESTION “You do like to talk to people, don’t you?” Do you think you will like this work? Do you agree that profits are necessary? INTERVIEWER DOMINATION Interviewer who use the interview telling the applicant about his success , spending entire interview telling about company plan or benefits. Conducting Effective Interviews : Conducting Effective Interviews Interviewers should be carefully selected and trained properly Preparation of Interview Plan Break ice-Put interviewer at ease Listen Carefully Record the facts immediately after interviews Evaluate effectiveness of interviewing process Slide 18: Stages in the typical employment interview Background Investigation : Background Investigation Four Goals of Background Screening: Demonstrates due diligence in hiring Provides factual information about candidates Discourages applicants who have something to hide Encourages applicants to be honest on application forms and in interviews Realistic Job Previews : Realistic Job Previews The purpose of a realistic job preview (RJP) is to inform job candidates of the “organizational realities” of a job, so that they can more accurately evaluate their own job expectations. By presenting applicants with a clear picture of the job, the organization hopes to reduce unrealistic expectations and thereby reduce employee disenchantment and ultimately employee dissatisfaction and turnover. A review on research on RJPs found that they do tend to result in applicants having lower job expectations. | https://www.slidesearch.net/slide/selection-process |
Vice Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doan Khac Viet on April 29 affirmed Vietnam's support for the right to develop and use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
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Vice Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doan Khac Viet
Viet told the ministry's regular press conference that the responsibility for ensuring nuclear safety and security belongs to states, but it requires strong and transparent international cooperation in information sharing and responsible response if any incident or accident happens.
Vietnam advocates the maintenance of regional peace and stability and the protection of the maritime environment and maritime resources in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Viet said.
Most recently, he went on, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong discussed international and regional issues of common concern during their phone talks on April 28.
They agreed to enhance all-level exchanges, especially at high levels, via flexible forms like teleconferenced talks, strengthen ties between the two foreign ministries, and support and closely coordinate with each other within regional and international cooperation frameworks like the UN and ASEAN, according to the Vice Spokesman.
Noting Vietnam's viewpoint on the reception of Vietnamese nationals returning from the UK, he said the reception has been carried out on the basis of the Vietnam-UK agreements, along with international law and practices, including the memorandum of understanding signed by the two governments on October 28, 2004 on migration issues, so as to ensure the citizens' rights and legitimate interests and accord with the countries' legal regulations.
Vietnam hopes that the UK side will always create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community there to integrate and contribute to the prosperous development of the UK, and also to bilateral relations, he said, adding that the Vietnamese Government supports legal, safe, and orderly migration while resolutely preventing and fighting against illegal migration, the arrangement of illegal migration, and human trafficking.
According to the Vice Spokesman, the Prime Minister of Vietnam on February 9, 2021 approved a programme on human trafficking prevention and control for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, that includes the task of enhancing the combat against human trafficking in international migration.
Vietnam is also continuing efforts to achieve the targets of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration under the plan issued by the Prime Minister on March 20, 2020 so as to create a transparent migration environment and protect the rights and legitimate interests of migrants, Viet added.
The country has been stepping up cooperation with countries and organisations, including the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), to prevent, detect, investigate, and deal with illegal migration rings in line with the law.
Vietnam is ready to discuss and coordinate with other countries to handle related cases in a timely manner and ensure legal and safe migration for the sake of migrants' rights and legitimate interests, the Vice Spokesman affirmed./.VNA
- Atomic energy potential remains untapped
- International Atomic Energy Agency Reviews Niger’s Nuclear Power Infrastructure Development
- Gov’t approves atomic energy security project
- Vietnam supports revitalisation of UN General Assembly’s work
- Vietnam supports Australia’s role in regional structure
- ADB Helps Indochinese Countries Develop Electricity, Clean Energy
- Vietnam supports peaceful solutions for int’l disputes, conflicts
- EU Optimistic about Vietnam's Economic Development
- Vietnam supports ASEAN – India strategic partnership
- Vietnam supports US’s EAS full membership
- Vietnam supports Palestine’s fight for basic national rights
- Vietnam supports UN mission’s role in Iraq
Vietnam supports right to develop, use atomic energy for peaceful purposes have 587 words, post on vietnamnet.vn at April 30, 2021. This is cached page on Talk Vietnam. If you want remove this page, please contact us. | https://www.talkvietnam.org/2021/04/vietnam-supports-right-to-develop-use-atomic-energy-for-peaceful-purposes/ |
The Air Force resolution test chart immediately above is often used to measure the resolution of an imaging system such as a camera or microscope. The smallest triplet of lines that can be distinguished (i.e. resolved) as separate lines indicates the limit of resolution of that system in each of the X & Y dimensions (in line pairs per mm, lp/mm, given by a function of that triplet’s numeric labels). I wanted a similar pattern that could be used to measure the resolution of the Ember 3D printer in a horizontal plane.
Ember uses a digital image to define each layer of its prints. Those images each have a resolution of 1280x800 pixels, and are projected to an area of ~64x40 mm, such that each pixel is nominally a 0.05 mm square. Thus the maximum possible resolution of the Ember in the X and Y dimensions is 10 lp/mm. (The resolution in the vertical (Z) dimension is determined by the layer thickness, which can be as low as 0.01 mm, suggesting a maximum possible vertical resolution of 50 lp/mm.) For comparison, a 2D printer capable of 600 dpi (dots per inch) could print 300 line pairs per inch, or about 12 lp/mm.
Whether or not that resolution can be realized in actual prints depends on many factors, including the model geometry, the resin, and the exposure settings. It is also limited by the fact that the array of square pixels in the input images are filtered and resampled by the projector inside the Ember, for display on its DMD that uses a diamond pixel array (see TI DLP® “Diamond” Pixel).
It should also be noted that this is just one of many ways to characterize Ember’s resolution. It may be useful in some applications where e.g. fine detail in embossed text is significant. For other applications, the smoothness of curved surfaces, or the ability to create small holes or filaments, could be more important than the ability to resolve adjacent lines. Andreas Bastian finds it useful in 3D printing to distinguish between the resolution for "positive" features (e.g bosses, extrusions, webs, and ridges) and "negative" features (e.g. holes, slots, and cavities). Indeed, Ember tends to fill in negative spaces, by enlarging the surrounding positive features, as we shall see here.
Step 1: Test Pattern Print Data
The test pattern image above was created in Microsoft Paint and saved as a PNG. In this case the numeric labels just give the width and separation, in pixels, of the lines in each set. (For the lines at 45°, the widths and separations are only approximate.)
A 1.5 mm tall rectangular base, chamfered at the bottom to ease its removal from the build platform, was modeled in Inventor and exported as the attached "test pattern base.stl". It was then sliced at emberprinter.com using the default settings for Standard Clear Prototyping resin (PR48), including a layer thickness of 0.025 mm.
The attached test_pattern_4.tar.gz was created by adding 20 copies of the test pattern image to those in the print data file generated by the slicer. (See Achieving Layered Geometries with PNG Stacks for a description of the process used to create an Ember print data file from a stack of images.) The test pattern image was first flipped horizontally, because it represents a view of the print from below, while the pattern is placed on top of the base and viewed from above. Twenty copies at 0.025 mm corresponds to an additional 0.5 mm in height of the print. However, since it's difficult to print very fine features at such a (relatively) large height, parts of each test pattern slice after the first two were removed, making the nominal height of each bar equal to its width. Thus, the single pixel wide lines appear in only two layers, making them ideally 0.05 x 0.05 mm in cross-section, the two-pixel wide lines appear in just four layers, and so on. Only the 10-pixel wide lines (and all the numeric labels) appear in all 20 slices.
Step 2: 3D Printed Test Pattern
The first completed print of the Ember test pattern is shown above. Note that the 1-pixel wide horizontal and vertical lines in the upper left corner appear to be coarser than the 2-pixel lines to their right. That apparent coarseness (about the same periodicity as the 7-pixel bars below and to the right of them) is a pattern of beats between the input 1-pixel lines and the sampling used for the diamond pixels in the DMD, as may be seen in the next step. Note too that almost nothing appears where the 1-pixel diagonals should be.
However, all the other patterns of lines (2-pixels wide and above) appear to be resolved. Thus this print suggests that Ember's horizontal resolution is 1/((2 pixel line + 2 pixel space) x ~0.05 mm/pixel) or ~5 lp/mm.
Step 3: 1-Pixel Lines
The first image above shows the beat patterns more clearly in the 1-pixel wide lines in both directions. Although individual 1-pixel lines may be seen, looking like a string of pearls, there is a brightness variation, probably corresponding to a depth/height variation, about every 7 strings.
Compare this image to Fig. 4 in Karl Guttag's article cited previously. The projected images of the 1-pixel wide lines in his test patterns show the same beat patterns. They are aliasing artifacts of the filtering and re-sampling used to translate the square pixels in the input image to the diamond pixels in the projector.
If you look to the left of the lines, where nothing but the flat base was printed, you can see diagonal structures that correspond to the projector's diamond pixels. To the right of the Y bars, a few faint diagonal lines are barely visible, running at 90 degrees to the direction of the diamond pixels. Below them, to the right of the X lines, the diagonal lines that would have been running parallel to the diamond pixels are virtually invisible. Both sets of diagonal lines have been almost completed filtered out of the projected images, and therefore out of the print.
The diamond pixels are clearly visible in the more magnified second image above, in which the brightest "pearls" appear to be the tallest ones, and each one corresponds to a single diamond pixel. Another copy of the print (more yellowish because it was post-cured for a longer time) was scored on its back and snapped off perpendicular to the vertical lines. The view of its edge shows little or no height variation (though it's also possible that the fracture went around rather than through the individual "pearls"). The scale shows how ideal single pixel lines would have appeared in cross section. However, the vertical height of all the lines was compressed, for reasons discussed in the step 5.
Step 4: 2-Pixel Lines
The 2-pixel lines show much less evidence of beating against the diamond pixels. But these lines are also clearly much wider than the spaces between them, even though they are the same width in the input images. These positive features have been made larger at the expense of the negative "valleys" between them. Also note how their square ends have been rounded. In both cases, this is presumably due to the filtering needed for the diamond pixels.
Though the height of each line relative to the valleys is much less than the ideal shown in the scale, distinct lines are indeed visible, indicating a resolution of at least 0.1 mm or 5 lp/mm. See the next step for an explanation for the low heights.
Step 5: 5-Pixel Lines
All of the lines with widths of more than 2 pixels were also resolved by Ember. However, the spaces between the lines are still to some degree narrower than the lines themselves at all widths.
Again the final height of the lines is much less than the 0.25 mm that would be expected for printing 10 layers at 0.025 mm per layer. That is because the initial layers were thicker than they should have been, probably due to the flexible window in the resin tray being pushed down by the build head, with extra resin trapped under it that was not allowed to escape before the exposures began. Since the total height is limited by the travel of the build head itself provided by the lead screw, this extra initial thickness reduced the thickness of the final layers in the print. The base ended up being 2.25 mm thick, instead of the intended 1.5 mm, and the thickest parts of the test pattern (shown in detail in the next step) added only 0.15 mm to that, instead of the intended 0.5 mm.
There may also have been some filling in of the spaces between the lines in the vertical (Z) direction. Note that there appear to be some early layers where the lines were being printed that are now below the level of the valleys between them.
Step 6: 10-Pixel Lines
The diamond pixels are also evident in the top image of the 10-pixel lines. At this size, the printed lines are still somewhat wider than the spaces between them, though the effects of filtering and re-sampling are proportionately less than they were on the narrower bars. The projected images of the white lines may also be slightly blurred, due to imperfect focus, which would make them cure a larger area, as well as rounding their corners.
The cross section again shows that the height of the lines is much less than would be expected, in this case for printing 20 layers at 0.025 mm per layer. See the previous step for an explanation of this discrepancy.
Step 7: Improved Print
A better print, shown above, was produced by adding a 1 s delay before exposing each layer, to address the issue noted in step 5. The print data file with those settings is attached to this step. (Some delay was also added before the first exposure by opening Ember's door when the build head was moving down at the start of the print, and not closing it until several seconds after the build head had reached the bottom.)
This print shows better definition of all the lines. The magnified image of the 1-pixel lines shows that it is possible to distinguish all 48 verticals, though again, there is a strong beat pattern with the diamond pixels, and no height difference could be discerned in a cross section. The beat patterns in the diagonal 1-pixel lines are also much clearer. This print therefore indicates that Ember can achieve the maximum possible resolution of 10 lp/mm, at least for lines in some directions, and with their heights dependent on their positions with respect to the underlying diamond pixels.
The cross section of the 10-pixel lines shows that they are somewhat taller and sharper than in the previous print, though their "verticals" are still angled and the lines are still far from the expected 0.5 mm height. Increasing the delays before each exposure might improve the line heights.
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Very nice work! Highly appreiciated!
The diamond pixels are so clear in Step 3's magnified images. It's interesting to see how the file translates into a print! | https://www.instructables.com/id/Ember-Printer-Measuring-Horizontal-Resolution/ |
A distinction should first be made between disaster recovery or contingency planning , survival / recovery planning, and change management. The first occurs as the result of a short term dramatic change in the environment – the second through an accumulation of problems and errors. All businesses can be brought to the edge of failure through the accumulation of problems and errors – some will tip over into the need for closure and the immense personal and economic damage that that causes. Change management has similarities to survival and recovery planning, but is longer term – the organisation has time and can correct mistakes that it makes – survival and recovery planning by contrast is much more time critical and detail driven – with the emphasis on getting it right first time and quickly.
Survival is the first essential stage – ensuring that the business can continue to trade. This is followed by recovery as the organisation moves from existence back into some form of prosperity. 7 stages can be typically defined for survival and recovery planning – though in reality they need to parallel rather than sequential activities.
Where are you?;
Defining responsibility and authority;
Modelling and monitoring;
Creating a stable platform;
Working with stakeholders;
Conserving cash;
Refinancing.
Where are you?
The first step must always be to understand what the problem is, and how serious it is. This means a detailed review of the information held within the company. Obviously the first place to start is the financial records, but a detailed analysis is needed of:
- Legal issues of liquidity status;
- Cash position;
- Debtors;
- Creditors;
- Stock – separated into completed stock, work in progress, components, raw materials;
- Plant;
- Fixed assets – property, IPR etc;
- Personnel;
- Customers;
- Suppliers;
- Financial stakeholders
The crucial first step is to define whether the business is viably trading. Rules and regulations vary from country to country on insolvent trading – but it is safe to say that if this stage has been reached, immediate legal help is required. It is useful to have all these components listed in detail in a standard operating procedure.
What financial measures are needed?:
The current ratio (Assets/ Liabilities) provides one such test (though it depends on the valuation of assets;
The quick ratio (Liquid Assets/ Liabilities) provides a more valuable measure as it identifies whether the company can viably continuing trading;
Z score indicates where the company operational trends are leading;
Cash flow return on investment provides valuable data on how effective the business is at generating cash and what the trends have been;
Gearing ratios indicate the underlying viability of the asset base of the business;
Interest cover indicates whether the company can continue to pay its financing charges.
Where the financial analysis indicates that insolvency has occurred, the directors of the organisation need to be immediately informed. This will also be true if there are banking covenants and rules imposed on the company. Unless additional short term financing can be obtained (from directors or closely connected shareholders/ financial stakeholders who are made fully aware of the problems) the decision to call in expert legal help should be formally noted and acted upon.
Should the liquidity barrier not have been breached, the comprehensive analysis of the framework of the business can continue. Each component can provide a foundation for recovery. It is important to identify what are the priorities in the analysis, but each component needs to be entered into a detailed action plan, with task, timeline and milestones. This has two benefits: it not only identifies what needs to be done, but serves as the framework for any presentation that will need to be made for assistance from stakeholders. Ibis has over 260 questions relating to key parts of the business – and in every recovery problem this is added to and made specific to the organisation.
This worksheet identifies each key item, followed by a series of questions, the impact that each will have on the underlying problem, the speed at which it can be completed and the likely risk that the policy change will cause in future recovery, combined with the reality of the environment – can we do it?. This filtering process provides a short list of best fit options – those that have a high impact, can be done quickly, have limited recovery risk and are achievable.
An example of the typical Ibis worksheet for finished stock in a manufacturing company operating in a market with little competitive price pressure:
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Options
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Impact
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Speed (month)
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Risk
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Can do?
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Finished stock
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Can we sell obsolescent stock?
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High
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<1
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Low
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Yes
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Can we reduce stock holding/ stock cover?
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Mod
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<1
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Low
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Yes
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Can we part deliver on finished orders?
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High
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>1
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Mod
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Perhaps
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Can we persuade client for staged payment?
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High
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>2
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High
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Unlikely
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Can we increase prices?
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High
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>2
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High
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Perhaps
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Can we move to direct delivery and not hold stock for many clients?
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Mod
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>2
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Mod
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Yes
Defining responsibility and authority
Obviously, where the company has breached its liquidity boundaries and cannot gain extra finance, the choices are restricted to those laid by law – but otherwise the organisation needs to rapidly decide on who will take charge of the survival plan and actions. There is no magic answer to this question, though the key fact must be that the individual is credible to the stakeholders, has the expertise and the personality to carry through the often complex requirements of survival and restructuring. The options are:
- To maintain the current management structure in its entirety;
- To replace the existing CEO with another of the existing management team;
- To hire an outsider to carry through the programme.
Each has advantages and disadvantages. The existing CEO is known to the stakeholders – but may be (and often is) part of the problem rather than part of the solution, while hiring an outsider will be expensive, time consuming and no guarantee of success. What little research there is on the subject suggests that the third option – that of replacing the CEO with another of the existing management team offers the best chance of success, supported where relevant by external expertise. This avoids the classic “Pottery Barn” rule, which has become increasingly common. This is that because an individual has broken something, they are uniquely positioned to sort it out. This argument would be funny if it did not cause further problems.
Research suggests that the most important qualities of the recovery “tsar” (however appointed) are:
- Task orientation
- Transparency;
- Negotiation skills;
- Communication skills.
Task orientation because actions have to be taken – they cannot be left on one side; transparency because trust between management and stakeholders is essential in this period of high stress; negotiation skills because compromises have to be reached between the ideal requirements of the company and the requirements of the stakeholders, and communication skills because it is essential that all parties are kept informed.
Whatever the route chosen, research shows clearly that management need to lead by example to achieve the support of stakeholders, particularly employees. The pain of survival and recovery must be at least equally shared to ensure future commitment and support. What research there is suggests that where management cut their benefits dramatically the chances of survival are greatly increased.
Modelling and monitoring
Software can provide a high level of control over the vital detail of planning during the survival phase. A combination of:
- Accounting systems;
- Spreadsheets;
- Project management tools;
- Forecasting software;
- Internet banking
Provide real time information on the way in which the plan is developing and what is working and what is not, and enable management to carry out the vital “what if?” calculations. It also helps any presentations that management have to make to stakeholders – demonstrating the depth and completeness of the work that has gone into the survival and recovery plan.
Detailed and timely monitoring is obviously also crucial – to identify variances early and take the necessary corrective action. This regular update can also be part of the communication between the company and the key stakeholders.
Management have to choose to focus on particular ratios or measures of operating performance. The Ibis view is that the critical two for the survival phase are the quick ratio and the CFROI – which can be termed the KPI's of this phase of the organisation plan
Create a stable platform
It is vital that the changes made are coherent and will lead to the creation of an entity that will have solid foundations for future development. This means that the plan that is created must be conservative and err (probably excessively) on the side of caution. Uncertainty caused by continual dribbles of information on this and that change will just add to the existing suspicions of the stakeholders. All the research suggests that it is better to get all the bad news out at once, rather than hoping that small quantities of bad news leaked out over time will not be noticed. Carry out the necessary re-structuring and do it early – but keep a clear view of the company core competence; this must be maintained.
Stakeholders are king
The sad fact for troubled businesses is that new suppliers/ investors/ customers are very (and probably justifiably) wary. The survival phase of the organisation must rely on the goodwill of existing stakeholders – and be fully aware of that fact. Stakeholders on the most part are willing to help an organisation in trouble – working on the fact that half a loaf is better than no bread at all – or that they may get into trouble themselves, and will then need assistance. Involving the stakeholders early, and providing them with a detailed and comprehensive survival and recovery plan establishes a negotiating position – can you help us?- this is how you can, and if our proposals go too far we can rework the plan. Once this new agreement has been reached, it is obviously vital that the business must deliver on its promises – another argument for an initially conservative and pessimistic plan.
Cash is queen
Micro-management of cash is essential as part of the survival plan. Agreements made with stakeholders have the first priority, and each individual payment needs to be scrutinised – with the question – what is this? Why do we need it? Can we do without it? The use of investment appraisal techniques is valuable here, but the underlying message should be that if it is essential for survival we spend the money, if it is not we don't. This philosophy should extend throughout the company and all its activities – but again with the aim to maintain the effectiveness of the core competences. There are however numerous cost cutting measures that require little investment and can be rapidly implemented without harming core competence, also lowering the break even value and improving profitability.
Both the CFROI and Quick Ratio will provide a good measure of how rapidly the cash management is improving.
Re-finance
Once the survival phase has been completed, the company should consider a re-financing exercise. The reason for this is simple: even though the organisation has survived it is still extremely weak financially and has limited reserves to cope with any contingencies. Another advantage is that it will focus the organisation on planning for the future thereby creating a much more viable business concept and operational management.
Remember
The earlier that action can be taken, the less serious the problem will generally be. Companies should not put off the essential decisions that need to be taken for their survival. A motto should be engraved on the tombstones of many organisations:
Don't put off today, for it will be worse tomorrow”
Prevention is better than cure. Creating an effective business monitoring system will ensure that problems are identified early with far better chances of success, as will the integration of a comprehensive contingency plan.
More information on the way in which Ibis can contribute to your business plan development is provided at Advantage Ibis
More information on the Ibis approach is also available on the FAQ page.. | http://www.ibisassoc.co.uk/survival-and-recovery/ |
Abstract: With the advent of agriculture 3.0 and 4.0, researchers are increasingly focusing on the development of innovative smart farming and precision agriculture technologies by introducing automation and robotics into the agricultural processes. Autonomous agricultural field machines have been gaining significant attention from farmers and industries to reduce costs, human workload, and required resources. Nevertheless, achieving sufficient autonomous navigation capabilities requires the simultaneous cooperation of different processes; localization, mapping, and path planning are just some of the steps that aim at providing to the machine the right set of skills to operate in semi-structured and unstructured environments. In this context, this study presents a low-cost local motion planner for autonomous navigation in vineyards based only on an RGB-D camera, low range hardware, and a dual layer control algorithm. The first algorithm exploits the disparity map and its depth representation to generate a proportional control for the robotic platform. Concurrently, a second back-up algorithm, based on representations learning and resilient to illumination variations, can take control of the machine in case of a momentaneous failure of the first block. Moreover, due to the double nature of the system, after initial training of the deep learning model with an initial dataset, the strict synergy between the two algorithms opens the possibility of exploiting new automatically labeled data, coming from the field, to extend the existing model knowledge. The machine learning algorithm has been trained and tested, using transfer learning, with acquired images during different field surveys in the North region of Italy and then optimized for on-device inference with model pruning and quantization. Finally, the overall system has been validated with a customized robot platform in the relevant environment.
Submission historyFrom: Diego Aghi [view email]
[v1] Tue, 26 May 2020 15:47:42 UTC (8,669 KB)
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Pristina, March 14, 2022 – The American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo in cooperation with the USAID Commercial Justice Activity is organizing Arbitration Week. The first topic that was addressed this week was Arbitration as an opportunity for businesses.
Tea Blakaj, Foreign Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, said that since the commercial disputes dealt with in court have been protracted and have not been professional, arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution is more convenient for businesses. Further, she added that the establishment of the commercial court will also serve to strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Chris Thompson, USAID Commercial Justice Program Leader, believes that businesses need fast and decisive methods, so as such arbitration can be a very beneficial alternative for businesses. However, he added that arbitration is not used enough. He went on to say that businesses are working to recognize arbitration as an alternative opportunity to the judicial system and the advantages that this alternative has.
Kujtim Kërveshi, Partner, Kerveshi & Partners said that thankfully there was no resistance from public institutions in Kosovo in the establishment of arbitration and mediation as alternative methods. He said arbitration is the most effective mechanism for a dispute, as it serves both the well-being of the business and the preservation of relations between businesses. | https://www.amchamksv.org/arbitration-as-an-opportunity-for-businesses/ |
Large-n studies of conflict have produced a large number of statistically significant results but little accurate guidance in terms of anticipating the onset of conflict. The authors argue that too much attention has been paid to finding statistically significant relationships, while too little attention has been paid to finding variables that improve our ability to predict civil wars. The result can be a distorted view of what matters most to the onset of conflict. Although these models may not be intended to be predictive models, prescriptions based on these models are generally based on statistical significance, and the predictive attributes of the underlying models are generally ignored. These predictions should not be ignored, but rather need to be heuristically evaluated because they may shed light on the veracity of the models. In this study, the authors conduct a side-by-side comparison of the statistical significance and predictive power of the different variables used in two of the most influential models of civil war. The results provide a clear demonstration of how potentially misleading the traditional focus on statistical significance can be. Until out-of-sample heuristics - especially including predictions - are part of the normal evaluative tools in conflict research, we are unlikely to make sufficient theoretical progress beyond broad statements that point to GDP per capita and population as the major causal factors accounting for civil war onset. © The Author(s) 2010. | https://scholars.duke.edu/display/pub998151 |
What is dynamic equilibrium?
1 Answer
Answer:
A state of equilibrium in which the forward and backward reactions are occurring at the same rate with no net change.
Explanation:
To illustrate dynamic equilibrium, let's take a look at this reaction:
In this reaction, nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas are in a dynamic equilibrium with ammonia gas.
- When
#N_2#and #H_2#are first placed into a reaction vessel, they will begin to react to form #NH_3#. The rate of the forward reaction, #N_2(g) + 3H_2(g) -> 2NH_3(g)#, is high.
- However, eventually,
#NH_3#will start to reform #N_2#and #H_2#.
The rate of the backward reaction,
#2NH_3(g) -> N_2(g) + 3H_2(g)#, begins to rise.
- Eventually, the rates of the two reactions will be the same. Equilibrium has been reached.
We should remember, though, that this is a dynamic equilibrium!
This means that, although it may seem like nothing is happening (because the concentrations of the reactants and products essentially stay constant),
It's just that the rates at which they do this are the same.
So, although reactions are occurring, there is no net change. | https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-dynamic-equilibrium-1 |
Humans are primarily storytellers, and myths and legends ignite our imaginations. Ancient Legends Based On Real Events.
The Lord of the Rings, a well-known contemporary fable, tells of a dark and terrifying mountain full of fire. The fountains of fire emerging from Stromboli, a Sicilian volcano nicknamed the “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean”, impressed Tolkien so much that he had the idea of creating the fiction volcano for his novels.
Sri Lanka and the army of ape-men
A Landsat 7 image of the Rama Bridge, sometimes known as the Adam Bridge. Based on another myth from early Islamic texts. NASA
The Ramayana, an Indian epic in Sanskrit, presents a classic and ancient kidnapping plot. Sita, the wife of the god Rama, is robbed and taken to the kingdom of demons on the island of Lanka. An army of monkey-like men, along with his brother Lakshman, built a floating bridge (Rama’s Bridge) between India and Lanka. From where they successfully crossed and defeated Ravana, the demon king.
Although this elaborate tale is full of whimsical details, the bridge itself actually exists. Aerial surveys clearly show a submerged 48 kilometer (30 mile long) stretch of limestone shoals and sand that stretches between the two landmasses
This bridge – which is only a few meters below the surface of the water in some places – is probably the inspiration of the ancient Hindu legend. It was apparently above the water until a 15th century cyclone caused a huge storm surge in the channel and caused it to sink under the waves.
Ancient Legends Based On Real Events
Also Read : Legends which have been later true by science
Did you like this article ? Share and comment! | https://palam.ca/en/ancient-legends-based-on-real-events/ |
This section consists of a discussion of the first six slides in the Power Point Constant Area, Day 3. For each slide, I like to use a Think-Pair-Share strategy, with about a minute of individual time, two minutes of pair time, and then sharing out.
Have students create general equations for...
1) ...area in terms of length alone.
2) ...perimeter in terms of length and area.
Then pose the question, "In general, how do we minimize the perimeter of a rectangle without changing its area?" The answer, of course, is to make it a square! Students should be able to easily see that the length will be the square root of the given area.
The final question in this section is to create a general equation for the relationship between the three quantities area, perimeter, and length. The students have already found one such equation in (2) above, but I'd challenge them to find three equations, one solved for P, one solved for A, and one solved for L. (HSA-CED.A.4) These are given on slide 6, along with an equation that shows the explicit quadratic relationship between L and the other two variables.
The important thing to stress here is that all of these are equivalent equations that capture the very same relationship! In different forms, we can "see" different aspects of the relationship at a glance. (MP 7)
(The solutions to the slideshow problems can be found in the Solutions resource.)
During this section of the lesson, I challenge the students to solve one problem after another from slides 7 through 14.
The first problem (slide 7) is similar to the geometric "constant area" problem with the exception that the notion of perimeter has been replaced by a simple sum. (MP 7) So, while the same general methods can be used to solve it, the relationships are slightly different.
The second problem (slides 8 - 10) is simply the graphical solution to the previous problem. Some students will recognize it right away, but others will not. It's important to give the class a couple of minutes to complete their graphs, and it will speed up the process if you provide them with some graph paper with axes already drawn and labeled.
The next problem (slide 11) is different only in that the solution will not be integers. I like this change because the students will not simply be able to guess the solution by examining the graph. They graph will give them a reasonable estimate, but an analytic method is necessary to get a precise solution. (MP 5 & 6)
The next two problems (slides 12 & 13) ask students to reason carefully about the range of values that either the product or sum or two numbers can take on. The question on slide 12 is solved when students recognize that it is equivalent to the minimum perimeter problem. (MP 7) The question on slide 13 is easily represented as a quadratic equation, yeilding a relatively easy-to-find maximum.
The final problem (slide 14) asks students to factor a quadratic expression. This one is very important because it requires students to explicitly connect factoring to the problem of finding two numbers with a specified sum & product. (MP 7) I will help them to see that this problem is not any different from problem on slide 11.
The purpose of these problems is to help students see the similarities between the geometric problem they just solved (area vs. length vs. perimeter) and these numeric problems. If you are pressed for time, I would skip slide 12 to ensure that there is time for the final section of the lesson.
The final slide is meant to be a conversation starter about the connections that can be made between a wide variety of concepts, skills, and problem types. I would encourage students to brainstorm other topics that arose over the course of the last three lessons and to describe how they are connected to the ones shown. There is no definitive list of connections to be made; the important thing is that students recognize how one mathematical problem may be similar to another one, even if they arise in very different contexts.
As a summary discussion, be sure to bring up the modeling process and the key role it plays in forging connections between the different areas of mathematics. | https://betterlesson.com/lesson/455506/the-constant-area-model-day-3-of-3?from=mtp_lesson |
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
0001 This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/454,122, filed Mar. 12, 2003.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
0002 Test and Research Grain Plots are planted in parallel rows interrupted by transverse alleys. The row segments are normally comprised of different varieties of grain and must be separately harvested and not commingled. The crops are harvested by special combines which harvest one or several rows at a time. Such a combine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,402. Typically, the combine harvests the row segment; and the operator stops the combine at the alleys to permit the grain from the harvested row segment to be processed (e.g., weighed, bagged, and identified, etc.) The stopping and starting of the combine at the alleys is inefficient, hard on the combine, and hard on the operator.
0003 It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for continuously harvesting grain from a row of mature grain plants comprised of plant segments and alley segments.
0004 A further object of this invention is to enhance the harvesting operation by speeding it up through driving the combine at a continuous and constant speed through the field.
0005 These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
0006 A wheel mounted grain harvester includes a harvesting head for depositing grain in a grain handling assembly comprised of a plurality of grain moving parts. Control means are located on the harvester for selectively interrupting grain flow along the grain moving parts causing harvested grain from a new separate row segment to temporarily accumulate. Means are provided for transporting the harvested grain from separate row segments into separate collection bins permit the separate evaluation of the harvested grain in each row segment. Means are provided for moving the harvester along the row at a constant rate of speed to avoid the necessity of stopping the harvester between row segments to effect the separate evaluation of the harvested grain. The selective interruption by the control means is accomplished by either interrupting at least one of the grain moving parts or by selectively closing a movable blocking wall mounted on the harvester.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
0007FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical research field showing a plurality of rows (ranges) separated by transverse alleys;
2
2
0008FIG. 2 is an enlarged scale perspective view of the area outlined in lines - of FIG. 1;
0009FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a harvesting combine and,
0010FIG. 4 is a side schematic elevation of a combine with a corn head.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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0011 The numeral designates a research field in which row crop seeds are planted for research purposes. The planting locations of each seed planted is designated by the numeral , and the plants resulting from the subsequent germination of the seeds are designated by the numerals .
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0012 The field is divided into a plurality of plots which are comprised of a plurality of parallel rows . The lots are located in a series of parallel ranges which are separated by laterally extending alleys (geometrically in an x direction) and a series of longitudinal alleys (geometrically in a y direction). Alleys are typically at right angles to each other. Each range has a plurality of parallel crop rows that are comprised of crop segments and alley segments A.
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0013 A grain harvester includes a combine and harvesting head suitable for corn with gathering chains that sever the crop and move it (e.g., ears of corn) upwardly and rearwardly. A grain transfer assembly includes drag chains for transporting grains from the harvesting head to the combine . A grain handling assembly includes grain moving parts such as cross auger , drag chains , rotors , cleaning system , clean grain auger , and elevator hopper . A suitable power means operates all of these conventional components.
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0014 A controller in the cab of the combine is capable of selectively and separately operating each of the grain moving parts by selectively actuating the power supply . Suitable controllers include but are not limited to central processing units or the like.
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0015 A blocking wall is also operated by the controller . The blocking wall is adapted for selective vertical movement and can be located between the cross auger and head to selectively stop the travel of harvested crop to the drag chains . This would temporarily interrupt the flow of harvested crop into the combine . Similarly, the controller can also selectively stop the cross auger , for example, to also interrupt the flow of harvested grain. When this flow is interrupted, the harvested crop accumulates at collection area until the controller either raises blocking wall or restarts the cross auger , or other parts that may have its operation stopped.
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0016 Blocking wall may be located at alternative positions to selectively stop the travel of harvested crop. Specifically, blocking wall may be positioned between the grain transferring assembly (including drag chains ) and combine portion of the harvester .
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0017 In operation, the harvester continuously harvests grain from at least one row of mature grain plants growing in first row segments and intermittently interrupted by an alley segment where no grain plants exist. The harvester straddles the row with the wheel-mounted combine having the harvesting head to remove grain from the grain plants in the row and delivering the removed grain upwardly and rearwardly for deposit in the grain handling assembly comprised of the plurality of grain moving parts (, , , , , & ) for delivery of the removed grain to a conventional grain collection hopper (not shown). Power means on the harvester operates the harvesting head and the grain moving parts and permitting the harvester to selectively continuously move longitudinally over the row segments and the alley segments A between the row segments . The control means on the combine selectively interrupts at least one of the grain moving parts as soon as the last plant in a first row segment is harvested so that no new harvested grain from a second and next adjacent row segment will be commingled with the harvested grain from the first row segment. This causes harvested grain from the second row segment to temporarily accumulate adjacent the grain moving part that is temporarily stopped. The control means then actuates the power means to start the stopped grain moving part after a period of time (or distance) while the harvesting head is harvesting plants in the second row segment, and transporting the harvested grain from separate row segments into conventional separate collection bins (not shown) to permit the separate evaluation of the harvested grain in each row segment. Meanwhile the harvester moves along the row at a continuous and constant rate of speed to avoid the necessity of stopping the harvester at each alley A to effect the separate evaluation of the harvested grain from aligned separate row segments in all row segments adjacent each alley A.
TABLE 1
Current methods
Length
MPH
Ft/sec
17.5
0.48
0.700
25
0.60
0.875
20
0.66
0.972
18
0.80
1.167
15
0018 Current methods of harvesting such plots by the stop and go method reveal the data in Table 1.
TABLE 2
Non-Stop Harvesting
Alley Length
Pl. Length
24″
30″
36″
42″
48″
MPH
ft/sec
17.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
0.8
1.173
14.92
1.71
2.13
2.56
2.98
3.41
0.9
1.319
13.27
1.52
1.90
2.27
2.65
3.03
1
1.466
11.94
1.36
1.71
2.05
2.39
2.73
2
2.932
5.97
0.68
0.85
1.02
1.19
1.36
0019 By contrast, the method of this invention improves the harvesting efficiency, as shown in Table 2 below.
TABLE 3
Efficiency Factors
VS.
14.92
13.27
11.94
5.97
25
1.68
1.88
2.09
4.19
20
1.34
1.51
1.68
3.35
18
1.21
1.36
1.51
3.02
15
1.01
1.13
1.26
2.51
0020 This results in an increased efficiency in harvesting time as shown in Table 3. In Table 3, the horizontal line starting with 14.92 indicates seconds per plot for the new system. The column numbers starting with 25 represents seconds per plate under existing systems. Table 3 is calculated for a row of plants 17.5 feet in length.
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0021 Tables 1-3 above show that the present invention has several advantages. The alleys between the plots create approximately a two second delay in material flow into the harvester . These alleys can be sensed by the control means of the present invention through a sensor means (not shown). Suitable sensor means include, but are not limited to the following: Global Positioning System (GPS), stalk sensor, encoder, and/or key entry by the operator. Specifically, the sensor means would indicate to the control means when the harvester reaches the last plant in the particular plot . The control means would then selectively interrupt the grain flow so that no new harvested grain from the second and next adjacent row segment will be commingled with the harvested grain from the first row segment. The control means will continue this interruption for a pre-determined period, such as a period of time or distance. For instance, as previously discussed above, the control means can selectively interrupt the flow of grain by stalling the cross auger . Such a stalling of the cross auger could be accomplished by a clutch associated with the cross auger . For example, the control means could activate the clutch associated with the cross auger to stall the cross auger for two seconds. Such a break in grain flow will amplify the alley to produce a desirable break in the material flow, where the break in material flow is approximately four seconds total. Meanwhile, additional corn is still gathered and moved to the cross auger by the gathering chains . Thus, approximately 30 inches of roll length or 4 to 6 ears of corn will be gathered at cross auger during the break in material flow. This results in a front loading of material flow into the harvesting head at each plot . This additional front loading of the plot potentially improves threshing by improving the load of the cylinder.
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0022 Additionally, such a process improves data gathering, as there is little motion in the weight hopper (not shown) when the harvester is moving at one foot per second. This type of movement would be no more than the normal machine vibration, and is an improvement over the prior art.
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0023 Further, the present invention eliminates the need for stopping and starting of the harvester at the alleys , greatly reducing operator fatigue and greatly reducing wear and tear on equipment drives.
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0024 One of ordinary skill in the art, will appreciate that air hopper controls may be used to increase the speed of harvester , without departing from the present invention. Additionally, it is contemplated that Near-Infrared (NIR) or other similar technology can be implemented with the present invention where higher moisture levels are present.
0025 It is therefore seen that this invention will achieve at least all of its stated objectives. | |
Questions tagged [mahasi]
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Different meditation approaches within Theravada
I talked to a monk at a Thai Theravada based monastery recently and he told me that they primarily use breath meditation and jhana to gain awakening. And then there are other traditions, like yours, ...
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Non appearance of dhammas to note during meditation
Early in my practice (Mahasi noting), I had plenty of thoughts come up to note, as taught, but lately there is only the meditation object. Is this normal or just another impermanent thing that will ...
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How is it that we cycle through the nanas?
The knowledges(nanas) start at realizing mind and body. After the last knowledge, the practitioner goes back to realizing mind and body again? Is that correct? What is the difference between the ... | https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/mahasi |
In part, this dining experience was not about the food. I mean, of course, it was. But, having eaten in Costa Brava, and having learned about the history of gastronomy in the region, this was a pilgrimage. And, a surreal one at that. This was our experience dining at Can Roca in Girona Spain.
I’ve written about El Celler de Can Roca before. We were fortunate enough to have a little taste from the menu, after meeting all three Roca brothers, back in 2015. That visit occurred just after Can Roca won the number one restaurant in the world, and the whole world was abuzz about Girona.
El Celler de Can Roca is set in a residential neighborhood, just outside the center of Girona. The 3 Michelin Star restaurant is around the corner from the family restaurant and bar, Can Roca. But, the two restaurants could not be more different. Can Roca is traditional Catalan. A family run establishment, for everyday dining.
El Celler de Can Roca is not for everyday dining. It is, indeed, a surreal experience.
We’ve dined at Michelin Star restaurants before, and even 3 star Michelin Restaurants. But, somehow this was different, and I am not sure why. Perhaps it was due to the influence of Ferran Adria and elBulli in the region. Perhaps it was because we were dining at the number 3 restaurant in the world. Perhaps it was because we scored a last minute reservation, and only had less than 10 hours to let it sink in that we were dining at Can Roca in the first place.
The entire evening was almost a blur like we were dining in a fog. Of course, there was part of us that felt as though we didn’t belong there. Like everyone could tell I was a recovering attorney turned travel blogger. We started with a glass of cava on the terrace, where our Can Roca experience started two years before. But, this was the real deal. We watched patrons start to trickle in for their 8:30 or 9 pm reservations.
Joan greeted people at the door. He brought us around on a brief tour (our second) of the kitchen. Of course, I would never expect Joan to remember us from our first visit 2 years ago, but I like to think we left some impression. Even though it was our second trip into the kitchen, it still amazes me. It is so quiet in the kitchen, you could hear a pin drop.
We arrived at our table and just kept taking in our surroundings. I wanted to see everyone else who was dining at Can Roca that evening, but the tables are set in a way that you can’t really get a good look at the rest of the dining room. Instead, we were sat with 2 other tables in an alcove between serving stations. We observed the rest of Can Roca through the glass walls in the center. I was left to guess what was happening in the rest of the dining room.
We settled on the Feast Menu, which included about 13 listed courses. We joked between us, I think to hide our obvious anticipation. I compared the Can Roca Feast Menu to fast food in the US. “It’s just like the KFC Feast.” You know, a bucket of 13 pieces of thighs and wings instead of a minimum of 13 courses at one of the best restaurants in the world. We soon learned that we would be eating a whole lot more than 13 courses.
The presentation for the first few courses was almost identical to the taste we received during our first trip. I feel confident that most of the little bites were each unique though. The server brought these snacks a few at a time. We started with The World, a paper lantern, ceremoniously untied at the table, and opened to reveal 5 bites reminiscent of flavors from all over the globe, including Thailand, Japan, Turkey, Peru, and Korea.
And, of course, immediately after our server told us that the entire dish is very fragile, and to be careful, I promptly knocked one of my country bites off its precarious little perch. Way to stay classy. Of course, it was just as I said “I think my Thailand is going to fall off,” which perhaps is a fitting country to fall as we just finished living in Bangkok and decided to move to Girona.
The next snack was a Can Roca-themed diorama, with black and white photos of each Roca brother when they were young. This presentation is called “Memories of a bar in the suburbs of Girona,” a reference perhaps to the family’s traditional restaurant, just around the corner.
The three-dimensional diorama held another 5 little snack bites including breaded squid, kidneys with Sherry, meat cannelloni, a pigeon parfait, and a Campari bonbon. At the time it was served, I didn’t put two and two together with the Girona bar concept and the flavors presented. These were very contemporary interpretations of traditional dishes found at local bars and cafeterias in Catalunya.
Dining like this can be done in one of two ways. You either just enjoy every bite that is placed in front of you without thinking. To just enjoy the flavors. Or, you do what we did.
We attempted to listen to each and every description, to understand what we were eating. Then, as we ate, we tried to figure out which bite, and which flavor, matched the description. And, in a place like this, where nothing is as it seems, it’s hard to tell. During our tour of The World, we couldn’t remember which bite was which until we popped them into our mouths, and recognized the regional flavor. Similarly, during the Girona bar, we couldn’t tell which was the pigeon and which the kidney. Neither had a strong flavor of game or organ. They both just tasted amazing, creamy, and delicious.
Many times during this meal Eric exclaimed: “I don’t want to swallow.” The glutton in me continuously decried “I could eat a dozen of those.” Part of this was because the flavors were so powerful. Part was because I was still trying to decipher the flavors and how they got that way.
Our snacks continued with mussels, octopus and peas, truffles, St. George’s mushrooms, and olive ice cream, among others. But, after the 15 or so snacks, it was time to start the tasting menu. Yes, up until this point we hadn’t even started the Feast Menu.
It wasn’t until our first official course from the tasting menu that we received silverware. Thus far, everything we ate was considered snacks, or an elaborate scheme of never-ending amuse bouche. All served as tiny bites of finger food.
The fish courses were plentiful, ranging from white asparagus with mullet roe, to oysters in fennel sauce. The onion flower with comte cheese soup was the first course that truly messed with Eric’s mind. The wine served with the onion flower smelled sweet but tasted clean and crisp. The sweetness of the onion with the strength of the comte cheese reminded me of a contemporary French onion soup.
Dining at Can Roca means the fish and seafood tend to take center stage. That makes sense considering the history of the sea in Costa Brava. But, the three meat courses also did not disappoint.
We started the meats with Iberian suckling pig. “This might be the greatest pig I’ve ever eaten,” came out of Eric’s lips as he licked his fingers, while still trying to remain sophisticated. It was an elevated version of some of the best suckling pig we’d eaten, in, of all places, Dong Ha, Vietnam. For a dish at Can Roca to take us back to Asia in this way is what dining at Can Roca is all about. Once again, I didn’t want to finish it. I had a few little tiny bits of pork left on my plate, that I picked up on my moist fingertip one at a time, again just attempting to keep it classy.
At this point, I had no idea how far we were into the tasting menu. I totally lost track. All I knew was that this was the first meat course, and for Eric, he would have been pleased to end there. To go out on a high note.
The next course was lamb prepared four different ways, and include tripe, brain, and tongue. We’ve eaten tripe and tongue before, but never brain. All I can say is if all the offal were prepared this lovingly, I would eat it every day. It leads me to say “If there’s ever a time to try brain . . .” it’s while dining at Can Roca.
The final meat course was a pigeon served a few different ways and was notable mostly in its presentation. There were decorative pigeons flying off the plate. It was gorgeous.
Since moving to Girona, we’ve become regulars at Rocambolesc, Jordi Roca’s gelato shop in the center of Girona. He offers a few gelato menu items that are inspired by Can Roca desserts. To this point, I felt pretty confident that I at least knew Jordi’s style. But, even so, the desserts were a surprise.
We finally arrived at “Jordi Roca’s time” with some very unique desserts, including Rainy Forrest, Orange Colourology, and a Cuban Cigar Box. I enjoyed each of them, although the Orange Colourology was my favorite. An orange sphere, which we needed to break open to reveal the insides.
Simply put, at this point, after two dozen courses and bites, and much wine, the desserts messed with my mind. And, they were a perfect way to end our surreal experience dining at Can Roca.
During our first peek into Can Roca, we saw the wine list. Or, more correctly, the wine lists. It’s a large cart that is wheeled to the table with 3 hefty books, each of which could give the Gutenberg Bible a run for its money. One with red, one with white, and one with liquors. As all diners are sat at roughly the same time, I noticed there were several of these wine list carts, whizzing from one table to another.
I imagine if you were to select individual bottles of wine for your dinner, it could take a good hour just to consult the list(s). We chose the wine tasting menu, with a selection of Spanish and international wines. Most were wines I knew I would be tasting once, for this night only. All wines were selected by Josep Roca.
If I were dining with a group, I might have worked with the sommelier, who just won the best sommelier in Spain the night before we dined. In this case, we could have chosen 3 or 4 bottles to pair with the entire meal. But, I knew for just 2 of us, we maybe could have finished 2 bottles, being a bit tipsy by the end. I wanted to have the full experience of trying all of the different wines, rather than committing to just one or two bottles. We chose wisely. We drank some amazing wines we never otherwise would have drank.
Years ago, I watched Anthony Bourdain’s episode on Ferran Adria’s elBulli, which was once located just up the coast from Girona. Known throughout the culinary world simply as “Ferran,” his legacy on the culinary world is undeniable, even by his critics. Joan Roca spent a summer at elBulli and is obviously inspired by him, and Ferran’s footprint on the gastronomy of Catalunya.
At the time I watched Bourdain, I didn’t really understand molecular gastronomy. I didn’t understand why someone would want a tomato that looks like a cucumber and tastes like melon. Why is there so much foam? It just didn’t seem appealing to me. I wanted my food to look like food and taste like food.
Dining at Can Roca was surreal, in part, because I was curious about molecular gastronomy and the Ferran influence. ElBulli closed a few years ago, and we missed out on dining there. In this case, dining at Can Roca was not limited to foam and molecular gastronomy. Instead, it is more likely considered avant-garde cuisine. Many dishes were contemporary interpretations of traditional dishes or flavors, presented like artwork, with phenomenal flavors I couldn’t always place. It was certainly a surreal experience, but one I was fortunate to have as a culinary travel writer.
At the end of our 4+ hour dining experience, we walked back to our apartment in Girona, about a 20-minute walk, just before 1 am. I was happy to walk, even at the late hour. It not only gave us time to digest, but it gave us time to DIGEST. We talked about our meal the entire walk home and isn’t that what it’s all about. Not just digesting food that fills our bellies, but food that makes us think.
The Feast Menu at Can Roca is €205. The wine pairing menu is €90. That means a full Can Roca experience is about €300 per person. The classic tasting menu is €180, and €55 for the wine pairing. The price difference between the two menus is not extreme. My advice: go for the Can Roca Feast Menu!
El Celler de Can Roca is located on Can Sunyer, 48, just outside of the city center of Girona, about 90 minutes outside of Barcelona. We’re so close it’s possible to get to Girona in a day trip from Barcelona. Reservations required, months and months in advance!
Check out our post that provides more details on the menu at Can Roca.
Check out our recommendations for 8 unforgettable luxury experiences in Costa Brava.
Looking for More Luxury Experiences in the Costa Brava: Book a traditional Catalan cooking class (from $95), book a Costa Brava wine tasting tour (from $148), or a hot air ballon ride and breakfast over the mountains (from $237).
Learn More About Ferran Adria: For more on Ferran Adria and his legacy in Catalunya and around the world, read Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food , available on Amazon.
Learn More About Joan Roca: For more on Joan Roca and his contemporary Catalan cuisine, read El Celler De Can Roca , available on Amazon. | https://www.withhusbandintow.com/dining-at-can-roca-girona/ |
A proposed law would revamp the federal workforce criminal background check system.
Dubbed the Fair Chance Act, the proposal would ban the federal government, including federal contractors and federal agencies, from requesting or asking for the criminal history of some applicants until after the applicant receives a conditional offer for employment.
“Empowering people with records to become productive members of society instead of repeat offenders is not only fiscally sound, it’s the morally responsible thing to do,” said one of the bill’s supporters, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat. “There are millions of Americans with records who are quickly passed over by employers without considering their skills or qualifications because of their history.”
Currently, the proposal has both Democratic and Republican supporters in the House and Senate, including U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-California) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
“About nine percent of Americans — roughly 20 million people — have a felony conviction in the United States,” Rep. Issa said in a statement posted on Sen. Booker’s website. “Unfortunately, current practice ensures that the 18-year-old who makes a mistake will not only pay for his crime through the justice system, but will continue to be punished for the rest of his life, as he or she is disqualified out-of-hand from consideration for federal employment opportunities, even when qualified for the position.”
The bill would also:
“Include important exceptions for positions related to law enforcement and national security duties, positions requiring access to classified information, and positions for which access to criminal history information before the conditional offer stage is required by law.”
- “Require the Department of Labor, U.S. Census Bureau, and Bureau of Justice Statistics to issue a report on the employment statistics of formerly incarcerated individuals.”
According to the announcement, more than 70 million Americans have criminal histories ranging from civil offenses to felonies and because of that “they face improbable odds in obtaining a job as a result of an arrest or criminal conviction.”
The legislation’s supporters note that the bill is aimed at reducing recidivism by ensuring individuals with criminal records are not deterred from becoming productive members of society today, just because of blemishes on their record due to poor decisions in the past.
“Studies show that a criminal record reduces the likelihood of a callback or job offer by nearly 50 percent for men in general,” according to the announcement. “For individuals trying to turn the page on a difficult chapter in their lives, a criminal conviction poses a substantial barrier to employment.”
Presently, federal employers can ask about an applicant’s criminal history at any point in the hiring process.
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The successful restart of Linac4 on 9 February marked the start of the final countdown to LHC Run 3. Inaugurated in May 2017 after two decades of design and construction, Linac4 was connected to the next link in the accelerator chain, the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB), in 2019 at the beginning of Long Shutdown 2 and operated for physics last year. The 86 m-long accelerator now replaces the long-serving Linac2 as the source of all proton beams for CERN experiments.
On 14 February, H– ions accelerated to 160 MeV in Linac4 were sent to the PSB, with beam commissioning and physics to start in ISOLDE on 7 and 28 March. Beams will be sent to the PS on 28 February, to serve, after set-up, experiments in the East Area, the Antiproton Decelerator and n_TOF. The SPS will be commissioned with beam during the week beginning 7 March, after which beams will be supplied to the AWAKE facility and to the North Area experiments, where physics operations are due to begin on 25 April.
Meanwhile, preparations for some of the protons’ final destination, the LHC, are under way. Powering tests and magnet training in the last of the LHC’s eight sectors are scheduled to start in the week of 28 February and to last for four weeks, after which the TI12 and TI18 transfer tunnels and the LHC experiments will be closed and machine checkout will begin. LHC beam commissioning with 450 GeV protons is scheduled to start on 11 April, with collisions at 450 GeV per beam expected around 10 May. Stable beams with collisions at 6.8 TeV per beam and nominal bunch population are scheduled for 15 June. An intensity ramp-up will follow, producing collisions with 1200 bunches per beam in the week beginning 18 July on the way to over double this number of bunches. High-energy proton-proton operations will continue for 3-4 months, before the start of a month-long run with heavy ions on 14 November. All dates are subject to change as the teams grapple with LHC operations at higher luminosities and energies than those during Run 2, following significant upgrade and consolidation work completed during LS2.
Among the highlights of Run 3 are the first runs of the neutrino experiments FASERν and SND@LHC
Among the highlights of Run 3 are the first runs of the neutrino experiments FASERν and SND@LHC, as well as the greater integrated luminosities and physics capabilities resulting from upgrades of the four main LHC experiments. A special request was made by LHCb for a SMOG2 proton-helium run in 2023 to measure the antiproton production rate and thus improve understanding of the cosmic antiproton excess reported by AMS-02. Ion runs with oxygen, including proton-oxygen and oxygen-oxygen, will commence in 2023 or 2024. The former is also long-awaited by the cosmic-ray community, to help improve models of high-energy air showers, while high-energy oxygen-oxygen collisions allow studies of the emergence of collective effects in small systems. High β* runs to maximise the interaction rate will be available for the forward experiments TOTEM and LHCf in late 2022 and early 2023. | https://cerncourier.com/a/lhc-run-3-the-final-countdown/ |
New HQ but little cash for UN climate fund
The UN's new Green Climate Fund (GCF)opened its headquarters in South Korea on Wednesday, facing the key challenge of funding its mission to support low carbon projects around the world.
The GCF was essentially created as a mechanism for transferring funds from developed to developing nations to help them counter the effects of climate change.
But aside from start-up capital, its coffers are currently pretty bare and the importance of filling them as soon as possible was underlined at Wednesday's ceremony in Songdo, around 40 kilometres west of the South Korean capital Seoul.
"The imperative is now to bring the funding to operation as soon as possible," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said in a video address to the event, which was attended by World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim.
IMF head Christine Lagarde missed the ceremony when fog prevented her plane from landing.
The fund's first executive director, Hela Cheikhrouhou, acknowledged the "monumental task" that lay ahead.
"Now is the time to act to provide... leadership and the funding to keep climate change at bay," she said in a speech.
In 2009, developed countries committed to raising $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries with global warming, but current funding levels are way below that.
"I hope the funds will soon be able to deliver capital to reduce emissions... empower local farmers, and support governments and businesses to adopt low emissions and climate-resilient options," Ban said.
The question of who should bear the greatest financial burden of the fight against climate change has long been a source of friction.
Major developing nations including China and India, whose growth is largely powered by fossil fuel combustion, insist that the onus lies with wealthier nations with a far longer emissions history.
Developed nations however insists emerging economies must do their fair share.
The 2013 UN Climate Change Conference held in Warsaw last month saw 195 nations, after fraught debate for days, agree on a document urging developed countries to deliver "increasing levels" of finance for climate aid to poor and vulnerable countries up to 2020.
The document also called for a "very significant scale" of initial funding for the GCF.
Christiana Figueres, the head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), argued that it was premature to worry about the funding situation.
"The question is a little bit like asking why nobody is living in a house that is still under construction. The GCF is still under construction," she told AFP.
"Once all of that is built and decided, then the GCF will open for capitalisation and we expect it to happen in the second half of next year," she said. | https://phys.org/news/2013-12-hq-cash-climate-fund.html |
Modelling natural resource production and use for assessment of sustainability.
Wageningen University & Research
Currently researcher modelling at Biometris, Wageningen University & Research
modelling,
ecology, foraging, forestry, forest management, water management
scenario analysis
agent based modelling
individual based modelling
model quality, model evaluation, model governance
My work centers on evaluating the adaptiva capacity and proposing strategies for managing forest under climate change in both temperate and tropical areas.
My research focuses on the productivity of harvesting systems in Maine. This research generally includes on the ground observation and the conducting of time and motion studies. I recently started using agent based modelling as a tool to simulate the interaction of various machines and the change in productivity based on specific input variables.
Ecology - Natural Resources Management (Community-based management)
I worked on natural resources management modelling in STELLA. I developed a technical and scientific model to analyze soil, climate and biological conditions to explain how Bamboo ecosystem works and how people in Cundinamarca, Colombia could focus on a sustainable model for use and manage forestry resources.
Also, I worked on the seventh framework program named: Community-based management of Environmental Challenges in Latin America -COMET-LA-. The project built a learning arena with scientists, civil society and government to identify sustainable models for governance of natural resources in social-ecological systems located in a rural context from Colombia, México and Argentina.
I am interesting in research on Modelling of governance and Community-based management of natural resources.
I am a data scientist employing a variety of ecoinformatic tools to understand and improve the sustainability of complex social-ecological systems. I am also working to apply Science and Technology Studies to my modeling processes in order to make social-ecological system management more just. I prefer to work collaboratively with communities on modeling, both teaching mapping and modeling skills as well as analyzing and synthesizing community-held data as appropriate. At the same time, I look for ways to create space for qualitative and other forms of knowledge to reside alongside quantitative analysis. Recent projects include: 1) studying Californian forest dynamics using Bayesian statistical models and object-based image analysis (datasets included forest inventories and historical aerial photographs); 2) indigenous mapping and community-based modeling of agro-pastoral systems in rural Zimbabwe (methods included GPS/GIS, agent-based modeling and social network analysis).
Research focuses on the coupled dynamics of human and natural systems, specifically in the context of forest dynamics. I utilize a variety of modeling and analysis techniques, including agent-based modeling, cellular automata, machine learning and various spatial statistics and GIS-related methods. I am currently involved in projects that investigate the anthropogenic and biological drivers behind native and invasive forest pathogens and insects. | https://www.comses.net/users/?tags=forest%20management |
Establishing Scientific Classroom Discourse Communities: Multiple Voices of Teaching and Learning Research is designed to encourage discussion of issues surrounding the reform of classroom science discourse among teachers, teacher educators, and researchers. The contributors--some of the top educational researchers, linguists, and science educators in the world--represent a variety of perspectives pertaining to teaching, assessment, research, learning, and reform. As a whole the book explores the variety, complexity, and interconnectivity of issues associated with changing classroom learning communities and transforming science classroom discourse to be more representative of the discourse of scientific communities. The intent is to expand debate among educators regarding what constitutes exemplary scientific speaking, thinking, and acting. This book is unparalleled in discussing current reform issues from sociolinguistic and sociocultural perspectives. The need for a revised perspective on enduring science teaching and learning issues is established and a theoretical framework and methodology for interpreting the critique of classroom and science discourses is presented. To model and scaffold this ongoing debate, each chapter is followed by a "metalogue" in which the chapter authors and volume editors critique the issues traversed in the chapter by opening up the neatly argued issues. These "metalogues" challenge, extend, and deepen the arguments made. Central questions addressed include: *Why is a sociolinguistic interpretation essential in examining science education reform? *What are key similarities and differences between classroom and scientific communities? *How can the utility of common knowledge and existing classroom discourse be balanced toward alternative outcomes? *What curricular issues are associated with transforming classroom talk? *What other perspectives can assist in creating multiple access to science through redefining classroom discourse? Whether this volume improves readers' science teaching, assists their research, or helps them to better prepare tomorrow's science teachers, the goal is to engage them in considering the challenges faced by educators as they navigate the seas of reform and strive to improve science education for all.
- Copyright:
- 2004 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- ISBN-13:
- 9781135627980
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Date of Addition:
- 2020-05-08T13:01:35Z
- Language:
- English
- Categories:
- Communication, Education, Language Arts, Nonfiction, Science, Technology,
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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Up & running...
1/31/2015
Untitled Drawings-01·30·2015 Nos. 1, 2, 3, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches
Yesterday was a day of intense work in the studio. Looking back, it is difficult to believe I got all of this work done in one session. As usual, the drawings came first, then the painting.
The painting is relatively small (for me), but its symmetry, attention to surface, and minor versus major form, fascinates me. It is a head-on painting, with simplicity of color, and simplicity of composition. This, like the size of painting, is rather unusual for me.
No more comments from me today, except me noting that the formal qualities explored in yesterday's studio session are remarkable.
Insight requires work.
1/30/2015
Every day, when I rise from sleep, I realize the amount of work facing me. I must encourage myself to have courage. This is work. No matter how much I wish it were easy, insights do not come easy. Inspired as I am to seek and find, I must do the work. I want to know and see more quickly; there is never enough time and energy in my day. This is a long haul job. The most important insight occurring now, as I work, is the discovery of contrast as an animator of form and composition. The drawings and the painting shown today are from two days ago. The first drawing of January 28th is at the bottom. It carries through ideas insightfully discovered the day before. It is in the second drawing (the portrait head), however, that I played better with contrast. After the drawings, I went to painting. The green around those receding blocks was darkened. This higher contrast causes the painting to pop better than before. The painting is now on its way to completion. Happily, an effective increase in my artistic arsenal is readily seen.
A Note on Reproduction: The last few drawings have been on rough, slightly yellow, paper. In the portrait head you can see the yellow, but in the drawing of the abstract form (#1, bottom of page) all color was removed because a weird optical effect occurred which caused low value colors on its ground — it is reproduced in gray scale.
Insight into contrast.
1/28/2015
Untitled Drawings-01·27·2015, Nos. 1, 2, 3, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches
Please look at everything! Yesterday was a wondrous and eventful day in the studio. The middle section of my studio-time was give to the portrait drawing shown below. It was a revelation in the making — it was controlled expression! I sustained sensitivity and feeling throughout its creation. In the past I had not been able to maintain expressive energy throughout the making of a drawing as complex as this one. If anything sums up yesterday's insight it is this: the use of contrast to animate forms. This is most apparent in the portrait drawing. It followed me into the painting. However, after finishing Drawing #4, my remaining time in the studio was limited. This insight did not have enough time to be fully expressed in the painting.
The problem with nuances.
1/27/2015
I have made things more difficult for myself. I feel nervous and in a hurry, yet unable to rush. The nuances are insistent. My painting is calling for extreme attention to details. For instance, the blocks near the center of painting lack adequate contrast (light versus dark). Today's reproduction of painting Untitled Painting-01·06·2015, and all my reproductions, are imperfect. The more I attend to nuance the further the reproductions remove themselves from reality. Here is another "for instance": the background's rhythmic undulation of flatly drawn, mountain like peaks, moves from Pure Cadmium Orange on the left to Pure Cadmium Red Medium on the right, yet you can not see this in today's reproduction. I tried to get it right, but the complexity of the all the nuances present in this painting forced me to compromise to get this reproduction as close to authenticity as it now appears. There is no full success in reproducing art works on the web or on paper!
I am struggling to be open and free, but time is limited and insights are unlimited. What to do? I choose to struggle on.
Untitled Drawings-01·25·2015, Nos. 1, 2, 3, pencil on paper, 11X14 inches
Express Train to ❓❓❓
1/25/2015
Who am I to know where this is going❓
Falderal OR Intuitive Articulation?
1/24/2015
What can I tell you? It happens! There are days when I go through the motions of art-making while feeling distracted by emotional issues outside of my personal concerns. Yesterday was one of those days. Conceivably, or surprisingly, this confusion is illustrated in yesterday's unusual drawing. The man in the left panel is obviously interested in the confusion in the right panel. The right panel contains, perhaps, a head on feet covered by something like white, opaque, plastic wrap — also a blade-like object penetrates it though its top. If this drawing speaks deeply about my emotional life, in my day that was yesterday, then there is a "golly!" and a "gadzooks!" in this revelation. Could it be that I speak intuitively even when I feel awash in concerns outside myself?
Two Days & More Questions
1/23/2015
Can you see where these are going? I can not! Back and forth, and all around, they go from figurative to abstract. Consistent is their interest in form and composition. The one obvious is my struggle for authentic expression. Most gratifying is their high quality. It is my search for a simple means to accurate expression that forces upon me the letting go of the falderal. These drawings are moving me toward the point, to the reason, for making drawings. This seems odd to convey, but looking back, I believe most of my artistic career, and perhaps most of my career as living being, has been dedicated to activity as education, not activity as self-expression. There is a hump in one's path. It is the impediment to becoming an expressive entity. That hump is education. I don't mean education as simple information gathering. Good education is trial and error, a colloquy of learning. If successful, one's education gives one the means to decipher the particles in the cloud through which we walk in our daily existence. Most of these particles are required for simple sustenance, but it is those of the metaphysical that are really interesting to me. Mere sustenance can muddle, and even obscure, that which is truly important to understanding oneself. It is my job, as artist, to move through the cloud, to inspect the individual particles that are the cloud, to grab and place in my arsenal those particle that sing truly the language of myself. The rest of the particles are there as support, like the sunshine. Without sunshine we could not exist, but sunshine does not express the metaphysical angst that is the reason for waking up every day and screaming, "We exist for a reason!"
On the contrary!
1/21/2015
Everything I do has a contrarian possibility. This is nothing to sneeze about. Going, going...
Across the great divide.
1/18/2015
If nothing else, the reproductions are denser, more informative, since I have gone to photographing in RAW Format. I write this because the divide between where and whence and now and here is narrowing, but, as usual, I am impatient. I will take satisfaction anywhere I can get it. That said, there is much satisfaction in yesterday's one drawing. This last sentence may appear confusing, since I have complained about the presence of a divide. Complaints have their degree of correctness. Mine here may be shallow, but it is annoyingly true. I'm thinking about the inherent confusion which I carry because I have a desire to meld my need to continue to think figuratively with my need to express abstractly. Stepping back, observing yesterday's drawing, is informative. The top half of the drawing is abstract in form and in its quality of execution. It felt right to stop with sparsity of line. This barely-rendered, igneous boulder, plays directly over a much more refined image of a reticent, guarded, reluctant man, who cowers in his confusion. Thus an abstract form plays with (and against) the concrete figure. Apt it is. It speaks of me tackling the great divide with wonderment and respect.
Emotional practice?
1/17/2015
One of the changes that appears today is the manner of reproduction. I began by taking the photos of my work in RAW Format, rather than JPEG Format. This increases the amount of accessable data, but also increases the amount of work I needed to do to prepare the images for publication. But technical problems of reproduction is not the reason I write this blog, so let me get to the important stuff. Most remarkable to me about yesterday's work is the portrait drawing, Untitled Drawing #6 (see below, then CLICK on the drawing to ENLARGE for better viewing). Thus my title. This drawing is emotionally more subtle than any figurative work I have done in the last month or so. Looking at art-making through the lens of abstraction has increased my visual-emotional acuity. I believe it to be one of the best figurative drawings I have ever made. It is filled with emotional subtlety and also with subtlety of light, form, and composition. This is proof I have expanded my emotional range as well as my formal range. My work is simply better in every way.
All drawings are pencil on 14X11 inch paper.
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To read my profile go to MEHRBACH.com.
At MEHRBACH.com you may view many of my paintings and drawings, past and present, and see details about my life and work. | https://www.mehrblog.org/making-art/archives/01-2015 |
Absent a significant reduction in gun violence it appears likely that New Orleans will see another jump in murder in 2017.
Thus concluded my 2017 murder forecast published late in December 2016. As we approach nearly five full months into the year it is apparent that both the conclusions and the underlying analysis were spot on.
Comparing murders, shootings and shooting victims through May 17 shows all three are up over 40 percent relative to the same time period in 2016. (Note the 2017 murder total includes Deborah Cotton who was shot in 2013 but died in 2017. That incident has not yet been classified as a murder by the coroner).
The original 2017 forecast piece used Calls for Service with the signal ‘discharging firearms’ (or signal 94) to show how much worse things were getting at the time and how that portended to a bad year unless something dramatic happened.
So what has changed now that we are now in late May? Not a ton.
First a quick note: NOPD’s Calls for Service database provides information on both the final signal that an incident was given as well as the initial signal of the event given by the dispatcher. The vast majority (83.3%) of calls that are initially signal 94 result in that same final type. But sometimes they change to murders, criminal damage, non-fatal shootings, etc. The below chart shows the number of initial Calls for Service marked as 94 per month (note: I’ve removed those signal 94 calls that were ultimately deemed to be fireworks. I also artificially smoothed the days before and after New Year’s Day and July 4th for the sake of accuracy. Because of a quirk in NOPD’s database the initial type of a call is only available from September 2013 on).
As can be seen discharging firearms increased slowly throughout the second half of 2016 before dramatically increasing from October 2016 through January 2017. The last four months have been relatively stable at a level about 22 percent higher than the monthly average from January 2014 to September 2016.
The result of more firearm discharge reports has been more shootings as shown in the below graph. This graph charts the number of actual shooting incidents over 180 days (blue line) versus the number of expected shooting incidents over 180 days. The latter is calculated by dividing the number of discharging firearm incidents over 180 days by 7.57 which is the number of discharging firearm incidents per shooting from September 2013 to present.
The correlation between expected and actual shootings is quite strong (R = .94) and this chart strongly suggests that shootings have been up because of higher gunfire, not because of bad luck. Applying the same idea to fatal shootings shows the correlation to be slightly less strong (R = .72) but that we can expect one person to be fatally shot for every 21.4 discharging firearm incidents. The above graph strongly suggests that, while murder and shootings are up big, things could definitely get much worse at the current level of gun violence. Indeed, the fatal shooting victim chart tends to swing wildly every six months or so which is highlighted by the below scatter plot. Here I charted the difference between the expected and actual fatal shooting victim for every day from mid-2014 along the X-Axis and the swing from exactly 180 days prior along the Y-Axis.
The red dot is May 17th, 2017 and the yellow dot is 180 days ago on November 19, 2016. The top left quadrant shows times of good luck over the last 180 days and bad luck over the preceding 180 days while the bottom right quadrant shows the exact opposite. Today, for example, the city has had 18.2 fewer fatal shooting victims over the last 180 days than expected while on November 19 there had been 13.8 more fatal shooting victims over the preceding 180 days, a lucky swing of 32.
This chart is intended to show how good luck over an extended period of time is almost always replaced with bad luck over an extended period of time and vice versa. Indeed luck swung in 84.3 percent of dots on that graph.
Where will 2017 end up? The math suggests it runs the gamut from slightly bad relative to 2016 to horrifically bad unless the average level of gunfire the city has experienced over the last 8 months decreases significantly.
The main assumption for this forecast is that the level of firearm discharges will remain at roughly the same level they’ve been the last four months at 318 or so per month. Also assuming there’s average luck in terms of shootings over the rest of the year means that 318 discharges per month would translate to about 2,380 discharging firearm incidents over the remainder of the year which, on average, would translate to 314 more shooting incidents.
Two other factors to take into account are the number of non-gun murders (stabbings, drownings, beatings, etc) and the number of non-murder homicides (not all fatal shootings are murders) that are likely to occur over the next 7+ months. On average between 2010 and 2016 there were 6.5 more non-gun murders than non-murder homicides between May 17 and the end of the year.
So the year end murder forecast equation will be the anticipated number of fatal shooting victims at the current rate of violence teased out over the rest of the year + 6.5 + 77 (the current murder total).
The below table produces a pretty wide range of possibilities all of which show a rise in murder over last year’s 174 murders. The good luck scenario sees only a tiny rise while the bad luck scenarios show the city having more murders than any post-Katrina year.
The good luck scenario involves the current ratio of fatal gunshot victims per initial firearm discharge incident (25.9 to 1) continues over the rest of the year.
The average luck scenario puts the ratio at 21.4 to 1 which is the average ratio from September 2013 to present.
The slightly bad luck scenario lowers the ratio to 19 to 1 which is about where it was 180 days ago.
And the really bad luck puts the ratio at 17.2 to 1 which is the worst sustained luck the city has had in the last few years during the first half of 2015.
The main assumption driving the pessimist case is that the level of gun violence will continue at the rate of the last four months for the rest of the year. The case for optimism (or, more accurately, less pessimism) is that there’s no inherent reason the trend over the last four months has to continue over the next seven. Maybe things get worse, but maybe they get better and return to the 2014 to mid-2016 level.
There may be a few small signs of improvement of late. The average daily number of discharging firearm incidents has decreased from 11.3 per day in February to 10.6 in March, 10.3 in April and 10.27 so far in May. In addition the last four days have seen the fewest discharge incidents of any four day stretch since September 2016 (of course there have been 10 shootings and 5 murders over that stretch so not a ton of consolation there).
While there’s no reason gun violence can’t decrease, there’s also no evidence presently available that it will inherently decrease. If the level of gunfire stays roughly the same over the remainder of the year, therefore, the strongest likelihood is that New Orleans will see a big jump in murder in 2017 possibly to levels not seen since pre-Katrina. | https://nolacrimenews.com/2017/05/19/the-pessimists-data-driven-murder-forecast-for-the-rest-of-2017-in-nola/ |
Exercise: What are the Terminal States in MountainCar?
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RL vs. Other Forms of ML (Supervised/Unsupervised Learning) (11:38)
Policy (20:34)
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Model Based vs. Model Free Learning (6:57)
Modifying Gym Environments With Wrappers (56:40)
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Lake Washington Half Marathon
This was the final remaining race from the 2020 season, except it was originally supposed to be the Lake Sammamish Half Marathon in March as a build up to Boston in April. It was the first in a long series of race cancellations. So finally after a twenty-month delay, I ran the half marathon along a different lake than I originally anticipated. It was a very well organized race and it certainly exceeded my expectations for a road race.
The race got underway at 8AM on November 6th under misty cloudy skies from Juanita Beach Park. I started off fairly quick trying my best to stick close to the police escort bike. I started off in the lead and clicked off the first mile in 5:29. From there I settled into a more reasonable pace in second position. The course transitioned from Juanita Beach Park to Lake Washington Boulevard and we followed the road to Yarrow Bay Wetlands.
I ran the first 5 kilometers in 17:48 and around mile 5.4 the course ascended a steep hill to the Cross Kirkland Corridor trail. I ran the next 5 kilometers in 18:23 (36:11 10 kilometers). The Cross Kirkland Corridor trail was quite flat and smooth and I covered the next 5 kilometers in 18:16 (54:27 15 kilometers).
At mile 10 (58:22), the course returned to the slippery wet pavement en route back to Juanita Park. I began my kick along Forbes Creek, but a steep hill at mile 11.7 slowed my rhythm slightly. I got back on pace once I reentered Juanita Beach Park and followed the Old Market Street trail. I covered the final 5 kilometers in 18:11 (1:12:38 20 kilometers). The final 400 meters of the course was quite twisty and slippery, but I managed to stay upright and I crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 1:17:13.
The rain began to pour as I finished the race and I became quite cold during the post race cool down. I was quite happy with the result of the race, despite being about 4 minutes off of my half marathon personal best. I do feel that despite seeming fairly flat, the Lake Washington Half was a little hillier than I anticipated. I do also believe the course was a little harder than the Cleveland Fall Classic Half Marathon route where I ran 1:13:05 back in 2010. | https://blewskersmiles.com/lake-washington-half-marathon/ |
Gene Behind “Mysterious” Soil Virus Seen for the First Time
In every handful of soil, there are billions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, all working to sustain the cycle of life. Understanding how these microorganisms interact with one another helps scientists analyze soil health, soil carbon and nutrient cycling, and even the ways in which dead insects decompose.
Soil viruses contain genes that appear to have some metabolic function, but they are clearly not required for normal viral replication. These genes are called auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) and they produce proteins, some of which are enzymes that have a variety of functions. Until now, scientists have wondered whether some AMG proteins play a role in critical soil processes, like carbon cycling. To find out more about soil AMGs, researchers determined the atomic structure of a protein that is expressed by a particular AMG.
Specifically, researchers irradiated fragile crystallized protein samples with high-brightness X-rays generated by the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource’s (SSRL) Beam Line 12-2 at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The X-rays struck the proteins within the crystal samples, revealing their molecular structures and a bit of the mystery behind their makeup.
AMGs do not, like many viral genes, help a virus replicate. Instead, they encode for a variety of proteins, each with their own predicted function. The AMG that was expressed was a putative enzyme that plays a key role in how soils process and cycle carbon in the biosphere.
“We saw the location of every atom in the viral protein, which helps us figure out how it functions,” Clyde Smith, SSRL senior researcher and co-author, said. “We were amazed to see that the protein resembles known atomic structures of related bacterial and fungal enzyme families, but also contained totally new pieces.”
The detailed atomic structure is unprecedented and reveals for the first time the potential mechanism of this novel enzyme that could play an important role in soil ecology, Janet K. Jansson, chief scientist at the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and co-author, said.
“Our collaboration with SLAC has enabled us to decipher previously unknown functions carried out by soil viruses,” Jansson said.
The research team from SSRL, PNNL, and the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) at the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published their results today in Nature Communications.
Breaking down chitin
Researchers think that the viral AMG in the study encodes an enzyme that performs a degradation reaction on chitin. Chitin is the second most abundant carbon biopolymer on the planet after cellulose and is a part of an insect’s exoskeleton and the cell walls of most fungi.
The viral AMG in the study is known as a chitosanase protein, and from sequence analysis was identified as a member of the glycosyl hydrolase GH75 family. This protein could be acting like a garden hoe for the soil – i.e., a tool that helps to prepare soil for vegetables, trees, flowers and all other kinds of life.
Capturing the atomic structure of the chitosanase protein required more than 5,000 images taken from the crystal samples. Piecing together these images revealed that parts of the protein’s structure resembled a known group of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes from the glycosyl hydrolase GH45 family. However, the chitosanase protein contained other molecular pieces that did not look like those found in GH45, or in any other known protein structures, which means its role in soil cycling remains open to further studies, Smith said.
“There is a part of the enzyme that is completely new and novel. That’s what’s exciting to me as a structural biologist – to see something we have not seen before, and then try to figure out what its role might be,” Smith said.
Future research could lead to an understanding about why AMGs exist in the first place, since they do not help a virus replicate, Smith said. Additionally, researchers could learn more about other AMGs carried by soil viruses and whether or not they play a functional role in the soil ecosystem.
“One of the big questions coming from this finding is, ‘What in the soil needs that carbon in the chitin?’” Smith said. “Answers to questions like this will lead to a deeper understanding about the interaction of the multitude of microorganisms in the soil, the movement of nutrients and essential molecules, and the overall health of the soil.”
Reference: Wu R, Smith CA, Buchko GW, et al. Structural characterization of a soil viral auxiliary metabolic gene product – a functional chitosanase. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):5485. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32993-8
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. | https://www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/news/gene-behind-mysterious-soil-virus-seen-for-the-first-time-365841 |
As a result of suspended activity on campus, the IT Help Desk has been receiving hundreds of requests for Remote Desktop access from faculty and staff members who are working from home. The number of requests has quickly overwhelmed IT staff. Please be aware that in some cases, Remote Desktop access is not necessary, as many campus resources are accessible directly from personal devices at home. Please read the information below to ensure you understand how this technology works, and whether or not it is necessary for your particular situation. We ask that you have patience as we move through your requests.
Remote Desktop Connection only works from
- PC (Windows) to PC (Windows), or
- Apple (Mac) to PC (Windows)
Remote Desktop Connection does not work from
- Apple (Mac) to Apple (Mac), or
- PC (Windows) to Apple (Mac).
In other words, one can only remote in to a PC (Windows) device. This is not because of the Buffalo State IT setup; it is simply the way the tool is designed.
Remote Desktop is necessary if
- one needs to use Banner Admin Pages,
- one needs to use applications that are not available on one’s home computer or laptop, but are available on the campus device that one is remotely accessing, or
- one needs to access files that are not on one’s home computer or laptop and not available in Office 365, including network drives and shares.
NOTE: If you have a fairly new campus-owned Dell laptop at home (one that was set up by campus IT), you should be able to access your network folders and files directly from your laptop just as you would if you were on campus.
Remote Desktop is not necessary if
- one needs access to programs like MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel; all faculty and staff members may download and install MS Office on personal devices),
- one needs to access Banner Self-Service (SSB), or
- one needs to access one’s campus e-mail.
Please remember: DO NOT choose the “Shutdown” option when ending your session!
If you already use Remote Desktop Connection, make sure you do not choose the Shutdown option. Rather, just sign out or disconnect. If you choose Shutdown, you will not be able to remote in again!
You MUST request Remote Desktop access if you need it.
- Watching the video does not grant access.
- IT must create an individual configuration so that Remote Desktop will work for your campus desktop.
- You must complete a Remote Desktop access ticket to have the service enabled.
If you have completed the video tutorial, please include this information when you open your Remote Desktop access ticket.
Buffalo State Software Directory
Remember to sign in in the upper right corner of the Buffalo State IT Service Catalog so that you see all resources to which you have access. | https://dailybulletin.buffalostate.edu/answers-your-remote-access-questions?month=2020-03&var=2020-03-24 |
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CNI Spring 2020 Virtual Membership Meeting
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Meeting registrants have received information on how to sign up for live webcasts (to take place between Monday, March 30 and Friday, May 29). Videos of most participating
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Emergency Planning in a Time of Crisis
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This project briefing proposes to detail how, near the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in February 2020, Clemson Libraries undertook a comprehensive planning process to prepare for a situation that appeared increasingly likely: an extended emergency closure of campus facilities and operations. The planning process focused on two key objectives: delivering as many of our services as possible to our users from a distance; and preparing our employees, with varying levels of technology literacy and internet access, to work remotely from home. First, we developed an exhaustive list of the services available through the Libraries and determined which of those services could be moved into an online environment in some capacity or expanded to meet the demand of remote students and faculty, such as our scan and deliver service. Second, the Libraries drafted an Emergency Action Plan for technology to accomplish three primary goals: ensure that emergency preparedness documents and contacts were updated and available to all library employees; ensure that employees had the technology necessary to perform basic work functions at home, including a computer, network connection, and access to core software applications; and ensure that employees were trained to successfully work from home, easily communicate with co-workers, and share documents. The Emergency Action Plan included a survey of all library employees to determine how many of them had a computer, secure network, webcam, and/or headset available at home, as well as a pilot “Work from Home” course designed in Canvas to prepare employees in the use of a suite of technology tools for remote work. Thanks to this preliminary planning, Clemson Libraries experienced a relatively smooth transition to the remote working environment and was better positioned to meet the research, teaching, and learning needs of our community in a time of crisis.
https://www.cni.org/topics/user-services/emergency-planning-in-a-time-of-crisis
Speakers
Christopher Cox
Dean of Libraries, Clemson University
Christopher Vinson
Head of Library Technology, Clemson University
Monday May 18, 2020 1:30pm - 2:00pm EDT
Project Briefing
Need help? | https://cnispring2020membershipmeeting.sched.com/event/bsOd/emergency-planning-in-a-time-of-crisis |
How to Promote Gut Health
If you’re suffering from digestive issues, learning how to improve gut health is crucial. This article offers tips on how to consume a balanced diet and avoid monosaccharides in hidden sources. Avoid sugar, processed foods, NSAIDs, and other artificial sweeteners. Avoid medications such as aspirin and eat a variety of whole foods that are rich in polyphenols. It is crucial to maintain the health of your digestive tract.
Diversify your diet
One of the most effective methods to improve the health of your gut microbiome is to diversify your diet. A western diet is characterised by a lack of variety due to the high levels of fat, sugar and processed food. However eating a diverse diet will encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria. To broaden the range of your diet, you should focus on whole fruits such as vegetables, nuts seeds, whole grains, and legumes. Include these foods in your meals and snacks.
The typical American diet is full of processed food including sugar, dairy products with high fat content. These foods can make it more difficult for our digestive systems to function properly, which can result in toxic byproducts. In addition, diets rich in refined and processed carbohydrates cause inflammation and decrease the diversity of microbiome. A varied diet can improve digestion and overall health. You can improve your gut health by including more fruits and vegetables in your meals every day.
Avoid hiding monosaccharides from hidden sources.
Dietary modifications can help you avoid hidden sources of monosaccharides and promote gut health. Make sure you eat fermented veggies, unprocessed beef, and fiber-rich vegetables. Certain foods can actually harm the beneficial bacteria in the gut. If you’re seeking a diet that helps to improve gut health, you should try cutting out foods that cause digestive symptoms such as sugar and gluten. Probiotic supplements are another option. Probiotic supplements help build beneficial bacteria within your body. Chronic stress can cause damage to beneficial bacteria in your gut.
Research shows that eating a diet rich in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids can help regulate the amount of pro-inflammatory bacteria that reside in the gut. Gut health is also improved by flavonoids. Foods of the cabbage family and vegetable broths are excellent sources of flavonoids. These are essential for promoting healthy gut bacteria. Drink plenty of water, stay clear of drinking alcohol and limit consumption of processed foods.
Eat foods rich in polyphenols
Polyphenols, which are a type of antioxidant, are found in many plants. They help to protect the body from illness and can improve the gut microbiome. Polyphenols are abundant in vibrant fruits and vegetables. A diet high in fruits and vegetables is better for those who are at less risk of developing diseases. Include more natural foods , such as vegetables, fruits, and avoid foods that are processed or have added chemicals.
Flavonoids are the biggest class of polyphenols. They include quercetin, which is well-known and anthocyanin. Black and green teas are excellent sources of polyphenols, and contain a substantial amount of these substances. Certain of these are known to have anti-cancer properties. Here are some tips to help you incorporate enough polyphenols into your diet.
Avoid NSAIDs
While NSAIDs are usually prescribed to treat pain, they can have negative effects on the gut. Inflammation may cause ulcers, bleeding or other symptoms. They can be a contributing factor to long-term issues with the gut such as leaky gut syndrome, IBS, and Crohn’s disease. To maintain gut health and avoid side consequences, it’s recommended to avoid NSAIDs.
Although antibiotics are an effective treatment for serious bacterial infections they are frequently misunderstood and used too often. Because of this, antibiotics should only only be used when prescribed by your physician and should not be used to treat self-resolving infections. The normal balance of bacteria in the gut is disturbed by antibiotics and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This is why avoiding NSAIDs is vital to promote gut health.
Drink fermentable fiber
One of the best ways to improve your health is by eating more fiber. This is not a hard job, and you can discover a variety of fiber-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables whole grains, whole grains, and VINA sodas. All of these foods are essential to a the healthy gut microbiome. Fiber is vital to maintain healthy cholesterol levels and lowering blood pressure.
Recent advances in microbiome research have led to an increasing number of probiotics and prebiotic components that can improve the health of your gut. Prebiotic fermentation can boost the immune system, improve blood cholesterol levels, and continues to be studied. Although the exact role of these products remains to be determined, there are many advantages. One study found that fermentable fibers may enhance glycemic control. Other studies didn’t show any effect.
Exercise
In a study that was just published, researchers at the University of New Mexico found that regular exercise is beneficial to the health of the gut. Exercise can promote healthy growth of bacteria and is crucial to our overall well-being. This will, in turn, improve our moods and psychological health. It is also a major element in neurogenesis, which is responsible for the creation of new neural connections in our brains. You should choose a type of exercise that improves gut health.
Two previously inactive individuals, men and women, were followed for six months to observe the effects of exercise on their gut microbiome. Particularly, both groups showed improvements in the composition of gut bacteria and also higher concentrations of metabolites that are physiologically relevant. Furthermore, both aerobic exercise and voluntary wheel running resulted in an increase in the amount of gut bacteria. These results are encouraging, but more research is required to confirm these findings. | https://www.thinktwicepakistan.com/gut-health-shot-recipe/ |
The quest for a million-year ice record
The world’s ice sheets are our best record of what the climate was like thousands of years ago. Now an international team has begun the search for a million-year ice core from the continent’s deepest ice. [30 December 2008 | Peter Boyer]
While you’re enjoying your festive season here in temperate Tasmania, spare a thought for eight intrepid Australians spending their summer high on the Antarctic icecap in a multi-year quest for the world’s oldest ice.
A profile of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet showing the continental rock below the ice. In Aurora Basin this rock is below sea level.
The Australians, led by glaciologist Dr Mark Curran of the Tasmanian-based Australian Antarctic Division, are part of a 12-strong international ice-drilling team that includes scientists from Denmark and the United States.
This summer the team is based in Aurora Basin, a large depression in the rocky terrain that underlies the vast East Antarctic ice sheet, 600 km inland from the Australian station of Casey.
The rocks of Aurora Basin are below sea level. The ice sheet above is well over four kilometres thick, and the ice at its base formed from falling snow around a million years ago. As the snow fell, it trapped tiny bubbles of air, each bubble a micro-record of Earth’s atmosphere at the time.
The climate history of our 4.5-billion-year-old planet has been attracting a lot of attention in recent years, as scientists grappling with the implications of today’s changing climate seek to put this in a longer-term context.
To study the climate in very early times of Earth’s history, scientists analyse ancient rocks. These indicate atmospheres very different from now, with carbon dioxide levels often several times those of today and atmospheric oxygen virtually non-existent.
Studies of isotopes in sedimentary rocks have indicated that over millions of years carbon dioxide levels fluctuated greatly, but around 35 million years ago they began to drop and by about 20 million years ago had stabilised to between 200 and 350 parts per million.
Ice cores give a much clearer picture of the changing composition of our atmosphere, though over a much shorter time span. So far, drilling teams in Greenland and Antarctica, the world’s two largest ice sheets, have recovered ice cores dating back about 650,000 years.
These cores show that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere varied between about 180 parts per million, during ice ages, and 290 parts per million, in warmer times between the ice ages.
One aim of this international program is to obtain an array of ice core records covering the past 2000 years. Ice records show that for most of this time the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide was fairly steady, but in the 1800s began to climb. It’s now increasing at a rate not seen in the entire 650,000 years of the ice record, and now stands at over 380 parts per million.
The drilling will also help explore what seems to be a link between Antarctic snowfall and the climate of south-western Australia, first identified by Hobart-based glaciologist Dr Tas van Ommen, a member of the Aurora drilling team. This study will be helped by current snowfall data from a new automatic weather station to be left at the drill site.
The complexities of drilling so deep in such a remote place mean that we’re still a few years away from the million-year ice record, but at least the group won’t have to put up with a long wait for data from their ice cores – a real problem for past drilling programs.
New instruments developed by US scientist Dr Joe McConnell (also a member of the Aurora team) produce ice-core data within months, a process that previously took many years. Time is our enemy in the battle against climate change, so this is something to applaud.
| |
A team of scientists will be heading to one of the most hostile environments on the planet this month in a bid to find the oldest ice on Earth.
The European team aim to search for a suitable site to drill an ice core in East Antarctica to capture 1.5 million years of Earth's climate history.
Once a suitable site is found, scientists will drill from the surface to the bed at nearly 3km (1.86 miles) to extract an ice core.
Researchers will then extract air from tiny bubbles trapped in the ice, helping them understand how the atmosphere's composition has changed over time.
The project, Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice (BE-OI), will answer important questions about big shifts in the past record of Earth's climate.
Dr Robert Mulvaney, ice core scientist from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK partner in the project based in Madingley Road, Cambridge , said: "In the early 2000s we drilled an ice core from Antarctica that gave us a climate record going back 800,000 years.
"Now we want to double the length of that record to investigate an important shift in Earth's climate around one million years ago, when the planet's climate cycle between cold glacial conditions and warmer interludes changed from being dominated by a 41,000-year pattern to a 100,000 year cycle."
Understanding what controlled the shift in the Earth's glacial cycles, and whether increasing carbon dioxide levels played a part, along with factors such as changes in the Earth's rotational tilt, will help scientists to understand better how ice sheets will behave as the world warms.
Dr Mulvaney said: "We need to understand the interaction between the Earth's atmosphere and climate in very different conditions in the past if we are to be sure we can predict the future climate response to increasing greenhouse gases.
"There is no other place on Earth that retains such a long a record of the past atmosphere other than the Antarctic ice sheet, and it is tremendously exciting to be embarking now on the journey to recover this record."
The team will survey several sites - at and near Little Dome C just 50 kms from the previous EPICA drill site located at the French-Italian research station Dome Concordia in East Antarctica.
The average annual temperatures at Dome C are below -54 degrees Celsius and is known to be one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
Researchers will travel hundreds of kilometres by tractor and skidoo over snow where blizzards are common.
They will use radar towed behind a snow tractor, and drill test boreholes, so they can determine the suitability of the site and the terrain at the bedrock beneath the ice.
The researchers, together with other BE-OI partners, will investigate the ice sheet's thickness, its physical properties and the topography of the underlying bedrock at two different sites.
Ice thickness is a first indicator of past ice, as different snow accumulation, ice flow behaviour and the temperature at the bottom determine whether old ice remains near the base of the ice sheet.
Project coordinator and glaciologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Professor Olaf Eisen said: "During previous studies we determined key regions where we expect the oldest continuous ice record on Earth.
"Now we have to prove this and it is important that we learn as much as possible about deposition processes and the composition of the ice."
Once a suitable drilling site is found, scientists will embark on a second phase multi-year project to extract an ice core from the surface to the bed at nearly 3km depth.
Laboratories across Europe will analyse this ice to determine how the climate and the atmosphere have interacted over the past 1.5 million years.
BE-OI is the European contribution of an international effort costing 2.2 million Euros for a suitable site for ice-core deep drilling.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) delivers and enables world-leading research in the Polar Regions.
Its skilled science and support staff based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, work together to deliver research that uses the Polar Regions to advance our understanding of Earth as a sustainable planet. | https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/c-old-ice-team-scientists-12170133 |
The 2nd steering committee meeting of the EU ERASMUS+ project titled “Employer programme for Hospitality and Tourism” has been successfully concluded last week. The meeting took place during the period 19 to 20 June at the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Crete, Greece. The purpose of the project is the development and formalization of partnership processes between the tourism – hospitality private sector, tertiary educational institutions offering programmes of studies in tourism and hospitality and students, through a state – of – the art and innovative employer programme, that is tailored made to the needs of the tourism and hospitality sector.
The department of Business Administration (Heraklion) of TEI Crete participates in the above mentioned research programme as a research partner. The remaining of the research partners in the programme originate from four (4) other countries across the European Union. More specifically, research partners in the programme come from Cyprus (Higher Hotel Institute of Cyprus, and Mediterranean Management Centre), Finland (Technological University of Tampere), Italy (Grouppo4), and Spain (DΟCUMENTA).
During the 1st day of the project meeting (19th June), the main results from the primary research survey conducted by the three academic institutions across three (3) EU countries (Cyprus, Greece, Finland), were presented. Participants in the survey were drawn from academia (professors and academics), industry professionals, as well as students. The objective of the survey was set twofold. On the one hand to facilitate the identification of gaps that exist in the partnerships between industry professionals and academic institutions offering tertiary level tourism education. On the other hand, to offer solutions with respect to the development of strategic partnerships that can be mutually beneficial for all stakeholders involved (industry professionals, the academia and students).
The second day (20th of June), the meeting focused upon the planning and organization of a recommendations report for all stakeholders involved in the process. This recommendations report will focus on the development of best practice processes and initiatives that would facilitate the strategic co-operation between the tourism – hospitality sector and academia. A set of recommendations will develop out of the analysis of the empirical results derived from the survey research mentioned earlier on as well as the analysis of a set of best practice cases in the area of employer programmes in tourism and hospitality across Europe. It is envisaged that the investigation, processing and analysis of these best practice cases in tourism and hospitality will provide a set of policy and managerial recommendations that could either be implemented directly in the countries participating into the project, implemented at will depending on each country’s needs and particularities, or even to formulate the foundations for new and innovative practices and processes for strategic partnerships among stakeholders.
The next steps in the Employer Programme for Hospitality and Tourism research porgramme revolve around the identification and analysis of best practices of employer programmes between industry professionals and academia in the tourism and hospitality sector, as well as the development of an operational manual that would describe the steps and the procedures for partnering industry professionals with academia and academics in tourism and hospitality. Even further, partners in the programme will complete a series of meetings and networking activities in order to disseminate the empirical results derived from the research. The objective is to achieve a much tighter and effective networking and co-operations among the potential stakeholders and the maximization of the benefits derived from participation in the Employer programme. | https://www.documenta.es/en/2nd-steering-committee-meeting-of-the-eu-erasmus-project-titled-employer-programme-for-hospitality-and-tourism/ |
The handsome, stately kudu is so revered that it serves as the logo for South Africa's National Parks Board.
Greater kudus have slender, long bodies, short tails and white stripes along the side of its body. It is best identified and distinguished from other antelope by its long, heavily curled horns, its brown coat of fur and its big ears. Both males and females have the same color fur and build, although females are a bit smaller and do not have horns on their heads at all. Their horns are some of the most magnificent found among African antelope, and go grow to a staggering 72 inches or 182cm in length, despite them being so heavily curled. Greater kudu bulls usually weigh between 200- 270kg (440 – 600lb) with cows weighing between 120 –210kg (295 – 460lb). Their life expectancy in the wild is around 8 years of age.
Greater kudus are found extensively throughout Southern Africa, in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia and even further north in Tanzania, Kenya and parts of Angola although the populations in some of these areas aren’t always that big. In the Kruger National Park they can be found in any of the woodland areas or Mopani forests. Woodland areas can be found just south of the central grasslands where there are more trees and less open space, while the Mopane forests of the Kruger fall near Mopani rest camp.
Their current conservation status is labeled as ‘least concern’. The greater kudu population in the Kruger National Park alone is estimated between 11 200 and 17 300 individuals. Other national parks in Southern Africa have greater kudu populations that are just as healthy, such as the Etosha National park in Namibia and Central Kalahari National Park in Botswana, among many others. Roughly 482 000 individual greater kudus roam the plains of Africa according to studies for the IUCN red list in 2008. They high population and population density indicate that this species is in no threat currently and is very healthy overall
Greater Kudus have frequently been spotted enjoying the patchy shade of Acacia trees, shielding them from the hot African sun, feasting on the leaves of small shrubs and other trees as if they were a green delicacy. Woodland, savanna and arid-savanna areas are exactly what is being described here in this wondrous, picture perfect extract of the lifestyle of these big-eared antelope as they graze and browse by day. They share this space with many of their cousins, as well as some of their enemies out to make a decadent meal out of them.
Kudus are non-territorial, and are actively in search of food, water and other necessities at any time of the day or night. They form herds, ranging from 5 to 20 individuals for female and offspring herds, while all-male or bachelor herds are usually much smaller, although most males remain solitary most of the year, only joining a herd during the mating season. Different herds give each other space during the rainy season when vegetation is at its peak and there is enough food virtually anywhere for any particular herd, but during the dry season when food is scarce, they may join up in certain areas simply because there is a food or water supply to support them.
Although these creatures are not territorial, they have a certain area in which they live known as a home area. In the case of female and offspring herds, this area is usually 4 square kilometers in size, with bachelor groups’ home area much bigger, around 11 square kilometers. The power hierarchies in these maternal or bachelor groups, especially in the male groups or among males who battle over mates, goes according to age and the universal deciding factor, size. In the wild these animals rarely exceed 8 years of age before dying from natural causes or feeding whichever predator got their hands on the old fellow.
Reproduction between kudu bulls and cows does not take place just anytime of the year, but rather during an allocated mating season, between April and May in South Africa for example. This is just another measure taken by the driving instincts of these animals to ensure a low mortality rate and a high survival rate among their calves. The gestation period of greater kudu cows is up to 9 months, after which the little calf will still depend on its mother for survival for another 6 months at most. This process will repeat itself when the calf reaches sexual maturity around 1 to 3 years of age, when it will mate and its offspring will go through the same circle of life.
Kudus are plagued by many natural enemies, with lions, leopards, hunting dogs and spotted hyenas being able to bring down adult kudus while many species of jackal, some large eagles, cheetahs, brown hyenas and even pythons being able to bring down kudu young. They usually hide their young in the tall February grass for the first 5 weeks after birth as a precaution to better their chances of survival. When a herd is under attack from lions or other big predators, they usually run for it and hope that they aren’t the unlucky ones to fall victim to a bite of death.
Travel to South Africa for a truly unforgettable African vacation.
Botswana is an alluring safari destination, flush with wildlife and natural beauty.
Travel to Namibia for a range of exhilarating desert safari activities.
Zambia's top safari destination include Victoria Falls and South Luangwa.
Travel to Zimbabwe for a superior perspective of the Victoria Falls.
Mozambique is a tropical paradise with a multitude of far-flung islands.
The Kruger National Park is an expansive wilderness tucked away in the lowveld of northeastern South Africa. | https://www.africansky.com/african-travel/south-africa/destinations/national-parks/kruger-park/mammals/kudu |
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McKinsey & Company |
News | Innovation
An overview of McKinsey & Company news in Asia on Innovation:
Consulting industry
Functional area
Innovation
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Retail
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Singapore's corporate venture launchpad selects BCG and McKinsey
Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company have been named partners of a new growth initiative from the Singapore Economic Development Board.
12 May 2021
Pakistan's startup ecosystem is maturing, says McKinsey
Favourable economic and demographic conditions have created a budding startup environment in Pakistan, although the country requires collaborative efforts from the government, investors and the workf
04 June 2020
Inside McKinsey's innovative in-store retail experience in the US
Global management consultancy McKinsey & Company recently opened a physical retail shop in the US, stocked with the latest in in-store shopping innovations.
15 November 2019
More McKinsey & Company news
McKinsey & Company names Gautam Kumra as Chairman for Asia
McKinsey & Company Asia has a new chairman: India managing partner Gautam Kumra will now head up the firm’s offices across Asia – spanning Australia, India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.
15 July 2021
Nomura calls in McKinsey to learn from Archegos failings
Tokyo-headquartered multibillion dollar holding firm Nomura has tapped McKinsey & Company to bolster its risk management framework – having lost nearly $3 billion to a recent collapse of family offic
15 June 2021
Oliver Wyman's South Korea leader Joongho Park joins McKinsey
Former Oliver Wyman South Korea country head Joongho Park has joined rival management consulting firm McKinsey as a partner following the recent closure of Oliver Wyman’s local office.
10 March 2021
Southeast Asia banks in better position than peers, says McKinsey
Despite challenges, banks in Southeast Asia are poised to recover from the Covid-19 crisis faster than their counterparts around the world. | https://www.consultancy.asia/firms/mckinsey-company/news/expertise/innovation |
Introducing NYPD Patternizr Software
This article provides an overview of the NYPD Patternizr software developed by the New York City Police Department. First, here’s a little bit about the largest police department in the world.
More commonly known as the NYPD, it is the primary law enforcement agency in the city of New York. Impressively, the department employs more than 35,000 police officers and more than 19,000 civilians in other positions. Truly, this is a huge police force, but keep in mind that is responsible for policing the largest city in the United States, home to more than eight million people. Yet, the city boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the U.S.
Overall, the agency consists of 77 precincts located throughout the city. Structurally, there are numerous bureaus within the department that contain enforcement, investigative, and administrative functions. Visit the official website for more information.
How the Patternizr software works
The New York Police Department (NYPD) uses a pattern-recognizing software tool called Patternizer. The NYPD developed the tool in-house by data scientists and developers over a two-year period. It operates by using algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to recognize crime patterns. Industry experts refer to the method as “predictive policing”, although consider the practice to be unfair.
To help “train” the system, the department used more than 10 years of patterns that were identified manually by officers with deep experience. The department began utilizing the tool in 2016, but only recently disclosed its use.
The NYPD Patternizr Software tool helps police officers search through hundreds of thousands of case files. It helps identify (much more quickly than searching through case files manually) similar cases and crime patterns for 10 other cases. Then, it assigns a score between 0 and 1, based on how strongly the software believe the cases match the “seed complaint”. Of course, the officer or analyst must review the results and decide whether or not they are truly related. Next, if the decision is made to link particular crimes, the analyst refers the crimes to a detective for follow-up. Often, the process helps make connections that officers, detectives, and analysts wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
Types of Information in the Database
- Case files and police reports on millions of crimes
- Crimes include larcenies, robberies, thefts
- Methods of entry (such as in a robbery)
- Types of property or items stolen
- Geographic distance between crimes
- Complaints
As a result, the software helps individual officers and investigative teams work more efficiently. It saves time by automating otherwise manual processes. Ultimately, this helps solve crimes more quickly.
The databases doesn’t include information on homicides and rapes. In those cases, traditional methods are being used to identify links and possible relationships.
Summary of Benefits
The use of the NYPD Patternizr software helps the department in a number of ways:
- Less busy work. Ultimately, detectives can spend their efforts on analyzing the patterns, rather than identifying them. This results is less leg work and reduces the time required to solve a case.
- Much greater efficiency. The algorithm helps officers can make connections and identify patterns across the city, rather than just their own precinct.
- Makes connections more quickly. The pattern-recognition feature makes it easier to make connections and identify linked crimes and incidents.
- Broader geographic focus. Using the new system, it requires the same amount of effort (very little) to search case files in a single precinct, multiple locations, or the entire city.
Other Software Solutions
Although the NYPD was the first department to develop software like this, they shared the information in the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics. They did so to help educate other law enforcement organizations on how they may develop similar solutions. The department has a long history of developing its own crime-fighting solutions within the department. In fact, the NYPD develop the CompStat computer system. Primarily, CompStat, which is short for comparison statistics, is tracka crime geographically. Today, law enforcement departments throughout the United States and Canada use CompStat to look at crime in their area.
Questions and Comments
If you have any questions and comments about the NYPD Patternizr Software, please leave a comment below.
Interested in conducting you own search? Learn how to get access to billions of public records. | https://www.einvestigator.com/nypd-patternizr-software-helps-officers-solve-crimes-more-quickly/ |
PwC Expert's Take: What Are the 3 Grey Areas to Crypto Taxation in Hong Kong?
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) of Hong Kong took a step further to provide clarity in taxing digital assets. In the recent press release titled “LCQ20: Regulation of virtual asset investment activities”, James Lau, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury answered the queries raised by the Hon Wu Chi-wai on taxation of virtual assets, tax evasion of virtual asset-related business and latest effort to regulate virtual assets by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
In the press release, Wu questioned whether business operators are required to pay taxes for transactions conducted using virtual currencies. With reference to the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO), except for profits from the sale of capital assets, the profits tax is applicable to any profits arising in or derived from trading and business activities carried on in Hong Kong. Lau stressed that the provisions regarding profits tax in the IRO and the relevant case law also applies to virtual assets transactions. The IRD has revised its Departmental Interpretation and Practice Notes (DIPN) No.39 last month and elaborated that the profits from trading, exchange and mining of cryptocurrencies are chargeable to profits tax. The amount of sales and purchases is reflected by the market value of cryptocurrency accrued at the date of the transaction.
The existing rules under IRO also apply to tax evasion of virtual asset transactions. To enhance IRD’s capability in detecting tax avoidance and evasion, the IRD will seek relevant information from other tax authorities through the exchange of information mechanisms under tax treaties.
Further to the regulation imposed by the SFC in November last year, the SFC and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) are closely monitoring the need to regulate the virtual assets trading platform (VATP). The SFC is currently discussing with some VATP operators and will determine how to regulate VATP after the exploratory stage.
Hong Kong’s Framework to Classify Digital Tokens
In the revised DIPN, the IRD classified digital tokens into three categories:
1) Payment Tokens
Payment tokens are regarded as virtual commodities but they are not legal tender in Hong Kong. They are used as a means of payment of goods and services but they don’t provide holders any right or access to goods. Bitcoin is a prominent example of payment tokens.
2) Security Tokens
Security tokens represent ownership interests in the business and debt due to the business. Holders of security tokens are entitled to a share of profits in the business.
3) Utility Tokens
Utility tokens provide the holder with access to particular goods or services typically provided by the blockchain platform. The token issuer commits to accept the tokens as payment for particular goods or services.
Grey Areas Remain for HK Crypto Taxation
A lot of regulatory clarity has been observed in cryptocurrencies for the last two years, with only 5% of regulators worldwide who do not have a team working on cryptocurrencies. This is not the case with tax authorities, and Henri Arslanian, PwC Global Crypto Leader explained that regulating cryptocurrency taxation can be challenging as the project teams have decentralized operations, which creates transfer pricing and other tax issues to be addressed.
In Hong Kong, while the latest revision of DIPN provided further clarity to regulate the taxation of virtual assets, PwC recently published the report titled “Hong Kong IRD issues guidance on cryptocurrency taxation” to highlight three grey areas where the HKIRD needs to address in the future.
1) Treatment of unrealized gains/losses
The IRD has not decided on the treatment of fair value gains and losses that may arise from the year-end revaluation of digital assets used to carry on a cryptocurrency business. PwC believes that the treatment should depend on the nature of digital assets: capital or revenue.
If the digital assets are revenue in nature, the principles in the Nice Cheer Case should be followed which the Court of Final Appeal established that unrealized gains from the increase in the value of a trading stock should be taxed at the time of realization. However, the provisions under the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 2019 can serve as the exception which allows taxpayers to elect to be taxed on a fair value basis of financial instruments accounted in accordance with Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard (HKFRS) 9/International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9. However, the IRD may consider providing a concession or making legislative changes since some digital assets may fall outside the scope of HKFRS 9 and IFRS 9.
Gwenda Ho, PwC Tax Partner spoke exclusively to Blockchain.News, "To the extent that these unrealized gains/losses are revenue in nature, the uncertainty is whether these should be taxable/deductible at the time of recognition in the profit and loss account, or on a realization basis. The issue is complicated by recent case law and legislative changes in relation to financial instruments. Although this is a timing issue, it may create an administrative burden."
2) Profits tax exemption for qualifying investment funds
The Unified Fund Exemption regime enacted in 2019 provides that all privately offered onshore and offshore investment funds operating in Hong Kong, can enjoy profits tax exemption for transactions of qualifying assets. The current qualifying assets exclude digital assets.
The SFC has published a circular to regulate crypto fund managers in November 2018. PwC suggested the government to consider the extension of crypto investment funds as part of the qualifying assets in the Unified Fund Exemption regime.
Ho explained on the availability of profits tax exemption, "As digital assets that are not securities would not be qualifying assets under the unified fund exemption regime, crypto funds investing in such digital assets may not be able to enjoy the tax exemption. Hong Kong may risk seeing such businesses move to other jurisdictions if the regime cannot be extended to cover crypto investment funds."
3) Potential adverse tax implications with crypto borrowing and lending
In the DIPN No.42, the IRD assesses financial instruments by first deciding its nature according to its legal form rather than the accounting treatment or the underlying economic characteristics. The determination of the legal form of a financial instrument will examine the legal rights and obligations created by the instrument.
A crypto transaction may lead to a change in legal title, thus there is a risk that the instrument would be regarded as a disposal by the lender and acquisition by the borrower of the coin, and the realized gain or losses could be included as the lender’s taxable profits.
As the current relief may not be applicable to crypto borrowing and lending transactions, PwC suggested the IRD to consider extending the relief to cover crypto transactions. Ho elaborated, "Given that a crypto lending transaction may constitute a change in legal title, there is a risk that it would be regarded as a disposal by the lender and acquisition by the borrower of the coin, in which case the realized gain/loss could be included as the lender’s taxable profits. Provisions in the current tax law that provide relief for securities borrowing and lending transactions may not be applicable to crypto borrowing and lending transactions."
Complexity to tax cryptocurrencies
The complexity to handle the taxation of cryptocurrencies is beyond the current framework laid by the IRD, which Arslanian advised to cryptocurrency startups, “The biggest piece of advice I would give to any crypto company around the world is that you should make sure to consider the impact of accounting and tax before you start because, in addition to avoiding future headaches, there could be benefits and tax savings in properly structuring beforehand.”
PwC also raised more scenarios to illustrate the potential complexity in taxing cryptocurrencies, for example, the source of profits arising from cryptocurrency mining in proof of work vs. proof of stake models; Management of permanent establishment risks; whether the transfer of digital assets to give rise in stamp duty. These issues can be interesting for regulators to consider in the future. | https://cn.blockchain.news/analysis/PwC-Experts-Take-What-are-the-3-Grey-Areas-to-Crypto-Taxation-in-Hong-Kong |
Total of 100, 5/8" clam shaped brass bells. 50 bells are braided into each cord. Cord color may vary. The northern Indian State of Uttar Pradesh is well known for quality brass manufacturers. Once cast, these solid brass bells are transported to Mumbai (Bombay) on the west coast, for assembly and export. Bells are primarily worn by Indian dancers on their ankles or wrists to accent their movements. You can also hang them on your drums. They will add just the right sound to lots of activities.
The length of each strand of bells will vary depending on the amount of loose ends. In general there are 2 bells for every inch of cording. The loose-ends of the cording can be 8”-12” each. To get the overall length of each strand of bells, take the number of bells and divide by 2, then add 20”. | http://www.musicalinstrumenthaven.com/mid-eastanklebellsclamstyle50onastring.aspx |
NEW YORK – A team of researchers has developed a method to perform whole-genome bisulfite sequencing for methylation status analysis and the Hi-C chromosome conformation capture assay at the same time.
Led by Bing Ren, a professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, the researchers described their assay, dubbed Methyl-HiC, in Nature Methods this week.
In their proof-of-principle study, the researchers showed the assay worked in both bulk and single-cell applications.
"It enables simultaneous characterization of cell-type-specific chromatin organization and epigenome in complex tissues," the authors wrote.
Ren said the ability to do so is especially useful in single-cell studies. "It was a problem we faced, you couldn't study more than one marker at a time because the cell's DNA is destroyed when analyzing them."
Coming up with the idea may have seemed obvious, but implementing it was not, he said. "We spent a lot of time developing technique-optimizing parameters."
"It's a really clever idea to add the methylation status detection to the Hi-C protocol," said Rachel Patton McCord, a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who has worked on developing Hi-C. "And it's a very nice method in that it's not disrupting what you actually get from the Hi-C, you're only adding more info."
Bisulfite sequencing chemically treats DNA so that unmethylated cytosines are converted to uracil and read as a "T," rather than a "C," and Hi-C is a proximity ligation-based assay for analyzing the three-dimensional genome structure.
Ren said his lab began working on the Methyl-HiC method more than two years ago. "The simple concept is that you can perform Hi-C first then treat the ligated product with sodium bisulfite and sequence for methylation status," he said. "In practice, it requires a lot of optimization."
The researchers first posted their results in a BioRxiv preprint last November.
In their publication, they first analyzed bulk DNA to show that their new assay matches data obtained from the same set of samples but profiled separately with each assay. They then analyzed approximately 150 single cells grown in different media, which showed different methylation levels.
McCord noted that the researchers admitted a sparsity of data for the single-cell protocol and said it would be "technically challenging." But with more people adopting Hi-C methods, she said the extra information on methylation, for only a little extra effort, could be attractive. And in general, Hi-C yields less data at the single-cell level than, say, single-cell RNA sequencing. "With DNA, you only get two copies [per cell]," she said.
The ability to cluster those single cells based on methylation status helped to determine important heterogeneity in genome structure, McCord said. "It looks like they're getting something biologically meaningful out of that."
Ren said that aspect was key to his plans for the tool in his lab. "We could take a mixture of brain samples and study methylation in individual cells, then do cluster analysis based on demethylation programs to sort out neurons from other cells types, then study chromatin looping."
"And in tumors, where you have heterogeneity between different cells, you could uncover signatures of epigenetics going on in individual cells and connect that to chromatin conformation," he said, adding that such studies could provide more precise diagnostic tools for the field.
The method could also "fill a critical need in our understanding of enhancers" and how they drive gene expression, he said. "We know enhancer functions are cell type specific. Each cell type in the body — neurons, blood cells — they utilize a different set of enhancers to ensure the proper set of genes and proteins are expressed."
Ren said he believes there will be broad interest in his assay from other researchers, due to the combination of information it provides. McCord suggested that researchers who were hesitant to do bulk Hi-C might be interested in the extra data.
The bulk assay costs about half as much and takes half the time compared to running the two assays separately, Ren said. "However, for single cells, there is not an alternative that can accomplish this."
When asked if anyone plans to commercialize the Methyl-HiC assay, Ren suggested Arima Genomics, a company he cofounded and which has commercialized a Hi-C assay his team developed. However, Arima CEO Siddarth Selvaraj declined to say whether the firm would pursue commercialization of the Methyl-HiC assay.
Ren noted that the method requires custom software to decipher the DNA methylation patterns from the reads while simultaneously mapping the chromatin interactions, which was developed by his collaborator Yaping Liu, now a researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. | https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/ucsd-researchers-develop-assay-combining-methylation-status-chromosome-conformation |
Have leftover Thanksgiving turkey? Put it on a pizza!
SIOUX CITY -- Is turkey really the tofu of meats?. If you ask Hy-Vee dietitian Andrea Parman, it is. That's what makes Thanksgiving's favorite protein so versatile. "Turkey tends to take on what flavors you add to it," she explained. "This is the reason we don't mind the leftovers."...
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Nobody likes to buy fresh produce only for it to go bad before you’ve had the chance to eat it. Bananas tend to fall into that group for me, and as much as I like to bake with them when they’re overripe, it’s frustrating when you’d rather have them for a quick on-the-go snack. With that in mind, I went searching for a hack to help keep my bananas longer, and I found one that actually works!
My Tennessee grandmother, fondly known by family members of all ages as Nannie June, was always happy to feed hungry visitors. In her heyday, she cooked up large spreads every Sunday afternoon and every holiday, or anytime the occasion called for it. I remember bowls of tomato and cucumber salad...
Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission. As much as I love to explore vintage cookbooks and magazines and dive into the recipes, I must admit that sometimes I can be a bit quick to dismiss them as silly fluff, worthy of a good laugh but not an actual cooking project.
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Comfort food doesn't have to mean simmering a pot on the stove for hours. Sometimes a warm, hearty bowl of soup is only 30 minutes and 10 ingredients away. Here, a mixture of sliced cabbage and onion, and chopped potatoes and carrots simmer in vegetable broth for a healthy, satisfying meal. Stirring in vinegar at the end of cooking adds brightness, and a dollop of sour cream adds richness. Serve it with fresh, crusty bread for dunking.
IN THIS ARTICLE
It’s probably our coldest morning so far this fall. The mercury on the thermometer dipped down to almost 20 degrees. How thankful we are for a cozy house to live in. Some are not so fortunate. We should thank God every day for our many blessings, but as I write this, with Thanksgiving Day in a few days, it reminds us to be thankful.
We are inspired by TABLE Magazine contributor Rhonda Schuldt and the leftover transformations of her classic Roasted Chicken recipe. These four leftover recipes will please the palate without the turkey overload. Gluten-Free Turkey Enchiladas Verde. This recipe can be made with leftover roasted turkey and homemade Salsa Verde (recipe below),...
Michelle Dudash, chef & Registered Dietitian joined us today with her favorite way to pre-dinner on Thanksgiving, plus she has a make-ahead dessert that nearly everyone can enjoy. Thanksgiving Bruschetta Board. Keep the Thanksgiving pre-dinner simple, but satisfying and crave-worthy for all eating preferences. Start with a centerpiece with height,...
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SAN ANTONIO — Looking for a tasteful twist on Thanksgiving? Look no further. We ventured through San Antonio to find different ways to spice up your holiday spread. We arrived to restaurant staples Acadiana Cafe and Mi Tierra Café y Panaderia, where we were invited into the kitchen to check out how they put a unique spin on the Thanksgiving feast.
This post contains affiliate links. Click here to see what that means!. In order to provide the free resources here on the Autoimmune Wellness website and social media channels, we may accept a commission or other support for our endorsement, recommendation, or link to a product or service in this post.
Make the most of Thanksgiving extras (or a rotisserie chicken) with a family favorite recipe for 30-Minute Leftover Turkey Chili topped with your favorite fixins’. It’s that time of year again! Time to swap the skinny jeans for stretch pants and let the Thanksgiving feasting begin. Of course Thanksgiving is synonymous with Thanksgiving leftovers, and I have dozens (literally dozens!) of recipes to make the most of your fridge full of leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and even cranberry sauce.
I realize I am getting ahead of myself by talking turkey leftovers right now, but only by a week. I trust that you have your Thanksgiving turkey centerpiece under control. This recipe is about that turkey and addresses the leftovers you will face. I can’t imagine a better way to...
Copyright 2021 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Historians Just Ranked All U.S. Presidents (#1 Is Unexpected) Metformin Users: the Truth Behind What Big Pharma Has Been Hiding from You. Here's Who Actually Makes Costco Kirkland Products (#2 Will Surprise...
Unless you’re cooking a bird for a big crowd, Thanksgiving dinner is the dinner that keeps giving… and giving… and giving. Don’t get me wrong — leftover turkey and dressing and potatoes and gravy are still delicious on Day 2, but in the days after that, not so much. Good...
After the plates are cleared today, we bet you’ll have at least one thing left over: turkey. It’s pretty tough to estimate accurately how much turkey guests will consume at Thanksgiving dinner and find a bird that’s just the right size. Since variety is the spice of life, here are 11 answers to the question, what can I do with leftover turkey? | |
The 14th annual Lakes Bluegrass Festival drew a record crowd under sun-filled, blue skies Aug. 22-25 for its last stint at the Cass County Fairgrounds in Pine River.
Next year's festival will be at the Pine River Area Foundation's recently purchased property north of town at the former Pine River Country Club location. The 24 acres will offer space for more and larger campsites, among other perks.
The festival featured regional and national bands performing on the main stage, instruction workshops taught by the musicians, impromptu jam sessions throughout the grounds, camping food, dancing and more. People came from at least 13 different states and Canada to attend the festival.
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KLICK! Photo Gallery - Lakes Bluegrass Festival
47 photos - Klick to view (or buy reprints)!
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The 2020 Lakes Bluegrass Festival is scheduled for Aug. 27-30. The Pine River Area Foundation is accepting donations to help develop the new site, and volunteers are needed to get the site ready for next year's festival. | https://www.pineandlakes.com/entertainment/music/4632439-Lakes-Bluegrass-Festival-draws-record-crowd |
If you are lucky enough to have a partner who likes gaming, or if you are unlucky enough to have only one friend (hey! it’s quality that counts, not quantity) then you are going to be especially interested in two player games.
For the purposes of this chapter, I am going to split these into two separate categories: games that can be played with two or more players, and games that require exactly two players.
Games for two or more players
Most of the games I have discussed previously in this book, claim, usually on the box, to be suitable for two players or more. Often though, they do not play nearly as well with exactly two players, as they do with a group. For example, I personally find it very dissatisfying if the rules say you have to play with a dummy player, or if both players have to control two colours each instead of one.
Some games, however, do play very well with two – arguably, better. By removing all but one opponent, their complexity and randomness are reduced, and it becomes possible to focus more on that opponent, in a one-on-one battle of wits. Some of the gateways I mentioned in earlier chapters are fantastic two player games: Carcassonne, Dominion, Photosynthesis, Splendor, Takenoko, …
I am not going to go through every single game to give my opinion on whether they work well with two players or not. However, because I know that some of you do want to know, I will mention a few of my favourite Eurogames that, in my view, do work very well. They are Castles of Burgundy, Istanbul, Fresco, Keyflower, K2, Village, Orleans, Viticulture, and Imperial Settlers.
Co-operative games, like Pandemic or Flash Point: Fire Rescue, can be nice to play with a partner. Also, a lot of puzzle games are nice with two, such as escape room games, and Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective.
Games for Exactly Two Players
I actually need to apply a small caveat here too, because there are some games that are clearly designed for two players, but the designers snuck in a rules variation at the last moment to allow for more than two.
I am going to start with one such game, Memoir ’44. This is a two player game, which has a variation allowing two teams to play each other. The game re-enacts battles from the Normandy Landings, D-Day 1944, our greatest ever victory on sand, even greater than the long jump gold medal of the 2012 Olympics. The game is surprisingly historically accurate and there are expansions available too that cover other battles. It brings history alive in a way unlike anything else I have ever experienced. The components are great too, as they are with all games from that publisher (Days of Wonder). There is a slight downside though – one of you will find yourself in a position where you are rooting for the Nazis.
Another two player game with a multiplayer variant, is Tash Kalar. This is a strategy game where you draw cards to see what moves you are allowed to choose from. Tash Kalar’s theme of dueling wizards comes through, even though players are really just filling a grid with pieces.
Also most of the CCGs and LCGs such as Magic: the Gathering and Arkham Horror: The Card Game are primarily (but not always exclusively) for two players.
There are some games that are exclusively for two-players though, such as Hive. This is an intense perfect-information (i.e. there is nothing random or hidden) strategy game that stimulates the same pleasure centres in the brain (or maybe pain centres?) as chess. Each player begins with a small collection of hexagonal tiles, representing various insects (well, okay, insects, arachnids, and whatever the hell a pillbug is) each of which move differently. The object is to completely surround the opponent’s queen bee. If you like intense mind battles, and so long as you do not have an irrational fear of creepy crawlies, I do recommend that you give this a try.
There are many other games that make excellent alternatives to chess and draughts. Khet is a chess-like game, but with lasers. Yes, lasers. The Duke is another variation on the theme, but it uses cards to determine tile placement.
Also, there is a series of games called the GIPF Project, which are all pure old-school strategy, moving and placing pieces on a board. There are eight of these games in the series, with strange capitalised names like LYNGK and DVONN, all different but reassuringly familiar. My favourite of the series is YINSH.
If Backgammon is more your thing than chess or draughts, you might want to check out Tatsu, from the creator of Hive. In this, players move Chinese dragons around a circle, trying to land on their opponent’s pieces without leaving themselves vulnerable to attack.
Moving away from the abstract and from variations on the classic strategy games, there are plenty of two-player games that are heavy with theme, and playing them feels more like a game night than a chess club meeting.
Targi is a light worker-placement game for two. It is easy to learn, and fun. If you want a heavier two-player worker placement experience though, I recommend the magnificent Fields of Arle, another great farming game from the creator of Agricola .
Patchwork is a little bit Tetris, a little bit economic simulator, and a little bit How to make an American Quilt.
Sun Tzu is a bidding and bluffing game set in medieval China.
Jaipur is a card game where players trade in the Pink City.
Twilight Struggle has nothing to do with dreamy vampires but is a cold war themed historical epic.
There are also several two-player variations on some of the most popular multiplayer Eurogames, such as Rivals for Catan, Caverna: Cave vs Cave, Le Havre: The Inland Port, 7 Wonders Duel, and (my personal favourite) Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small. | https://tickettocarcassonne.com/two-player-games/ |
Set of 6 varnished oak frame chairs produced in 1960’s Sweden. Seat upholstered in brown vinyl.
Condition
Good, signs of wear befitting its age.
Dimensions
height: 83 cm
depth: 50 cm
width: 45 cm
seat height: 44 cm
Shipping
Free shipping within the Netherlands. For the terms and conditions please see our FAQ page. Shipping International? Read more about it on our FAQ page. | https://theloods.com/shop/set-of-6-vintage-swedish-oak-chairs-1960s/ |
Research requires evidence-based support in order to be considered legible, reputable, and valid. One of the most impactful ways that researchers derive this evidence is through testimonial interviews. These pieces of information, in conjunction with the research itself, are compelling factual demonstrations of the effect a scholar’s work had on an outside person.
Getting a unique testimonial from someone who is willing to verify that your work impacted them is a powerful tool to have in your evidence file. Because of this, it connects to your research in ways that give you a higher scholarly impact rating. But to be considered an accurate representation of the impact of your work without bias interfering, there are some things you as a researcher need to consider before requesting a testimonial interview from a participant.
What is a Testimonial Interview?
Testimonials are everywhere today, from billboards to star ratings for a product or service on the internet. But these are often taken for granted with the easy methods for reviewers to skew their testimonials in a particular direction and the implicit bias that makes people inherently distrustful of a stranger’s recommendation anymore.
Yet testimonials as evidence in research undergo detailed scrutiny before they are attached the finished work as a form of strengthening the researcher’s outcome. Testimonials are personal statements that reflect the qualities of a product or service or person as seen through the interactions of them with someone in need of what they offer.
When these statements are compiled, they can be organic and come from the user’s desire to tell others how something impacted them, or they can be elicited from strategic interviews that request unbiased responses to questions designed to determine details about a specific aspect of the research performed. Through testimonials, scholars get a personalized vision of how their work was relevant to the specific target demographic they were aiming for.
What Should Be Included in a Good Testimonial?
There are some basic components of any good testimonial, including the problem, the benefit, and the closing. These aspects should be broken down like this:
● The introduction: The testifier introduces themselves with their name, title, and a short biography to let the reader know a little about who they are to personalize the testimonial. This increases the validity of the testimonial. In here, the problem this person faced is explained. What were they doing prior to the work of the researcher? What was their situation, using facts that showcase the need for the problem to be solved?
● The attempt at a solution: Most people try to solve problems on their own before they head to something as intricate as a research experiment. What alternatives did the user attempt to perform before they became involved in the research? What obstacles did they run into along the way to a solution?
● The solution: Once the user attempted to use the solution provided by the research, how did it impact their problem? What aspects of the research were essential to the resolution? Personal notes about the interactions of anyone integral to the experience can be included here, as well as statistics that demonstrate quantitative evidence as to how the problem was solved. Add a summary of the experience and a clear recommendation if one is applicable.
These components are integral to a quality testimonial interview.
How to Approach Collecting Testimonials
Testimonials are a tricky piece of evidence. They must be approached and collected cautiously to ensure bias is completely removed from the process. When you are ready to collect testimonial interviews, keep these tips in mind:
● Create a question that you want to ask a reviewer. Make sure it includes everything that you want them to cover, especially specific aspects of the research you want them to focus on. The answers can be in writing, or they can be conversational if the person agrees to it. Through conversation, you can request clarification or explore their answers in greater detail.
● Plan ahead what you will tell the person in regard to the testimonial you are requesting. Let them know how it will be used, and verify that they have the authority to provide the statement officially and that they approve of the way you will use it.
● Only request testimonials from people you have interacted with consistently. Let the other person know about the confidentiality of their statement and consider what you know about them from the relationship you have built. They will trust you based on that interaction, and their testimony will reflect that.
When you’re ready to collect testimonials, make sure you do so timely, while the experience is still fresh in the reviewer’s mind.
Putting Your Testimonials to Work With Impactio
Once you have performed your research and collected your testimonials, you need to compile them into your final piece of work for submission. Experts around the world use Impactio for this because it’s a program designed specifically for academic scholars.
Impactio is an all-in-one platform that lets you easily insert your information into premade templates, create charts, graphs, and tables from your data, and turn your findings into professional PDF documents and web pages for a seamless transition to the publisher.
When you’re ready to show off your testimonials and make a greater impact, use Impactio to get the job done. | https://www.impactio.com/blog/understanding-the-ways-in-which-testimonial-interviews-effect-research-impact |
Over recent years I have heard a number of farmers ask: Who is ever going to buy my farm? With the level of farm profitability and debt, how could a family member ever succeed to this farm? There have been several articles in recent times that have recorded and commented on the fact that: the… Read More.
The Farm Debt Mediation Bill (No 2) (‘the Bill’) has been introduced with the intention of establishing an equitable and efficient mediation scheme to resolve farm debt issues between farmers and secured creditors. The Bill would require secured creditors, which includes nonbank creditors, with security interests in farms to engage in a farm debt mediation… Read More.
Owners of animals will be aware that they have the potential to cause significant damage to property including land, crops or other animals. When animals are properly managed, this damage can be controlled. However, when livestock strays onto a neighbour’s land and causes damage, a question arises: who is liable for the damage? The answer… Read More.
Succession planning is a vital task for the long term success of any family farming business, but it can be a daunting exercise. The following article considers four possible succession structures commonly used by farming families. 1. Trusts Perhaps the most well-known option, placing farming property into a trust, provides the following benefits: protection for… Read More.
Recently, we were asked whether a lessee under a farm lease was allowed to grant a licence to a beekeeper for a honey venture. Was the landlord required to consent to this? Was it a breach of the lease if it had already been done? Surprisingly, there is very little case law on this issue.… Read More.
[Spring 2014] A enforcement order by the Environment Court should be a timely warning for dairy farmers to ensure their effluent management systems meet required standards and are capable of coping with expansion on-farm. In April 2014 the Environment Court issued an enforcement order against a Marlborough dairy farm owner prohibiting him from re-stocking for… Read More.
[Summer 2013] Gypsy Day 2011 in Southland saw the beginning of local government prosecutions dealing in ‘effluent’ or ‘animal waste’. Gypsy Day is an extremely busy time of year for farmers and solicitors with a rural practice, with large numbers of stock being moved between farms at this time. These prosecutions were the first nationally… Read More.
[Autumn 2014] When you live on a rural property or lifestyle block, fire has the potential to cause major damage. A Nelson couple felt the ramifications after a fire started from their lifestyle block and spread into an adjoining forestry block. The Fire Service and an adjoining forestry owner obtained a substantial court judgment against… Read More. | https://www.lawlink.co.nz/article-category/rural/ |
The annual event at the Hamilton campus brings all the university’s engineering years and disciplines together for two days of crazy activity. Civil, mechanical, mechatronics, chemical, environmental, electrical, materials and software engineers will showcase their multiple talents and ability to build stuff, automate stuff, fall off stuff, and pilot boats into cloudy waters.
School of Engineering Senior Lecturer Dr Tim Walmsley says it’s the only event in the country where all the different engineering disciplines come together and demonstrate real multidisciplinary collaboration by working on problems together, underscored by the huge variety of final year projects.
“A unique feature of Engineering at Waikato is the flexibility to collaborate across the disciplines – the way of the future. Our final year projects often bring together students from different engineering fields to address a real world problem in a more comprehensive way. Our agile, future-focused approach stands in contrast to the traditionally, discipline-silo projects of the older engineering schools at other NZ universities.”
Key tasks for the two day spectacle include students working together to test a 4m bridge span that must hold them up, piloting boats around the university lake to collect rubbish and, of course, the automated harvester, where students design and build machines to autonomously scale a “hill” and collect apples.
Families, prospective students and industry leaders are all expected to attend, with games and activities on offer for the younger ones. | https://mechanical-engineering-group.org.nz/2022/10/27/future-of-engineering-on-display-next-week/ |
We need Mechanical Engineers because they support production and minerals processing operations through the purchase, installation and maintenance of specialized mechanical equipment. Mechanical Engineers are leading members of a mine’s engineering team.
What is it Like to Work as a Mechanical Engineer in Mining?
Note: conditions vary according to employer and region.
Mechanical Engineers are likely based in an office on (or near) the mine site, but spend much of their time at the mine. They may be exposed to challenging working conditions and may be required to work safely in confined spaces, at heights and near open holes. They must be willing and able to climb ladders and steel ramps on the surface and underground.
Why are People Attracted to this Career?
Mechanical Engineers enjoy tackling a challenging variety of duties including design, analysis, problem-solving and creating systems. They appreciate the opportunity to lead a multidisciplinary team and use the latest technologies and equipment in their work, and are well compensated for their efforts.
Job Description
- Organize, install and operate the mechanical equipment and systems at the mine site
- Oversee the maintenance, repair and support of mechanical equipment and systems by operators and mechanics
- Prepare, check and approve calculations, documents, drawings, cost estimates and tests in compliance with quality assurance policies
- Find the causes of vibration, mechanical failures and maintenance problems
- Supervise contractors, negotiate changes, control quality, measure work done, approve and accept works
- Lead or work on a team to ensure projects are completed on time and budget
- Write reports, attend meetings, exchange information with other professionals, record and store information in compliance with legislation, regulations and company policies
- Play a leading role in ensuring safety, improving operational efficiency and quality, controlling production costs and minimizing effects on the environment
- Work cooperatively with other departments, engineering disciplines, project managers, supply chain and management to optimize production, reduce costs, solve problems and meet deadlines
- Supervise junior engineers and technicians and assist supervisors in building an efficient work force
Compensation
$59,918
$180,000
Job Prospect
Success Profile
- Builds trust and maintains positive relationships with a wide variety of personnel
- Identifies issues and priorities, and solves problems with a positive attitude
- Plans and works in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
- Ensures quality, innovative design, improved production and reduced costs
- Committed to safety and environmental protection
- Understands the mine’s long-term goals and assists in determining the best method to reach them
- Organized and a critical thinker
- Interested in machines, the production process, technology and Information Technology
- Strong active listening skills
- Strong communication, analytical, computer and planning skills
- Works well under pressure
Job Entry Requirements
Note: The requirements listed below illustrate what it takes to start the career and does not take into account on-the-job training given to new employees.
Fixed Requirements
- A Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related subject
- Eligible for registration as Engineer in Training
- Proficiency with word processing, spreadsheet and email software
- Must be able to pass a medical test
- Must be able to pass a drug test
- Willingness to work in a diverse environment
- Proficiency in language of operation
May be Required
- Specialized software skills
- Use of computer-based design and drafting using mechanical engineering and mining software
- Professional Registration, P. Eng. | https://www.miningneedsyou.ca/job/mechanical-engineer/ |
Location: Tśzil, Mount Currie, B.C.
Status: Temporary, Full Time (Mat Leave Coverage from January to August)
Reporting to: Employment and Training Manager
Wage/Salary: Dependent on Experience
Start Date: January 6th, 2020
End Date: August 30, 2020
Summary:
Líl̓wat Employmnet and Training is seeking a Data Entry Clerk to input data into ARMS Database system collected from client’s registration forms which allows our ISET agreement to obtain funding. This process also allows us to keep track of the clients in Líl̓wat Nation/SASET catchment area and provide statistics to Service Canada. The Data Entry Clerk will also assist the CDP’s with file management and follow up with clients as well as assisting with clerical support.
Key Deliverables:
- Ensuring that the data recorded in the data system (ARMS) is entered accurately
- Creating and managing client files maintaining accurate records and reports regarding the client’s progress and services provided
- Copy, file and maintain paper or electronic documents accurately
- Assist the CDP’s with follow up and closing files procedure
- Perform daily archiving of inactive client records, scanning and photocopying documents
- Basic knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, and database systems
- Ability to work quickly, and accurately, and pay attention to detail
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Assist staff with promotional materiel such a creating/editing flyer
- Answering questions about programs and services
Key Qualifications and Attributes: | https://lilwat.ca/job-posting-data-entry-clerk/ |
October Sky, directed by Joe Johnston and released in 1999, is a film that tells the true story of Homer Hickam Jr., a young man living in a small coal mining town in West Virginia who becomes inspired to build rockets after the Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space. Despite facing numerous obstacles and setbacks, Homer and his friends are determined to pursue their dream of becoming rocket scientists and ultimately make their own contributions to the field of space exploration.
One of the central themes of October Sky is the power of perseverance and determination. Homer and his friends are faced with numerous challenges as they try to build their rockets, including limited access to resources, a lack of support from their community, and personal struggles. However, they refuse to let these obstacles stand in their way and continue to work towards their goal, even when the odds are against them. This determination is exemplified in a scene where Homer's friend, Quentin, says, "I don't care if we're the only ones in Coalwood who ever get to see space. I just want to know that we tried."
Another theme of the film is the importance of education and the role it plays in helping individuals pursue their dreams. Homer and his friends are passionate about rocket science, but they lack the formal education and training in the field. They are forced to teach themselves through reading books, watching documentaries, and experimenting with their own rocket designs. This self-education ultimately pays off, as it enables them to not only build successful rockets, but also win scholarships to study engineering at prestigious universities.
In addition to its themes of perseverance and education, October Sky also explores the idea of following one's dreams and the potential rewards that come with taking risks and stepping outside of one's comfort zone. Throughout the film, Homer is torn between his desire to pursue his passion for rocket science and the expectations of his community, which places a heavy emphasis on working in the coal mines like his father. However, Homer ultimately decides to follow his heart and takes a chance on his dream, even though it means going against the norm and facing criticism from his peers and family. In the end, his decision pays off as he is able to achieve success and find personal fulfillment in his work.
Overall, October Sky is a powerful and inspiring film that encourages viewers to pursue their passions and dreams, no matter how difficult the journey may be. Its themes of perseverance, education, and the importance of following one's dreams are timeless and universal, making it a must-see for anyone looking for a little bit of motivation and inspiration. | http://links.lfg.com/october-sky-analysis.php |
Seed Sound of the Month: December "Ong Ra Ma Ong"...
"Ong Ra Ma Ong" is the Seed Sound for the month of December. "Ong Ra Ma Ong" is the sound medicine for harmonizing our entire being and magnifying protection. Ong is the expression of Infinity, and Ra Ma is the balance of the two forces of nature (fire and water, yin and yang, masculine and feminine) from which we come from. When you bring these three sound energies together, you have a complete circuit of harmonious frequencies that work together to create a blanket of Light, Protection, and Love.
When you chant the Seed Sounds, make sure to use a complete breath and pull root lock by squeezing the rectum and drawing the navel in toward the spine as you chant. Chant the Seed Sound 3, 7, or 11 times daily. Please drink plenty of water and do not overdo it. Seed Sounds are very powerful and potent and are a form of vibrational healing for the mind-body-spirit. | https://www.ramaholisticcare.com/post/seed-sound-of-the-month-december-ong-ra-ma-ong |
Pixar Animation Studios (1995–Present)
Pixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. To date, the studio has earned twenty-two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three Grammys, among many other awards, acknowledgments and achievements. It is one of the most critically acclaimed film studios of all time. It is best known for its CGI-animated feature films which are created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard Renderman image-rendering API used to generate high-quality images.
Pixar started in 1979 as the Graphics Group, a part of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm before it was bought by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1986. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006.
Pixar has made 10 feature films beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and each one has received critical and commercial success. Pixar followed Toy Story with A Bug's Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003 (which is, to date, the most commercially successful Pixar film, grossing over $800 million worldwide), The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008 and Up in 2009 (the first Pixar film presented in Disney Digital 3-D). Pixar's eleventh film, Toy Story 3, is scheduled for release on June 18, 2010.
All six Pixar films released since the inauguration of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001 have been nominated for the award, with four, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E, winning it.
History
Early history
Pixar was founded as the Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm that was launched in 1979 with the hiring of Dr. Ed Catmull from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where he was in charge of the Computer Graphics Lab (CGL). At NYIT, the researchers pioneered many of the CG techniques that are now taken for granted and worked on an experimental film called The Works. When the group moved to Lucasfilm, the team worked on creating the precursor to RenderMan, called Motion Doctor, which allowed traditional cel animators to use computer animation with minimal training.
The team began working on film sequences produced by Lucasfilm or worked collectively with Industrial Light and Magic on special effects. After years of research, and key milestones in films such as the Genesis Effect in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the Stained Glass Knight in Young Sherlock Holmes, the group, who counted about 45 individuals back then, was purchased in 1986 by Steve Jobs shortly after he left Apple Computer. Jobs paid $5 million to George Lucas and put $5 million as capital into the company. A factor contributing to Lucas' sale was an increase in cash flow difficulties following his 1983 divorce, which coincided with the sudden dropoff in revenues from Star Wars licenses following the release of Return of the Jedi and the disastrous box-office performance of Howard the Duck. The newly independent company was headed by Dr. Edwin Catmull, President, and Dr. Alvy Ray Smith, Executive Vice President and Director. Jobs served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pixar.
Initially, Pixar was a high-end computer hardware company whose core product was the Pixar Image Computer, a system primarily sold to government agencies and the medical community. One of the leading buyers of Pixar Image Computers was Disney Studios, which was using the device as part of their secretive CAPS project, using the machine and custom software to migrate the laborious Ink and Paint part of the 2-D animation process to a more automated and thus efficient method. The Image Computer never sold well. In a bid to drive sales of the system, Pixar employee John Lasseter—who had long been creating short demonstration animations, such as Luxo Jr., to show off the device's capabilities—premiered his creations at SIGGRAPH, the computer graphics industry's largest convention, to great fanfare.
As poor sales of Pixar's computers threatened to put the company out of business, Lasseter's animation department began producing computer-animated commercials for outside companies. Early successes included campaigns for Tropicana, Listerine, and LifeSavers. During this period, Pixar continued its relationship with Walt Disney Feature Animation, a studio whose corporate parent would ultimately become its most important partner. In 1991, after substantial layoffs in the company's computer department, Pixar made a $26 million deal with Disney to produce three computer-animated feature films, the first of which was Toy Story. Despite this, the company was costing Jobs so much money that he considered selling it. Only after confirming that Disney would distribute Toy Story for the 1995 holiday season did he decide to give it another chance. The film went on to gross more than $350 million worldwide. | http://gauravbirla.com/pixar/ |
Abstract:Emerging evidence has demonstrated the potential for Telehealth systems to reduce unnecessary hospital admission and lower costs of care by assisting patients and healthcare professionals to manage chronic conditions more efficiently. Nonetheless, due to a complex interplay of different barriers, Telehealth has not yet been widely adopted in any country. Understanding barriers to wider Telehealth adoption is vital to enable its embracement by many older people who could greatly benefit from the technology. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify barriers to wider Telehealth adoption in the homes of older people, in the Republic of Ireland. Objectives included identifying barriers from the perspective of five groups of stakeholders, determining the most pressing barriers and suggesting possible approaches to addressing such issues. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted. Findings were analysed against existing literature, current technology adoption trends and successful initiatives implemented in different countries. This study suggests that the lack of incentive to healthcare professionals to embrace Telehealth, technology usability issues, implementation costs and lack of organisational willingness to change are the most pressing barriers to wider Telehealth adoption. Possible approaches to address healthcare professional incentive barriers have been suggested and include government mandates, the establishment of reimbursement schemes and the use of government financial incentives. The provision of Telehealth through devices that people are familiar with such as mobile phones, laptops and computer tablets, and the involvement of end-users during Telehealth technology development stages are also supported by this study as strategies to overcome Telehealth usability challenges.
Pages: 63 to 76
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2012. Used with permission. | https://www.thinkmind.org/index.php?view=article&articleid=lifsci_v4_n34_2012_1 |
On September 17, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over a challenge brought by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and several hospitals and systems (the hospitals) to the application by CMS of a time limit barring the hospitals from rebilling Medicare Part B claims after there had been Part A denials.
The lawsuit had a lengthy history. Plaintiff hospitals initially brought suit in November 2012, challenging what they asserted was CMS’s “payment denial policy,” which allowed Medicare recovery audit contractors (RACs) to recover Part A payments for care that the RACs maintained should not have been provided on an inpatient basis. Often, when the RACs did this, they did not allow the hospitals to rebill Medicare for the outpatient services furnished under Medicare Part B, except for certain ancillary services.
While the hospitals’ initial lawsuit challenging the payment denial policy was pending, CMS altered its position, issuing a proposed rule and Administrator’s Ruling CMS-1455-R to allow hospitals to rebill claims under Medicare Part B if the rejected Part A claim were still on appeal or if the time for appeal had not elapsed. A few months later, however, in August 2013, CMS issued a final rule that contained the now widely recognized 2-midnight rule and certain other changes of note. In one of those changes, CMS stated that the normal one year timely filing rule for Medicare claims, which is set out in 42 C.F.R. § 424.44, applies to rebilled hospital outpatient claims.
Throughout the course of the changing rules, the hospitals continued to recast their arguments. Ultimately, the hospitals’ amended complaint challenged the one-year timely filing limit as applied to the hospitals’ ability to rebill claims for reasonable and necessary hospital services furnished under Medicare Part B.
The government moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the challenge was not properly before the court because, among other reasons, plaintiffs had not exhausted their administrative remedies. The court agreed. The court concluded that the hospitals were challenging a “systemwide CMS policy of general applicability” – the requirement that Part B claims submitted after Part A denials must be filed as new claims and must be filed within the timely filing limits of 42 C.F.R. § 424.24. The court said that the plaintiffs were essentially arguing that it was unlawful for CMS not to implement an exception to the filing limit. According to the court, however, CMS’s decision not to exercise its discretion to create an additional category of exceptions was not a final agency decision after a hearing, subject to appeal under Medicare Part A. The court further noted that the plaintiffs could have appealed the agency’s decision with respect to the billing of their specific claims and then obtained judicial review, but those claims must be channeled through an administrative process.
Despite the high profile nature of this litigation, the ruling here was unremarkable, with the district court simply applying time-honored legal principles in dismissing the case. Although plaintiff hospitals had made a number of compelling arguments, those arguments, by and large, had not been funneled through the administrative process. Under such circumstances, it is rare for courts to accept jurisdiction. | https://www.bakerdonelson.com/district-court-rejects-hospitals-challenge-cmss-rebilling-policy |
Anthem:
Монгол улсын төрийн дуулал
Mongol ulsyn töriin duulal
(English: "National anthem of Mongolia")
Location of Mongolia (green)
|Capital|
and largest city
|Ulaanbaatar[a]|
Coordinates: 48°N 106°E / 48°N 106°E
|Official languages||Mongolian|
|Official scripts|
|Ethnic groups |
(2020)
|Religion |
(2020)
|Demonym(s)|
|Government||Unitary semi-presidential republic|
|Khaltmaagiin Battulga|
|Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene|
|Gombojavyn Zandanshatar|
|Legislature||State Great Khural|
|Formation|
|1206|
• Independence declared from the Qing dynasty
|December 29, 1911|
|November 26, 1924|
• Independence recognized by the Republic of China
|January 5, 1946|
|February 12, 1992|
|Area|
• Total
|1,566,000 km2 (605,000 sq mi) (18th)|
• Water (%)
|0.67|
|Population|
• 2020 estimate
|3,353,470 (134th)|
• 2015 census
|3,057,778|
• Density
|2.07/km2 (5.4/sq mi) (194th)|
|GDP (PPP)||2019 estimate|
• Total
|$47 billion (115th)|
• Per capita
|$14,270 (93rd)|
|GDP (nominal)||2019 estimate|
• Total
|$13.7 billion (133rd)|
• Per capita
|$4,151 (116th)|
|Gini (2018)||32.7|
medium
|HDI (2019)||
|
high · 99th
|Currency||Tögrög (MNT)|
|Time zone||UTC+7/+8|
• Summer (DST)
|UTC+8/+9|
|Date format||yyyy.mm.dd (CE)|
|Driving side||right|
|Calling code||+976|
|ISO 3166 code||MN|
|Internet TLD||.mn, .мон|
Mongolia (/mɒnˈɡoʊliə/ (
The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the First Turkic Khaganate, and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China to establish the Yuan dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan. In the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia, being further led by the Manchu-founded Qing dynasty, which absorbed the country in the 17th century. By the early 20th century, almost one-third of the adult male population were Buddhist monks. After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, and achieved actual independence from the Republic of China in 1921. Shortly thereafter, the country became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, which had aided its independence from China. In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was founded as a socialist state. After the anti-Communist revolutions of 1989, Mongolia conducted its own peaceful democratic revolution in early 1990. This led to a multi-party system, a new constitution of 1992, and transition to a market economy.
Approximately 30% of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; horse culture remains integral. Buddhism is the majority religion, with the nonreligious being the second-largest group. Islam is the second-largest religion, concentrated among ethnic Kazakhs. Most citizens are ethnic Mongols, with roughly 5% of the population being Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities, who are especially concentrated in the west. Mongolia is a member of the United Nations, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, G77, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Non-Aligned Movement and a NATO global partner. It joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and seeks to expand its participation in regional economic and trade groups.
Mongolia Intro articles: 47
Etymology
|Mongolia|
|Mongolian name|
|Mongolian Cyrillic||Монгол Улс |
(Mongol Uls)
|Mongolian script||ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ |
ᠤᠯᠤᠰ
The name Mongolia means the "Land of the Mongols" in Latin. The origin of the Mongolian word "Mongol" (монгол) is of uncertain etymology, given variously such as the name of a mountain or river; a corruption of the Mongolian Mongkhe-tengri-gal ("Eternal Sky Fire"); or a derivation from Mugulü, the 4th-century founder of the Rouran Khaganate. First attested as the Mungu (Chinese: 蒙兀, Modern Chinese Měngwù, Middle Chinese Muwngu) branch of the Shiwei in an 8th-century Tang dynasty list of northern tribes, presumably related to the Liao-era Mungku (Chinese: 蒙古, Modern Chinese Měnggǔ, Middle Chinese MuwngkuX) tribe now known as the Khamag Mongol.
After the fall of the Liao in 1125, the Khamag Mongols became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau. However, their wars with the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them. The last head of the tribe was Yesügei, whose son Temüjin eventually united all the Shiwei tribes as the Mongol Empire (Yekhe Monggol Ulus). In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan.
Since the adoption of the new Constitution of Mongolia on February 13, 1992, the official name of the state is "Mongolia" (Mongol Uls).
Mongolia Etymology articles: 17
History
Prehistory and antiquity
The Khoit Tsenkher Cave in Khovd Province shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of mammoths, lynx, bactrian camels, and ostriches, earning it the nickname "the Lascaux of Mongolia". The venus figurines of Mal'ta (21,000 years ago) testify to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia; Mal'ta is now part of Russia.
Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 BC), such as those at Norovlin, Tamsagbulag, Bayanzag, and Rashaan Khad, predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Mongolia which became the dominant culture. Horse-riding nomadism has been documented by archeological evidence in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age Afanasevo culture (3500–2500 BC); this culture was active to the Khangai Mountains in Central Mongolia. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC. Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with the later Okunev culture (2nd millennium BC), Andronovo culture (2300–1000 BC) and Karasuk culture (1500–300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age Xiongnu Empire in 209 BC. Monuments of the pre-Xiongnu Bronze Age include deer stones, keregsur kurgans, square slab tombs, and rock paintings.
Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, agriculture has always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism. Agriculture may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region. The population during the Copper Age has been described as mongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west. Tocharians (Yuezhi) and Scythians inhabited western Mongolia during the Bronze Age. The mummy of a Scythian warrior, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old, was a 30- to 40-year-old man with blond hair; it was found in the Altai, Mongolia. As equine nomadism was introduced into Mongolia, the political center of the Eurasian Steppe also shifted to Mongolia, where it remained until the 18th century CE. The intrusions of northern pastoralists (e.g. the Guifang, Shanrong, and Donghu) into China during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) presaged the age of nomadic empires.
The concept of Mongolia as an independent power north of China is expressed in a letter sent by Emperor Wen of Han to Laoshang Chanyu in 162 BC (recorded in the Hanshu):
The Emperor of China respectfully salutes the great Shan Yu (Chanyu) of the Hsiung-nu (Xiongnu)...When my imperial predecessor erected the Great Wall, all the bowmen nations on the north were subject to the Shan Yu; while the residents inside the wall, who wore the cap and sash, were all under our government: and the myriads of the people, by following their occupations, ploughing and weaving, shooting and hunting, were able to provide themselves with food and clothing...Your letter says:--"The two nations being now at peace, and the two princes living in harmony, military operations may cease, the troops may send their horses to graze, and prosperity and happiness prevail from age to age, commencing, a new era of contentment and peace." That is extremely gratifying to me...Should I, in concert with the Shan Yu, follow this course, complying with the will of heaven, then compassion for the people will be transmitted from age to age, and extended to unending generations, while the universe will be moved with admiration, and the influence will be felt by neighbouring kingdoms inimical to the Chinese or the Hsiung-nu...As the Hsiung-nu live in the northern regions, where the cold piercing atmosphere comes at an early period, I have ordered the proper authorities to transmit yearly to the Shan Yu, a certain amount of grain, gold, silks of the finer and coarser kinds, and other objects. Now peace prevails all over the world; the myriads of the population are living in harmony, and I and the Shan Yu alone are the parents of the people...After the conclusion of the treaty of peace throughout the world, take notice, the Han will not be the first to transgress.
Since prehistoric times, Mongolia has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to power and prominence. Common institutions were the office of the Khan, the Kurultai (Supreme Council), left and right wings, imperial army (Keshig) and the decimal military system. The first of these empires, the Xiongnu of undetermined ethnicity, were brought together by Modu Shanyu to form a confederation in 209 BC. Soon they emerged as the greatest threat to the Qin Dynasty, forcing the latter to construct the Great Wall of China. It was guarded by up to almost 300,000 soldiers during Marshal Meng Tian's tenure, as a means of defense against the destructive Xiongnu raids. The vast Xiongnu empire (209 BC–93 AD) was followed by the Mongolic Xianbei empire (93–234 AD), which also ruled more than the entirety of present-day Mongolia. The Mongolic Rouran Khaganate (330–555), of Xianbei provenance was the first to use "Khagan" as an imperial title. It ruled a massive empire before being defeated by the Göktürks (555–745) whose empire was even bigger.
The Göktürks laid siege to Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch, in 576. They were succeeded by the Uyghur Khaganate (745–840) who were defeated by the Kyrgyz. The Mongolic Khitans, descendants of the Xianbei, ruled Mongolia during the Liao Dynasty (907–1125), after which the Khamag Mongol (1125–1206) rose to prominence.
Lines 3–5 of the memorial inscription of Bilge Khagan (684–737) in central Mongolia summarizes the time of the Khagans:
In battles they subdued the nations of all four sides of the world and suppressed them. They made those who had heads bow their heads, and who had knees genuflect them. In the east up to the Kadyrkhan common people, in the west up to the Iron Gate they conquered... These Khagans were wise. These Khagans were great. Their servants were wise and great too. Officials were honest and direct with people. They ruled the nation this way. This way they held sway over them. When they died ambassadors from Bokuli Cholug (Baekje Korea), Tabgach (Tang China), Tibet (Tibetan Empire), Avar (Avar Khaganate), Rome (Byzantine Empire), Kirgiz, Uch-Kurykan, Otuz-Tatars, Khitans, Tatabis came to the funerals. So many people came to mourn over the great Khagans. They were famous Khagans.
Middle Ages to early 20th century
In the chaos of the late 12th century, a chieftain named Temüjin finally succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes between Manchuria and the Altai Mountains. In 1206, he took the title Genghis Khan, and waged a series of military campaigns – renowned for their brutality and ferocity – sweeping through much of Asia, and forming the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Under his successors it stretched from present-day Poland in the west to Korea in the east, and from parts of Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some 33,000,000 square kilometres (13,000,000 sq mi), (22% of Earth's total land area) and had a population of over 100 million people (about a quarter of Earth's total population at the time). The emergence of Pax Mongolica also significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia during its height.
After Genghis Khan's death, the empire was subdivided into four kingdoms or Khanates. These eventually became quasi-independent after the Toluid Civil War (1260–1264), which broke out in a battle for power following Möngke Khan's death in 1259. One of the khanates, the "Great Khaanate", consisting of the Mongol homeland and China, became known as the Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan. He set up his capital in present-day Beijing. After more than a century of power, the Yuan was replaced by the Ming dynasty in 1368, and the Mongol court fled to the north. As the Ming armies pursued the Mongols into their homeland, they successfully sacked and destroyed the Mongol capital Karakorum and other cities. Some of these attacks were repelled by the Mongols under Ayushridar and his general Köke Temür.
After the expulsion of the Yuan dynasty rulers from China, the Mongols continued to rule their homeland, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty. The next centuries were marked by violent power struggles among various factions, notably the Genghisids and the non-Genghisid Oirats, as well as by several Chinese invasions (such as the five expeditions led by the Yongle Emperor).
In the early 16th century, Dayan Khan and his khatun Mandukhai reunited the entire Mongol nation under the Genghisids. In the mid-16th century, Altan Khan of the Tümed, a grandson of Dayan Khan – but not a hereditary or legitimate Khan – became powerful. He founded Hohhot in 1557. After he met with the Dalai Lama in 1578, he ordered the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to Mongolia. (It was the second time this had occurred.) Abtai Khan of the Khalkha converted to Buddhism and founded the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585. His grandson Zanabazar became the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in 1640. Following the leaders, the entire Mongolian population embraced Buddhism. Each family kept scriptures and Buddha statues on an altar at the north side of their ger (yurt). Mongolian nobles donated land, money and herders to the monasteries. As was typical in states with established religions, the top religious institutions, the monasteries, wielded significant temporal power in addition to spiritual power.
The last Mongol Khan was Ligden Khan in the early 17th century. He came into conflicts with the Manchus over the looting of Chinese cities, and also alienated most Mongol tribes. He died in 1634. By 1636 most Inner Mongolian tribes had submitted to the Manchus, who founded the Qing dynasty. The Khalkha eventually submitted to Qing rule in 1691, thus bringing all of today's Mongolia under Manchu rule. After several wars, the Dzungars (western Mongols or Oirats) were virtually annihilated during the Qing conquest of Dzungaria in 1757–1758.
Some scholars estimate that about 80% of the 600,000 or more Dzungar were destroyed by a combination of disease and warfare. Outer Mongolia was given relative autonomy, being administered by the hereditary Genghisid khanates of Tusheet Khan, Setsen Khan, Zasagt Khan and Sain Noyon Khan. The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia had immense de facto authority. The Manchu forbade mass Chinese immigration into the area, which allowed the Mongols to keep their culture. The Oirats who migrated to the Volga steppes in Russia became known as Kalmyks.
The main trade route during this period was the Tea Road through Siberia; it had permanent stations located every 25 to 30 kilometres (16 to 19 mi), each of which was staffed by 5–30 chosen families.
Until 1911, the Qing dynasty maintained control of Mongolia with a series of alliances and intermarriages, as well as military and economic measures. Ambans, Manchu "high officials", were installed in Khüree, Uliastai, and Khovd, and the country was divided into numerous feudal and ecclesiastical fiefdoms (which also placed people in power with loyalty to the Qing). Over the course of the 19th century, the feudal lords attached more importance to representation and less importance to the responsibilities towards their subjects. The behaviour of Mongolia's nobility, together with usurious practices by Chinese traders and the collection of imperial taxes in silver instead of animals, resulted in widespread poverty among the nomads. By 1911 there were 700 large and small monasteries in Outer Mongolia; their 115,000 monks made up 21% of the population. Apart from the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, there were 13 other reincarnating high lamas, called 'seal-holding saints' (tamgatai khutuktu), in Outer Mongolia.
Modern history
With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mongolia under the Bogd Khaan declared its independence. But the newly established Republic of China considered Mongolia to be part of its own territory. Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic of China, considered the new republic to be the successor of the Qing. Bogd Khaan said that both Mongolia and China had been administered by the Manchu during the Qing, and after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the contract of Mongolian submission to the Manchu had become invalid.[b]
The area controlled by the Bogd Khaan was approximately that of the former Outer Mongolia during the Qing period. In 1919, after the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops led by warlord Xu Shuzheng occupied Mongolia. Warfare erupted on the northern border. As a result of the Russian Civil War, the White Russian Lieutenant General Baron Ungern led his troops into Mongolia in October 1920, defeating the Chinese forces in Niislel Khüree (now Ulaanbaatar) in early February 1921 with Mongol support.
To eliminate the threat posed by Ungern, Bolshevik Russia decided to support the establishment of a communist Mongolian government and army. This Mongolian army took the Mongolian part of Kyakhta from Chinese forces on March 18, 1921, and on July 6 Russian and Mongolian troops arrived in Khüree. Mongolia declared its independence again on July 11, 1921. As a result, Mongolia was closely aligned with the Soviet Union over the next seven decades.
Mongolian People's Republic
In 1924, after the Bogd Khaan died of laryngeal cancer or, as some sources claim, at the hands of Russian spies, the country's political system was changed. The Mongolian People's Republic was established. In 1928, Khorloogiin Choibalsan rose to power. The early leaders of the Mongolian People's Republic (1921–1952) included many with Pan-Mongolist ideals. However, changing global politics and increased Soviet pressure led to the decline of Pan-Mongol aspirations in the following period.
Khorloogiin Choibalsan instituted collectivization of livestock, began the destruction of the Buddhist monasteries, and carried out Stalinist purges, which resulted in the murders of numerous monks and other leaders. In Mongolia during the 1920s, approximately one-third of the male population were monks. By the beginning of the 20th century, about 750 monasteries were functioning in Mongolia.
In 1930, the Soviet Union stopped Buryat migration to the Mongolian People's Republic to prevent Mongolian reunification. All leaders of Mongolia who did not fulfill Stalin's demands to perform Red Terror against Mongolians were executed, including Peljidiin Genden and Anandyn Amar. The Stalinist purges in Mongolia, which began in 1937, killed more than 30,000 people. Choibalsan died suspiciously in the Soviet Union in 1952. Comintern leader Bohumír Šmeral said, "People of Mongolia are not important, the land is important. Mongolian land is larger than England, France and Germany".
After the Japanese invasion of neighboring Manchuria in 1931, Mongolia was threatened on this front. During the Soviet-Japanese Border War of 1939, the Soviet Union successfully defended Mongolia against Japanese expansionism. Mongolia fought against Japan during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and during the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945 to liberate Inner Mongolia from Japan and Mengjiang.
Cold War
The February 1945 Yalta Conference provided for the Soviet Union's participation in the Pacific War. One of the Soviet conditions for its participation, put forward at Yalta, was that after the war Outer Mongolia would retain its independence. The referendum took place on October 20, 1945, with (according to official numbers) 100% of the electorate voting for independence.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, both countries confirmed their mutual recognition on October 6, 1949. However, the Republic of China used its Security Council veto in 1955, to stop the admission of the Mongolian People's Republic to the United Nations on the grounds it recognized all of Mongolia —including Outer Mongolia— as part of China. This was the only time the Republic of China ever used its veto. Hence, and because of the repeated threats to veto by the ROC, Mongolia did not join the UN until 1961 when the Soviet Union agreed to lift its veto on the admission of Mauritania (and any other newly independent African state), in return for the admission of Mongolia. Faced with pressure from nearly all the other African countries, the ROC relented under protest. Mongolia and Mauritania were both admitted to the UN on 27 October 1961. (see China and the United Nations)
On January 26, 1952, Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal took power in Mongolia after the death of Choibalsan. Tsedenbal was the leading political figure in Mongolia for more than 30 years. While Tsedenbal was visiting Moscow in August 1984, his severe illness prompted the parliament to announce his retirement and replace him with Jambyn Batmönkh.
Post-Cold War
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 strongly influenced Mongolian politics and youth. Its people undertook the peaceful Democratic Revolution in January 1990 and the introduction of a multi-party system and a market economy. At the same time, the transformation of the former Marxist-Leninist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party to the current social democratic Mongolian People's Party reshaped the country's political landscape.
A new constitution was introduced in 1992, and the term "People's Republic" was dropped from the country's name. The transition to a market economy was often rocky; during the early 1990s the country had to deal with high inflation and food shortages. The first election victories for non-communist parties came in 1993 (presidential elections) and 1996 (parliamentary elections). China has supported Mongolia's application for membership in to the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and granting it observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Mongolia History articles: 144
Geography and climate
At 1,564,116 km2 (603,909 sq mi), Mongolia is the world's 18th-largest country (after Iran). It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru. It mostly lies between latitudes 41° and 52°N (a small area is north of 52°), and longitudes 87° and 120°E. As a point of reference the northernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same latitude as Berlin (Germany) and Saskatoon (Canada), while the southernmost part is on roughly the same latitude as Rome (Italy) and Chicago (USA). The westernmost part of Mongolia is on roughly the same longitude as Kolkata in India, while the easternmost part is on the same longitude as Qinhuangdao and Hangzhou in China, as well as the western edge of Taiwan. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its westernmost point is only 36.76 kilometres (22.84 mi) from Kazakhstan.
The geography of Mongolia is varied, with the Gobi Desert to the south and cold, mountainous regions to the north and west. Much of Mongolia consists of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland steppe, with forested areas accounting for 11.2% of the total land area, a higher percentage than the Ireland (10%). The whole of Mongolia is considered to be part of the Mongolian Plateau. The highest point in Mongolia is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif in the far west at 4,374 m (14,350 ft). The basin of the Uvs Lake, shared with Tuva Republic in Russia, is a natural World Heritage Site.
Climate
Mongolia is known as the "Land of the Eternal Blue Sky" or "Country of Blue Sky" (Mongolian: "Mönkh khökh tengeriin oron") because it has over 250 sunny days a year.
Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as −30 °C (−22 °F). A vast front of cold, heavy, shallow air comes in from Siberia in winter and collects in river valleys and low basins causing very cold temperatures while slopes of mountains are much warmer due to the effects of temperature inversion (temperature increases with altitude).
In winter the whole of Mongolia comes under the influence of the Siberian Anticyclone. The localities most severely affected by this cold weather are Uvs province (Ulaangom), western Khovsgol (Rinchinlhumbe), eastern Zavkhan (Tosontsengel), northern Bulgan (Hutag) and eastern Dornod province (Khalkhiin Gol). Ulaanbaatar is strongly, but less severely, affected. The cold gets less severe as one goes south, reaching the warmest January temperatures in Omnogovi Province (Dalanzadgad, Khanbogd) and the region of the Altai mountains bordering China. A unique microclimate is the fertile grassland-forest region of central and eastern Arkhangai Province (Tsetserleg) and northern Ovorkhangai Province (Arvaikheer) where January temperatures are on average the same and often higher than the warmest desert regions to the south in addition to being more stable. The Khangai Mountains play a certain role in forming this microclimate. In Tsetserleg, the warmest town in this microclimate, nighttime January temperatures rarely go under −30 °C (−22 °F) while daytime January temperatures often reach 0 °C (32 °F) to 5 °C (41 °F).
The country is subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as zud. Zud, a natural disaster unique to Mongolia, results in large proportions of the country's livestock dying from starvation or freezing temperatures or both, resulting in economic upheaval for the largely pastoral population. The annual average temperature in Ulaanbaatar is −1.3 °C (29.7 °F), making it the world's coldest capital city. Mongolia is high, cold and windy. It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north (average of 200 to 350 millimeters (8 to 14 in) per year) and lowest in the south, which receives 100 to 200 millimeters (4 to 8 in) annually. The highest annual precipitation of 622.297 mm (24.500 in) occurred in the forests of Bulgan Province near the border with Russia and the lowest of 41.735 mm (1.643 in) occurred in the Gobi Desert (period 1961–1990). The sparsely populated far north of Bulgan Province averages 600 mm (24 in) in annual precipitation which means it receives more precipitation than Beijing (571.8 mm or 22.51 in) or Berlin (571 mm or 22.5 in).
Wildlife
The name "Gobi" is a Mongol term for a desert steppe, which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels. Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape.
Gobi rangelands are fragile and easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive. The arid conditions in the Gobi are attributed to the rain shadow effect caused by the Himalayas. Before the Himalayas were formed by the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate 10 million years ago, Mongolia was a flourishing habitat for major fauna but still somewhat arid and cold due to distance from sources of evaporation. Sea turtle and mollusk fossils have been found in the Gobi, apart from well-known dinosaur fossils. Tadpole shrimps (Lepidurus mongolicus) are still found in the Gobi today. The eastern part of Mongolia including the Onon and Kherlen rivers and Lake Buir form part of the Amur river basin draining to the Pacific Ocean. It hosts some unique species like the Eastern brook lamprey, Daurian crayfish (cambaroides dauricus) and Daurian pearl oyster (dahurinaia dahurica) in the Onon/Kherlen rivers as well as Siberian prawn (exopalaemon modestus) in Lake Buir. | https://infoanew.com/wikipedia/Mongolia |
The one minute summary on Mongolia
This is it: one minute to the best info on Mongolia. This info alone will put you ahead of 99% of foreigners visiting Mongolia, garner the admiration of the locals who will instantly want to be your friends, and the envy of your fellow travelers. Read on. You’ll make friends faster that way, become a traveler instead of simply being a tourist, and also enjoy your travels a lot more.
The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAN they established a huge Eurasian empire through conquest. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and in the late 17th century came under Chinese rule.
Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing and a communist regime was installed in 1924. The modern country of Mongolia, however, represents only part of the Mongols’ historical homeland; more ethnic Mongolians live in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China than in Mongolia. Following a peaceful democratic revolution, the ex-communist Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won elections in 1990 and 1992, but was defeated by the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC) in the 1996 parliamentary election. The MPRP won an overwhelming majority in the 2000 parliamentary election, but the party lost seats in the 2004 election and shared power with democratic coalition parties from 2004-08.
The MPRP regained a solid majority in the 2008 parliamentary elections but nevertheless formed a coalition government with the Democratic Party that lasted until January 2012. In 2009, current President ELBEGDORJ of the Democratic Party was elected to office and was re-elected for his second term in June 2013. In 2010, the MPRP voted to retake the name of the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), a name it used in the early 1920s. Shortly thereafter, a new party was formed by former president ENKHBAYAR, which adopted the MPRP name. In the 2012 Parliamentary elections, a coalition of four political parties led by the Democratic Party, gained control of the Parliament.
That was it. I promised one minute.
For other condensed info check also my other posts on local culture (don’t make the mistakes I made), local food or local drinks. And when you call your friends to tell them you were by far the most knowledgeable at the party, do that with confidence that you’ll not get hit with a 6.99 per minute bill. You’ll also pick the local food from the tray, and order a local drink with confidence.
- Cultural Mistakes To Avoid in Mongolia
- Does my current phone work in Mongolia ? Tips to cell phone usage in Mongolia
- Local food you should try in Mongolia and No miss drinks in Mongolia
Now, cheers to the most Mongolia aware person at the cocktail party.
What are the key history moments for Mongolia?
The recorded history of ancient Mongolia dates back to third century BC when the Xiongnu came to power among many other nomadic tribes. Due to illiteracy and nomadic lifestyle, little was recorded by Huns of themselves. They first appear in recorded Chinese history as “Barbarians” against whom the walls were built. Those walls later became known as the Great Wall of China.
There have been several Empires in Mongolia after the Hun Nu. For example, the A Tureg Empire around 650AD, with its capital approximately 110km north of Har Horin (Kharkhorum). There was also the Uighur Empire, with its capital Har Bulgas (Khar Bulgas or Xar Bulgas) near Har Horin. The Khitans who controlled North China around 1000AD as the Liao Dynasty had an administrative center (Har Bukh) 120km to the northeast. The Government of Turkey has been promoting some Turkish Empire monuments and there is a museum full of artifacts at the Bilge Khaan site. The struggle for mere existence and power over other tribes kept going until the time of Genghis Khan. Chinggis Khan, as he is known in Mongolia, came to power and united the warring tribes under the Great Mongol Empire in 1206. He was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Chingis Haan), meaning ruler of all Mongol tribes.
The Mongolian Empire was extended all the way to eastern Europe under Genghis Khan. His grandson, Kublai Khan, subsequently conquered much of China, to establish the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongols were, however, driven back to the steppes by the Chinese Ming Dynasty under Emperor Hongwu. They were later conquered by the Manchurian-Chinese Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. An independent Mongol nation would only emerge again in 1924 but was not recognised by China until 1945, as the Chinese were forced to grant independence to Outer Mongolia by the Soviet Union, in exchange for Soviet assistance in fighting the Japanese invasion.
Thus, the historic region of Mongolia was split into two, with Outer Mongolia becoming the independent nation of Mongolia, while Inner Mongolia remained a province of China. Since that time, Mongolia has had a close relationship with the Soviet Union (and Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union). Mongolia even replaced its traditional script with the cyrillic alphabet. (The traditional script, however, continues to be used by ethnic Mongols in China). As Inner Mongolia was the more populated area before the partition, to this day the number of ethnic Mongols living in China outnumbers the population of Mongolia.
The Secret History of the Mongols is one of the great recordings of Mongolian history. Every Mongolian reads the book in the modern Mongolian language. This is one of the the oldest books in the Mongolian language. There are vivid similarities with the Bible in literary style, wording and story telling. It is speculated that the author could have been a Christian or at least was very knowledgeable about the Bible. According to Hugh Kemp, Qadag (pp 85-90, Steppe by Step) is the most likely candidate for authorship of Secret History of the Mongols. He writes about the history of ancient Mongolia and connects the modern reality with the ancient world.
Even though the book is about the history of Christianity in Mongolia, it paints a view of ancient Mongolia from the height of 21st century. The “History of Mongolia” by B. Baabar is a good source for the Modern History of Mongolia. On the trail of Marco Polo covers some travel through the Mongol Empire in the time of Genghis’ grandson, Kublai Khan.
The one minute summary for Mongolia geography
Best places to see in Mongolia
Mongolia is a big country with bad transportation means, so trying to see too many provinces you would spend your holidays inside vehicles. Hôvsgôl (or “Hövsgöl”) lake, in Hövsgöl province, is very beautiful. There is not much architecture in Mongolia, but Amarbaysgalant monastery, Selenge province, in the middle of nowhere, is worth seeing. Interested by the economical aspect? See Erdenet’s open copper mine, the biggest copper mine in Asia, in Orhon province. | http://acountryamonth.com/mongolia/ |
3 edition of Product Liability - The New Product Liability Law in Germany (in English) found in the catalog.
Product Liability - The New Product Liability Law in Germany (in English)
German American Chamber of Commerce.
Published
January 1993 by German Amer .
Written in English
|The Physical Object|
|Format||Paperback|
|ID Numbers|
|Open Library||OL11054492M|
|ISBN 10||0866400494|
|ISBN 10||9780866400497|
|OCLC/WorldCa||33124545|
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It offers concrete advice to manufacturers on how to reduce their product liability exposure. Germany’s product liability law imposes but does not define product observation obligations.
Within the framework of manufacturer liability pursuant to tort law, AV manufacturers are obligated to monitor products already on the market (in field operation) to identify imminent or new dangers, and to inform users of such dangers.
The Product Safety Act (ProdSG), which entered into effect in Augustimplements the European General Product Safety Directive in national law and supplements the German Product Liability Act.
This law establishes the legal framework for product liability and enables the intervention of authorities. Takes into account the latest legislation and case-law from a variety of key jurisdictions, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, and Germany; Product liability is an area of growing importance internationally and the comparative approach offered by this text will ensure that practitioners can operate with confidence when.
A Q&A guide to medicinal product regulation and product liability law in Germany. The Q&A gives a high level overview of key issues including pricing and state funding, manufacturing, marketing, clinical trials, advertising, labelling, patents, trade marks, and product liability.
Product liability The primary legislative network governing product liability in the European Union is the Product Liability Directive (85//EEC). The Product Liability. Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause.
Although the word "product" has broad connotations, product liability as an area of law is traditionally limited to products in the form of tangible personal property.
At least while the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, UK product regulation rules and product liability principles are primarily derived from EU law. German law, too, distinguishes between B2C and B2B transactions and contracts - at least as a matter of principle. In practice, however, the German courts tend to take a rather restrictive approach to widely worded limitation of liability clauses contained in B2B contracts.
News Products Liability Lawsuit Against Amazon Has Settled, Mooting Pa. Supreme Court Argument After the split-three judge panel led by Roth reversed, the. Act on Liability for Defective Products.
Product Liability Act. Full citation: Product Liability Act of 15 December (Federal Law Gazette I, p. ), last amended by Article 5 of the Act of 17 July (Federal Law Gazette [Bundesgesetzblatt] I p. ) table of contents. Section 1 Liability.
Canada's first ever cannabis product liability class action has been snuffed out - at least in part. As previously reported in this newsletter, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court's certification of Downton v Organigram Inc., a product liability class action against a New Brunswick based medical cannabis producer, was a historicjust over a year later, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has.
International Product Liability covers 21 major jurisdictions in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The text for each country includes a discussion of such matters as theories of liability, contractual and non-contractual liability, choice of law and forum, defenses, proximate cause, liability of others in the chain of distribution, remedies, obligations to recall, disclaimers.
The first book to effectively integrate product quality methodologies, ISO standards, and products liability considerations into a single, practical manufacturing program. The new edition addresses the impact of the Restatement of Products Liability 3rd, including the definition of a defect, post-sale responsibilities and used equipment.
Strict liability does not mean a product manufacturer or retailer is an insurer for injuries the consumer suffers from the product.
The injured person must prove that the product. Overview. DLA Piper has many years of experience in product law, product safety and product liability. In Germany, the Litigation and Regulatory team has more than 20 lawyers with extensive experience in dispute resolution and in-depth sector knowledge.
Inside the Minds – Published by Aspatore Books The Role of a Product Liability Lawyer One of our firm’s roles as product liability lawyers is as national coordinating counsel for clients that have repetitive products litigation. We assemble the relevant documents, develop the corporate witnesses, manage.
N.J. Products Liability & Toxic Tort Law - The full text and a thorough analysis of the Products Liability Act etc. Gann Law Books He has delivered annual lectures on products liability to the New Jersey Judiciary and to the New Jersey Bar. Dreier is a member of the American Law Institute, and has both lectured and been the course.
Amazon has argued in court that this relationship absolves it of any liability related to defective products sold by those vendors. And for many years, courts have largely sided with Amazon. Product Liability also discusses pretrial and trial practice, including developing strategies for the trial or settlement of a case, class actions, jury selection, the opening statement, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, documentary and demonstrative evidence, summation, and jury instructions.
Buy New York Products Liability, 2d, ed. at Legal Solutions from Thomson Reuters. Get free shipping on law books. You've purchased a product that you're pretty sure is defective, and you're wondering about your legal options. No matter how dangerous the defect or problem may appear to be, the short answer is that you probably can't bring a "product liability" claim unless you experienced some kind of injury or ’s take a look at products liability law and the element of damages to understand.
This volume covers Minnesota products liability law, its developmental history, the trial process, and a comparison with Restatement of Torts (Third): Products Liability. Book (Full Set) $ TTHE EUROPEAN UNION’S PRODUCT LIABILITY AND SAFETY HE EUROPEAN UNION’S PRODUCT LIABILITY AND SAFETY LLEGISLATIONEGISLATION Two directives of the European Parliament1 govern the fi eld of product liability and product safety: (i) Council Directive 85//EEC of Jon the approximation of the laws, regulations, and.
Product liability comprises a number of laws and court rulings that apply to any business that makes or sells a product. Businesses that make or sell products are responsible for ensuring that. 2 days ago In an article first published by New Law Journal in DecemberSarah explores Mrs Fletcher’s product liability claim against New York-registered defendants, Estee Lauder Inc and Clinique Laboratories LLC, the vicious cycle limiting access to justice for those harmed by Big Pharma in the UK and the moral dilemmas involved.
Breaking into product liability litigation can be difficult yet immensely rewarding. Get focused insights into this unique practice area with this fast-paced guide. Evaluate case potential, anticipate defenses, and explore key considerations in litigation.
Build the foundation for a successful practice - order today. The Product Safety Regulations will amend an array of sectoral product safety laws which deal with products such as toys, electrical products, radio equipment, lifts and machinery.
They will also amend the CPA, which provides a right of recourse to consumers who have suffered losses as a result of defective products, and the GPSR, which deal.
The federal district court in New Jersey agreed with the manufacturer [see Products Liability Law Daily’s Decem analysis]. The trial court held that despite the fact that the claim was brought under the CFA, the essential nature of the claim sounded in products liability—i.e., a manufacturing or design defect, or a failure to.Here are six common types of product liability claims that attorneys handle every day around the country.
Auto Parts. A very common and highly publicized type of product liability case, auto parts defects can occur in any part of the vehicle, from the engine and .In the course of our efforts to reshape the way Americans think about product liability law it will be necessary to examine, question, and eventually correct the way in which American courts have—over the last thirty years—usurped the law-making function of American legislatures.
Achieving these changes will . | https://nukevugezywuvu.homemadehattie.com/product-liability-the-new-product-liability-law-in-germany-book-35598yq.php |
Earth Day 2017: what is it and why is it important?
On January 28, 1969, a drilling-induced crack in the Santa Barbara Channel released more than 3 million tonnes of crude oil into the water. It formed black waves that struck the Southern California coastline and washed upon beaches in an eerie silence, carrying with them seabirds and animals drowning in oil. Across America, an outpouring of frustration seemed to match that of the crack in the channel bed.
The disaster would mark the beginnings of the environmental movement. A year later, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans gathered across the country to raise awareness for environmental issues - Earth Day was born.
While it started as a form of grassroots activism, Earth Day transitioned in 1990 to a truly international organisation, comprised of over 141 nations in participation. Earth Day takes place on April 22 every year and, in 2017, has taken on a new relevance. On the same day that the public mind turns to the future of our planet, people will take to streets across the world to march for scientific integrity.
In the words of the Earth Day Organisation, “Education is the foundation for progress”. This year, the focus of the campaign is designed to improve environmental and climate literacy. This means providing people with an education in climate change concepts, so as to raise awareness and help them to get involved in the future of our planet. Education lies at the heart of any action to empower the public and environmental protection is no different.
Climate Change
Climate change has pushed Earth into 'uncharted territory'
In a statement for March for Science, London, the organisation expresses its concerns over the sanctity of science in an age of fake news, growing political unrest and disenfranchisement, stating: “There is growing concern that scientific progress and freedom is under threat on a global level – from the policies of the new US administration, uncertainty around the impact of the EU referendum, and a broad increase in anti-intellectualism and resistance to facts that contributed to both.”
In an effort to raise awareness about environmental education, as well as the public services that maintain air, water and other environmental qualities, Earth Day 2017 plans to utilise this public momentum to educate people about the need for commitment to a clean environment. Using teach-in concepts that were first deployed on Earth Day in 1970, rallies will be held across the world, with speakers discussing the need to address environmental issues with targeted policies.
Politics
Standing up for science in the era of Trump: why politics should not create policy
One of the most striking aspects of Earth Day that you’ll see this year – perhaps more so than any other year since its inception - is its truly global nature. As well as raising awareness about the need to better protect our environment, the 22nd of April is a day in which to highlight the need for research-focused, international science. The March for Science is an opportunity to combine the need for environmental action with the desire to defend scientific integrity. The fact that the March for Science falls on Earth Day shows the global and multi-faceted nature of scientific research. Scientific breakthroughs benefit the collective – working to improve healthcare, education and infrastructure worldwide. As such, the collective now stands to defend them.
On April 22, more than 1 billion people are expected to participate in Earth Day around the world, making it the largest civic observance in the world. The campaigns involved in the Earth Day programme range from encouraging green cities, climate change and reforestation.
With over 400 countries taking part in Marches for Science this Earth Day, the event has arguably taken on the element of social activism that was seen with women's marches across the world earlier this year. On January 21, women and men marched on all seven continents with an estimated 4.5 million marchers worldwide. It was among the biggest human-rights demonstrations in history. The spirit of that demonstration has arguably sparked a new wave of public protests - with the upcoming March for Science on 22 April; the People’s Climate March on 29 April; and an Immigrants March on 6 May. Some have expressed concerns about the politicisation of science with these organised events; others argue that the interplay between science and politics needs stronger definition.
But Earth Day has arguably always been a political event - with tens of thousands of people flooding New York's Fifth Avenue in the year of its creation. In 2016, the Paris Agreement was ratified, uniting nations in a common cause to combat climate change, arguably marking a point at which the environmental issue is proving less divisive - and more united. Climate Change has now pushed Earth into uncharted territory - an issue that has significant social, political and economic ramifications. In order to better understand environmental challenges, we must first be educated in environmental science. As such, public support on Earth Day is designed to reflect these issues.
Climate Change
Earth Hour 2017 takes place this weekend. Here's how to get involved
The route that Londoners will be taking this weekend reflects the varied and important history of science in the United Kingdom. Story Sylwester, March For Science London organiser, says: "From the foundation of the Royal Society and the Royal Greenwich Observatory in the 17th Century, to more modern institutions such as the British Library, the Francis Crick Institute and the Wellcome Trust, London has long been a bedrock of scientific inquiry. The London March for Science is an opportunity for scientists and science enthusiasts to come together and defend the scientific integrity, inquiry and curiosity they love."
Starting from the steps of the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, thousands of people will march through London’s streets, walking passed scientific institutions such as the Royal Society before ending with a rally in Parliament Square. A diverse range of organisations have lent their support to the event, including Campaign Against Climate Change and Science Council.
The rallies and marches taking place this Earth day will have the effect of demonstrating public support for environmental issues - however, these are not the only ways you can get involved. You don’t have to go to an official event – in making a dedicated, long-term commitment to improving your carbon footprint, you'll be working in the spirit of Earth Day. In the same vein as criticism of Earth Hour questions the benefit of such short-term action, Earth Day itself is supposed to raise awareness in order to inspire long-term change. | https://www.wired.co.uk/article/earth-day-2017 |
How To Make Mediterranean Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Feta cheese, combined with Mozzarella cheese and olives, makes this Mediterranean grilled cheese sandwich a simple yet flavorful Greek-inspired sandwich.
Serves:
Ingredients
- 2slicesrustic white bread,or sourdough bread
- 1tbspextra virgin olive oil,divided
- 2ozMozarella cheese,shredded
- 1ozWisconsin Feta cheese,crumbled
- 2cupsspinach,fresh
- 4Roma tomato slices
- 2tbspblack olives,diced
- 1tbspred onion,finely chopped
- 2tspfresh basil,chopped
- ¼tspgarlic,finely minced
- black pepper,freshly ground
Instructions
-
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a non-stick 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
-
Once hot, add garlic and spinach and saute until spinach begins to wilt about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, stir in basil, and set aside.
-
To assemble the sandwich, spread Mozzarella and Feta cheese over one slice of bread into an even layer. Layer tomatoes in a single layer over cheese.
-
Spread spinach mixture over tomatoes then sprinkle olives and red onions over tomatoes. Season with freshly ground black pepper and top with the remaining slice of bread.
-
Spread 1 teaspoon olive oil evenly over the skillet, add sandwich, and heat over medium-low heat.
-
Cook until the bottom is golden brown for about 3 to 4 minutes, then remove the sandwich from the pan.
-
Spread the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil evenly in the skillet, carefully rotate the sandwich to the opposite side, and return to pan over medium-low heat.
-
Cover skillet with the lid and cook until bottom is golden brown for about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
- Calories: 639.73kcal
- Fat: 42.89g
- Saturated Fat: 17.86g
- Trans Fat: 0.68g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 17.67g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.63g
- Carbohydrates: 39.45g
- Fiber: 5.94g
- Sugar: 8.28g
- Protein: 26.98g
- Cholesterol: 83.06mg
- Sodium: 1097.07mg
- Calcium: 694.77mg
- Potassium: 790.00mg
- Iron: 5.01mg
- Vitamin A: 517.60µg
- Vitamin C: 33.06mg
Have your own special recipe to share? Submit Your Recipe Today!
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Sandwich
Sandwich
Easy Greek Grilled Cheese Recipe
This Easy Greek Grilled Cheese is a flavorful snack oozing in not just cheese but fresh red onion and juicy tomato to balance out the creamy taste. A delicious afternoon snack, this recipe is quick and easy to make!
Dip, Sauce & Condiment
Try our easy Pear Relish Recipe with your favorite main dish for an added punch of flavor! Just one bite of this pear relish and it’s a sure burst of complex flavors. | https://recipes.net/main-dish/sandwich/mediterranean-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipe/ |
Background: Multimodal analgesia is considered the leading principle for post-operative pain treatment, but no gold standard after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) exists. Aim: To investigate the beneficial and harmful effects of one or two doses of 24 mg intravenous dexamethasone (DXM) as part of a multimodal analgesic regimen (paracetamol, NSAID and perioperative local infiltration analgesia) after TKA. We hypothesize that addition of DXM will reduce post-operative opioid consumption. Methods: DEXamethasone twice for pain treatment after TKA is a randomized, blinded, three-group multicentre clinical trial. Participants will be randomized to one of three groups: placebo, single dose of DXM or two consecutive doses of DXM. Participants, treatment providers and investigators will be blinded to the allocated intervention. The primary outcome is total opioid consumption (units of morphine equivalents) 0-48 hours post-operatively. Inclusion criteria: unilateral, primary TKA; age ≥18 years; American Society of Anesthesiologists-Score 1-3; Body Mass Index ≥18 and ≤40; for women—not pregnant; and written informed consent. Exclusion criteria: allergy or contraindications against trial medication; daily use of high dose opioid and/or use of methadone/transdermal opioids; daily use of systemic glucocorticoids; dysregulated diabetes; and patients suffering from alcohol and/or drug abuse. Four-hundred-and-eighty-six eligible participants are needed to detect or discard a difference of 10 mg morphine equivalents 0-48 hours post-operatively maintaining a familywise error rate of 0.05 and a power of 90% for the three possible pairwise comparisons. Discussion: Recruiting is planned to commence September 2018 and expected to finish March 2020. Trial Registration: EudraCT: 2018-001099-39 (08/06-18); ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03506789 (24/04-2019). Editorial Comment This is the protocol for the largest randomized clinical trial investigating the effect of one or two doses of dexamethasones on pain treatment after total knee arthroplasty. Due to the pragmatic and rigerous design this study will deliver results of high quality and external validity. | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/dex2tkadexamethasone-twice-for-pain-treatment-after-total-knee-arthroplasty(2df3c742-3820-419f-b886-0116830da1be).html |
This past week was filled with interesting sustainability and climate news, we’ve summarised the top stories below.
MSCI report shows “mixed bag” in TCFD reporting
Over 2600 organisations worldwide have signed statements in support of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations.
However, a new MSCI report has highlighted the variation in approaches regulators are taking to implementing TCFD recommendations and reporting requirements.
The report shows differences between jurisdictions and countries regarding the scope of firms required to disclose; requirements for transition plans, scenario analysis, and forward-looking metrics; and focuses on materiality.
MSCI has said that these issues are “a better problem to have” however, compared with the lack of climate data available a few years ago.
UN report highlights unsustainable land damage and degradation
A new UN report has shown the damaging consequences agriculture has had on Earth’s land, reporting that up to 40% of land is already degraded.
The report estimates that if agricultural practices continue as they currently are, an additional land area the size of South America will be degraded within the next 30 years.
The authors emphasise an urgent need for land restoration, rewilding, and changes to agricultural practices as well as the need for consumers to shift their diets away from carbon-intensive livestock.
With the right efforts, the report suggests that up to 5 billion hectares of land could be restored by 2050.
Frequency of major hurricanes and typhoons could double by 2050 due to climate change
A study has demonstrated that, as climate change increases air and water temperatures, the number of hurricanes and typhoons rated as Category 3 storms or higher may double by the year 2050.
Category 3 storms have sustained winds over 111 mph, while Category 4 and 5 storms contain winds over 130 mph and 157 mph respectively.
The authors predict that in some parts of the world, the frequency of Category 4 and 5 storms may increase by over 200%. These increases are not confined only to areas which currently see tropical storm activity, but may affect regions that currently have a very low tropical storm risk.
21% of reptile species are threatened by extinction
Research has found that over 1800 different reptile species are at risk of extinction, with over 50% of crocodile species and almost 75% of turtles under threat.
The authors argue that reptiles are frequently overlooked in conservation efforts as they are considered less charismatic than other endangered animals. However, they serve an important purpose in their ecosystems and help humans by controlling pest populations.
Habitat destruction is the main cause of this species depletion, stemming from farmland expansion, urban development, and logging. Hunting is also a major threat, for crocodiles and turtles especially.
Climate change was found to be a threat to around 10% of reptile species; however, the researchers expect the true number to be higher, as it does not account for longer-term climate impacts. | https://www.futuretrack.info/post/this-week-in-sustainability-news-29-04 |
Our work is united by the common goal of reducing the impact of opioid and other substance abuse on individuals, families, and communities. We design and deliver innovative, highly regarded, and effective learning opportunities that build national, state, and local workforce and organizational capacities to meet the needs of diverse populations through evidence-based policies, programs, and services.
Our online products, tools, and resources, as well as our face-to-face trainings, reflect urgent and emergent trends in substance abuse across the life span. Our solutions are informed by prevention and implementation science, as well as by the multidisciplinary perspectives and cultural competencies of our staff.
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Experts
Resources
Here are a few of our resources on substance abuse prevention and treatment. To see more, visit our Resources section.
This resource library contains programs and strategies for addressing school-based health and safety issues, including bullying, substance abuse, mental health, and school discipline.
This resource is designed to help suicide prevention programs in state, tribal, campus, and community settings build and strengthen connections with their substance abuse prevention and treatment counterparts.
The Massachusetts Technical Assistance Partnership for Prevention (MassTAPP) developed this guidance document to assist efforts in preventing and reducing underage drinking and other drug use in Ma
This resource offers a brief introduction to prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), highlighting how practitioners can use PDMP data to prevent prescription drug misuse in their states and communities.
The Massachusetts Technical Assistance Partnership for Prevention (MassTAPP) at EDC developed this interactive communications toolkit to help substance abuse prevention practitioners create clear,
In 2007, Massachusetts became the first state to receive federal funds through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to address unintended fatal and nonfatal opioid
This resource makes the case to use data to make the case for prevention efforts.
This resource library contains reports, analyses, surveys, and fact sheets developed as part of EDC’s administration of the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey from 2006 to 2014.
This website contains links to social marketing campaigns from communities supported by the Massachusetts Technical Assistance Partnership for Prevention (MassTAPP).
This online tool provides guidance for applying the Strategic Prevention Framework process to the prevention of alcohol misuse and abuse. | http://www.edc.org/body-work/substance-abuse-prevention-and-treatment |
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced in September last year that it would be switching the focus of its quantitative easing program from monetary base targeting to controlling the shape of the yield curve (Bank of Japan, 2016). A brief comparison of the two frameworks is as follows. The previous monetary easing framework, Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing (QQE) with a Negative Interest Rate, set out three policy dimensions: quantity, quality, and interest rates. The key targets were the yearly purchase of ¥80 trillion of Japanese government bonds (JGBs); the purchase of a smaller amount of various other assets, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Japan real estate investment trusts, and corporate bonds; and a negative interest rate for current account deposits at the BOJ. The new framework, QQE with Yield Curve Control, leaves the quality and interest rate dimensions unchanged but signals a shift away from targeting a quantity of JGB purchases toward a commitment to fix 10-year JGB yields at around 0%, lifting them up from the negative rates that were seen under the previous regime. Coupled with the existing –0.1% rate on marginal reserve balances, which sets the short-term rates, the BOJ is targeting a steeper yield curve that will provide the necessary monetary stimulus while also providing relief to financial institutions, which typically hold long-term assets and short-term liabilities.
What are the differences between yield curve control and the previous regime?
In practice, the number of asset purchases is largely unchanged—the BOJ stated in its announcement that it would continue at a rate of around ¥80 trillion per year. Given that the BOJ has provided two different measures (the amount of assets to be bought, and yield curve control with two interest rate targets), there is some ambiguity in its guidance (Bernanke 2016b). There is also potential for conflict between the two targets: If ¥80 trillion is not the right amount of bond purchases required to achieve the desired yield curve, then will this figure simply be dropped? The ambiguity in its messaging provides the BOJ with flexibility but prevents it from setting clear expectations for market participants.
The question of whether or not the shift in regime will lead to fewer bonds purchased raises the prospect that this announcement may be the beginning of a tapering of the BOJ’s QQE program. This would set the scene for shortening the average remaining maturity of JGBs purchased, increasing long-term yields, and enabling a halt to further cuts in the negative interest rate. The BOJ will be keen to prevent the perception of tapering to avoid an adverse market reaction similar to the “taper tantrum” that followed the Federal Reserve’s tapering decision in 2013. Nevertheless, some will speculate that the BOJ may have been forced into “stealth tapering” because achieving its inflation goals may take much longer than previously expected, and the JGB market is becoming increasingly shallow. However, in its announcement, the BOJ reaffirmed its commitment to aggressive monetary easing in a different way by pledging to overshoot its 2% inflation target. In doing so, it has made a commitment to continue expanding the monetary base until the inflation target is exceeded in a stable manner, indicating that it may be prepared to tolerate above-target inflation for a period of time.
What are the advantages of the policy?
First of all, the policy is likely to reduce the number of bonds the BOJ is required to buy. It is expected that the BOJ will run out of JGBs to buy within a year or two if it keeps up the ¥80 trillion per year pace of purchases (Arslanalp and Botman 2015). The BOJ not only holds the majority of the JGB market, but also a large amount of ETFs. Maintaining the current scale of JGB and ETF purchases would drain liquidity from these markets, bring attendant governance issues to Japanese corporations, and could impede market functioning (Shirai 2016). By outlining a more sustainable system, this change in regime may boost confidence in the BOJ’s policy.
Second, the decrease in asset purchases that may arise from the change would help the BOJ control its balance sheet size. An enlarged balance sheet would expose the BOJ to a potential huge loss from a fall in value of its assets, but, by limiting the balance sheet size, the BOJ can attempt to place a ceiling on this risk.
Third, targeting a specific yield curve offers some degree of greater certainty to investors. Knowing that the BOJ will revise its purchases upward or downward in order to achieve the target should enhance confidence in the BOJ’s monetary policy outcomes.
Fourth, a steeper yield curve will alleviate some of the pressure on commercial banks and pension funds—a flatter yield curve reduces the profits for both industries. A healthy financial sector is key for the BOJ’s aim of a growing economy with price stability, so the degree to which the steeper yield curve benefits financial functioning will be an important factor in the success of the yield curve control policy.
Additionally, relieving some of the pressure on the financial services industry in this way may give the BOJ better scope to lower the deposit rate further into negative territory if necessary, as some of the negative impact on the financial sector will already be partially offset by the steepened yield curve.
What are the risks?
First, if there were to be a need for further monetary easing, it is not clear which of the two interest rate targets would be lowered. More guidance on the BOJ’s next steps would be welcome.
Second, the effects of maintaining yield curve rates within a rigid band over a long period are uncertain. Pricing in financial markets could be distorted, impeding market functioning. Long-term interest rates carry with them a great deal of economic information: inflation expectations and expected potential growth, for example. It may take a long time to achieve the 2% inflation target; until then the information contained in the long-term rates will be distorted and could lead to inefficiencies and reduced liquidity.
Third, the BOJ may in the future face the dilemma of whether to counter deviations arising from a temporary shock, even at a high price, or whether to tolerate movements at the risk of undermining the credibility of the yield curve targeting. This has already been tested to some extent by the global increase in bond yields that followed the United States presidential election. In that instance, the BOJ was able to restrict the rise in JGB yields very effectively by offering an unlimited amount of JGB purchases at fixed rates (Shirai 2017). This offers promising evidence for the BOJ’s ability to enforce its yield curve targets, but this success must be replicated in the face of future events.
Our final concern is that for purely operational reasons, it might not be easy to peg the long-term interest rate (Bernanke 2016a). The yield curve does not adjust precisely according to the interest rate or government bonds purchases, so fine-tuning is likely to be difficult. The BOJ may face market fluctuations and larger risks, such as investors’ sudden dumping of JGBs or other external shocks arising from unexpected geopolitical or economic events.
_____
References:
Arslanalp, S., and D. Botman. 2015. Portfolio Rebalancing in Japan: Constraints and Implications for Quantitative Easing. IMF Working Paper. Washington, DC: IMF.
Bank of Japan. 2016. New Framework for Strengthening Monetary Easing: Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing with Yield Curve Control. Tokyo: Bank of Japan.
Bernanke, B. 2016a. What Tools Does the Fed Have Left? Part 2: Targeting Longer-Term Interest Rates. 24 March. Brookings Institution.
Bernanke, B. 2016b. The Latest from the Bank of Japan. 21 September. Brookings Institution.
Shirai, S. 2016. 白井さゆり 慶應大学教授 「＜日銀検証＞を検証する」（2）2016.10.21. [Sayuri Shirai, Professor at Keio University “Assessing the BOJ’s Assessment”]
Shirai, S. 2017. Mission Incomplete: Reflating Japan’s Economy. Tokyo: ADBI. | https://www.asiapathways-adbi.org/2017/03/assessing-the-bojs-yield-curve-control-policy/ |
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The entire Spelling You See program combines history, poetry, English, writing, grammar, spelling, listening skills, and dictation
exercises in a methodical, systematic yet engaging and exciting way.The daily exercises are very, very manageable for squirmy worms of all ages,
allowing them small victories and a real sense of progression and confidence throughout the
program.
How it Works
Placement is
not based on grade but on the student’s level of language development. One of
the many things I love about this program is the fact they don’t have you choose a
level for your student based on reading level, but rather based on his/her spelling level.My daughter, 10 years old, is an excellent reader; she is
reading at a 7th grade level and doing really well with chapter
books, but her spelling is atrocious and it has frustrated me beyond words.She is somehow just not making the connection
between translating what she knows in her brain down to paper and into her writing.
Keeping this
in mind, I chose the Americana Level for her because of the word-extension stage in
which I believed her to be.This level
focuses on syllables within words, as well as prefixes and suffixes. If you're not sure about which level on which to start your own child(ren), I encourage you to check out the helpful page from the Spelling U See website, by clicking here.
There are three core activities within the Americana Level:
Chunking—Your student will use colored
pencils (included with purchase) to mark certain letter patterns found within
the passage.This is done for each
lesson, and not just for busywork, but in a methodical way to get your student in the habit of seeing the
different letter combinations and which ones are making which sounds. Underneath each passage are boxes with the chunks your student is to look for and mark in each passage.
Consonant chunks are marked with blue pencils, vowel chunks with yellow pencils, "bossy r" chunks with purple, ending chunks with pink, and so forth. It is very important to the program for your child to consistently use the colored pencils as prescribed. The visual, relational aspect of the colored chunks, solidifies the spelling patterns for your child. It is a major part of the success of this program, in my opinion.
Copywork—Each day, your student will be
writing the given passage after reading through it with you. In the Americana
level, non-fiction history lessons are the passages, thus giving the students
some sneaky, extra learning (which I loved).The student will only write for 10 minutes, no more.If they complete the portion of the passage
they are required to write for that day in less than 10 minutes, then they are
done. If they don’t complete it in 10 minutes, they stop anyway.
On the first three days of the lesson, the chunking and
copywork are repeated in this format: reading, chunking, copywork.
The consumable workbook allows ample space for your student to write:
Dictation—On the fourth and fifth days of the
lessons, still using the same passage, you will dictate the passage to your
student.On the first day of dictation,
you will be helping the student with grammar and spelling as needed.You encourage them to cross through any
misspelled words or errors, and then quickly move on.Again, you will spend no more than 10 minutes
on the dictation portion of the lesson. On the last day of dictation, you will
dictate the passage to them, and they will copy the passage without help.By the
time they get to this fifth day of chunking and copywork, you will be amazed at
how their brains have remembered the spelling patterns and have learned to “decode
and encode” what they are seeing within each word.My daughter’s progress has been very amazing.
There are 36
lessons, divided into 2 student workbooks, and an Instructor’s Handbook, which
lays out the daily lessons, offers helpful tips on how to teach this program, and provides answers for the chunking sections.
If you encounter a question in the process, as I did,
the customer service at Demme Learning is top notch, and will help you in any
way they can with very prompt responses. And we all know how important great customer service is!
This program is very user-friendly for both teacher and student and does not take a lot of lesson preparation, which we all love. As Abbey began working through the lessons, she immediately felt confidence in seeing her spelling improve from one day to the next. As she memorized the letter patterns found in the words she already knew, I could see her work faster and faster with her copywork. After not being able to finish a lesson in 10 minutes the first two days of working, she started having fun trying to beat her own time (while still having good handwriting) each day. My daughter can now do a lesson in well under the 10-minute mark, and the mistakes have become fewer and fewer. Even the grammar--noticing where commas should go and which words should be capitalized--are all increasing her confidence as a young writer. I highly recommend this for any struggling speller in your home, whether you homeschool or not!
Pricing
I absolutely love it when I can recommend a great program AND it is affordable! Spelling You See: Americana is sold for $44 (as a set). This includes the Instructor's Handbook, Two Student Workbooks, and a set of colored pencils (used for chunking). You can also purchase the Instructors Handbook and Student Workbooks separately, helpful for when you have multiple students working in the same level. The Instructor's Handbook is $14, and the set of two Student Workbooks is $30.
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The Schoolhouse Review Crew Members have been using different levels of Spelling You See with their students for several weeks, so if there's a different level you want to learn more about, please click the banner below and enjoy visiting the different homeschooling blogs to read about their experiences!
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