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SWOT analysis can help companies identify growth areas.
The acronym SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis technique is a planning tool used by companies to identify key business objectives, and the internal and external factors that can support or undermine those objectives. While SWOT can help businesses to review their strategy and direction, there are some drawbacks to using SWOT. It is important to keep these in mind when performing any SWOT analysis.
The quality of the data used in a SWOT analysis can have a big effect on the quality of the analysis. If information about a company's strengths and weaknesses is broad, or represents the opinion of only a few people, then it will be difficult to make a meaningful analysis of the company objectives. Another drawback is that information used in a SWOT can represent the existing views of people in the company, and these views may not be accurate. For example, a company director may list a particular weakness of the company, but may not see that this weakness could also be viewed as a strength.
One drawback of a SWOT analysis is that it can oversimplify the type and extent of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the company. There may be times when your company's situation does not fit into one of the four SWOT categories. At other times, it may be difficult to classify a situation, as opportunities can also be threats, and strengths can also be weaknesses, depending on circumstances. When conducting a SWOT analysis, this drawback can be avoided by considering each situation in light of the company's overall objectives and goals.
It can be difficult to identify the four elements of the SWOT analysis. For example, an opportunity or a threat may not be easy to identify. Another drawback is that something that appears to one person as a strength, may actually be a weakness. For example, while an executive may believe that the human resources department is a strength, he may not be aware of problems in the department, or may not know that a competing company has a much better human resources department.
A SWOT analysis does not take into account that some elements of the business are not under management control. These elements may include inflation levels; changes in the price of raw materials; changes to government legislation; and lack of sufficiently skilled labor. Another drawback is that SWOT applies the same process to addressing all problems. A SWOT analysis does not take into account the problems' complexity or depth and may not be suitable for analyzing all types of problems.
Magloff, Lisa. "Drawbacks of a SWOT Analysis." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/drawbacks-swot-analysis-22627.html. Accessed 21 April 2019. | https://smallbusiness.chron.com/drawbacks-swot-analysis-22627.html |
Russia banned from Olympics, soccer World Cup for cheating over dope tests
09 Dec 2019 / 22:08 H.
World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) President-Elect Witold Banka (L) speaks with Wada President Craig Reedie during a press conference following a meeting of the Wada executive committee on Russian ban on December 9, 2019 in Lausanne. - AFP
LAUSANNE/MOSCOW: Russia was banned from the world’s top sporting events for four years on Monday, including the next summer and winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup, for tampering with doping tests.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) executive committee in Switzerland acted after concluding that Moscow had planted fake evidence and deleted files linked to positive doping tests in laboratory data that could have helped identify drug cheats.
“The blatant breach by the Russian authorities of Rusada’s reinstatement conditions ... demanded a robust response. That is exactly what has been delivered today,“ he said in a statement.
The impact of the unanimous decision was felt immediately, with Wada confirming that the Russian national team cannot take part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar under the Russian flag and can only participate as neutrals.
“If they qualify, a team representing Russia cannot participate, but if there is a mechanism put in place, then they can apply to participate on a neutral basis, not as representatives of Russia,“ Jonathan Taylor, chair of Wada’s compliance review committee, told a news conference
FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, said in a statement: “FIFA is in contact with Wada and ASOIF to clarify the extent of the decision in regards to football.”
The ban also means that Russian sportsmen and sportswomen will not be able to perform at the Olympics in Tokyo next year under their own flag and national anthem.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic organising committee said it would welcome all athletes as long as they were clean.
“Tokyo 2020 hopes that athletes from all teams and NOCs/NPCs will participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in compliance with all anti-doping regulations,“ said Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya in a statement.
It would work with relevant organisations to fully implement anti-doping measures, it added.
Russia, which has tried to showcase itself as a global sports power, has been embroiled in doping scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by Wada found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.
Its doping woes have only grown since, with many of its athletes sidelined from the past two Olympics and the country stripped of its flag altogether at last year’s Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping cover-ups at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Monday’s sanctions, which also include a four-year ban on Russia hosting major sporting events, were recommended by Wada’s compliance review committee in response to the doctored laboratory data provided by Moscow earlier this year.
One of the conditions for the reinstatement of Russian anti-doping agency Rusada, which was suspended in 2015 in the wake of the athletics doping scandal but reinstated last year, had been that Moscow provide an authentic copy of the laboratory data.
The sanctions effectively strip the agency of its accreditation.
Rusada head Yuri Ganus could not be immediately be reached for comment. His deputy, Margarita Pakhnotskaya, told the TASS news agency that Wada’s decision had been expected.
Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov last month attributed the discrepancies in the laboratory data to technical issues.
The punishment leaves the door open for clean Russian athletes to compete at major international sporting events without their flag or anthem for the next four years, something they did at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
“This protects the rights of Russian athletes by allowing re-entry for those able to demonstrate they are not implicated in any way (in doping),“ Reedie told a news conference following the decision. “The decision is designed to punish the guilty parties ... it stands strong against those who cheated the system.”
Some Russian officials have tried to cast Wada’s behaviour as part of what they say is a broader Western attempt to hold back the country.
Igor Lebedev, a lawmaker and deputy speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, said on Monday the move was a serious blow to Russian sport that required a tough response from Russia’s authorities, the RIA news agency reported.
If Rusada appeals Wada’s punishment, the case will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Some thought the sanctions did not go far enough.
“I wanted sanctions that cannot be watered-down. I am afraid this is not enough,“ said Wada Vice President Linda Helleland on Twitter. “We owe it to the clean athletes to implement the sanctions as strong as possible.” | |
Is it undefined behavior to create a mutable reference to an empty slice which lies within another slice with a live mutable reference?
Background: I'm writing an arena allocator for a specialized use case, and that allocator supports dynamically extending an allocation if that allocation is the last one in its memory chunk. This can lead to the following sequence of operations:
- alloc(8) which reserves 8 bytes starting at address, say, 0x1000, and returns a
&mut [u8]of length 8.
- alloc(0) which reserves 0 bytes and returns a
&mut [u8]of length 0.
- extend(0x1000, 4), which extends the allocation at 0x1000 by 4 bytes and returns a
&mut [u8]of length 12, still starting at address 0x1000 to avoid the memcpy.
Currently, the allocator uses
NonNull::dangling() for creating the zero-sized allocation in step 2, but I would like to remove that special case and just return a slice of length 0 starting at address 0x1008. That would mean that there are two live, mutables references to slices, one from 0x1000 to 0x100c, the other from 0x1008 to 0x1008. Would that be undefined behavior? I don't think so, because there is no memory that is accessible from different mutable references, but I'm not sure what the exact requirements are. | https://users.rust-lang.org/t/empty-mut-t-inside-another-mut-t/57207 |
Q:
Does the use of 'var' in a method make the execution(concurrently) thread unsafe?
I have read in multiple places that in functional programming we should not use variables that can be mutated.
def total (list:List[Int]) :Int = {
var sum =0
for(i<- list){
sum = sum+i
}
return sum
}
This is a simple method that totals a list. Will this be thread safe. Will the use of var cause problems if many instances of this method are executed simultaneously?
A:
Your example is thread-safe because sum var is local var. In other case (when sum shared between threads) your code will be incorrect.
var sum: Int = 0
for (_ <- 1 to 10000) {
new Thread(new Runnable {
override def run() = sum += 10
}).start()
}
// wait threads
println(sum)
The code above will not print 100000 every time because += operator isn' atomic. Really it has 3 steps.
Read sum value from variable
Increase sum value
Write increased value to variable
Two parallel threads can evaluate 1'st step at the same time (and read value 550 e.g.). After that every thread will increase value by 10 and write new value (560) to sum. As result we will get sum less than 100000 sometimes.
You can use AtomicInteger to fix it. AtomicInteger has atomic increment, compareAndSet, addAndGet etc. operations.
val sum: AtomicInteger = new AtomicInteger(0)
for (_ <- 1 to 10000) {
new Thread(new Runnable {
override def run() = sum.addAndGet(10)
}).start()
}
// wait threads
println(sum)
Code above will print correct result every time due to addAndGet atomacity.
A:
Mutable variables, vars, become a problem in multithreding if they are shared among threads. In the example you give, the problem is not represented by the var sum, that is not a shared mutable variable (or state, to be more precise). sum is local to your method and cannot be accessed from the outside.
The only problem should be the input of the method, list:List[Int]. Is this list Immutable? If you use any implementation of scala.collection.immutable.List, everything will go right. The only possible shared state between thread is immutable, than it cannot change during the execution of total method.
Remember that every time you use a shared mutable state you have to be sure that the state is accesed in a mutually exclusive way. This means to use mechanisms of thread confinement, such as synchronization, atomic variables, and so on.
In summary, multithreading problems do not come from var or val use, but from the fact that you can shared mutable state between threads.
| |
Message from the Chief Executive Officer
Magna’s Code of Conduct and Ethics is embedded in our culture and supports our company’s purpose and core values. Our Code reflects our commitment as an organization and emphasizes the key principles that guide us to always act with integrity and do the right thing.
To safeguard our reputation and contribute to Magna’s ongoing success, it is important for all of us to take the time to review, understand and live the values of our Code. Our Code is a roadmap we can follow everyday, that helps guide us to what is and isn’t acceptable when making decisions that affect Magna.
In 2022, Ethisphere recognized Magna as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, an honor reserved for a select number of organizations with exceptional programs and a commitment to advancing business integrity. I am proud of our dedicated employees, who are committed to Magna and apply the highest ethical standards in everything they do. Our employees are the key to our success.
Thank you for your continued dedication to Magna and your commitment to upholding our ethical values. | https://www.magna.com/code-of-conduct/ceo-message |
Many women know all too well how it feels to try to accomplish the suffocating expectation of succeeding as a full-time professional while also being a full-time mom. They know the true meaning of catching conference calls on the way to soccer practice and trying to answer emails after they’ve cleaned the house and read a bedtime story five times over. They know the reality is that society, and often family structure, still designates the bulk of household responsibilities to the mother, no matter how hard she works outside the home to succeed professionally. They know this reality all too well, and that’s why it needs to change.
The concept of second-shift motherhood is not a new idea, and unfortunately is not changing as rapidly as it should. The household and parenting duties are still vastly disproportionate between men and women, regardless of the fact that women are now racing toward the same professional career capabilities as men. The current situation not only puts stress and motherly guilt on the shoulders of many women, but prohibits them from the same success in the professional world.
The structure of the family and the roles that women assume in the household translate directly into the workforce and into the way that women are treated as a whole. These are not two isolated variables.
When women went to work, there should have been a dramatic social change in the home as well. It was a revolution that never was able to reach a full-circle change of equality. Women went to work, and were earning success in the career world, yet were still expected to have the same responsibilities that they had at home when they were not working. Therefore, the expectation is that women should be able to now advance in the workplace as rapidly and efficiently as men, while still having the duties of a stay-at-home mother.
Roughly 63% of working mothers agree with the statement “Sometimes I feel like a married single mom.” A poll conducted in 2011 by Forbes Woman and The Bump sought to understand how women were feeling about their roles in the household and in their professional lives. Several articles on Reuters.com and in Forbes magazine depict personal accounts and statistical survey results that support the dilemma of the Second Shift mother and how that concept is a modern day reality.
“Eighty percent of the respondents work outside the home full-time, and roughly 44% bring in the majority (more than 50%) of the annual household income. Yet in all cases, working and SAHMs alike, the mothers reported that they are responsible for the majority of all ‘at-home’ work,” says Forbes.
This issue also creates strain within marriages because it causes resentment and detachment from their spouses. Many answered that they felt they could never even get a break, but 97% stated that their partners could. Majority of surveyed mothers admitted they feel resentful toward their partner because of all they have to do.
This kind of inequality that still exists within homes and marriages is harmful to the well-being of the family and the children who establish their own interpretation of gender from the portrayal of their parents. Real gender equality begins in the home. It is the examples set by parents and family members that children learn from and take with them into their own relationships and families.
Female advancements toward occupational equality can be stunted by the slow changing gender roles and responsibilities that exist at home. Teaching young girls and boys that both parents can contribute to the home and allocate time for their professional lives equally is a strong part of the foundation for social change and for successful equality among genders. Allowing women to obtain the same opportunities for professional advancement is how we achieve equality in the workforce.
This issue is one that needs to be addressed from many angles, both in practice and in the overall mindset of the traditional roles of the family. Most importantly, it needs to be addressed as an issue of importance by both men and women. In the Forbes article, “Should Overwhelmed Working Women ‘Take It Like A Mom’ Or Ask For Help?” the question is posed as to whether or not women need to demand more of an equal contribution from their spouses. “Communicating the need for help is a troubling but necessary first step, TheBump.com CEO Carley Roney says, to relieving stress, avoiding resentment and—ultimately—getting the time out every mother deserves,” says Forbes.
We want equality in the workforce, household, and in parental dynamics. We want a world where both daughters and sons can grow up knowing neither has more of a responsibility as a parent or professional due to their gender. We want equal opportunity to learn and grow as couples, families, and unique individuals. Women shouldn’t have to choose between being a full-time mom, full-time professional, or full-time exhausted individual caught between too many unfair expectations. Balance leads to harmony, and harmony leads to happiness. We deserve that happiness, as women and as a world.
Lexi Herrick is a blogger, marketer, student, cat lady and hopeless romantic. Her work is featured on several online publications such as the Huffington Post and Elite Daily, and centers around the importance of universal equality, healthy relationships, body confidence, mental health and millennial generation topics. She has quite the affinity for new friends, so if you’re interested in reaching out to her or finding more articles, you can check out her blog here. | http://www.rolereboot.org/family/details/2015-09-the-true-damage-of-second-shift-motherhood/ |
HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) — Hundreds of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, and their children are planning to undergo genome analysis to determine whether exposure to the radiation from the 1945 blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki has impacted health further down the line, a research facility said recently.
The study by the Japan-U.S. joint organization Radiation Effects Research Foundation, located in the two Japanese cities, will look into the DNA of around 900 families.
The study is also expected to shed light on the effects on those caught up in nuclear reactor meltdowns or with occupational exposure to radiation and their descendants.
Previously conducted research has not found a genetic link between survivors’ exposure and their children’s risks of dying from cancer, developing lifestyle diseases, or the likelihood of birth defects. And the researchers in the foundation’s study say there is a low probability of finding serious gene mutations.
[…]
There are an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 second-generation hibakusha in Japan alone, with some claiming illnesses caused by inherited health ramifications from their parents’ exposure.
However, they are not eligible for the health care benefits provided for atomic bomb survivors by the state, due to lack of evidence that the parents can pass down ailments genetically.
In recent years, a group of second-generation hibakusha sued the central government for excluding them from the health benefits, claiming it is unconstitutional. Their case is currently being heard in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki district courts.
[…]
DNA from blood samples collected after 1985 will be decoded using high-speed equipment, with permission from those still alive. The facility will look into specific health ramifications if any mutations are discovered during the trial, and will attempt to predict their effects on future generations.
[…]
The RERF was first established in Hiroshima in 1947 by the United States and was then known as the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. The foundation collects blood and urine samples from atomic bomb survivors to study the effects of radiation. | https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/atomicage/2020/10/25/dna-analysis-to-determine-genetic-impact-of-a-bomb-victims-to-families-via-the-mainichi/ |
Monitoring patient safety during a clinical trial is one of the founding principles to be followed throughout the drug development life cycle. It can be defined as a collaborative relationship between sponsors, sites, researchers, and everyone involved in the clinical trial phases. This enables a better ecosystem for patient safety for improved outcomes. Further, a collaborative approach promotes informed decision-making among the patients with better trust in the on-going clinical trial procedure and enthusiastic participation.
As the first step towards ensuring patient safety, healthcare providers need to be respectful and responsive towards patient’s needs, comfort, and preferences i.e. ensuring a patient-centric approach. A proactive methodology nurtures better patient enrollment with an increased retention rate.
Regulatory bodies governing clinical trials
Further, as mentioned in NCBI, all clinical trials need to be conducted following established standards like International Conference on Harmonization Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) Guidelines, International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects issued by the Council for International Organizations Medical Sciences (CIOMS), and the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.
What are the different conflicts across the clinical trial phases?
- The issues that arise from clinical trials are not always intentional but are often due to the complexity of the overall system.
- Often patients who have a problem are randomized to receive a clinical trial. This population of patients is always at risk.
- Lack of proper training of medical professionals restricts and hinders a safe and well-organized clinical trial.
All these together can impose safety issues on the patient populations and risk the clinical research company’s brand value.
Thus, sponsors, researchers, CROs, healthcare providers, and sites need to collaborate for a better outcome and patient safety during clinical testing or clinical trial study. Here is a quick guide for CROs and sponsors to help sites to be more efficient.
How to address the 5 most common patient safety issues in a clinical trial:
-
Foster a responsible organizational culture within the clinical trial study
It is important to develop an organizational culture, where everyone is equally responsible for the safety of their co-workers, patients, and themselves. Needless to say, that safety should be prioritized over financial/budgetary goals or operational goals.
The clinical trial budgets should always be created in consideration of patient safety and risk assessments. This can be achieved when clinical research companies, sponsors, and decision-makers foster a culture of open communication and encourage the resolution of issues related to safety.
-
Open communication to ensure patient retention during clinical testing
Open communications between patients and physicians can help improve patient safety. Regular communication (either personally or through integrated CTMS solutions) can improve trust and help in understanding the effects of the clinical trial better.
A centralized platform for all the data related to the study with multiple access and multi-gadget configurability will also drive open and effective communication. This will also enable the physicians to provide a well-balanced overview of medical options to the patients for rational decision-making. This way the patients can also make more informed decisions.
-
Well trained care providers to conduct the patient-centric clinical trial
Along with fostering open communications, care providers can benefit from additional training programs to ensure patient safety. For example, simulation-based training helps care providers to a great extent. Animated stories of real patient stories and patient problems are not only engaging but help the young care providers to understand real-life scenarios and how to respond to such problems across the clinical trial phases.
Another important factor in patient safety is the eConsent. Patients need to be informed about the entire process along with the associated risks, adversities, procedures, and any other required information to facilitate voluntary and rational subject participation. According to a study, e-learning is an effective way to increase patient safety knowledge, which can be combined with face-to-face instructions.
-
The role of Principal Investigator (PI) oversight and patient safety in a clinical trial services
PI is usually a licensed and experienced doctor who monitors the trial volunteers closely during phase 1 of the study. Despite being enrolled as a healthy patient, the volunteer might have borderline hypertension or high BMI (full form), that were not on records.
Later during the clinical trial, if the volunteer develops complications from the drug administered, the onus lies with the PI to monitor and do the needful for patient care and well-being. It is the PI’s responsibility to check for any variations in the readings of clinical testing even if it is a subtle one, considering the fact that they might flare up and create adverse effects. Thus, sponsors should ensure that qualified, experienced, and licensed PIs are onboard.
-
The role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) in ensuring patient safety
IRB is an independent board of physicians and other appropriate parties. The IRB monitors every clinical trial service that undergoes in the US to ensure the clinical trial is conducted ethically. Even if the clinical trial study is conducted outside the US, there are similar review boards that ensure patient safety through the vigilant administration of guidelines during clinical research. The main responsibilities of IRB include:
- Review and approval for study protocols prepared by study sites
- Ensures any amendments in the clinical study protocol is duly listed and conveyed across by the site
- Ensure proper informed consent from patients regarding research study and proposed side effects, if any
- Minimization of risk for patients
- Ensuring ration risk vs benefit ratio
Patient safety and clinical trial solutions in the times of COVID-19
A recent update from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mentions that new drug investigators need to report all adverse events to their respective review boards, taking into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusion
Ensuring patient safety should be a collaborative approach between sponsors and healthcare providers. It should have a patient-centric approach, and every stakeholder should do their bit to ensure that the health and safety of patients are not compromised at any time. Only then, more patients can rely on the clinical testing and participate in new clinical trial studies enthusiastically. | https://www.cloudbyz.com/blog/patient-recruitment/how-to-ensure-patient-safety-during-a-clinical-trial/ |
With multicores being ubiquitous, concurrent data structures are increasingly important. This article proposes a novel approach to concurrent data structure design where the data structure dynamically adapts its synchronization granularity based on the detected contention and the amount of data that operations are accessing. This approach not only has the potential to reduce overheads associated with synchronization in uncontended scenarios, but can also be beneficial when the amount of data that operations are accessing atomically is unknown. Using this adaptive approach we create a contention adapting search tree (CA tree) that can be used to implement concurrent ordered sets and maps with support for range queries and bulk operations. We provide detailed proof sketches for the linearizability as well as deadlock and livelock freedom of CA tree operations. We experimentally compare CA trees to state-of-the-art concurrent data structures and show that CA trees beat the best of the data structures that we compare against by over 50% in scenarios that contain basic set operations and range queries, outperform them by more than 1200% in scenarios that also contain range updates, and offer performance and scalability that is better than many of them on workloads that only contain basic set operations.
In press
The scalability of parallel programs is often bounded by the performance of synchronization mechanisms used to protect critical sections. The performance of these mechanisms is in turn determined by their sequential execution time, efficient use of hardware, and ability to avoid waiting. In this article, we describe queue delegation (QD) locking, a family of locks that both delegate critical sections and enable detaching execution. Threads delegate work to the thread currently holding the lock and are able to detach, i.e., immediately continue their execution until they need a result from a previously delegated critical section. We show how to use queue delegation to build synchronization algorithms with lower overhead and higher throughput than existing algorithms, even when critical sections need to communicate results back immediately. Experiments when using up to 64 threads to access a shared priority queue show that QD locking provides 10 times higher throughput than Pthreads mutex locks and outperforms leading delegation algorithms. Also, when mixing parallel reads with delegated write operations, QD locking outperforms competing algorithms with an advantage ranging from 9.5 up to 207 percent increased throughput. Last but not least, continuing execution instead of waiting for the execution of critical sections leads to increased parallelism and better scalability. As we will see, queue delegation locking uses simple building blocks whose overhead is low even in uncontended use. All these make the technique useful in a wide variety of applications.
Concolic testing is a software testing technique that simultaneously combines concrete execution of a program (given specific input, along specific paths) with symbolic execution (generating new test inputs that explore other paths, which gives better path coverage than random test case generation). So far, concolic testing has been applied, mainly at the level of bytecode or assembly code, to programs written in imperative languages that manipulate primitive data types such as integers and arrays. In this article, we demonstrate its application to a functional programming language core, the functional subset of Core Erlang, that supports pattern matching, structured recursive data types such as lists, recursion and higher-order functions. We present CutEr, a tool implementing this testing technique, and describe its architecture, the challenges that it needs to address, its current limitations, and report some experiences from its use.
Stateless model checking is a powerful method for program verification that, however, suffers from an exponential growth in the number of explored executions. A successful technique for reducing this number, while still maintaining complete coverage, is Dynamic Partial Order Reduction (DPOR), an algorithm originally introduced by Flanagan and Godefroid in 2005 and since then not only used as a point of reference but also extended by various researchers. In this article, we present a new DPOR algorithm, which is the first to be provably optimal in that it always explores the minimal number of executions. It is based on a novel class of sets, called source sets, that replace the role of persistent sets in previous algorithms. We begin by showing how to modify the original DPOR algorithm to work with source sets, resulting in an efficient and simple-to-implement algorithm, called source-DPOR. Subsequently, we enhance this algorithm with a novel mechanism, called wakeup trees, that allows the resulting algorithm, called optimal-DPOR, to achieve optimality. Both algorithms are then extended to computational models where processes may disable each other, for example, via locks. Finally, we discuss tradeoffs of the source-and optimal-DPOR algorithm and present programs that illustrate significant time and space performance differences between them. We have implemented both algorithms in a publicly available stateless model checking tool for Erlang programs, while the source-DPOR algorithm is at the core of a publicly available stateless model checking tool for C/pthread programs running on machines with relaxed memory models. Experiments show that source sets significantly increase the performance of stateless model checking compared to using the original DPOR algorithm and that wakeup trees incur only a small overhead in both time and space in practice. | http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/person.jsf?pid=authority-person%3A12790 |
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the globe. The Pittsburgh region has not gone untouched – and in some cases we have been more sharply impacted. The stakes are high and the cost of inaction is dear. If left unresolved, the compound effect of these challenges is likely to result in:
- Delaying regional economic recovery until late 2023
- Doubling annual population decline
- Exposing more than 60,000 of our region’s residents to long-term unemployment
- Tripling of poverty rates
We must strive for nothing less than to restore employment levels, economic productivity and opportunity across all relevant sectors to pre-pandemic levels; promote a more equitable region by addressing historic disparities and institutional racism; and provide a thriving, vital region with opportunity for everyone who lives here. All of the steps that we take toward the recovery are anchored in a genuine commitment to racial equity and all aspects of regional sustainability.
Critical Disruptions
The six recovery recommendations contained in the framework are based on an in-depth analysis of the pandemic-induced disruptions and their specific impacts on the Pittsburgh region. The analysis was informed by the expertise and insights of more than 300 public and private sector partners, including strategic research performed by the Conference in partnership with others. The critical disruptions identified include:
Disrupted Employment Opportunities and
Widening Social Disparities
Redefined Growth Outlook for Key Sectors and Near-term Solvency Risks for Small Businesses
Threats to Higher Education Capacity and
Gaps in Digital Connectivity
Economic Shutdown Effects on
Municipal Government Revenue
Risks to the Region’s Distinctive
Amenities and Livability
Six Key Recovery Action Areas
The future of our region is at risk if we don’t come together to address the challenges we are facing as a result of the parallel crises. Based on research conducted this summer and community input, we’ve framed the challenge we face and have identified six key areas that we need to focus on to ensure a just and equitable recovery and long-term competitive positioning of the region. These six areas are intended to serve as a guide for our region as we develop a detailed plan for recovery. While a critical initial step, this framework alone is not sufficient and requires an engaged community to come together to build the plan, coalitions and partnerships that will move our region forward.
To mitigate the effects of the most significant COVID-19 disruptions and to accelerate our recovery, we need to focus on the these areas. Each of these areas must be considered – and solutions and action plans developed and adopted – through the dual lens of racial equity and regional sustainability.
1. Unlock the full recovery potential of the regional economy by enhancing our region’s economic competitiveness, the tax and regulatory policies and infrastructure investments essential to retain existing and attract new employers across industries.
2. Accelerate inclusive economic growth in innovation and research-driven sectors likely to expand the fastest in the near term: A.I., Robotics, A.V., Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing and Cybersecurity through enhanced outreach to attract and retain talent and business investment, and strategies to promote reshoring, remote work and cluster development.
3. Prevent local government insolvency and propel recovery investments in underfunded communities.
4. Establish a regional reskilling strategy with corporate and public partners to transition at-risk workers from structurally-challenged industries and businesses and reduce long-term unemployment.
5. Develop Small and Mid-Sized Business (SMB) relief resources to mitigate the impacts of economic shutdowns and facilitate a digital transformation to prevent the permanent closure of viable employers.
6. Ensure the survival of critical institutions and retention of the distinctive amenities that contribute to the quality of life and attractiveness of the region.
Taking Action
No one actor, entity or action alone can restore the region’s vitality, much less position us for a dynamic, globally competitive future. We need to act simultaneously across all six action areas.
Public, private and non-profit leaders across the region must come together to build and implement a recovery plan.
There is no reason to believe we cannot overcome these challenges and position our region for leadership in the years to come. We have done it before. And with the collaboration and hard work that are hallmarks of our region, we can do it again.
To learn more about how you can be part of the Pittsburgh region’s recovery, please fill out this form.
Thank you to our sponsors whose generous support has made this work possible. | https://www.alleghenyconference.org/recovery/ |
Traders all over the globe have had their experiences using all different ways of trading. AI-driven trading systems and the popular algorithmic trading method are something to talk about. Apart from tons of differences, the most significant ones you will notice are the way how both of these systems work.
Algorithmic trading is a method of executing orders using pre-programmed trading instructions. While machine learning systems work independently by thinking and behaving just like any other trader and advising itself to be more efficient over time, by also allowing a trader to understand what made the AI enter and exit the trade.
AI Autotrade systems are built using Thinking Fast and Slow, designed by Laureate Daniel Kahneman, an Israeli psychologist, and economist. He is endorsed by a foremost Reinforcement Learning Fast and Slow p...
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I feel that this comment is: | https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ai-takes-trading-to-the-next-level-2577603 |
I heard someone the other day using the bumble bee as an example for us of overcoming obstacles and achieving what should be impossible. You see, scientists tell us that bumble bees, based on the size and shape of their body in relation to their wings, should not be able to fly. This speaker then made the case that, like the bumble bee, we can overcome great odds to do anything we want.
At the risk of sounding negative, I should remind you there are a lot of animals that shouldn’t be able to fly…and don’t. The beaver, the grizzly bear, the elephant all cannot fly, no matter how much faith, belief or perseverance they muster up.
Sound pretty cynical? Hear me out.
It’s not just faith we need. The bumble bee can fly in the face of overwhelming odds because he was created to do so. The beaver was not created to fly, so no amount of wanting, desiring, dreaming or scheming will give the beaver the ability to one day make lift off.
As Americans, we seem to think it’s our birthright to do whatever we want. We have that message drilled into our heads by parents, teachers, coaches, pastors and mentors. “You can be whatever you want to be!”
But what about what God wants me to be? The question we must first ask ourselves is “what am I created to do?” Doesn’t it make sense to find that out first, instead of spending a lifetime beating my head against a wall trying to do something that is on the exterior of God’s plan for me?
Once we figure out what we are made to do, that’s where faith comes in. Even in the center of God’s plan there will be obstacles, difficulties and trials. Like the bumble bee, there will be those telling us our dream is impossible, that we are unable to do what God has placed in our heart. We will wrestle with self-doubt, with failure and fear.
We’re not all bumble bees. But we are all something. We are all unique and have a job to do on this earth. Will God call me out of my comfort zone? Absolutely. Be He also prepares me with the tools I need to accomplish that to which He has called me. The challenge is to find that thing my Creator has placed in me, and with unwavering faith pursue that path.
Or, I could waste my life trying to fly. | https://davekirby.com/2011/04/12/i-think-i-can-i-think-i-can/ |
Modules 45-54 Unit IX, module 48 (48-6 (authoritative: children- highest…
Modules 45-54 Unit IX
module 48
48-6
authoritative
: children- highest self-esteem. self- reliance, self-regulation, and social competence
negligent
: children- poor academic and social outcomes
permissive
: children- more aggressive and immature
authoritarian
: children- less social skills and self-esteem; a brain that overreacts when they make mistakes
outcomes of the four parenting outcomes
48-2
strange situation
: a procedure for studying child-giver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child's reactions are observed
secure attachment
: demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver's return
securely attached children tend to have sensitive and responsive
insecure attachment
: demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging,
anxious attachment
or an
avoidant attachment
that resists closeness
strange situation experiments show which kids have a secure attachment and which have insecure attachment
temperament
: a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
plays a big role in how our attachment patterns form
basic trust
: (according to Erik Erikson,) a sense that the world is a predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
48-1
attachment
: an emotional tie with another person
shown in young children by seeking their closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation
infants form attachments to their parents or caregivers because of familiarity, comfortableness, and responsiveness; they display/gratify biological needs
imprinting
: the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life
critical period
: an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
ducks and other animals use the process of imprinting during a critical process
stranger anxiety
: the fear of strangers that infants commonly display; begins around 8 months of age
48-3
severely neglected children, those who move a lot, or have been prevented from forming attachments have a higher chance of having attachment problems
extreme trauma during childhood can alter the brain; have an affect on stress responses or leaving epigenetic marks
48-4
self-concept
: all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, "Who am I?"
self evaluation, emerges gradually
15 -18 month olds can recognize themselves in a mirror
by school age, children can describe several of their own traits
ages 8-10 their self-image is now stable
48-5
main parenting styles
permissive
: makes few demands, sets few limits, and use little punishment; unrestraining
negligent
: neither demanding or responsive; careless, inattentive, and don't seek a close relationship with their children; uninvolved
authoritarian
: impose rules and expect obedience; coercive
authoritative
: both demanding and responsive; apply control by setting rules, but encourage open discussions and allow exceptions- usually with older children
module 54
54-4
social clock
: the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
the dominant themes of adulthood are love and work (in other words intimacy and generativity)
evidence doesn't show that adult experience a distress peak during midlife
an orderly sequence of age related stages are not how adults advance on, chance events can determine life choices
54-1
menopause
: the natural time of cessation of menstruation; biological changes a women experiences due to her ability to reproduce reclines
begins around age 50 women's period of fertility ends
men tend to have a more gradual decline in fertility and sexual response
declining of muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and the cardiac output start during the mid-twenties and continue onto middle and late adulthood
the immune system starts to weaken during late adulthood, giving a higher chance of catching life-threatening diseases
telomeres (chromosome tips) wear down which reduces chances of natural genetic replication
longevity-supporting genes, low stress, and good health habits helps with better health later on
54-2
cross-sectional study
: research that compare people of different ages at the same point in time
longitudinal study
: research that follows and retests the same people over time
terminal decline
: describes the cognitive decrease in the final years of one's life
54-5
self -confidence and having a sense of identity tends to strengthen across one's life span
age = experience fewer extremes of emotions and moods
54-3
neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)
: acquired (not lifelong) disorders, marked by cognitive deficits; Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease; older adults-
dementia
Alzheimer's disease
: a NCD marked by neural plaques, often onset after 80 y/o, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities
after 5-20 years of this disease one becomes emotionally flat, disinhibited, disoriented, incontinent, and finally mentally vacant
54-6
grief is not occur in predictable stage as one thought before
strong emotion expressions may not remove grief; bereavement therapy- not significantly more effective than grieving w/o support
module 53
53-1
primary sex characteristics
: the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
secondary sex characteristics
: non-reproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male quality, and body
testosterone
: the most important male sex hormone; promotes sex organ development
a single gene on the Y chromosome triggers the testes to form and create testosterone (about 7 weeks after conception)
both males and females have it but males have additional testosterone
along with the male sex organ development during the fetal period, the development of male sex characteristics begin during puberty
spermarche
: the first ejaculation
Y chromosome
: the sex chromosome found in only males
a male child is resulted from the Y chromosome is paired with the mother's X chromosome
menarche
: the first menstrual period
X chromosome
: the sex chromosome found in both female and male.
females have 2 of the X chromosomes
males have only 1 of the X chromosomes
if each parent gives an X chromosome their offspring will result in a female
intersex
: a condition at birth due to unusual combinations of male and female
chromosome, hormones, and anatomy; possessing biological sexual characteristics of both sexes
prenatal months 4-5 the sex hormones bathe the fetal brain;
prenatal exposure of females to uncommonly high male hormone levels can adapt to more male-stereotyped activity interests
53-3
culture and era can impact sexual behaviors and attitudes
possible teen pregnancy factors:
• minimal to no communication about birth control with parents/caregivers, sexual partners, or peer
• alcohol use
•mass media
predictors of teen sexual caution:
•high intelligence
•religion influence or engagement
•father presence
•participation in service learning programs
53-2
AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
: a life-threatening sexual transmitted infection caused by the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
it depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections
HIV can transmitted sexually or by sharing a needle during drug use
women is half of the population that live with HIV
safe sex = better help in preventing STI's to get transmitted
condoms are really effective in HIV prevention; they are also offer limited protection of skin-to-skin infections
knowing the status of one's STI and sharing with others is another key prevention
53-4
sexual orientation
: the enduring sexual attraction, usually towards members of one's one sex (homosexual) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation); other variations include both sexes (bisexual)
this is now viewed as neither chosen willingly nor changed willingly
no evidence leads to environmental influence determination
there is evidence for biological influences
they include:
•presence of same-sex attraction in multiple animal species (such as penguins)
• straight-gay differences in brain and body characteristics
• higher rates in certain families
• identical twins- the effect of exposure during key prenatal developments to certain hormones
• fraternal-birth order effect
module 49
49-4
gender identity
: our sense of being male female, or some combination of the two
social learning theory
: the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
gender typing
: the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
androgyny
: displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics
gender role
: a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for male or for females
transgender
: an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth-designated sex
their sexual orientation could be bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual, or asexual
role
: a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
49-2
aggression
: any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally
men are more associated to aggression, mostly physical
relational aggression
: an act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing
women are mostly relational; they focus more on social connectednees and are more interdependent
genetic makeup makes us similar in how we see, earn, and remember but are comparable in creativity, intelligence, and emotions
males and females differ in height, life expectancy, age of onset of puberty, and exposure to certain disorders
49-3
work-place gender bias can be influenced/reflected by the male-female differences- perception, benefits, and family responsibility
men tend to have more social power and have a directive style leadership in most societies, while women tend to have a more democratic leadership style
men are more assertive and opinionated
women are more supportive and apologetic
49-1
sex
: in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define
male and female
gender
: in psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define
boy, girl, man, and woman
body could define our sex, while mind could define our gender
module 47
47-1
assimilation
: interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
children use this and accommodation to modify their understanding of the world
accommodation
: adapting our current understandings to incorporate new information
schema
: a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
this helps children organize their experiences
sensorimotor stage
: in Piaget's theory the stage (from birth to 2 years old) during which infants know the world in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
object permanence
: the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
children are able to have more complex ways of thinking when progressing from the sensorimotor stage, they develop object permanence during the process
sensories and actions such as looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping; as they move their limbs and hands, babies learn to make things happen
cognition
: all mental actives associated with thinking, knowing remembering, and communicating
Jean Piaget had a theory on cognitive development; he proposed children actively construct and modify their worldly understanding
47-1
preoperational stage
: in Piaget's theory, the stage (ages 2-7) during which a child learns to use language but doesn't comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
egocentrism
: in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
theory of mind
: people's ideas about their own and other's mental states - their feeling, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
during this stage children develop a theory of mind but since they are egocentric, they cannot perform simple logic actions
concrete operational stage
on Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (ages 7-11) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
conservation
: the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
formal operation stage
the stage of cognitive development (beginning of age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts - Piaget's theory
by this stage, children can consistently reason
scaffold
: a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking
Lev Vygotsky's studies showed that parents and caregivers equip scaffolds which helps children go into higher levels of learning
Vygotsky studied the ways a child's mind grows from interacting with a social environment
a child's zone of proximal development
: the zone between what a child can and cannot do
language = building blocks of thinking
thinking in words or/and using words to solve problems help children in the future; this could help with self-control - behavior and emotions, and master new skills
motivation also helps
47-2
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
: a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interactions, and rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors
contributors to ASD are most likely genetic influences, abnormal brain developments, and prenatal environments (altered by infections, hormones, or drugs)
those who have ASD have a hard time with viewing/understanding another's point of view because of an impaired theory of mind
reading or faces and minds is difficult to those with ASD; also inferring and recalling other's thoughts and feelings, appreciating that others have views that are different and might know more than they do
ASD has different levels of severity, ranging from being able to function at a high level to struggling to use language
symptoms; poor communication among brain regions that usually work together to look at another's point of view
relationships with those who have ASD are described as emotionally unsatisfying by peers
affects 3 boys every 1 girl
module 52
52-1
identity
: our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's job is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles
One of Erkison's theories was that each life stage has its own psychological level
this main task will help confirm one's identity
social identity
: the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships
Erikson also thought that identity formation is followed by developing a capacity for intimacy
52-3
emerging adulthood
: a period from age 18 - mid-twenties, when many western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults
this is found mostly in modern cultures
earlier sexual maturation and independence that occurs later is making the transition between adolescence and adulthood take longer than before
52-2
during the period of adolescence, peer influence increases as parental influence decreases
most youth take in their peers' style (dressing), ways of acting and communication as their own
parental influences that have more impact during this stage are religion,politics, colleges, and careers
module 45
45-2
embryo
: the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
fetus
: the developing human organism from about 9 weeks after conception to birth
zygote
: the fertilized egg
•one cell becomes 2, then 4, etc. • cells then differentiate (structure and function) •germinal stage: zygote attaches to uterus's wall •inner cell become embryo, outer cells become the placenta
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
: physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women's heavy drinking
alcohol could cause fetal damage because of its epigenetic effect; leaves chemical marks on DNA ; smoking can also have this affect
teratogens
: agents such as drugs or viruses that can damage an embryo or fetus during prenatal development
•women are born with immature eggs while men begin nonstop produce sperm at puberty
250 million sperm race to the released mature egg, only one fuses with the egg
newborns can recognize and show interest in the languages their mother spoke during pregnancy
45-1
developmental psychology
: studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Focuses on
•
nature and nurture
; genetic inheritance interaction with experiences and how it influences our development
•
continuity and stages
; parts of development are gradual and continuous; parts that change abruptly in different stages
•
stability and change
; traits that persist through life; change because of aging
we are formed by the interaction of nature and nurture; biological, psychological, and social-cultural
stage theories; propose developmental stages - contributes to the perspective on the whole life span (suggesting how one acts and thinks differently at different ages)
temperament stays stable while one experiences stability and change
stability: identity; enables us to depend on others and ourselves
change: gives hope for the future, allows to adapt and grow with experiences
45-3
habtiuation
: a decrease in responding with a repeating stimulation
helps researchers explore infant's abilities; example testing technique is the visual- preference procedure
babies have sensory equipment and reflexes to help with survival and social interaction, they were born with this
neonatal=newborn
two adaptive reflexes: | https://coggle.it/diagram/XDjurpwLxDYCPzOX/t/modules-45-54-unit-ix |
“All ethnic peoples have the same political aspirations – peace, self-determination and environmental sustainability” - Paul Sein Twa, Karen leader from Myanmar
Today was the opening of The Community Kauhale ‘Ōiwi, a peer-to-peer meeting space at the IUCN World Conservation Congress that provides an opportunity for local and indigenous leaders to exchange knowledge and best practices in sustainable environmental management. Leveraging the unique partnership of the Equator Initiative/United Nations Development Programme and IUCN, the Kauhale aims to position local advocacy and knowledge sharing within the larger policy dialogues on conservation and sustainable development.
The Kauhale’s first panel was on “Localizing the SDGs: Engaging Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities”, focused on exploring how the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) can be implemented to address local realities and needs. This panel included Mr. Paul Sein Twa, Executive Director & Founding Member of The Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) located in Burma/Myanmar. He is an ethnic Karen who has been working on social and environmental issues in Burma’s conflict areas since 1996. He spoke to the impact of the ongoing civil war, the longest in history (6 decades), on his country. Despite all the external talk of Burma’s peace and peace-building efforts he highlighted the stark fact that indigenous peoples face massive displacement from their territories. Estimated internal displacement of ethnic communities is well over ½ million.
Paul is attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress as part of a programme for facilitating indigenous and community participation managed by the IUCN Social Policy Unit, with support from The Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Paul’s organization, KESAN is a community-based, non-profit organization that works to strengthen Karen indigenous rights and environmental knowledge in the Karen region of Kawthoolei. Their holistic program approach includes livelihood restoration, water, land and forest governance, biodiversity conservation, and environmental education. It is based on the belief that Karen communities are more able to sustainably utilize natural resources and conserve biodiversity when they are able to secure land tenure and manage their own resources.
Paul reminded the panel and audience that “All ethnic peoples have the same political aspirations – peace, self-determination and environmental sustainability”.
He shared one of the major efforts KESAN is currently undertaking, the establishment of the Salween Peace Park which represents a vision for an indigenous Karen landscape of human-nature harmony. This park would be created in the Salaween river basin which contains one of the last great wild landscapes of Southeast Asia. This initiative builds upon more than a decade of community-based conservation work which has identified the vast richness of flora (e.g. 93 wild orchid species) and fauna (e.g. 90 species of river fish). Some of the rare species found in this territory include the sun bear and the clouded leopard. KESAN has conserved of 70,000 hectares of wildlife sanctuary and mapped 63 reserved forests, 18 customary lands and herbal medicine forests - all with the active participation of local communities.
The Salween Peace Park proposes a sustainable alternative to mega dams, strip mines, and top-down protected areas like national parks, all of which require the colonization of indigenous territories. It will also address the abuses of militarized economic development and extractive industries.
Most importantly, this park would be unique in fully recognizing indigenous peoples’ land and resources. Its establishment would reflect the core aspirations of the Karen people: 1) peace and self-determination; 2) environmental integrity, and 3) cultural survival. The creation of Salween Peace Park will recognize the unique Karen bio-cultural landscape and their vision of peace. | https://www.iucn.org/news/social-policy/201609/building-conservation-and-peace-myanmar |
L.L.Bean Outsiders At Work event at the company headquarters in Freeport, Maine on June 7, 2018.
How do you feel when you step outside? Refreshed? Calm? Happy? That feeling of bliss isn’t just in your head.
At our core, humans have a biological connection to nature. This phenomenon is called biophilia. First introduced by Edward O. Wilsonin 1984, the term describes how humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other living things. It helps explain why we enjoy a sunny spot at the windowsill, a lush garden, or an ocean breeze.
In the bookBiophilic Design: Theory, Science and Practice, the authors share that connecting with nature is essential to our well-being and our ability to be productive. Incorporating elements of nature into work environments can reduce stress, enhance creativity and increase productivity. As more companies learn about the benefits of biophilic design, the outdoors is finding its way into the design of modern office buildings. This emerging architectural movement has been embraced by tech giants including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
While bringing the outside in is beneficial, it’s no substitute for the real thing. The latest research confirms what we all instinctively know – that being outside just makes us feel better. Here are five science-backed benefits of spending time outside:
Increased Happiness. Many studies show that our moods take a positive shiftwhen we spend time outside. Research also suggests that spending time in nature can also reduce the risk of depression andanxiety– and may even help improve symptoms.
Reduced inflammation. Spending more time outside could help naturally reduce pain.A 2012 study found that students who were asked to spend time forest bathing had lower levels of inflammation than their peers who spent time in the city.
More Energetic. A series of studies published in the June 2010 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology reveals thatbeing in nature makes people feel more alive. "Nature is fuel for the soul," said Richard Ryan, lead author and a professor at the University of Rochester. "Often when we feel depleted, we reach for a cup of coffee, but research suggests a better way to get energized is to connect with nature.”
Improved memory. Studies have found that spending time in nature can help improve memory functions – especially short-term memory.Researchfrom the University of Michigan found that walking in a park or even viewing pictures of nature helped improve both memory and attention span.
Stress relief. Spending time outside has been shown tolower stress levelsand has similar effects on your brain and body as meditating. Being in a natural setting is shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure.
With all of these benefits of being outside, the question remains, why aren’t people spending more time outside?
According to Stringer, humans are meant to be outside. “Think back to our history, as hunter-gatherers and later as farmers, we were working outside. But thanks to the industrial revolution, over the last 300 years, our work slowly moved indoors.” | |
To promote innovation GJU , on the 22nd of January 2020,the President of the German Jordanian University (GJU), Prof. Manar Fayyad issued the decision to form the innovation, technology transfer and intellectual property office under the umbrella of the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), with Dr. Omar Hiari appointed as Director.
The primary responsibilities of the office will lie mainly in defining instructions and creating a process for intellectual property protection requests.
The office will also be responsible for accepting and studying all intellectual property requests and deciding on the best path forward to secure intellectual property rights.
Overall, the essential mission of the office will be to promote innovation and to invest in and protect ideas formed at GJU. The office's goal is to evaluate, protect, and license ideas formed at GJU while building relationships with parties interested in licensing GJU protected ideas. The office also aims to spread awareness on innovation and intellectual property in GJU to help protect the rights of all inventors.
In his first statement, Dr. Hiari mentioned, "The idea is that this office would provide a long-needed platform for inventors at GJU, both professors and students, to protect their ideas." He also added that "GJU has long been known as a source of quality research and researchers, so it would only make sense that a platform like this is provided to help GJU researchers protect their ideas and potentially commercialize them." | http://www.gju.edu.jo/news/gju-forms-innovation-technology-and-intellectual-property-office-11411 |
First we discuss the influence of the shape and chemistry of a protein on its function. Behe writes (Darwin's Black Box, page 53),
Behe also sent me this message:
It is the shape of a folded protein and the precise positioning of the different kinds of amino acid groups that allow a protein to work ... . For example, if it is the job of one protein to bind specifically to a second protein, then their two shapes must fit each other like a hand in a glove. If there is a positively charged amino acid on the first protein, then the second protein better have a negatively charged amino acid; otherwise, the two will ot stick together. If it is the job of a protein to catalyze a chemical reaction, then the shape of the enzyme generally matches the shape of the chemical that is its target. When it binds, the enzyme has amino acids precisely positioned to cause a chemical reaction. If the shape of a wrench or jigsaw is significantly warped, then the tool doesn't work. Likewise, if the shape of a protein is warped, then it fails to do its job.
Spetner (Not by Chance, page 69) writes,
The number of amino acids in contact [when two proteins interact] is quite variable, but a reasonable mean is about 10-15 from each protein. They all have to agree in their "chemical properties" - if you try to pair up a hydrophobic with a charged amino acid or something like that, the association will be greatly weakened or eliminated.
Some biological structures (for example, "promoters") are not as sensitive to base pair sequences as proteins are to amino acid sequences, but these are exceptional; we are trying to account for the development of the large number of proteins that are very specific and sensitive to shape. It should be clear that most proteins have to be very specific, and only interact with a select few others. Otherwise, with over ten thousand proteins in a typical cell, there would be chaos, and life would not be possible.
To make a protein that will do something useful, the cell has to get the right amino acids in the right order. The order of the amino acids has to be just right to give the protein the right three-dimensional shape and the right electric charge distribution to make it do a job.
Since the function of a typical protein molecule is highly sensitive to its shape, any mutation that changes the shape of a protein is likely to destroy its function altogether. Such a mutation will probably be harmful, and be eliminated from the population. So in order to account for the gradual changes required by the theory of evolution, we have to find a mutation-based mechanism that can lead to small and cumulative shape changes resulting in proteins that are increasingly able to fulfil some function in the organism. The kinds of non-harmful mutations that are typically discussed by evolutionists do not change the tertiary structure of a protein. It should be clear that such mutations are radically different from those that are needed to generate proteins having new shapes.
Let's look at this in another way. A protein has a three-dimensional shape that determines where in space each amino acid is. This is its tertiary (plus secondary) structure. It also has the individual amino acids at these locations in space, that help to determine its chemical properties. The shape and the charge distribution of the protein determine its properties. So we have an equation like this:
Now, a mutation that changes an amino acid but not the tertiary structure of a protein will have a minor effect on the charge distribution and amino acid shapes, and thus can have a small (or large) effect on the properties of the protein. Thus mutations that do not change tertiary structure can help a protein better to adapt to some function. Some proteins are flexible, and mutations that reduce this flexibility can also result in a protein better able to perform some function in the organism (see, for example, Science vol. 276 June 13, 1997 page 1665). But a mutation that changes the tertiary structure of a protein will result in many amino acids in very different locations in space, and the properties of the protein will be very different.
For two proteins to interact, their shapes and charge distributions have to match very closely. Since each protein had to evolve independently, the question arises as to how this very close match of shapes and properties could arise. If the proteins only approximately match in shape or electrical properties, then they probably will not interact, and there will not be any tendency to mutate in this direction. But their tertiary structures had to change many times during their evolution from small proteins to large ones during the course of evolution. These large changes would have destroyed any resemblances of their shape with the shape of any other protein, and there would be no way that close matches such as exist could arise. It would be like trying to get a golf ball in the hole by shooting tank shells at it. The changes that result are too large.
We now justify this claim that changes in tertiary structure are large. Many biologists seem to have the impression that there is a continuum of mutations, and that proteins can gradually adapt to new functions by small mutations. We would like to show that this is not so. Either the shape (secondary and tertiary structure) of a protein is essentially unaffected by a mutation, or it is drastically changed.
A sequence of amino acids joins together into a polypeptide chain during the synthesis of proteins in an organism. The amino acids, joined together, are called residues. The polypeptide chain is one-dimensional, but it folds into a three-dimensional structure by a complicated process that is not very well understood. This three-dimensional structure is called the tertiary structure of the protein. It is possible for different amino acid sequences to fold into the same tertiary structure. Thus there are some mutations that do not change the tertiary structure (shape) of a protein.
Each amino acid has a "small backbone" consisting of a nitrogen, a carbon, and another carbon with two oxygens attaced. The central carbon is attached to a side chain, which comes out roughly at right angles to the small backbone. When amino acids join together in a protein, these small backbones join together by the formation of water molecules into one large backbone of the protein, from which the side chains come out at approximately right angles.
The backbone is somewhat flexible; it can rotate to some extent. The bonding angles can also change a little, but not much, because this requires a lot of energy. When the protein folds, the backbone rotates and flexes a little, as do the side chains, until a three-dimensional configuration is reached. This folding is influenced by electrical attraction and repulsion between the various atoms, as well as by quantum effects. There are a number of requirements that must be satisfied to obtain a stable protein that can participate in biological rections. Some of the side chains are hydrophobic and some are hydrophilic (water loving). If too many hydrophobic (oily) side chains are on the surface of the protein, they will tend to stick to other hydrophobic substances and interfere with the function of the protein. (An exception is proteins that need to interact with the interior of the cell membrane, which is oily.) If water is not squeezed out of the protein during the folding process, it can react with the backbone of the protein and break it in two, reversing the process of formation. In functional proteins, the atoms are densely packed in the interior, lending stability to the shape of the protein. If this does not happen, then the protein can change shape significantly, destroying its functionality in the organism. Thus there cannot be "holes" in the protein structure. (It is possible to have such holes if there is enough tightly packed structure around them to lend stability, however.) If hydrogen bonds do not form as needed, then I suppose they can form with substances outside the protein, again disrupting its function.
So we see that there are tremendous problems simply in obtaining a protein that could have a function in an organism. A mutation that changes the shape is likely to result in a useless protein, even apart from considerations of whether the shape is suitable for a particular reaction. For example, if an amino acid with a small side chain is replaced in a mutation by one with a large side chain, the protein will not pack densely, and will be unstable. If a large side chain is replaced by a small one, then there will be a hole in the interior of the protein.
From these considerations, it is apparent that changes in shapes of proteins by mutations cannot be continuous. For example, if a small side chain is replaced by a large one, then the entire packing of atoms in the protein has to change in order to maintain dense packing and stability of shape. If a hydrogen bond does not form between atoms A and B, then it has to form between atoms A and C; there are no intermediate possibilities, in general. This will cause the backbone to configure differently, and change the packing, the formation of other hydrogen bonds, et cetera, leading to a significantly different structure for the protein. This is a problem for the theory of evolution, which depends for its operation on the accumulation of gradual changes during adaptation. And, according to the theory of evolution, the various proteins found in current organisms had to be produced by a series of mutations from much smaller molecules found in the "organic soup" originally. This process could not have been restricted to the organic soup, either, since "new" proteins of new shapes are found in higher organisms that are not present in simpler organisms.
We cannot expect proteins to have evolved by random changes in shape due to neutral mutations, either, because the probability of success is much too small, as we argued in "Shared Errors in the DNA of Humans and Apes." The only reasonable way that evolution could have proceeded is by a sequence of small changes, each of which has a reasonable probability of success.
The following quotation shows that random mutations can form proteins that are able to interact with chemicals in the environment:
The reason that this is possible is that environmental chemicals have a much simpler structure than proteins, and so the probability that a random mutation will lead to a protein (enzyme) that can interact with such a chemical is much higher than the probability of a new interaction between two proteins.
Microorganisms have acquired new enzymes that allow them to metabolize toxic industrial wastes never occurring in nature (e.g. chlorinated and flourinated hydrocarbons), and are an increasingly important method of pollution control (Ghosal et al., Science 228: 135-142, 1985). Susumi Ohno (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 81:2421-2425, 1984) found that one such new enzyme, nylon linear oligomer hydrolase, resulted from a frame-shift mutation. Frame-shift mutations scramble the entire structure of a protein, and so the enzyme is a random construct! As would be expected, this new enzyme is imperfect and has only 1% the efficiency of typical enzymes, but the important thing is that it works (Bakken, n.d.).
from Frequently Encountered Criticisms in Evolution vs. Creationism: Revised and Expanded, Compiled by Mark I. Vuletic
In "A Theory of Small Evolution," we essentially showed that point mutations that substitute one base pair for another could not account for changes in shape to proteins. In "Shared Errors in the DNA of Humans and Apes," we showed that adding a base pair at the end of a gene (or anywhere else) cannot account for these changes in shape, either. This is because this introduces a "frame shift," which destroys the existing structure of the protein. Each amino acid is coded by a 3-codon of three bases, and adding or removing a base will change all these 3-codons in a drastic manner.
I'd like to expand more on the assertion that adding an amino acid at the end of a protein will often change its shape. The reason for this is that protein folding is considered to be such a hard problem, as the following quotation shows:
There is no simple way to predict the structure of a protein with an amino acid added on the end, from the structure of the original protein; if this were not true, then one could solve the folding problem by repeatedly adding one more amino acid on the end. This shows that adding one amino acid often changes the shape of the protein (at least in the neighborhood of the end), destroying the functionality of that part of the protein.
"NO 3D predictions for proteins from sequence, yet! Claims that the structure prediction problem has been solved are constantly being issued in the public press (Brown 1995) or even in scientific journals (Holden 1995). However, so far not a single successful prediction of 3D structure from sequence alone has been published. And despite the advance of the field enabled by the growth of public databases (Rost and Sander 1994c), we probably have to work until the next millennium to solve the `structure prediction problem'".
from: Pedestrian guide to analysing sequence databases, by Burkhard Rost and Reinhard Schneider in: Ashman K. (ed.): 'Core techniques in Biochemistry'. Heidelberg: Springer, 1997, in press.
We now try to be as generous to the theory of evolution as possible and examine what mechanism might account for changes in shape to existing proteins. The function of proteins in cells is often to increase the speed of chamical reactions, often by a factor of a million. To do this, they typically have 10 to 15 amino acids coming into contact with another protein, and all of these have to have chemical properties that closely match the properties of the other protein. So the chances of this are very small. We will be generous and assume that if just 1 or 2 amino acids come in contact, the reaction can be sped up by a factor of 10, and if this happens enough times, we can get a factor of a million speed up. Actually, this is not realistic, because there are generally over 10,000 proteins in any cell, so there are many, many reactions taking place. Just one or two amino acids would not be enough to distinguish between them, and would probably promote many different reactions. Since a cell is so highly organized, any random effect is likely to be harmful, and all the more so when many reactions are influenced at the same time. So in order to have a hope of a benefit, we would have to have probably 5 or 6 amino acids in contact, just to have enough information to distinguish among all the possible proteins.
Now, we need a mutation that can cause a slight change in the shape of a protein. The only kind of mutation I can think of is a splicing, in which a segment A of DNA is spliced from somewhere else and replaces a segment B of DNA in a gene. If A and B both code for protein structures A' and B', it could be that the replacement of A' by B' in the protein might leave the rest of the shape of the protein intact and result in a small change in shape that could promote some reaction of benefit to the cell. My impression is that this kind of mutation is very uncommon. Some pieces of DNA can move around in the genetic material, but I believe they are fairly large, and in addition, they do not splice anything out. Viruses can also splice in pieces of DNA, but I am not aware that they also splice something out, or that their material will be seen as inside some other gene. But let us assume that such splicing mutations can occur.
What is the probability that replacing A' by B' in a protein P can be beneficial? (Here we are also ignoring the fact that many functions in an organism depend on many proteins interacting together, as Behe brought out.) For this to happen, B' must not introduce a frame shift in P or in itself, and the splicing should occur at codon boundaries, which gives a probability of 1/81. The distance between the ends of B' has to be the same as between the ends of A', and I will say a probability of 1/100 for that. (This is just a framework for analysis, and I hope someone can give better figures. These figures are based on my intuition after staring at a number of pictures of protein structures.) There are two angles in 3-space at the ends of B', which must match those at the ends of A' in order to fit into the protein structure without changing the shape of the rest of the protein P. Each such angle is determined by two ordinary angles, and I will guess that each of these four ordinary angles has a 1/10 probability of being close enough. To promote a reaction, the shape of B' must be just right to touch the edge of a reacting protein Q, and its chemistry must also match that of Q, so I'll say 1/1000 for that. The chance that this reaction will be beneficial will be say 1/1000 based on observed properties of mutations. The chance that this mutation will fix in the population will be say 1/1000 since the change in the rate of the reaction is so small. In order for B' not to disturb the shape of the rest of the protein P, its shape should not intersect P. This means that the ends of B' have to be near the surface of P and B' has to be outside of P. I'll say 1/1000 for that. B' should not change the way P folds, either. The hydrophobic side chains of B' need to be in the interior, and so on. There are many constraints, and I'll give a 1/100 figure for this. There are many other kinds of mutations, so I'll say 1/1000 of the non-neutral ones are splicings.
So how many non-neutral mutations do we need altogether before one such beneficial splicing can fix in the population? The answer is 81(no frame shift) *1000000(right geometry at ends)*1000(promotes a reaction) *1000(beneficial reaction) *1000(fixes in the population) *1000(not intersect existing structure) *100(not change folding of P) *1000(other mutations) , or about 10 25 . Each such mutation probably adds at most about 10 amino acids, or else the change in function would be too large of an increment, and improbable to be benefical. Typical genetic material has about 108 base pairs as genes, so this kind of mutation has to happen about 107 times, for 1032 in all. So we would need something on the order of 1032 individuals in the line of each present species, each having a non-neutral mutation, most of them harmful. This would be on the average of over 1020 individuals per year, which is impractically large. Of course, our figures are only approximate.
We are not even using the fact that such a small change will probably promote many reactions at once, and will be harmful to the cell. But there is another point that I believe is even more telling. The protein structures that can be formed by repeated applications of this process will all have a particular structure. Note that B' will have a high curvature, since it has a small number of amino acids, but replaces a short path between its ends by a longer path. So this process can only yield proteins in which all portions have a high curvature. There are structures in proteins called alpha-helices and beta-sheets that are more or less straight and consist of many amino acids (residues). Such structures could never be formed by this kind of mutation. Sometimes a number of beta-sheets run parallel (or anti-parallel) to each other. So we can have a beta sheet, then a portion of the protein that loops around, and another beta sheet parallel to the first one. Such a structure cannot form by repeated splicing mutations. What we have here is an application of irreducibility at the molecular level, and at present I can't think of any way that evolution could produce such structures by small, beneficial mutations.
The impression that I have is that all known beneficial mutations are either duplications of existing genes, which make some protein more abundant in the cell, or slight changes in shape, which cause some interaction in the cell to be less efficient. This can be an advantage at times, in conferring resistance to antibiotics or to some infections. It could also be an advantage in some situations, for example, to have small wings. There is a tremendous difference between such mutations and the changes in shape of proteins that must have occurred for evolution to take place. So it is not correct to say that the kinds of mutations required by evolution have been observed in nature. This distinction between the two kinds of mutations seems generally to be ignored in discussions about evolution. A good web article discussing mutations in the context of drug resistance is Antibiotic Resistance and Similar Phenomena. Another excellent reference concerning beneficial mutations and protein interactions is chapter 5 of Not by Chance, by Dr. Lee Spetner.
Some proteins have more than one active site, and these sites can influence each other. Such proteins have a flexible geometry, so that when one of the active sites is in use, the shape of the protein is changed slightly, which can increase or decrease the likelihood of a reaction taking place at another site. This can serve a regulatory function in an organism. This adds another level of organization and control to the structure of proteins that makes their evolution even more difficult.
For an example of a specific protein, in relation to the question of how proteins could have evolved, consider the following: The DNA of most or all non-bacterial organisms has telomeres at the end that tend to get shorter with cell division. So there is a process for putting it back. Science 25 April 1997 reports on how this is done. A huge 123,000 dalton protein called p123 has been found that seems to repair the telomeres. A dalton is about the weight of a proton or neutron. So this protein is very big. Without this protein the organisms die.
This protein was first isolated from a protozoan called Euplotes because its nucleus has 40 _million_ chromosomes, all very small. It needs a _lot_ of telomere repair as a result. Bacteria have chromosomes that are rings and so do not have the problem of ends being lost.
Now, this raises the question as to how the telomere system could have evolved. Suppose bacteria came first. Then no telomeres would be needed. Now when the chromosomes begin to become un-looped, p123 or something similar would suddenly become crucial to life. How could it possibly evolve? One would assume that both evolution and the Creator would choose a protein about as small as possible, and this one is so big that it just could not arise by chance.
Another very interesting example is the "chaperones" which help proteins fold into their proper 3-dimensional configurations. An article in Science News from September 6, 1997 explains how they work. A newly formed protein has hydrophilic (oily) side chains which will tend to stick together and make the protein useless. The chaperones are large proteins with an interior cavity with hydrophilic side chains exposed, so newly formed proteins tend to stick to their interior. Then the chaperones have a small cap (another chaperone) that binds to them, changing their shape, tearing the newly formed protein away from them and exposing hydrophilic side chains to it. This helps the protein to fold properly and expose its own hydrophilic side chains to the surface. At this point, the new protein is still enclosed inside the chaperone. Finally, the chaperone changes shape again and releases the newly folded protein.
Of course, the chaperones also need chaperones to help them to fold properly. This is probably explained by the fact that the chaperones are formed when a number of smaller proteins fit together. Each small protein is able to fit inside the chaperone and fold properly.
This whole mechanism is simply amazing. It would appear that chaperones are necessary for life, but I would be very interested if biologists could devise some reasonable scenario by which they could have evolved.
We hope that readers will find this discussion stimulating and suggestive of further investigations.
Back to home page. | https://tasc-creationscience.org/other/plaisted/www.cs.unc.edu/_plaisted/ce/mutation.html |
Continuum of Ownership: Developing Autonomy
Chris Watkins, an independent consultant and leading authority on meta-learning in the UK and former reader at The Institute of Education, London Centre for Leadership in Learning, has been a researcher on learning over the last two decades. In his research article, “Learners in the Driving Seat”, he developed a metaphor to better understand the concept of ’driving’ our learning. When driving we have an idea for a destination – perhaps a bit of a map of the territory; we have hands on the wheel, steering – making decisions as the journey unfolds; and all this is crucially related to the core process of noticing how it’s going and how that relates to where we want to be. Watkins makes these four points of what happens when learners drive the learning. When learners drive and take ownership to their learning,
- it leads to greater engagement and intrinsic motivation for them to want to learn,
- learners setting a higher challenge for themselves,
- learners evaluating their own work, and
- better problem-solving skills.
Continuum of Ownership TM by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on work at bit.ly/continuum-ownership.* Graphic design by Sylvia Duckworth
Barbara McCombs, PhD, from the University of Denver, states in her research Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key to Motivating Students that motivation is related to whether or not learners have opportunities to be autonomous and to make important academic choices. Having choices allows children to feel that they have control or ownership over their own learning. This, in turn, helps them develop a sense of responsibility and self-motivation.
Compliance
Compliance means that learners do not own their learning or may not believe they are the ones that have to do the work to learn. This is what most of us as learners experienced because “school” was designed for “students” to follow instructions. Since the late 1800’s, school has been designed so that the teacher is responsible and accountable for learning. When you walk in a class where the teacher owns and drives the learning, they usually tend to be the hardest-working person in the classroom. You will see walls covered with materials the teacher purchased or created. They are doing most of the talking and learners contribute by doing what is asked of them.
Understanding
In the Understanding phase, learners share how they learn best with the teacher. In the next chapter, we’ll introduce a new tool, the Personal Learning Plan (PLP), which will help learners think through and articulate how they learn best. Being able to write how they learn, their interests, talents and aspirations, gives the learner a voice. These conversations with the teacher help validate them as a learner that begins to shift responsibility for learning from the teacher to the learner. In this phase, learners also consult with the teacher to determine their learning goals, for which we’ve provided the PLP. The learner shares evidence of their learning as they learn with the teacher and their peers.
Investment
Investment is when learners build confidence in developing the skills they need to work independently and with others. They see the value of goal setting. They refer to the PLP with guidance from the teacher to determine action steps they will need to progress in their learning. They are now more invested in their learning and know how to identify and choose the best evidence of their learning that demonstrates mastery. Walking in a room where learners are invested in their learning looks different. Learners are focused on completing tasks, talking about their learning, and excited about sharing the process and evidence of what they are learning.
Autonomy
Autonomy is when learners have the confidence and skills to work independently and with others. In using innovative and creative strategies, learners extend their goals to now pursue their interests and passions and include those in their learning goals. They are determined to self-monitor progress as they adjust their PLP as they learn and meet their goals. Learners identify and create passion projects that they showcase and exhibit the process and products to peers, family, and possibly a global audience.
When learners feel a sense of ownership, they want to engage in academic tasks and persist in learning. If teachers and learners are learners first, then responsibility comes with being a learner. Learners of all ages become responsible for their learning when they own and drive their learning so they can be more independent and eventually self-directed learners.
****
Thank You to Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth (http://sylviaduckworth.com) from Crescent School, Toronto, Canada for designing the graphic of the Continuum of Ownership 4/17/2016.
*This page including the chart was created by Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey of Personalized Learning, LLC (c) April 6, 2106. The Continuum of Ownership is also copyrighted in our publication, How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper (Corwin, 2016). For permission to adapt, distribute copies, or to use in a publication, contact Kathleen McClaskey at [email protected].
****
Other Continuums
Continuum of Choice
Continuum of Voice
Continuum of Engagement
Continuum of Motivation
Continuum of Purpose
Continuum of Self-Efficacy
*****
References
McCombs, B., Ph.D.. Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key to Motivating Students. Retrieved October 16, 2015, from http://www.apa.org/education/k12/learners.aspx
Watkins, C. Learners in the Driving Seat. Teaching Times, 1.2, pp. 28-31. | https://kathleenmcclaskey.com/ownership/ |
The projected growth in population and jobs in the region, along with increased demand for electricity to power electric vehicles and the digital economy, will put strains on the electrical grid to increase power generation, despite ongoing improvements in energy efficiency. Without more coordinated planning and targeted investments, the energy system will not be able to meet growing energy demand, or reduce the region’s reliance on sources of power that contribute to climate change and pollute the air of disproportionately low-income communities of color.
Local and state governments have taken steps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, focusing on renewables and greater efficiency. But this will not be enough for all three states, which have each committed to reducing regional GHG emissions by 80 percent by 2050, to reach this ambitious goal. Achieving that reduction level as the region grows will require a multi-pronged approach to dramatically scale up renewable energy, improve energy efficiency, manage demand with variable pricing, electrify vehicles, and convert the heat and hot water systems of large buildings to electric, while at the same time upgrading the power grid to support all of these changes. | http://fourthplan.org/action/green-energy |
Developing sustainable infrastructure and helping communities – these passions are ingrained in our culture. They drive our work, our values, and everything we do at Indam. Our mission to serve clients and our commitment to engineering and construction makes Indam a place where employees can make a positive impact in surrounding communities while pursuing a fulfilling career. To promote an environment in which our staff may excel, we support a variety of growth opportunities—from training and education to increasing job responsibilities.
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The only goal of the human-computer interaction (HCI) is to meet user needs and expectations as much as possible, and then to improve the usability of software systems[7; 8]. Usability methods have from the beginning of times, that is to say the early 80’s, always included users to varying degrees. The usability is an important indicator of quality of the interactive IT product or system. Nielsen has pointed out that the usability is effective, easy to learn, efficient, easy to remember, the fewer mistakes and satisfaction for product users . The international standard ISO 9241-11 defines usability as follows: effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction what are qualities of products in a particular environment for a specific user for specific purposes.
The concept of usability engineering appeared, as people have an emphasis on the quality of product since the 80s of last century, and then has correspondingly formed a popular area in academia and industry. Usability engineering is an engineering methodology for the IT product and user interface development, throughout the product life cycle stages. Its core is UCD methodology, stressing from the user’s point of view to design and development .
B. Web Usability
Design In Internet time, Web-based applications are to interact with users through the Web user interface in Internet. Web interface is a specific human-machine interface based on Internet technology, and Web is a special interactive system in the Internet environment. Web usability engineering is that principles and techniques of the usability engineering are applied to Web design, so that Web designers construct usercentric website rather than the technology-centric website, who should focus on its user, rather than the computer’s input and output.
That is, Web design is changed from technology-driven to user-driven. Web interface design is developed from the graphical user interface (GUI) design about software based on screen, and the design to following the same design fundamentals of other. That is Web design must directly face “users with the specific needs”, and must ensure that users are pleasant to successfully complete tasks with Web. Web design usually adapts a design – evaluation iterative design process to improve its usability. Web usability design includes the following three main elements: research users, Web design, and usability evaluation. | http://aasheeinfotech.com/web-usability/ |
Given a positive integer n, the task is to print nth Hilbert Number.
Hilbert Number: In mathematics, A Hilbert Number is a positive integer of the form 4*n + 1 , Where n is a non-negative integer.
The first few Hilbert numbers are –
1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37, 41, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 65, 69, 73, 77, 81, 85, 89, 93, 97
Examples :
Input : 5 Output: 21 ( i.e 4*5 + 1 ) Input : 9 Output: 37 (i.e 4*9 + 1 )
Approach:
- The n-th Hilbert Number of the sequence can be obtained by putting the value of n in the formula 4*n + 1.
Below is the implementation of the above idea:
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If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using contribute.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to [email protected]. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
Please Improve this article if you find anything incorrect by clicking on the "Improve Article" button below. | https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/hilbert-number/ |
With the number of different techniques that can be used in predictive analytics, choosing the right one can be overwhelming. By understanding the nature of the desired prediction and recognizing the types of data available, the appropriate modeling technique will become clear. In this video, Matt North will show you some of the key analysis points that will help you select the correct technique to use for your data.
Using RapidMiner, and based on the the outcome you are looking for, you will examine four popular techniques used in predictive analytics and explore when it might be appropriate to use each one. These techniques are important to business analysts and data scientists that are using statistical prediction in a business setting. Matt also discusses statistics and the roles of independant and dependant variables; and a clear understanding of basic regression, a neural network, logistic regression, and a decision tree model will be helpful for getting the most from this video.
- learn how to apply linear regression, neural networks, logistic regression, and decision tree models to your data in RapidMiner
- understand when and why to apply each of the four models examined
- you will learn to assess if your data is appropriate for certain types of predictive modeling
Other videos in this series:
Does Correlation Prove Causation in Predictive Analytics?
How Can I Clean My Data for Use in a Predictive Model?
Table of contents
Product information
- Title: How Do I Choose the Correct Predictive Model for My Organizational Questions?
- Author(s):
- Release date: May 2017
- Publisher(s): Infinite Skills
- ISBN: 9781491990889
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Does Correlation Prove Causation in Predictive Analytics? | https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/how-do-i/9781491990896/ |
Today we’ll begin our long journey through the amazing world of DNA.
As we begin to look forward to a fun filled few weeks, its at this point that we look back into the past and discuss the important people who’s contributions and life’s work answered some of life’s biggest questions.
If you are using Puffin: Go to http://www.DNAi.org and click timeline, there you will a see a list of scientists broken up by decade. Use the web quest to determine which scientists to look up. You can read their biographies by clicking their picture. You can also have them tell you their story by clicking the animated icons above them.
If you are not using Puffin: Below are videos that are taken from the website DNAi.org. Use them to complete the introduction to these scientists as a part of this webquest (PDF).
- Friedrich Meischer – Bio –
- Erwin Chargaff – Bio –
- Rosalind Franklin – Bio –
- Alfred Hershey & Martha Chase – Bio –
- James Watson & Francis Crick – Bio –
Together the contributions come together to fit like pieces of a puzzle (Read Here) and the shape of the DNA molecule was finally uncovered. | https://mrkubuske.com/2015/11/06/ |
Feeling some degree of anxiety when anticipating a painful experience or faced with potential danger is normal, but if you have developed an extreme fear of a particular object, activity or situation, you might be suffering from a phobia.
A phobia is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm. The word itself comes from the Greek word phobos, which means fear or horror.
Latest research from the Federal Health Department showed that one in seven Australians, or almost 15 per cent, will develop a phobia or anxiety disorder during their lives. Phobias often start in childhood but can occur at any age and are roughly twice as common among women than men. Over 75 per cent of people with a specific phobia will experience multiple phobias over their lifetime.
Phobias are among several anxiety disorders, which also include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. Unlike general anxiety disorders, a phobia is usually connected with something specific.
There are more than four hundred types of phobias ranging from common to extremely rare and strange. Such as coulrophobia; the fear of clowns, alektorophobia; the fear of chickens, onomatophobia; the fear of names, pogonophobia; the fear of beards and omphalophobia; the fear of belly buttons. While some phobias are as old as the hills, others are more recent. For example, there has been a big rise in nomophobia which is the fear of not having your mobile phone on you.
While many phobias have no obvious cause, a number of factors have been linked to the development of a specific phobia such as genetic factors, following a negative or traumatic experience, or after observing another person’s fearful response to that same object or situation.
Once a specific phobia has developed, a person’s continued experience of fear is thought to occur due to a number of behavioural and cognitive factors such as continued and repetitive unhelpful thoughts about it and avoiding the cause of the phobia, thus unable to develop effective coping skills to overcome it.
A diagnosis of specific phobia is made when symptoms are present for six months or longer and cause the person significant distress, or interfere with important aspects of the person’s life, such as their work or relationships.
When it comes to treatment, the most effective method is exposure therapy, where you confront the feared object or situation without engaging in any avoidance or escape behaviours. By facing your fears, it teaches you that feelings of anxiety decrease naturally over time and that the feared consequences of the phobic object or situation are unlikely to occur. Cognitive therapy can also be applied which involves helping you to identify and challenge your unhelpful thoughts. This technique might be used alone or in conjunction with exposure therapy.
Although phobias are common, they don’t always cause considerable distress or significantly disrupt your life. For example, if you have arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, you can avoid this easily by not eating peanut butter. But if your phobia is interfering with your normal functioning or keeps you from doing things you would otherwise enjoy, it’s time to seek help.
Now I wonder if the boss will believe that I have ergophobia and can’t come to work? | https://thecoalface.net.au/2021/12/05/face-your-fear/ |
Responding to a new era of regulations
With world-leading technology and transportation supported by regulations and laws, the food supply in the United States is considered relatively safe and secure. Yet each year about 48 million Americans – about one of every six people – get sick from food-borne diseases, according to Home Food Safety. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die every year.
The 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which puts greater emphasis on preventing food-borne illness, was enacted to enhance accountability in today’s globally intertwined food supply chain. The law gives the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) broader authority to inspect records related to food. Under the provisions of the FSMA, which was signed into law in January and takes effect in stages, companies will be required to develop and implement written food safety plans.
In addition, the FDA also will have the authority to better respond to and require recalls when food safety problems occur as well as the ability to better ensure that imported foods are as safe for consumers as foods produced in the United States. Proponents say the law makes everyone responsible and accountable at each step in the food supply chain, whether producing, processing, transporting or preparing foods.
The law affects any factory, warehouse or importer that manufactures, processes, packs or stores food in the United States. The law’s provisions include:
This white paper analyzes three key issues related to the FSMA: Documentation, audits and traceability.
Regardless of how the food industry reacts to the law, companies must adapt to these new regulatory realities and renewed scrutiny or face a stark reality: without making changes, they may very well be left behind.
Keep critical records in compliance
The Food Safety and Modernization Act expands FDA authority to inspect records related to food (with the exception of farms and restaurants.) Under the law, companies that manufacture, process, pack, distribute, receive, hold or import food must permit inspection of records where the FDA believes that there is a reasonable probability of serious adverse health consequences or death. The law also gives the FDA authority to suspend registration if the food has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.
To ensure compliance, all registered facilities must conduct a hazard analysis and develop and implement a written preventive controls plan that evaluates hazards; identifies and implements preventive controls; monitors the performance of those controls; and maintains records of such monitoring and preventive controls for two years. In essence, it means companies need to have in place a current, validated and verified food safety program subject to annual review.
The key to responding to these new regulatory teeth is to organize and clean up existing documentation, establish a system to control documents going forward and implement adequate policies to ensure ongoing compliance.
Just as the new law is intended to modernize regulations, this is an opportunity for the industry to adapt to new technology that manages documents and information, including tools that can digitally and centrally store inspection records for easy access and action.
Just think – how much time do you spend each day managing documents and ensuring accurate records are available for auditors, customers and internal stakeholders? Things like transactions, shipping records, logs and employee training documents. It doesn’t matter if you’re reviewing, revising, circulating, printing, filing, faxing, scanning, mailing, or just storing a document. Paper-based processes take up time-consuming and valuable resources.
Companies seeking a solution should look for a system that provides electronic approval and access, efficient storage, document identification numbers that can easily be searched, automatic review, a full audit trail of previous revisions, and a fully reportable indexed document system. When new documents come in, they should be entered into the system and immediately tracked, stored, and instantly available for managers, employees – and auditors.
Access data timely and orderly
Stepped-up and more complex audits will be more prevalent under the new law, and the industry needs to be prepared with quick access to systems that provide a robust and accurate history of records.
Preparing for audits, administering inspections, recording observations, and scoring and trending results is a necessary activity for any successful food company. Here are some questions managers should ask as they evaluate their company’s ability to conform to the new law:
Today, a successful audit is a result of keeping all the information you need accessible, electronic and actionable.
Keeping employee training records up to date, ensuring the newest version of standard operating procedures, GMPs and other key documentation is given to employees, managing each new revision of every standard, and documenting company processes and procedures is a lot of work for one person or department – especially when audit readiness is a company-wide objective and critical to the safety of your products and health of consumers.
An electronic solution ensures only the most current documentation is available, that gaps in compliance can easily be found, and that all company processes are electronically routed. All the information you need for a successful audit is right at your (and your auditor’s) fingertips. With the right system, audit readiness is a matter of clicks, not hours.
Managing data for maximum recall
Say there’s a food recall involving an ingredient that’s used in your facility. The producer would notify you with a lot number. Then you’d have to track where that ingredient was used in your product and where your product went. But with the complex chain of processing entities in today’s food industry there are a host of parties involved in processing, transportation and distribution.
When it comes to recalls, everyone involved has to own the process, isolate the potential for danger. You need to be able to have ability to provide records quickly. You need to track every retail establishment selling your product.
The Food Safety Modernization Act requires traceability one step up and one step back from your contribution to the production process. This includes packaging, processing, work in progress, rework, and potentially even your waste materials. Among other components, the law provides for whistleblower protection, increased inspection, increased record-keeping requirements and more authority to review records.
You’ll need to be ready – whether it’s HACCP records, inspection data, supplier history, customer complaints, corrective actions and more. These days the Five Ws (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) can create worthless records if not done correctly. This is what’s expected under the new legislation:
Long a solution, digitization is way forward
Despite its restrictions and short-term pain, the new law is an opportunity to enhance quality in the food industry. Rather than spend countless hours compiling paper and verifying data to meet the new requirements, companies in the industry will need to fully embrace an electronic solution that ensures documents are up to date and performing under the rigors of the production environment.
Having the right compliance software helps you do what you say and say what you do with a controlled electronic environment that prevents issues and accidents associated with manual record-keeping.
One significant benefit of the new law is its emphasis on food safety plans and recall scenarios. Corporations of every size routinely test their emergency preparedness. An electronic system can reduce the time to plan and execute scenarios from weeks to days. With an electronic tool, data is linked and available, across facilities, with the ability to dig into the data and perform internal audits at any time.
Implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act is also a good time to contemplate the future of your business – what automation will be needed to maximize your efficiency and profitability? What other regulations are around the corner that will impact your business? What can you afford to spend on the next audit or recall?
Managing regulations won’t be getting any easier. In fact, with more frequent audits and other mandates, it will indeed become more challenging. More tools and technology will be needed for better record keeping and growing demands.
The industry – finally – is embracing automation as a way to combat the growing complexity of regulations and bigger magnifying glass of compliance. | https://www.qualtrax.com/resources/educational-materials/food-safety-modernization-act-whitepaper/ |
When I first thought back through this year I was a bit disappointed at how little I had managed to get out and explore, but as I started looking through pictures from the past twelve months I quickly realized just how wrong I was! I got to visit a few of my list-topping sights and a pile of other places I’d never even thought about visiting before. Here’s some of my favorite shots to come out of those trips from around the country and Istanbul.
A light dusting of snow graces the roofs of Burhaniye as the dome of Büyük Çamlıca Mosque towers over all.
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Devotees praying at the tomb of Eyüp el-Ensari.
Ani Ruins
Perched above the Arpaçay River that serves as an international border, the ruins of the city of Ani are remote and stunning. Ani was a bucket list item for me, and it did not disappoint!
Büyük Çamlıca Mosque Dome
The spectacular dome and symmetry of Istanbul’s newly build mega-mosque. Filled with subtle imagery and symbolism Büyük Çamlıca Mosque encapsulates the Turkish leaderships vision for the nation. Standing on one of Istanbul’s highest hills, it’s a symbol that can be seen from all over the city.
One of the original ideas behind The Art of Wayfaring was to explore the world of Turkey’s disappearing traditional craftsmen and labourers. These quilters are exactly this; a dying breed in a modernizing world.
A somewhat more successful attempt at street photography with a distinctly Turkish flair provided by the 500 year old Süleymaniye Mosque.
This isn’t a particularly beautiful image, but any time a (gentle) interrogation ends with the officer in charge suggesting you take a group picture you do as you’re told (more on that trip here).
The beautiful curves of the Aspendos Theatre, still stunning after nearly 2000 years.
Something I’ve tried to do this year is get more shots of the interesting people of Turkey. Here a baker removes batches of simit from a wood fired oven in istanbul.
The order and symmetry of Istanbul’s grandest mosque.
Possibly Turkey’s most passionately spiritual site, the mausoleum of 12th century poet and mystic Jelal ad-Din Rumi, known in Turkey as Mevlana, is a grand site of pilgrimage for mystics from all of the world.
Phrygian Way Camp
Turkey is an amazing place for camping and hiking; something that we’d like to take much more advantage of. This is where we spent one night preparing our dinner beneath a butte and the stars along the Phrygian Way.
I hope your 2019 has been wonderful too! Here’s a few of my travel goals for 2020, you may recognise some that I didn’t get to last year.
1 Lake Van and everything that surrounds it.
From the soaring mountains to the ancient churches built on Islands far out into the massive lake this area has so much to offer! I figure if I was quick and didn’t spend too much time chatting with locals I may be able to see most of what the area has to offer in one week, but where’s the fun in that? Hopefully I’ll get to spend a few days around one of the worlds largest soda lakes and see some of amazing attractions.
2 The Eastern Black Sea Region
Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but we at Art of Wayfaring have left a HUGE gap in our coverage of sights in the Black Sea Region. The Eastern end of the Black Sea in particular is a stunning place of green mountains above the clouds full of tea plantations, monasteries, castles, waterfalls, and magnificent vistas.
3 The Ruins of Silyon
Another item leftover from last year, the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Silyon are incredible. It’s a cliff top city where earthquakes have sheered away slices of the city exposing underground cisterns and destroying the majority of the amphitheater. Now that I live in the area it should be a whole lot easier to stop by sometime.
4 Leather Tanneries
These are proving a bit tricky to get to and much like my trouble with the soap makers its proving tough to find a more traditional tannery. I’ve discouvered two things in my sleuthing: that Gaziantep has a couple tanneries south of the city, and that to “smell like a tannery” is a saying that means to stink horribly.
5 Eber Lake Reed Harvest
This is one that discovered years ago, forgot about, and rediscovered recently. This lake in eastern Afyon is choked up with reeds that are harvested and stacked like teepee poles to dry. There are huts way built on islands and rafts way out in the middle of the lake. It’s a world I would love to discover soon! | https://artofwayfaring.com/travel-blog/2019-in-photos-and-the-year-to-come/ |
Crime, unfortunately, surrounds us. There is petty crime like misdemeanor theft and there are more serious crimes like kidnapping, assault and sadly homicide. How can we utilize deductive reasoning and keen observation to understand trends, patterns and environments conducive to crime? And what long-term solutions can be put into place that will reduce crime rates and prevent further delinquency? These are the fundamental questions of a crime analyst. Learn more from a real crime analyst and criminal profiler in the course Crime Studies.
So, What Exactly is Crime Analysis?
Basically? It’s the systematic study of crime. Of course crime analysis includes studying other disorderly conduct in cohorts with the police department and occasionally includes apprehension of criminals. Overall, though, crime analysis involves investigating crime-ridden areas, evaluating appropriate solutions and then designing a plan to implement. It’s more of a science than a social science, it relies heavily on data, statistics and analytics as opposed to theory and anecdotes. Statistics can make some people cringe, but it’s not that bad. In this course A Workshop in Probability and Statistics you can climb over your fear of the subject and get closer to becoming a crime analyst. Three major dynamics in crime analysis are socio-demographic, temporal and spatial information about crime.
Socio-Demographics
All this word means is: people. What demographic, or group of people, experiences crime the most? What demographic tends to be offenders? You can categorize people in a number of different ways and that’s what crime analysts do. They look at income, age, gender, education and race, amongst other categories, to identify “risk” factors. This is by no means indicating that one group of people, say 18-25 males, is exclusively responsible for crimes in area X, Y or Z. They are just factors that crime analysts incorporate into their more extensive research on crime. If a crime analyst knows that there is a lot of theft occurring in town, and that there is also a large geriatric population residing, they may be able to develop plans for banks to ramp up security on “pay-day” (social security checks) to prevent an increase in theft.
Temporal Nature
Temporal means time. Time is an important element of crime analysis as it conveys patterns. If we study crime patters in say, East St. Louis over 12-months, 3-years and 6-years, we can see if crime is more or less prevalent and which types of crimes occur more or less frequently. This kind of information tells crime analysts what variables may be key to reducing overall crime rates. It gets even more specific, temporal crime analysis includes studying times of day, time between like crimes and weekly or monthly crime records. By collecting all of this data crime analysts can paint a really good picture of the community they are researching. They can see that weekend evenings around 2AM there is a higher frequency of reckless driving and thus accidents; probably due to people leaving the bars. They can see that robberies tend to happen early morning during the week which is indicative of people leaving their houses empty when they go to work.
Spatial Dynamic
Technology has improved access to information for many different fields of work and study. For criminologists, or those investigating crime, using spatial recognition technology takes hours and hours of guess work out of the equation. The spatial dynamic to crime analysis is important because it allows investigators to see patterns playing out in neighboring cities, towns, counties and even states. It helps them evaluate what may be related or not, which can open up a lead on a case or present pertinent data to developing a remedy to on-going criminal activity. Many agencies encourage using geospatial data to narrow down patterns of crime that may otherwise go unconnected.
What Does a Crime Analyst Do?
Crime analysts spend their days doing field research like, gathering information about problem locations; and content analysis like, pin pointing trends and patterns in police reports. They study these elements deeply in order to comprehend who is committing crime, what crime is being committed, where they are doing it and who is falling victim. By identifying these variables they can see the bigger picture which enables them then again break down the information into comprehensive reports that assist police in doing their job more efficiently. Likewise, there are forensic analysts who spend their time in the field collecting data and in their labs studying data. If this seems more up your alley, read about the different types of forensic analysts in Careers for Forensic Analysts.
First and foremost, crime analysts are in a support role for the police. They use their analytical skills to help police apprehend a criminal. This doesn’t mean they are out on a car chase shoot ‘em up bang-bang style. They are likely thumbing through files, studying numbers and charts and trying to understand who could be at fault given the information on hand. If information is inadequate to capture an offender, they seek out more data through field research and further content analysis. In the course Data Analytics you can learn powerful ways to work with data.
Secondly, crime analysts exist to provide information for preventive measures. If they know that there has been a series of assault and battery incidents, they can draw up a “crime zone” that tells residents where the assaults have been happening, when they’ve been happening and who is most often victimized. By doing this, police can offer information to the public in an attempt to keep them safe. This includes things like lock your doors and don’t walk alone at night – or whatever the appropriate response would be. Crime analysts spend a lot of time studying disorderly conduct, too. It’s not all the bells and whistles of prime-time TV. Some communities have a high frequency of noise complaints, or false alarms and these are incidents that a crime analyst would be brought in to assess. Police may want to understand why these things are happening and what they can do to prevent them from turning into more serious events.
Lastly, crime analysts assess currently operating crime prevention programs and agendas. A police force may implement a program to reduce excessive partying (and thus drunk driving, noise and general rowdiness) in a college town. They may create something like the “party patrol” or some other installment that bears no weight on actually reducing the problem. A crime analyst will come in, gather data like they do, and then give the police an honest assessment of their on-going programs. This helps police bureaus save money, time and energy if a preventative measure is actually doing nothing, or worse, contributing to the problem.
Crime analysts usually study at a four-year institution earning their degree in criminology, statistics, research methodology, criminal sociology or criminal justice. If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in criminology, check out this course: Criminology Made Easy. Crime analyst’s salaries fall somewhere around $74,000, which makes studying for four years totally worth it. It’s also noteworthy to mention that crime analysts don’t just work for police forces, they often work in counter terrorism units, for government agencies like the FBI, CIA and DEA and can be independent contractors who go wherever is needed. | https://blog.udemy.com/crime-analyst/ |
Apartment Ronchi is a self-catering accommodation located in Old Town, the heart of Dubrovnik. The property is 100 meters from the main street, Stradun and 100 meters from such attractions as the Rectors Place, Dubrovnik Cathedral, Franciscan Monastery and Orlando Column.
The accommodation will provide you with air conditioning and a seating area. There is a fully equipped kitchenette with a microwave and a refrigerator. Featuring a shower, the private bathroom also come with a hair dryer.
As the accommodation is located in the Old Town, everything you might need is just a couple minutes walking distance away. Cafe bars, restaurants, post offices, banks, shops, ATM's, pharmacies and tourist offices are all in close proximity. The Dubrovnik Walls are 100 meters away and the cable car with beautiful views of the Old Town is 300 meters away. Guests can swim at the popular Banje beach which is located 500 meters away, go out to the well-known Revelin Club 250 meters away or catch a boat to the island of Lokrum 230 meters away from Apartment Ronchi.
The bus stop with bus lines going to other parts of town is located 450 meters from the apartment. The main bus station and ferry port are located 4,5 km away while Dubrovnik Airport is 18 km from the accommodation. | https://www.9flats.com/places/240644-apartment-dbv |
Through the practice of yoga, students will be inspired to explore their thinking and reflect on their feelings. Yoga can help nourish self-esteem, empowering students to confidently express themselves through journaling. Weaving yoga breathing, poses, and meditation with various journaling exercises, students will love this workshop’s organic approach.
Children should wear comfortable clothing. Please bring water bottle and a yoga mat. Journals and pencils will be provided. | http://www.juliefinkel.com/yoga-journaling-and-meditation.html |
What are the economic and political arguments for regional economic integration? Given these arguments, why don’t we see more substantial examples of integration in the world economy? Unrestricted free trade allows countries to specialize in the production of goods and services that they can produce most efficiently. If this happens as the result of economic integration within a geographic region, the net effect is greater prosperity for the nations of the region. From a more philosophical perspective, regional economic integration can be seen as an attempt to achieve additional gains from the free flow of trade and investment between countries beyond those attainable under international agreements such as the World Trade Organization. The political case for integration is also compelling.
Linking neighboring economies and making them increasingly dependent on each other creates incentives for political cooperation between neighboring states. The potential for violent conflict between the states is also reduced. In addition, by grouping their economies together, the countries can enhance their political weight in the world. Despite the strong economic and political arguments for integration, it has never been easy to achieve on a meaningful level. There are two main reasons for this. First, although economic integration benefits the majority, it has its costs. While a set of nations as a whole may benefit significantly from a regional free trade agreement, certain groups may lose. The second impediment to integration arises from concerns over national sovereignty.
How should a firm that has self-sufficient production facilities to in several ASEAN countries respond to the creation of a single market? What are the constraints on its ability to respond in a manner that minimizes production costs?
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The creation of the single market means that it may no longer be efficient to operate separate production facilities in each country. Instead, the facilities should either be linked so that each specializes in the production of only certain items, or several sites should be closed down and production consolidated into the most efficient locations. Existing differences between countries as well as the need to be located near important customers may limit a firm’s ability to fully consolidate or relocate production facilities for production cost reasons. Minimizing production costs are only one of many objectives of firms, as the location of production near R&D facilities can be critical for new product development and future economic success. Thus what is most important in location decisions is long-run economic success, not just cost minimization.
Case Study (Logitech)
In a world without trade, what would happen to the costs that American consumers would have to pay for Logitech’s products? In a world without trade, the costs that American consumers would have to pay would be very high. The product that the case study gives for example, Wanda, retails for $40, of which only $3 is the production cost from China. This $3 cost would rise immensely if production was in the United States because the American economy demands high wages.
Explain how trade lowers the costs of making computer peripherals such as mice and keyboards. If the United States were to build a product entirely domestically, the retail price would not be feasible to most consumers. With trading in place, it allows for economies of scale. The technology can be developed in one country, the production in another country, and the assembly in yet another country. The shipping costs are much less than it would be to perform these tasks in one country. This is called absolute advantage, where someone is great at one thing. With this in mind, you will get a product that has the best resources available at the lowest cost, which is a comparative advantage. Finally, specialization is where everyone is doing what they do best and pulling their resources together to make one incredible product.
Use the theory of comparative advantage to explain the way in which Logitech has configured its global operations. Why does the company manufacture in China and Taiwan, undertake basic R&D in California and Switzerland, design products in Ireland, and coordinate marketing and operations from California? Logitech is very brilliant when it comes to comparative advantage. It does basic R&D work in Switzerland with 200 employees, its headquarters are in Fremont, California with 450 employees as well as some R&D, the ergonomic designs are developed in Ireland, and the products are manufactured in Taiwan and China. The comparative advantage is that it is the most cost-effective to break up the business in many different countries that specialize in a certain job.
Who creates more value for Logitech, the 650 people it employs in Fremont and Switzerland, or the 4,000 employees at its Chinese factory? What are the implications of this observation for the argument that free trade is beneficial? The 650 employees in Fremont, California and Switzerland create more value for Logitech. It is where all of the R&D and designs are developed. The 4,000 employees of China add $3 to the Wanda product, which is almost nothing in comparison to the remaining $37. Free trade is beneficial because labor costs can be brought way down.
Why do you think the company decided to shift its corporate headquarters from Switzerland to Fremont? America specializes in R&D. The headquarters were moved because of the company’s global marketing, finance, and logistics operations. That is what Americans do best
To what extent can Porter’s diamond help explain the choice of Taiwan as a major manufacturing site for Logitech?
There are four parts to Porter’s diamond:
- the factor of endowments, which is a nation’s position in factors of production such as skilled labor or the infrastructure necessary to compete in a given industry
- demand conditions, which is the nature of home demand for the industry’s product or service
- relating and supporting industries, which is the presence or absence of supplier industries and related industries that are internationally competitive
- Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry, which are the conditions governing how companies are created, organized, and managed and the nature of the domestic rivalry.
Taiwan’s factor of endowments was that it had a science-based Industrial Park in Hsinchu. The demand conditions were that the Taiwanese were already trained to deal with technology. The relating and supporting industries were that Taiwan was the best as building technology at the lowest cost. The firm strategy, structure, and rivalry were that Taiwan had no domestic rivalry; they provided the lowest cost.
Why do you think China is now a favored location for so much high technology manufacturing activity? How will China’s increasing involvement in global trade help that country? How will it help the world’s developed economies? What potential problems are associated with moving work to China?
Chinese laborers are some of the cheapest in the world. Even though the workers are not treated very well, they are starting to rise up and demand more wages. The increase in foreign trade for China has helped to increase their economy. The world’s developed economies will benefit because of the globalization of production. The potential problems are that Americans are losing jobs to foreign markets.
Did you know that we have over 70,000 essays on 3,000 topics in our database? | https://phdessay.com/critical-thinking-6/ |
C-banding in 6x-Triticale x Secale cereale L. hybrid cytogenetics.
The meiotic behaviour of F1 hybrids of hexaploid Triticale that differed in their genotypic or chromosomic constitution, and diploid rye, was investigated. Meiotic analysis were done by Feulgen and C-banding staining methods. A differential desynaptic effect in the hybrids was detected and explained in terms of genetic differences in pairing regulators. The high homoeologous pairing (A-B wheat chromosomes and wheat-rye chromosomes) observed in the hybrids can be explained in terms of an inhibition of the effect of a single dose of the Ph allele of the 5B chromosome produced by two doses of the 5R chromosome. The higher homoeologous pairing detected in the hybrid 188 x 'Canaleja' could be the overall result of the balance between the Ph diploidizing system (1 dose), the pairing promoter of the 5R chromosome (2 doses) and that of the 3D chromosome (1 dose coming from the parental line Triticale with the substitution 3R by 3D).
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# Omizutori
Omizutori (お水取り), or the annual, sacred water-drawing festival, is a Japanese Buddhist festival that takes place in the Nigatsu-dō of Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan. The festival is the final rite in observance of the two-week-long Shuni-e ceremony. This ceremony is to cleanse the people of their sins as well as to usher in the spring of the new year. Once the Omizutori is completed, the cherry blossoms have started blooming and spring has arrived.
## Description
The rite occurs on the last night of the Shuni-e ceremony, when monks bearing torches come to the Wakasa Well, underneath the Nigatsu-dō Hall, which according to legend only springs forth water once a year. The ceremony has occurred in the Nigatsu-do of the imperial temple at Nara, of the Todai-ji, since it was first founded. These annual festivals have been dated back to 752. The earliest known records of the use of an incense seal during the religious rites in Japan were actually used during one Omizutori.
Eleven priests, who are called Renhyoshu, are appointed in December of the previous year to participate in the Omizutori festivals. Much preparation goes into this yearly festival, and the priests are tasked with cleaning the sites for the rituals, making circuit pilgrimages to surrounding shrines and temples, and preparing various goods that are used in the rituals. During the time leading up to Omizutori, the priests are forbidden to speak at all or leave their lodgings. Each priest is very firm in the practice of his duty in specific, strict orders, and preparing himself for the ceremonies to come.
Torches are lit at the start of the Omizutori, during the ittokuka, which is held in the early morning on the first of March. There is an evening ceremony, called Otaimatsu, in which young ascetics brandish large torches that are burning. While waving the torches in the air, they draw large circles with the fire it emits. It is believed that if a person viewing the ceremony is showered with the sparks from the fire, that the person will then be protected from evil things.
Omizutori is the largest ceremony on the night of 12 March. The next day, the rite of drawing of the water is held with an accompaniment of ancient Japanese music. The monks draw water, which only springs up from the well in front of the temple building on this specific day, and offer it first to the Buddhist deities, Bodhisattva Kannon, and then offer it to the public. It is believed that the water, being blessed, can cure ailments. The Omizutori ceremony is the acceptance of water from a well. This well is said to be connected by a tunnel to the town of Obama on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The water is sent from Obama annually by the priests of the syncretic Jinguji temple in Obama in a ceremony called "the sending of the water". The water is actually drawn into two pots, one pot containing water from the previous year, and another that contains the water from all previous ceremonies. From the pot of water that holds the water of the current year, a very small amount of the water is poured into the pot which holds the mixture of water from all of the previous ceremonies. The resulting water mixture is preserved each year, and this process has taken place for over 1,200 years.
## The Legend of Omizutori
There are different legends of the origin of Omizutori. One of these legends suggests that the founder of Shuni-e, Jitchu, invited 13,700 of the gods to the ceremony. One of the gods, Onyu-myojin was late to the ceremony because he was fishing on the Onyu River. To make up for the fact that he was late, he then offered scented water from the Onyu River, and the water suddenly sprung up from the spot where the god once stood.
The story of how Shuni-e came to be continues to portray the original founder of Shuni-e, Jitchu, as the central character. It is told that the priest, Jitchu, made a journey deep into the mountains of Kasagi in 751 where he witnessed celestial beings performing a ceremony that was meant to cleanse and ask for repentance. Jitchu was so overwhelmed by the ceremony that he decided to bring the rite to the human world. He was warned that this would be a daunting task, but his desire was so strong that he believed he could overcome the task of transferring the rite between the heavens and the world of man. He decided that if he could perform the religious ceremony 1,000 times a day at running speed, he could bring the god's ceremony into his world.
The festival was held on March 1 to March 14, 2010. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omizutori |
Some of the regulations may not be in effect as written given current guidance and/or emergency rules from the state legislature, OSPI, the State Board of Education and other governing bodies. Please see our Returning to School 2021-22 FAQ page for more information on practices that may be altered at this time.
Under Policy Governance®, within the directives and limitation listed in the Board Governance Policies, the Board delegates the development and implementation of Administrative Regulations and procedures to the Superintendent and staff, except in regard to issues for which they are mandated by law to take direct action. A comprehensive review and revision of all District policies and procedures was completed between August and December 2015, and the conversion to an Administrative Regulations Manual was completed on February 1, 2016.
Regulations establish legal records and standards of conduct for the school district. Regulations can provide a bridge between the School Board's philosophy and goals and the everyday administration of programs.
The Issaquah School District is continually updating Regulations and procedures to keep current with state laws and regulations as well as best practices. Regulations or procedures on this website may be in transition or in process of being revised.
Code: 3000
Adopted: 9/24/1986
Last Revised Date: 9/20/2005
According to state law, each eligible student shall have the right to a free education. The District shall provide appropriate learning opportunities for all students within the resources available. In addition to a basic instructional program, those opportunities include a wide-range of student activities to stimulate the athletic, artistic, intellectual and creative skills of students.
In exchange for these opportunities both students and their parents assume substantial responsibilities. So as to preserve a school environment that promotes learning and is orderly and safe, students must pursue the required program of studies and must abide by the reasonable rules and instructions of teachers and school officials. Progressive corrective action will be fairly and moderately meted out primarily to modify behavior rather than to punish students. Parents are encouraged to inquire about the successes and problems of their children and to reinforce their learnings at home by showing an active interest in students' development.
The superintendent shall develop written rules which state with reasonable clarity the types of misconduct for which discipline, suspension and expulsion may be imposed. These rules will be published yearly in the student and/or student/parent handbooks of each school. Handbooks will be available at any time from the school office upon request. Rules that establish types of misconduct shall have a real and substantial relationship to the lawful maintenance and operation of the District including, but not limited to, the preservation of an educational process which is conducive to learning.
Parents and educators are partners in the education of a child. To that end both must strive to provide for the physical, mental, emotional and social well being of all students. | https://www.issaquah.wednet.edu/district/regulations/3000 |
Governance Administration Officer
Job No:
NGSC252
Location:
Stawell
|Job Type||Full Time - Permanent|
|Package||$63,247.02 per annum|
|Position Description||Governance Administration Officer|
About us
Northern Grampians Shire Council has a diverse employment base across 14 worksites in the Grampians region of Victoria. We offer flexible work arrangements, providing access to relevant training and professional development opportunities with a variety of employee benefits. We use the Microsoft 365 productivity suite and we are committed to delivering best fit cloud-based ICT solutions of mutual benefit to our community and employees.
We have a Bring Your Own Device and Mobile Allowance policy, which we encourage candidates to read in conjunction with the position description.
Covid-19 Vaccination Status
Our organisation requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and evidence must be provided by the preferred candidate prior to an offer of employment.
About this role
This position has responsibility to work with the Governance and Civic Support team to provide high level administrative support to the team.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide administrative support to a range of internal and external stakeholders and functions to ensure the effective delivery of Governance and Civic Support services.
- Deal with highly confidential and sensitive matters in a professional and discreet manner.
- Provide support and backup to the Records Officer and Governance Officer in the Governance and Civic Support team.
- Prepare quality written correspondence.
- Maintain key register and access to Council properties.
- Assist in maintaining both Council and Governance website pages and portals.
- Assist in the development and implementation of formal Governance policies and procedures.
- Assist in the preparation and distribution of Council/Councillor briefings, agendas and papers.
- Perform, as directed, other duties that are within the limits of the incumbent’s skill, competence and training.
About You
- Proven ability to provide a high level of administrative assistance.
- Proven ability to work co-operatively and positively as a member of a team.
- Proven ability to manage highly confidential information.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Sound knowledge and understanding of Microsoft Office suite, specifically in the creation of documents in Excel and Word.
How to apply
- Download and read the position description.
- Attach a cover letter and resume.
- Submit your application by following the process on this page.
If you'd like to know more contact Mary Scully, Manager Governance at [email protected] or call 03 5358 8700.
Applications close 12.00pm Monday September 26, 2022.
Northern Grampians Shire Council is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is committed to being a child-safe organisation, with zero tolerance for child abuse. | https://applynow.net.au/jobs/NGSC252-governance-administration-officer |
The Sulfur Dioxide i beg your pardon is likewise known together Sulphur Dioxide is the entity of a bond between Sulfur and also Oxygen atoms. That is well-known as a formula written as SO2. Here we will carry out an explanation the SO2 molecular geometry, SO2 electron geometry, SO2 shortcut angle, and also SO2 Lewis structure.
You are watching: What is the total number of outer (valence) electrons in sulfur dioxide, so2?
We understand that the shape which minimizes the repulsions of electronics pairs is embraced by the molecule to type the structure. The molecular form of SO2 is very same as the molecule geometry of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Us will show the bonding the SO2 without making presumption below.
O === S === O
Now, if we want to inspect the precise molecular shape of SO2, then us should recognize the location and number of electrons distributed in between Sulphur and Oxygen. In the external level, Sulphur has actually six electrons, and the Oxygen has four of them among which one electron is supplied for each bond. Therefore total variety of ten electrons in five pairs. To make bonds, four pairs room needed, therefore one pair remains alone. The two dual bonds use two pairs every and form as a solitary unit.
As the solitary alone pair no counted in the shape’s description, we deserve to conclude that the molecular form of SO2 is V-Shaped or Bent. So, our first perception that the initial structure does not enhance with the original one.
Difference that Electron Geometry Vs molecule Geometry
Though there are so countless similarities in between the electron geometry and also molecular geometry, there room some an essential differences. Among the most notable differences is the the electron geometry can be connected with one or more molecular shapes. It relies on the main atom’s structure of electron of the molecule, when the molecule geometry relies on the various other atoms also which are bonded come the central atom or the totally free pairs of electrons.
SO2 Electron Geometry
The electron geometry that SO2 is created in the shape of a trigonal planner. The three pairs the bonding electrons i ordered it in the plane at the angle of 120-degree. Together the one pair remained alone, two double pairs space bonded and form a bend shape.
SO2 Lewis structure
To create the Lewis structure of SO2, you must arrange the eight valence electron on the Sulphur. To design the best Lewis structure, you also need to calculate the formal fee of every atom too. You know that both the Sulphur and also Oxygen has actually six valence electrons each. Below we have actually two Oxygen atoms, therefore a total variety of valence electrons will certainly be eighteen.We will ar Sulphur in ~ the center and Oxygens at outsides. Now we will placed the pair of electrons between the atoms to create bonds.Now let’s calculate the formal charges.For Oxygen:No. That valence electrons = 6No of bonds = 2Lone pairs = 2So, Formal charge (FC) = No. That valence electron – No. Of bond – 2 X (No. That lone pairs) = 6-2-(2×2) = 0For Sulphur:No. The valance electron = 6No. Of binding = 2Lone pairs = 2So, FC = 6-2-(2×2) = 0Now, we will kind the structure by perfect the octet with the many electronegative aspect O. Us will ar a dual bond and a single lone pair v each atom that Oxygen.We will finish the framework by placing the remained valence electrons on the main atom. Right here we have 4 bond pairs and also four lone pairs, so complete electrons provided are (4+4) x 2 = 16. So, the variety of remained valence electrons room 18-16 = 2. We will placed these electron on the atom the Sulphur.So, our last Lewis framework of SO2 will be like:
SO2 shortcut Angle
The SO2 has a bond angle of 120-degree. One single atom the Sulphur is bonded with two atom of Oxygen covalently. It causes a repulsion that electron pairs to type the 120-degree angle.
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Is SO2 Polar or Non-Polar?
By analyzing the Lewis structure of SO2, we have the right to see the the SO2 is asymmetrical since it contains a region with different sharing. The molecule geometry that SO2 has a bent form which means the top has less electronegativity, and also the bottom inserted atoms the Oxygen have much more of it. So, the conclusion is, SO2 is a Polar molecule.Conclusion
Here, us have described the molecular geometry, electron geometry, Lewis structure, bond angle, and polarity the SO2 (Sulfur Dioxide). You have the right to share your thoughts for any kind of information missed below or if you desire to know much more about anything. You will obtain a answer from the expert. | https://snucongo.org/what-is-the-total-number-of-outer-valence-electrons-in-sulfur-dioxide-so2/ |
Effective collaboration is achieved through sharing knowledge. At the GMIS Knowledge Hub you will gain access to insights gathered from our internal research team as well as white papers, research and reports on the current and future state of the manufacturing sector that have been shared by our knowledge partners.
We value your participation! We believe that channeling the strengths, capabilities and expertise of our partners in order to develop research papers, informative reports and white papers, will enhance the quality of the knowledge and evidence base we disseminate to our community.
Should you wish to participate or share any of your papers or reports, please drop us a note on [email protected].
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Russia is considering climate legislation that would create a framework for regulating carbon emissions.
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Phosphorene nanoribbons have the potential to revolutionise a wide range of technologies. Made from one of the universe’s basic building...
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LEDs, or light-emitting diodes require just 10% of the energy an incandescent lamp needs and yet their current design inhibits...
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This report breaks down the importance of Artificial Intelligence in Russian startups, with a large number of startups active in...
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Robots are changing the face of manufacturing. Driven by a surge in need for automation, the rising cost of labour,... | https://www.gmisummit.com/knowledge-hub/event/gmis-2019/page/4/ |
Watch video of panel where the VNR was presented
In the last 5 years Cabo Verde faced 3 terrible years of drought but still recovered its economic growth, but in 2020, like other SIDS, the country faced a harsh recession of 14.8%, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The year 2021 should be the year of consolidation of the first cycle of sustainable development, but instead it will be the year of sustainable recovery. The existing social vulnerabilities are amplified, therefore health, economic and social emergency are the budget priorities, with the support of the international community specially on the implementation of the National Plan for Response, Recovery and Promotion of the Economy. Also, with the support of the international community, Cabo Verde aims to vaccinate a minimum of 70% of adults in 2021 with full coverage by 2023.
Cabo Verde made remarkable progress in the area of gender equality that will be shared with the international community, with emphasis on significant and sustainable reduction of GBV crimes, and full achievement of gender parity in political decision-making bodies, with the implementation of the parity law. Cabo Verde aspire to be a country without gender discrimination, by promoting economic opportunities for women and girls, stimulating diversified educational and professional paths, deepening the equal participation of women and men in spaces and positions of power and decision-making, and developing policies and measures to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence.
Cabo Verde elected the development of human capital as the main accelerator of sustainable development and young people are the most important segment, with increasing elderly population. The country made remarkable progress in the last 4 years on education, becoming one of the few countries with free primary and secondary education. Reforms to promote technical and professional education from the 9th grade onwards will contribute to the massification of the professional qualification of young people. With these reforms coupled with those underway in higher education, and with investment in health for all, the aim is to develop human capital, to accelerate economic growth and reduce inequality and poverty. We urge the international community to accompany the country's efforts, within the framework of the strategic plan for human capital development.
This pandemic reinforces the imperative of diversifying the economy as an essential measure of resilience to external shocks. Cabo Verde Ambition 2030 set the commitment for the diversification of the economy, by integrating the country into new global value chains. The Cabo Verdean authorities prioritize, the acceleration of energy transition, development of sustainable tourism, digital economy, industry, culture and creative industries, transition to the blue economy, international health platform and transformation of agriculture. The national authorities invite the international community to invest in Cabo Verde, especially through public-private partnerships.
The losses suffered by SIDS economies and the slow recovery, jeopardizes the continuity of the national effort for financing development under the Addis Ababa Action Plan. The need for better consideration of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index as a specific criterion for these states, subject to disasters and more vulnerable to climate change, in accessing official development assistance and concessional financing is deepened, as well as the creation of a SIDS Compact as the mechanism per excellence for financing sustainable recovery. The national authorities propose to promote with other SIDS countries and with the support of the United Nations and other development partners, the creation of an international commitment on "Post-COVID-19 economic recovery and sustainable development financing in SIDS".
From the COVID-19 pandemic and Cabo Verde Ambition 2030, structural changes and priorities emerge, regarding the fight against impoverishment, health security and specially the diversification of the economy. It´s therefore, unavoidable the expansion of public investment, in a context of over-indebtedness aggravated by the pandemic and of Middle-Income Countries. It is therefore vital to forgive, even partially, the foreign debt, so that investments with a transformative impact are not postponed, but also to avoid the blockage, if not the collapse of the state, the regression and the destruction of the dreams of all Cabo Verdeans. | https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=30022&nr=909&menu=3170 |
New York University Abu Dhabi will build a data center in the UAE for archiving and processing scientific datasets obtained during space missions.
Work on the ‘National Data Center’ will start next year, with the facility designed to have “relevant capacity” for facilitating pre-launch studies associated with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (launch in 2018), Solar Orbiter (launch 2019) and the Emirates Mars Mission (launch 2020).
Local storage
The Hope, a spacecraft of the Emirates Mars Mission, aims to reach the Red Planet in 2021, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE.
A longer term goal is for the facility to help with preparation for the PLATO mission, which was approved by the European Space Agency in June 2017 and will be launched in 2026.
The Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) payload will feature 26 telescopes that scour the skies for habitable exoplanets. Like in most space missions, its data will be publicly available from multiple data centers, but the NYUAD facility aims to allow for local storage and processing.
“Space science cannot proceed forward without high-quality measurements,” Shravan Hanasoge, co-principal investigator at the NYUAD Center for Space Science, said.
“The data taken by billion-dollar space-based observatories can be used to make important scientific contributions. We hope that the ease of access to this data in the UAE will significantly boost space science research in the region.”
The Center for Space Science will also hold periodic workshops to teach researchers how to access and use the database. | https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/nyu-abu-dhabi-to-host-space-research-in-a-new-data-center/ |
Israel’s streams, including those passing through urban areas, have been subjected to many years (even decades) of abuse. Streambeds in Israeli cities have been disregarded or treated as a nuisance or even as a hazard. Where crossing through municipal districts, they have been regarded as a risk to municipal infrastructures because of their flood potential, possible health hazards or other forms of damage. Urban watercourses tended to become contaminated with toxic substances and wastes.
Attempts to control such “risks “, through regulation has either damaged or altogether eliminated their natural and scenic values. As a result Israel’s cities have lost a central asset; instead the streams have become neglected “back alleys”. A recent and welcome change of attitude to streambeds by the Israeli authorities is now evident in both planning policies and implementation. However, the attention of Israeli authorities has mainly focused on the management of streambeds flowing through open landscapes, whereas urban stream issues have largely been ignored.
The present study provides a review of the conflicts that arise around the interface of the stream and the city and presents updated approaches from around the world on the planning of urban watercourses. It presents design, planning, and management principles for the development and restoration of urban streams and for creating positive links between the urban and undeveloped sections of streams. Finally, the present study offers recommendations for formulating a comprehensive policy for the planning of watercourses in urban environments. The study presents selected case studies which exhibit and identifies the issues relevant to streams in urban environments.
It presents an analysis of the measures available to municipal authorities for administering watercourses within their jurisdiction and outlines accepted practices in the field. Its purpose is to classify and characterize the primary barriers that have prevented urban streams from becoming attractive elements in the urban landscape and to identify ways by which the situation can be improved.
The discussion of urban streams must be separated from the general discussion of watercourses due to the differences in character and function of streams situated in urban environments as opposed to those in open landscapes. The challenges and objectives of planning an urban stream differ fundamentally from those of planning streams in undeveloped areas.
They therefore require targeted, specialized policies. Finally, as a policy paper, this study proposes policy recommendations for the planning and rehabilitation of streams situated in urban environments which may also contribute to facilitating urban renewal. The study will be made available to planning, municipal and national authorities (such as the administration for the restoration of Israel’s streams), as well as to the general public, individuals and communities which have a particular interest in urban streams.
Our Approach
Interface
The interface between the stream and the city is an encounter between two separate worlds which can potentially be in a state of conflict with one another – the regulated, man-made city, perhaps the epitome of human creation, and the natural, dynamic stream that runs a free course.
The present study is an attempt to fuse the nature of the stream and the character of the city together into a single unit. It views the conflict between the city and the stream as an opportunity and intentionally accentuates their differences in an attempt to enrich the human environment and experience.
When properly planned, a flowing stream in an urban environment offers the city and its surroundings a scenic asset that also carries social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits. An urban stream can support urban and outdoor recreational and leisure activities that include, but are not limited to, restaurants, commerce, tourism, education and housing. Furthermore, restored streams can stimulate communal and social renewal in a city.
While the conservation of streams in open landscapes focuses on ecology, environment and scenery, the rehabilitation of urban streams focuses on social and visual aspects, on planning in the context of the urban environment and on ensuring that the city’s residents have access to open spaces for recreational and leisure activities.
Streams can be excellent open spaces in cities. The flow of an urban stream, even if only active for a short period each year, can be a great recreational attraction. Stream channels provide characteristic topography along corridors that can serve riparian wildlife and vegetation, and tributary streams can connect to residential neighborhoods. The channels of urban streams which fulfill drainage functions, are appropriate corridors of urban green spaces for the enjoyment of city residents.
Recommendations
The present study relies on the assumption that every stream and every city require an individually-tailored solution, and that it would be impossible to develop a single, “one-size-fits-all” template for the restoration of urban streams. Policy recommendations in this study are not intended to serve as a uniform set of solutions for the problems of urban streams, but are intended to be used as a checklist of suggestions for urban planners, to be adjusted according to particular situations.
The recommendations were developed on the basis of case studies and are intended to demonstrate the diverse issues and possible solutions that every planner should consider when planning a stream habitat in an urban environment. A particular case will require the choice of solution which best fits the particular conditions at hand.
The suggested solutions outlined in the present study are intended to stimulate ideas and a rigorous dialogue that should help planners find and arrive at the desired course of action. The list of recommendations is open ended and may not include all valid solutions.
The recommendations focus on the most important aspects of urban stream management and planning. The development of a comprehensive policy, incorporating all aspects, is a prerequisite for planning urban streams and for developing a sound policy that successfully balances the needs of the city with those of the stream.
The essential considerations which need to be taken into account in the planning of urban streams are: urban design and town planning, hydrology, economy and society, management and organization.
Urban Design and Town Planning
Urban streams can serve as a primary urban structure for planning an entire city and can generate urban renewal and development. An urban stream can determine a city’s “natural structure” and when taken into account in a city’s design, has the power to enhance the unique character of the city.
This chapter is crucial to the present study and concerns the relations between the city and the stream within it:
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The role of the stream in the development and design of a city – the city’s structure, the urban fabric and borders in relation to the stream;
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The point of contact between the city and the stream – the type of construction and development along the stream channel and municipal regulation of the stream banks.
The chapter presents different cases and planning situations including: planning streams in existing built-up urban areas; planning streams in new urban developments; planning streams in industrial zones; planning a stream situated in a metropolitan park around the city and along the streambed. This division is somewhat artificial, owing to the significant overlap between the different cases. The recommendations have been concentrated in specific sections for reasons of methodology but are often applicable to other cases.
Planning a Stream in an existing Built-Up Urban Area
It is usually difficult, if not impossible, to change or correct distortions relating to the visual surroundings of a stream in an existing built-up urban environment. Nevertheless, this option should not be rejected and efforts should be made to identify places where failures in urban planning have impaired the stream’s functionality and diminished its contribution to the city. This information provides the first step to correcting the situation. By taking advantage of small opportunities as they arise and by concentrated effort, planning mistakes can slowly be corrected and the stream’s advantages can be realized, even if only in a few confined areas.
Protecting the area adjacent to the stream
Statutory status – stream channels should be granted a special statutory status. They should be protected under a designated land use of “stream channel” in municipal master plans. Halting construction along the stream channel – construction in close proximity to the stream channel should be restricted until a detailed plan is prepared, particularly in areas subject to flooding.
Planning the built-up stream bank
Preference to public uses along the stream channel– empty plots of land and deserted buildings located along the stream channel should be converted and designated as far as possible for public uses. Construction along the stream channel – when public uses are located along the stream channel, construction should always be parallel to the channel (never across it), so that they do not block or interrupt the continuity or flow of the stream.
Linking the stream to the city
Continuity of open spaces – “a string of parks” – every park or open space in the city which can be connected to the stream channel should be identified in order to create a string of parks extending from the stream into the city. The city’s parks can be linked together by street signs and directions to create a continuous and uninterrupted chain of green spots which support each other, increasing the stream’s accessibility to the public and contributing to the city’s organizational form.
Bridges – bridges in a city are public structures that offer opportunities for urban renewal. They should therefore be designed to fit in with the city’s character with regards to their building materials and architectural style, should fit into the context of the urban environment, and their design should primarily serve pedestrian needs. Plans for a bridge over a stream channel should leave enough space alongside the stream channel for stream bank vegetation and leave room for a pedestrian walkway. When roads are aligned along and across a streambed, rest stops and viewpoints should be considered. Essential infrastructures and pipelines should be aligned with the bridge so as to prevent disturbance of the natural habitat around the stream.
Planning a stream in a new urban development
A stream crossing through a city is a key natural phenomenon which, when properly planned, can be a central factor influencing the urban fabric and design of a new city. In some Israeli cities, including Jerusalem, Haifa and Modi’in, the urban fabric was planned around natural wadis, and as a result, these cities enjoy a long-lasting advantage that continues to be relevant today. Other Israeli cities expected to expand significantly in the near future are now following suit and developing a new urban structure based on their natural stream channels.
Comprehensive Planning
Comprehensive spatial planning – a typical stream crosses through several localities and through large sections of undeveloped areas, hence urban planning should attempt to look at the “bigger picture” and consider the stream’s interconnectedness to sites outside the city limits.
A master plan – a municipal master plan is important for the development of local urban streams (or, at the very least, a chapter within a municipal plan should be devoted to the development of local streams). Such plans should aim to reinforce the centrality and functional importance of the stream channel as one of the city’s axial lines and address the issue of regulating its streamflow.
Urban Functions
The stream as the framework of the urban structure – the possibility of using the stream channel as a basic plan for the organization of the city’s open spaces should be considered.
Linking together the old and the new – when a city is expanded through the construction of new neighborhoods flanking older ones, the newer neighborhoods often have a remote and extrinsic character. The stream channel offers a way to correct this disjunction by functioning as an open, public parkway connecting the older and newer areas of the city.
Maintaining a direct connection between the built-up areas and the stream – when building new neighborhoods in the vicinity of a stream, it is important to maintain unobstructed view points and walkways from the urban areas to the stream channel in order to attract residents to the area around the stream. The best time to identify and conserve the parks surrounding the tributary streams and connecting the city and the stream is during the planning stages of a new city.
Continuity – in order to preserve the continuity of the stream channel (the continuity of the open view and the stream’s drainage channel), construction, road or infrastructure development should avoid obstructing the stream channel.
Planning the built-up stream bank – development along the stream bank should be planned in a way that will benefit from its proximity to the stream, bring public facilities closer to the stream and serve as an urban front. Public buildings should be placed in the public, open areas of the city along the stream channel so that a large system of complementary (free) public spaces can draw large crowds to the stream.
Urban nature – the main advantage of the urban stream lies in its contribution to the leisure activities of the city’s residents. However, a stream also presents a golden opportunity for bringing natural values, such as flowing water, plants and animal life, from the open outdoors into the city. Good planning can preserve these values, which add color to the urban grayness, by conserving, cultivating and highlighting the stream’s natural values. Designating land along stream banks for botanical gardens, ecological nature points and urban outdoor sites can attract the city’s residents to the stream.
The urban stream bank –streets running down to the stream bank or the stream walkway, present the optimal point of contact between the city and the stream. City planners should avoid aligning noisy, congested streets which can separate the stream from the city’s residential areas.
Planning a Stream in a Metropolitan Park
A metropolitan park is a wide open space on the outskirts of a city that serves the leisure needs of the city’s residents and as a “green lung”. Metropolitan parks have become a central component of urban development in Israel over the last few years. A metropolitan park functions as an urban nature leisure area that allows the city’s residents to enjoy outdoor recreational activities close to home. On the national scale, metropolitan parks contribute to separating urban agglomerations and defining the borders and the unique character of each city. They also help to encircle cities with “green belts”.
Stream channels that flow near cities can function as main axes around which the cities’ metropolitan parks can be planned. Promenades, walkways, and nature sites should be placed along the streams so as to best integrate the potential of a flowing stream habitat and urban social needs. With increasing free time awareness the demand for leisure and recreation services is rising, and with it the desire to spend out-of-work hours in a meaningful way.
Planning a Stream in an Industrial Zone
A stream passing through an industrial zone is a subcategory of the classification of streams crossing through built-up environments; we therefore chose to include it in our discussion of “urban streams.” Streams passing in the vicinity of industrial zones, or even directly through them, are common in Israel. Many have deteriorated and become polluted through uncontrolled disposal of refuse, wastewater, and other hazards that are common byproducts of the lack of environmental management in industrial production.
The principles of restoring industrial streams naturally differ from those of restoring streams passing through residential areas or open spaces. Relevant principles primarily concern the following: preventing industrial and non-industrial waste and sewage from reaching the stream channel; installing targeted waste treatment systems; installing adequate collection systems and adequate preparation for emergency situations such as disruption or overflow; cleaning sludge and industrial waste from the stream channel ;establishing activities compatible the area’s industrial character – such as including industrial elements in the park around the stream as visitor attractions in their own right.
Hydrology
Urban streams are, first and foremost, the primary drainage channels of cities and open spaces. Drainage concerns are particularly important in the urban environment, as flooding could result in extensive property damage and even in loss of life. Nevertheless, increased construction along elevated levels of the urban stream decreases groundwater infiltration and is a cause of increased runoff and subsequent flooding down-slope. The desire to promote the urban stream as a public open space often clashes with the need to maintain effective drainage by removing stream bank vegetation, dredging and straightening stream channels, and trapping the water before the stream enters the city. In short, there is a need to strike a fine balance between drainage requirements and the social values of the stream.
Water Quality
Streams in urban environments are more contaminated than in undeveloped areas. Pollution, as a result of increased urban runoff, runoff pollutant loads, and intentional discharge of urban sewage into the channel, poses health risks to people living near the stream (mosquito breedinggrounds and groundwater or drinking water contamination) in addition to causing ecological and aesthetic damage. In most cases, it is not entirely possible to prevent water contamination in an urban stream, particularly that caused by nonpoint source pollution.
Addressing water quality issues, pointsource pollution and finding ways to prevent diffuse contamination are necessary preconditions for restoring an urban stream. Efforts need to be made to identify and curb all pollution sources contaminating the stream. The following should be carried out simultaneously: efforts to address the physical pollution affecting the stream, to develop the stream and to rehabilitate the stream. These actions should also be supported by educational and promotional activities designed to change the public image of the stream among the city’s residents.
Water Quantity and Quality
The majority of streams in Israel are ephemeral, which means that the streambed is dry most of the year. Nevertheless, a streamflow gives each stream – even ephemeral streams – its particular, unique character. Re-establishing stream flow is usually only relevant for perennial streams, in which water used to flow, although there is room to consider the possibility of allocating water for both ephemeral and perennial urban streams, because of the attractiveness, social and aesthetic values of water flowing through an urban environment.
One possibility is to set up closed-circuit water systems designed to catch winter runoff. (Preference should be given to allocating water from natural sources or treated water purified to meet the strict Inbar sewage treatment standard. )
Efforts should be made to generate a flow in the stream in sections that pass through the city. Highly purified wastewater or flood runoff collected and stored at higher elevations can be used for this purpose. Water flowing down the channel should be the responsibility of the local authorities generating the treated wastewater.
A winding urban stream is often viewed as a nuisance in planning the surrounding urban environment. Drainage considerations, however, do not necessarily require that stream bends be straightened. Urban streams can be re-channeled underground if problems of water contamination arise or where they interfere with proposals for high value property in the city. Channeling urban streams in closed underground culverts is common practice but it is responsible for the loss of an important urban natural resource, and involves high maintenance costs. Experience in other countries now suggests that it is better to “daylight” urban streams, to re-open closed culverts and redirect streams above ground.
The practice of straightening stream channels or aligning them in closed culverts should be avoided as far as possible, and opportunities for “daylighting” enclosed streams should be considered. The difficulty is that urban streams need to accommodate and support urban functions, which, for the most part, do not enable water to flow along its natural channel. Although it may not be possible to entirely avoid regulating the streambed, its natural channel and characteristics should be preserved to the greatest extent possible.
Economy and Society
Urban streams, like other natural and scenic values, are a public resource for the enjoyment of the general population; their economic value cannot be evaluated by market forces. This said, economic models can be used to estimate the value that a community would be prepared to spend in order to preserve a nearby stream in good condition. These models have demonstrated that the public is willing to invest significant resources in order to restore a stream’s natural and scenic values.
A Model for the Economic Value of an Urban Stream
The restoration of an urban stream requires the allocation of significant resources which can put considerable strain on a municipality’s budget. Beyond the resources required for the initial restoration and development of a stream, funds must also be set aside for ongoing maintenance of the water and drainage systems and of the public areas surrounding the stream.
Securing funding sources is a prerequisite for the implementation of a plan for restoration and development of an urban stream. One of the ways to cover the restoration and maintenance costs of an urban stream is to develop economically viable projects in its vicinity so that their profits can be used to maintain the stream. Possibilities for restoring urban streams by municipal economic development corporations should be considered, following the view that the urban stream is an economic asset to the city. Possibilities for using the peripheral areas surrounding the stream for commercial uses should also be considered.
A balance should be found between a stream’s resources and the commercial developments adjacent to it. A designated maintenance fund for the restoration and ongoing maintenance of urban streams is an alternative measure. The funds to cover the costs of restoring a stream may be procured, for example, by developing new real-estate projects in areas with high property value. Joint public and private initiatives may generate business initiatives specially designed to support the stream. Local communities and schools may adopt sections of the stream and contribute to their maintenance without damaging the channel or its natural values.
Management and Organization
Municipal authorities often face a challenge in managing urban streams without compromising the stream’s natural characteristics and its ecological complexity. Environmental organizations, though responsible for the protection of ecological systems, are often reluctant to take on the role of managing a stream as it passes through an urban environment. The urban stream is therefore frequently left without any authority or body taking responsibility for its protection and management.
Integrative Management
A stream is a complex physio-ecological system which needs to be considered as a single entity throughout its length, with due consideration of how each of its components affects the others. However, urban planning does not treat the stream as a single planning unit and only considers its urban section.
An integrative system of management is needed that brings together the various authorities in charge of environmental and water resources, architecture and planning and improvement of the urban environment. A master plan should be developed that will link together the development projects for different sections of the stream. Such a master plan should form an independent chapter in the general urban master plan and should be coordinated with a plan for open spaces in and around the city.
An Administrative Body
An urban stream differs from other open public areas in the city. Hydraulic, physical and ecological issues set the urban stream apart as a unique type of open, public space requiring high professional expertise. Municipal officials wishing to restore an urban stream often encounter difficulties in their efforts to recruit the necessary professional expertise and funds from authorities generally concerned with development rather than the rehabilitation of natural values. (The Ministry of Environmental Protection is primarily concerned with the rehabilitation of stream channels in open landscapes, although in some cases, it does provide assistance to stream rehabilitation within urban environments, as in the cases of the Yarkon, Kishon, Nahal Hadera, Beer Sheva, and Lachish streams.
The Ministry of Tourism may become involved in the restoration of streams in cities defined as tourist attractions. The Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Israel Land Administration are predominantly concerned with development in urban areas rather than conservation. The restoration of urban streams should be defined as one of the goals of the municipal planning division, which would include a professional with a multi-disciplinary background appropriate to perform this task. | https://he.kaplanplanners.com/wc-sm |
Daily high temperatures decrease by 7°F, from 90°F to 83°F, rarely falling below 73°F or exceeding 97°F.
Daily low temperatures decrease by 6°F, from 60°F to 54°F, rarely falling below 46°F or exceeding 68°F.
For reference, on July 26, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Hidden Spring typically range from 60°F to 91°F, while on December 31, the coldest day of the year, they range from 21°F to 33°F.
Average High and Low Temperature in August
The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on August. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.
Average Hourly Temperature in August
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
Булачани, Macedonia (5,964 miles away); Ankara, Turkey (6,352 miles); and Kemah, Turkey (6,484 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Hidden Spring (view comparison).
Clouds
The month of August in Hidden Spring experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 17% to 22%.
The clearest day of the month is August 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 83% of the time.
For reference, on January 11, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 60%, while on July 27, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 83%.
Cloud Cover Categories in August
0% clear 20% mostly clear 40% partly cloudy 60% mostly cloudy 80% overcast 100%
Precipitation
A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Hidden Spring, the chance of a wet day over the course of August is gradually increasing, starting the month at 4% and ending it at 6%.
For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 29% on November 30, and its lowest chance is 4% on July 27.
Probability of Precipitation in August
Rainfall
To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.
The average sliding 31-day rainfall during August in Hidden Spring is essentially constant, remaining about 0.3 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 0.9 inches.
Average Monthly Rainfall in August
Sun
Over the course of August in Hidden Spring, the length of the day is rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 1 hour, 20 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 2 minutes, 39 seconds, and weekly decrease of 18 minutes, 35 seconds.
The shortest day of the month is August 31, with 13 hours, 13 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 1, with 14 hours, 33 minutes of daylight.
Hours of Daylight and Twilight in August
The earliest sunrise of the month in Hidden Spring is 6:34 AM on August 1 and the latest sunrise is 34 minutes later at 7:08 AM on August 31.
The latest sunset is 9:07 PM on August 1 and the earliest sunset is 46 minutes earlier at 8:21 PM on August 31.
Daylight saving time is observed in Hidden Spring during 2020, but it neither starts nor ends during August, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.
For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:03 AM and sets 15 hours, 27 minutes later, at 9:30 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:15 AM and sets 8 hours, 55 minutes later, at 5:11 PM.
Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight in August
Humidity
We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.
The chance that a given day will be muggy in Hidden Spring is essentially constant during August, remaining around 0% throughout.
For reference, on August 23, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.
Humidity Comfort Levels in August
dry 55°F comfortable 60°F humid 65°F muggy 70°F oppressive 75°F miserable
Wind
This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.
The average hourly wind speed in Hidden Spring is essentially constant during August, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 6.4 miles per hour throughout.
For reference, on March 31, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.4 miles per hour, while on January 20, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.3 miles per hour.
Average Wind Speed in August
The hourly average wind direction in Hidden Spring throughout August is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 39% on August 15.
Wind Direction in August
northeastsouthwest
Growing Season
Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).
The growing season in Hidden Spring typically lasts for 5.3 months (163 days), from around May 1 to around October 11, rarely starting before April 10 or after May 22, and rarely ending before September 21 or after November 3.
The month of August in Hidden Spring is reliably fully within the growing season.
Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in August
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.
The average accumulated growing degree days in Hidden Spring are rapidly increasing during August, increasing by 635°F, from 1,609°F to 2,245°F, over the course of the month.
Growing Degree Days in August
Solar Energy
This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.
The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Hidden Spring is decreasing during August, falling by 1.3 kWh, from 7.6 kWh to 6.3 kWh, over the course of the month.
Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in August
Topography
For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Hidden Spring are 43.722 deg latitude, -116.251 deg longitude, and 3,143 ft elevation.
The topography within 2 miles of Hidden Spring contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,020 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 3,114 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (5,066 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (7,546 feet).
The area within 2 miles of Hidden Spring is covered by grassland (89%), within 10 miles by grassland (44%) and shrubs (23%), and within 50 miles by shrubs (45%) and grassland (23%).
Data Sources
This report illustrates the typical weather in Hidden Spring year round, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.
Temperature and Dew Point
There are 4 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Hidden Spring.
For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Hidden Spring according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations.
The estimated value at Hidden Spring is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Hidden Spring and a given station.
The stations contributing to this reconstruction are: Boise Air Terminal (63%, 17 kilometers, south); Nampa Municipal Airport (30%, 27 kilometers, southwest); Stanley, Stanley Ranger Station (2.9%, 117 kilometers, northeast); and McCall Airport (3.3%, 130 kilometers, north).
Other Data
All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus.
All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.
Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .
Time zones for aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .
Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.
Disclaimer
The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.
We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.
We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. | https://weatherspark.com/m/2144/8/Average-Weather-in-August-in-Hidden-Spring-Idaho-United-States |
Many theories have been developed which address the issue of whether people are born criminals in terms of their physical, genetic, or psychological profile, Or whether as sociologists would argue criminals are made by the environment and circumstances which they encounter during their life.
There have been theories put forward to suggest that a persons physical characteristics can determine how he/she behaves. The earliest theories were in the eighteenth century, Lavater study on physiognomy this suggests that you can tell persons character by their facial characteristics. Some of these finding still exist in modern day prejudices / old wives tales i.e. he s got shifty eyes. Or his eyes are too close together
Later the study of phrenology also looked at the development of people s heads. Gall, did an extensive study of the brain and how the brain worked. He developed the theory that the lumps on the skull were where in some people certain areas of the brain were disproportionate and this caused the lumps. His study identified 26 functions of the brain and those relevant to criminology were destructiveness, secretiveness, acquisitiveness and combativeness.
Lombroso an Italian doctor, while examining the skull of a criminal had the thought that the nature of criminology lay in atavism (an evolutionary throwback.)
He felt the physical characteristics such as enormous jaw, high cheekbones, and protruding ears supported his theory as these characteristics were found in criminals, savages and apes. Lombroso later developed this theory further and produced a list of physical characteristics found in criminals.
The list included physical features such as; asymmetry of the face, irregularity in the eyes, ears. Nose, lips, teeth or chin, supernumary nipples, fingers and toes, and excessive arm length.
Lombroso then tested his theory on a number of convicted criminals and found that 21% had one anomaly and 43% had five or more this he suggested showed that criminals were born criminals. He did other test with soldiers and criminals and again the criminals had more anomalies.
Lombroso published his theories in his book The Criminal Man . He later developed his theories further by including the insane criminal, the epileptic criminal and the occasional criminal who could be influenced by environmental factors.
These early theories were not properly evaluated or objectively compared to wider groups in society but these theories formed the basis for future theories in criminology.
Others were critical of Lombroso and one of these was an English doctor Charles Goring. He went on to do his own research as a way of challenging Lombroso s theories. Goring own research found that criminals were shorter and lighter than others were and he therefore suggested they were of lower intelligence. There was criticism of Goring work as in his eagerness to disprove Lombroso he may have overlooked fact, which could have proved Lombroso s theory.
Again this was a wider study and looked at more factors but it failed to be objective as it set out to disprove a theory rather than evaluate and look for alternative explanations.
Hooton then tested Goring s theory and researched a large number of prisoners with a much smaller number of non-criminals. He selected people for the research based on their physical characteristics. He found that some feature were found more commonly in criminals than in others these were; low foreheads, sloping shoulders, thin lips and tattoos.
He also went on to suggest that certain physical types committed different types of crimes. Those smaller in character he said would steal while those with stockier build would commit more violent crimes. Hooton also believed that criminals with unusual physical characteristics were also likely to be mentally inferior.
It would be important to compare a wider non-offending group with similar characteristics. By only comparing one group or a limited mixed group you are more likely to confirm your initial thoughts. The impact of societies response to these physical differences would also need to be considered in terms of its impact on the criminal.
In 1921 Kretschmer, a Psychiatrist looked a body types and mental illness he identified three body types and suggested that different types of criminal behaviour was associated with the body shapes. Sheldon developed the theory of body types and linked body shapes to personalities. These body types are still used to describe body shapes and personalities today. These are:
1) Endomorphs this describes people whose bodies are soft round figures that are relaxed and extrovert personalities.
2) Mesomorphs have more athletic builds and are more aggressive in their personality.
3) Ectomorphs are physically thin and frail and are more introverted in their personality.
Sheldon carried out research involving two hundred delinquents and two hundred students who had no known record of delinquency. Through this work he found that there were more mesomorphs in the delinquent group than in the student group.
The Gluecks did a further study taking into account more factors including social factors and the child rearing techniques and the type of discipline, which the groups received as children. From this study the Gluecks they discovered that 60% of the delinquents were mesomorph types where only 31% of the non-delinquent group were mesomorphs.
However the Gluecks took their sample of delinquents from institutions and there is no account taken of institutionalisation on offending behaviour. Or how body types can affect parent s reactions/ bonding to their children.
Cortes and Gatti also conducted research into body types but they used a wider selection of delinquent and non-delinquents and they also found a higher number of mesomorphs in the delinquent groups.
Physical type theory may be accurate in identifying groups of body shapes and the links with types of personalities but this cannot account for criminal activity alone or all people with this body type would behave in the same way so there must other things which affect the criminals behaviour.
Environmental factors can also affect body types people who are poor may not be able to afford a balanced diet and this can affect growth. Lack of affection can also cause children to be small. Small children may also be the target of bullying which can later affect their confidence or cause them to fight back.
Taking body types alone is not an objective way of assessing criminal behaviour but combined with other theories it may give a greater knowledge about offenders.
Developments in recognising chromosome abnormalities have also allowed other theories to develop. Persons sex is decide by whether they have X-chromosomes or Y-chromosomes Females have xx chromosomes and males have xy chromosomes. If the cell divide abnormally a person may have three chromosomes. Some people with xxy chromosomes were found to be intellectually subnormal. Men with extra Y-chromosomes were also found to be over represented in the prison population and they were thought to be more aggressive.
Again this theory is limited to examining a group of males already in institutions and not compared to people in the community with similar chromosome abnormality. If an extra Y chromosome leads to more aggressive behaviour does it also affect men in other ways physical looks and could people be responding to this. Could this group of men be being penalised more frequently by the courts that other groups.
Whether criminals are born or made continues to be discussed and research into genetics has helped this discussion. A study by Lange looked art 30 men, 13 were identical twins and 17 were fraternal twins. All 30 men had been in prison when Lange looked at the mens brothers he found 77% of the identical brother had also been in prison but only 12% of the fraternal brother had been in prison. He also looked at a group of 200 pairs of brothers (not twins) and found that 8% of men whose brothers had been in prison another brother had also been in prison. Lange felt this proved that offending behaviour was hereditary. Newman did a similar study and found a higher percentage of similar criminal offending in identical and fraternal twins.
It is difficult to prove hereditary factors as twins will experience the same environment during their up bringing. Even more so that other brothers where circumstances within the home could have changed between one child being born and the next. Society also treats twins differently and expects them to be the same and have the same likes and dislikes this could also affect how they see other people.
Other studies have looked a criminal behaviour in people who were adopted Crowe studied 52 people who had been adopted where it was known that the natural mother had convictions. He also studied 52 other people who where the same sex, race and age at the time of adoption. Eight of the 52 from criminal mothers had been arrested compared to only two in the other group.
Studies of adoptees in other countries have produced similar findings and the offending rate is even higher if the natural parent have criminal records and the adoptive father has a criminal record.
This could show that criminality is hereditary but other factors would have to be considered. At what age was the child adopted ? What had the child s environment and care been like prior to the adoption. Had they had contact with their natural parents or were they placed for adoption at birth? Where they adopted by relatives or people with no contact with their natural parents?
All of these things can affect the findings. If the child had lived with the natural parents they may have witnessed offending behaviour. The child may have been placed for adoption because the child could have been neglected or received poor care and not loved. This could then affect the child in later life. If the child is adopted by a relative that relative could also be offending or tell the child could find out about hoe the family feel about his natural parents.
Adopted children can feel a sense of separation from their natural parent and this can affect their behaviour. Adoptive parents may fear the child will have its parent s criminal tendencies and somehow convey this to the child.
Other influences on criminal theory have been they development of psychotherapy from Freud to psychotherapists in the 1960 s who placed a lot of importance on the affects of a child trauma and how this affected them when they were adults. Social work and work with people who are mentally ill have also provided other theories, which have influenced developments in criminology.
Conclusion.
The debate about whether criminals are born or made will continue. The history of criminology will help to provide the basis for further research. Future developments in genetics will give further findings to enable this work to continue. But people are affected by the world around them and their experience affect how they respond to other people. Although people have physical, genetic or psychological characteristics not all go on to commit offences. We still need to consider what are the factors, which make some people respond differently. We know that poverty, parenting style and community influences can all affect persons behaviour, so it would be difficult to attribute any one theory as a cause for criminal behaviour.
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If You Go
* What: "A Few of My Favorite Things" exhibition by Jennie Kirkpatrick.
* Where: In-Town Gallery, 26-A Frazier Ave.
* When: 5-8 p.m. Friday, March 6; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Sundays through March 31
* Admission: Free.
* Information: 267-9214 or intowngallery.com
Jennie Kirkpatrick believes still-life paintings pose a puzzle for viewers: Why did the artist choose those particular objects? Was it for color? Contrast of shapes?
"For me, it's the shapes, colors and objects themselves, the memories they bring," says the artist.
A member of In-Town Gallery on the North Shore, Kirkpatrick's work will be featured in an exhibit opening this week that includes 10 still-life paintings that are snapshots of her life. "A Few of My Favorite Things" opens with a reception Friday night at the gallery, then the show will continue through the end of March.
Half of her collection is done in acrylic on canvas, three are silverpoint and the others oils. Kirkpatrick has tried her hand at watercolor, acrylics, murals, printmaking and faux wall treatments over a four-decade career. She's taught art; she's been the student.
Her work has drawn inspiration from the foreign locales -- Japan, Tunisia -- where her Naval officer husband's career took the family; she's been influenced by her childhood in the South.
She humorously describes herself as a "slow painter," which makes acrylics her medium of choice because "I can recover from mistakes in acrylic and it gives me more meditative time to refine the look I am going for."
Her "Favorite Things" paintings pair a variety of treasured objects with floral arrangements -- the latter a silent tribute to time enjoyed with her late paternal grandmother and late mother in their gardens.
"Through the years of moving around, living different places and inheriting things from Grandmother and Mother, I have a lot of items that either have an emotional attachment or I just like the looks of them," she says. "They remind me of places.
"I love pattern and color and fabric, so I've collected a lot of tablecloths from my travels," she says, so in the exhibition "I've combined the fabrics and colors with pieces that are treasured."
"Pansies, Glove and Trowel" depicts implements that reveal the labor involved in gardening and its rewards, she says. In the work, a pair of work gloves and trowel lay beside a flat of vivid yellow and purple pansies, as though the gardener has stopped for a drink and will return shortly.
"Picking Grandmother Lucy's colorful pansies was a job I took very seriously as a child and, in adulthood, would not miss a fall planting," the artist says.
Kirkpatrick's floral work also captures the natural grace of flowers.
"'In late spring, peonies bloom profusely with elegance and dignity. Their full and heavy blooms overwhelm the delicate stems, which bend gracefully under the weight. These flowers and others are paired with objects to create a moment in time or a complete story for the personal interpretation of the viewer."
She hopes viewers enjoy the color in the objects she's collected, and perhaps that will inspire them "to look at their own inherited pieces in a new way. Or they can take their own things and use them in ways they haven't thought of."
Contact Susan Pierce at [email protected] or 423-757-6284. | https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/entertainment/story/2015/mar/01/featuring-favorite-things/290505/ |
“Kinetic art” evolved from many sources as a nickname.
Power art originated in the late 19th century Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Edward Manet, who initially tried to emphasize the characters on the canvas.
The three Impressionist painters are trying to create art that is more vivid than their contemporaries.
The dancers and horse portraits of Degas are examples of what he considers to be "photographic realism"; artists such as Degas felt in the late 19th century.
It is time to challenge photography through vivid, rhythmic landscapes and portraits.
Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.
Kinetic art sculpture is a new kind of sculpture compared to traditional scultpures.
It is so amazing to have the sculpture move itself!
We are 35 years sculpture factory ,and we move with the variety of time.
We begin to sculpt kinetic art wind sculptures years before,and we have sculpted kinds of kinetic art sculptures till now.
There is difficulty and kinds of troubles studying the kinetic art sculptures,but we finally made it. | https://www.you-fine.com/news/news30.html |
Vaults have been historically regarded as the ideal structure to span imposing spaces in representative and monumental buildings. Several studies have been devoted to the topic worldwide and cover the evolution of vaulting from antiquity to the progressive abandonment of vaults in the 18th century. Yet, also in the following centuries interesting evolutions in vaulting techniques took place as they were extensively used in historicism and attempts were made to adapt vaults to modern architecture. How did the changing architectural styles and functional needs, together with the introduction of new construction materials in the 19th and 20th centuries such as iron, steel and reinforced concrete, transform vaulting techniques?
This symposium 'Brick vaults and beyond', organised online in Brussels on April 29 & 30, 2021 brought together international architects, historians, engineers, preservationists interested in construction and architectural history whose contributions add to the understanding of the development of the vaulting techniques during this fascinating period. The program and book of abstracts can be viewed below. The open access book publication can be downloaded in high and low resolution here. Some of the presentations can be viewed online:
Paula Fuentes_The birth of tile vaulting in Belgium: the Royal Museum for Central Africa (15 min.)
Robin Engels_The restoration of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (20 min.)
Day 2-Part 2 with lectures by Santiago Huerta, Ignacio Javier Gil Crespo, Ana Rodriguez, Paula Fuentes and Rosana Guerra
This event is funded by the EU H2020 Marie Sklodowska Curie Action and co-organised by Paula Fuentes and Ine Wouters from Vrije Universiteit Brussel and urban.brussels. | https://www.vub.be/arch/project/symposiumvaults |
Amid expectations and concerns, the project to set up a new branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art on the site of the former Defense Security Command headquarters near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul is moving forward. Last week, the museum selected five architectural firms from the over 110 that applied to design the new space. The winning firm will be announced in May.
Despite lingering concerns about what kind of museum will be installed next to the quiet, old palace and the adjacent streets of the Bukchon and Samcheong neighborhoods, which are filled with private galleries, cafes and small, old-fashioned houses, the project to convert the DSC headquarters, which was notorious for its secret surveillance of civil rights activists under the military regime, the jury and selected firms are eager to develop their ideas.
The five projects differ from one another in terms of shape and overall feel. Some have a more contemporary edge while others seem to contain distinct traces of traditional Korean architecture.
For example, the proposal by architect Shin Chun-gyu shows a cultural complex consisting of eight low-rise buildings, including the remodeled DSC building. The buildings, which are placed at odd angles in relation to one another and are connected underground, form courtyards of various shapes at ground level. The courtyards spill out into the lanes of the surrounding neighborhood.
The plan submitted by architect Lee Pil-hoon shows a square structure that subsumes the newly remodeled DSC building on one side and has a courtyard in the center. The walls of the structure form arcades, allowing visitors easy access to the interior from any side. The courtyard has a media art box, which could presumably be used for digital installations.
What the five designs do have in common is that they create harmony with the surrounding neighborhood and are open to the public.
“Every project [idea] was examined from the perspective of not only what would make the best museum but also what would make the best transformation of the site in the transition between the palace site and the very active sites in the neighborhood,” said Barry Bergdoll, who is one of the experts on the nine-member jury.
Bergdoll is the Philip Johnson Chief Curator at the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The jury also includes Cho Byoung-soo, an architect and head of the Seoul-based firm ByoungSoo Cho Architects, and Marco Pogacnik, a professor of architectural history at the University IUAV of Venice.
The three jury members expressed their views on the new museum and the submissions they received in an interview with the JoongAng Daily on Jan. 30, in the midst of the evaluation period.
Q. There is a concern that the museum could clash with the palace and surrounding area. How would you respond to that?
Bergdoll: I don’t think it is difficult to find a beautiful solution that allows the museum to harmonize with the palace and the neighborhood behind. It is a wonderful chance to transform a formerly closed place with a complicated political past into a place that welcomes the public and becomes a hub for cultural activity and interchanges. This is a once-in-a-hundred-years opportunity to change the daily and cultural life of the capital city.
Has that point of view been applied to your examination of the project proposals? What were your selection criteria?
Bergdoll: Before looking at the projects, we visited the site, understanding the context. And then we discussed how the site could be changed and how it could be open to the different contexts.
In a competition of ideas, rather than a competition of complete projects, the jury considers not only whether the proposals are powerful and coherent as ideas but also whether they have the potential for development into a more mature project.
Cho: We considered all of the contexts, ranging from a physical context [the environment] to historical, cultural and social contexts. In the historical context, the DSC building should be preserved, as Korea has only a few old buildings, including those built in the early 20th century amid the country’s rapid period of development. These buildings are historically important. Some think that only pre-modern buildings are important, but that is a wrong idea.
We have seen many good project ideas in this competition, with respect to the historical context as well as other contexts. Important issues in other contexts include how the museum opens to the main street [west of the museum], how to make use of the view from the DSC building and how to attract visitors to the streets of Bukchon [north of the museum], which have already developed into a beloved cultural spot, and others.
We also consider what a 21-century museum should be and what spaces the new museum should have, given that the interests of the public change fast.
Pogacnik: We spent many hours looking at the site. What really impressed me was not only the site where the museum would be built but also the context - the palace, the main street on one side and the neighborhoods on the other side. I was impressed by the vitality of the site. So one of the first criteria to see is how the different projects interpret the beauty and specificity of the site.
We have never considered the question of what kind of Korean museum this should be. International standards of art are important and the new museum should also respond to those standards. In the way that a project interprets the special context of the site on which it is built, however, the project will be a Korean museum of modern art.
Were any of the projects proposed in accord with your views? What do the proposed projects have in common?
Bergdoll: We have chosen a number of projects with quite distinctive architectural solutions. What is interesting is that all these projects have in common a desire to create an intermingling of interior and exterior spaces in very contemporary ways. What I have come to understand is that Korean architecture, even if modern, incorporates elements of the past so that the architecture of the 21st century contains certain Korean qualities.
Cho: Architects from France and the United States tend to attach the greatest importance to originality and creativity. Architects from Germany, on the other hand, give more weight to practicality and harmony with their surroundings. And Korean architects tend to attach great importance to an intermingling of exterior and interior spaces.
Should the new museum be created with an eye to the art forms it will later accommodate - media art, for example?
Bergdoll: I think the combination strategy is the best. Existing art is extremely diverse and art is open to further change. Accordingly, an art museum should provide interesting canvases with which artists can actually work.
In the spectrum between spaces that are fixed and those that are flexible, it is more important for a space to be flexible, because we don’t know where the practices [of art] are going, amid the changing media landscape. Various [art] programs are now focused on media art but, as the media is changing very fast, we don’t know the future.
The most fascinating thing about museums is that, despite the development of the Internet and other media, people are still coming to museums, unsatisfied with seeing artworks through the media alone. Museums around the world are becoming more popular due to their public nature. Now, a museum is one of the places people go for direct experiences - exchanges with artists and exchanges with another viewer. The new museum should be a public-oriented architectural space.
Pogacnik: One of the most important things is that the new museum must be a public space flexible enough to accommodate various kinds of art, including performances and music concerts. We have seen the projects in which such ideas were reflected.
Cho: In the current trend, the exhibits being shown by art museums are becoming more diverse and the people that go to museums are becoming more diverse as well. This means that museums need many different kinds of spaces. Some project ideas reflect a studied consideration of this.
As for the new museum in the DSC headquarters, the land is limited and the height of the new building is also limited. Accordingly many architects have put the main exhibition halls underground, while describing the courtyards above the ground in their ideas.
As the jury, we will offer our thoughts and ideas to the chosen five teams, who will reflect all of these discussions in the second proposal drafts.
Meanwhile, Bergdoll picked the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas as his favorite museum for architecture, citing the “serenity” that its seemingly simple and primitive spaces, actually based on high-end engineering technologies, bring to the viewers.
Pogacnik picked the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, emphasizing that life near the museum is also important.
Cho selected Kunsthaus at Bregenz, Austria, citing its unique exhibition space. | http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2916386 |
The Effect of 3.2% and 3.8% Sodium Citrate on Specialized Coagulation Tests.
- Coagulation testing is challenging and depends on preanalytic factors, including the citrate buffer concentration used. - To better estimate preanalytic effects of the citrate buffer concentration in use, the difference between results obtained by samples with 3.2% and 3.8% citrate was evaluated. - In a prospective observational study with 76 volunteers, differences related to the citrate concentration were evaluated. For both buffer concentrations, reference range intervals were established according to the recommendations of the C28-A3 guideline published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. - In our reagent-analyzer settings, most parameters evaluated presented good comparability between citrated samples taken with 3.2% and 3.8% trisodium buffer. The ellagic acid containing activated partial thromboplastin time reagent (aPTT-FS) indicated a systemic and proportional difference between both buffer concentrations, leading to an alteration in its reference ranges. Further, a confirmation test for lupus anticoagulant assessment (Staclot LA) showed only a moderate correlation ( rρ = 0.511) with a proportional deviation between both citrate concentrations. Further, a statistically significant difference was found in the diluted Russell viper venom time confirmation testing, coagulation factors V and VIII, and the protein C activity, which was found to be of minor clinical relevance. - With caution regarding the potential impact of the reagent-analyzer combination, our findings demonstrate the comparability of data assessed with 3.2% and 3.8% buffered citrated plasma. As an exception, the aPTT-FS and the Staclot LA assay were considerably affected by the citrate concentration used. Further studies are required to confirm our finding using different reagent-analyzer combinations.
| |
High School Life
Under the care of dedicated teaching staff, St. Mark's secondary school offers high quality learning and excellent pathways to tertiary education. Senior school students get a good start to life because of the open learning environment full of new learning opportunities, excellent academic education and balanced social and cultural life. Here at St. Mark's, our secondary school offers various activities that enhances students' knowledge and skills. Our calendar year is filled with meaningful activities that develop academic excellence, leadership and citizenship qualities in our students. From learning in an engaging class setting, participating in group projects, experimenting in science laboratories, speaking and presenting in public, debating, participating in a variety of sports, learning to cook, working, cleaning and helping out by giving back to the community during social work, participating in fund-raising activities, organising bake sales and fun fair, participating in field trips, scout camps, and overseas residential trips, these are some of the activities that become the basis which help build a strong foundations for student success. | http://new.stmarks.ac.th/content/18 |
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Physics > Instrumentation and Detectors
Title: TITUS: Visualization of Neutrino Events in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers
(Submitted on 13 Jul 2020)
Abstract: The amount and complexity of data recorded by high energy physics experiments are rapidly growing, and with these grow the difficulties in visualizing such data. To study the physics of neutrinos, a type of elementary particles, scientists use liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detectors among other technologies. LArTPCs have a very high spatial resolution and resolve many of the elementary particles that come out of a neutrino interacting within the argon in the detector. Visualizing these neutrino interactions is of fundamental importance to understand the properties of neutrinos, but also monitor and check on the detector conditions and operations. From these ideas, we have developed TITUS, an event display that shows images recorded by these neutrino detectors. TITUS is a software that reads data coming from LArTPC detectors (as well as corresponding simulation) and allows users to explore such data in multiple ways. TITUS is flexible to enable fast prototyping and customization.
Submission historyFrom: Marco Del Tutto [view email]
[v1] Mon, 13 Jul 2020 17:22:50 GMT (4995kb,D)
Link back to: arXiv, form interface, contact. | http://export.arxiv.org/abs/2007.06517 |
Sound therapy uses the soothing vibrations of harmonic quartz crystal bowls, voice and other instruments in a session. These sounds create a nurturing field where full-body listening can invoke the deepest rest which deliver restorative effects to the mind, body and spirit.
Research shows that sound therapy sessions can lower blood pressure and heart rate, thus reducing stress hormones, while increasing the release of the feel-good endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. A Sound healing session soothes the nervous system and stimulates the body to self heal. Deeper meditative brain waves states of Theta/Delta can be achieved in which deep insight becomes possible and higher states of consciousness can be experienced revealing your highest potential.
Allow me to introduce these healing techniques to you. | https://marybotta.com/sound-therapy/ |
Grade 4/5 Snow Pass
Winter is coming and in preparation, SD # 59 Transportation Department asks for your assistance with the following:
For the safety of all students riding on SD # 59 school buses in the coming winter months, Students must have appropriate winter clothing when they ride the school buses. This will include but not limited to: Winter coats, Winter footwear, Head wear and Hand protection.
This is to ensure the safety of all school bus passengers if there were to be any delays while the bus is performing its route. Ie: mechanical challenges, road conditions or other delays
Thank you for your assistance.
School District # 59 (Peace River South)
Transportation Department
We welcome everyone back to Canalta Elementary and look forward to the 2019-2020 School Year. We hope everyone had a great summer and are excited about the coming events and activities at our school. Have a great Fall!
Erase is all about building safe and caring school communities. This includes empowering students, parents, educators and the community partners who support them to get help with challenges, report concerns to schools, and learn about complex issues facing students.
Address
1901-110th Ave
Dawson Creek, BC V1G 2W6
Canada
Telephone Numbers
250-782-8403
Fax Numbers
250-782-3204
|Posted||Route||Status|
|8 hours ago||Dawson Creek||On Schedule|
|8 hours ago||Chetwynd||On Schedule|
The StrongStart programs are running as scheduled. | https://www.sd59.bc.ca/schools/canalta-elementary?month=jul&yr=2019 |
Scattered across the various realms in God of War are a number of special cabinets called Jotnar Shrines. Left behind by the Giants, these Jotnar Shrines contain artistic depictions of different events throughout history in God of War. Reading every Jotnar Shrine in God of War will not only allow you to learn more about the history of the Giants, it will also unlock The Truth trophy and allow you to mark off one of your Labors. Follow this guide to learn where to find all Jotnar Shrines in God of War.
All Jotnar Shrines Locations in God of War
Jotnar Shrines are easy enough to spot if you’re looking in the right area. Jotnar Shrines are huge wooden triptych cabinets composed of three panels depicting a scene out of the Giant’s mythology.
Upon finding a Jotnar Shrine, Atreus will decipher the scene and tell Kratos the story it represents. There are 11 Jotnar Shrines total and finding them all will complete the More Than Myth Labor and will reward you with The Truth trophy in God of War.
Below you will find a list that describes where to find every Jotnar Shrine in God of War, along with the region and story mission they are found in when applicable.
Jotnar Shrine #1: Sköll and Hati
Location: Wildwoods
The Sköll and Hati Shrine is the first Jotnar Shrine you can find in God of War. This shrine is found in the Wildwoods region during The Marked Trees opening mission. Look for this shrine just after you complete the puzzle where you freeze the door cog for the first time. Hang a left outside, climb the chain, head up the stairs and smash through the wood panels to find the Sköll and Hati Jotnar Shrine at the end of the hall.
Jotnar Shrine #2: Hrungnir
Location: The River Pass
Players can find the Hrungnir Jotnar Shrine during the Path to the Mountain mission in God of War. After falling from the broken bridge into the ravine below, make your way through the cave ahead. When you hop across the bridge with the gap in the middle, go left just before the Nornir chest to find a lengthy passage. At the end of the path is the Jontar Shrine for Hrungnir.
Jotnar Shrine #3: Jörmungandr
Location: Shores of Nine
Once you reach the Lake of Nine, make your way across the main bridge as instructed during the Path to the Mountain mission and pass through the giant double doors across from Brok’s main shop. When you enter the poison-filled area, smash through the wooden barricade on the left to find a Jotnar Shrine featuring the World Serpent tucked away in a side room.
Jotnar Shrine #4: Gróa
Location: Alfheim
In the Lake of Light area of Alfheim, continue through the main story to restore Alfheim’s light. Before crossing back over the bridge from the sealed door leading to the light, go down the side path to the right to find the Gróa Jotnar Shrine next to Sindri’s shop tent.
Jotnar Shrine #5: Skadi
Location: Veithurgard
Head through the large double doors along the east side of the Lake of Nine to discover the Veithurgard region. On your way to free Otr, you will discover a temple that has a door locked by a Runic puzzle. Use your axe to spin the mechanisms on the outer poles to the correct Runes to open the temple door. The Skadi Jotnar Shrine is dead ahead as you enter, so you can’t miss it.
Jotnar Shrine #6: Ymir
Location: The Mountain Pass
Continue through the story mission Inside the Mountain and head up The Mountain. Just before you enter the icy chamber with the slanted bridge you have to lower, you should spot a doorway near the entrance covered in red vines and sap. Grab one of the sap balls from the next room and lob it at the vines. Have Atreus shoot the ball with his shock arrows to clear the entryway and reveal the Ymir Jotnar Shrine.
Jotnar Shrine #7: Thrym
Location: Lookout Tower (Shores of Nine)
Continue through the story to have Mimir speak with Jörmungandr. You’ll need to climb your way up toward the Lookout Tower in the Shores of Nine. Climb up the cliff and ride the zipline down to another area full of Revenants. Just before the Thor statue, you’ll find the Thrym Jotnar Shrine in God of War. The Kneel Before Thor treasure location is found nearby as well.
Jotnar Shrine #8: Bergelmir
Location: Shores of Nine
While exploring Tyr’s Temple during the mission A Path to Jotunheim, keep an eye out for the Bergelmir Shrine on your way to destroy the chains that bind the temple. As you descend on the elevator, turn around when you reach the bottom to find the Jotnar Shrine for Bergelmir, the King of the Giants.
Jotnar Shrine #9: Thamur
Location: Thamur’s Corpse
Make your way through the story to reach the Behind the Lock mission in God of War. This mission takes you to Thamur’s Corpse on the north side of the Lake of Nine. When you arrive, look for a Hidden Chamber near the dock along the coast. Open the Hidden Chamber using your Magic Chisel and enter the room to find the Thamur Jotnar Shrine just past the door towards the left.
Jotnar Shrine #10: Starkadr
Location: Konunsgard
The Hail to the King mission will have you visit the Konunsgard stronghold on the northwest side of the Lake of Nine in God of War. When you first enter the Dwarven King’s temple, head into the first chamber on the right to discover the Starkadr Jotnar Shrine.
Jotnar Shrine #11: Surtr
Location: Muspelheim
Collect the four Muspelheim Ciphers to unlock access to Muspelheim in God of War. Travel to Muspelheim using the Travel Room and head over to Brok’s shop area. Just beyond Brok, you’ll find the Jotnar Shrine for Surtr, the Fire Giant.
If you discovered and read all of the Jotnar Shrines in God of War, then you will have unlocked The Truth trophy and will be one step closer to earning Platinum. For more helpful gameplay guides, head over to our God of War Walkthrough and Guide, where you can learn tips like how to defeat all bosses in God of War. | https://primagames.com/tips/god-war-all-jotnar-shrine-locations |
S Africa's Galgut, US author Powers lead Booker Prize race
Britain Booker Prize
Damon Galgut with his book The Promise, one of the six authors shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, during a photo call at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Sunday Oct. 31, 2021. (Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP)
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LONDON (AP) — Three American authors are in the running for the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction, whose winner will be chosen Wednesday from six novels that explore historical traumas, the nature of consciousness and the mind-warping power of the internet.
South African writer Damon Galgut’s story of racism and reckoning, “The Promise,” is British bookmakers’ favorite to win the 50,000 pound ($69,000 prize). Many bettors think it will be third time lucky for Galgut, who was previously a finalist for “The Good Doctor” in 2003 and “In a Strange Room” in 2010.
Second-favorite is U.S. writer Richard Powers’ “Bewilderment,” the story of an astrobiologist trying to care for his neurodivergent, environmentalist son. Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2019 for the eco-epic “The Overstory,” which was also a 2018 Booker Prize finalist.
The other American contenders are Patricia Lockwood’s social media-steeped novel “No One is Talking About This” and Maggie Shipstead’s aviator saga “Great Circle.” Also in the running are Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam’s tale of war and its aftermath, “A Passage North” and British-Somali writer Nadifa Mohamed’s miscarriage-of-justice story “The Fortune Men,” set among dockers in the 1950s in Cardiff, Wales.
Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers and was originally open to British, Irish and Commonwealth writers. Eligibility was expanded in 2014 to all novels in English published in the U.K.
The judging panel winnowed their list from 158 novels. Some of the highest-profile novels of the year didn’t make the cut, most notably Nobel literature laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun,” which had featured on the 13-book longlist.
Only one British writer, Mohamed, made the final six, a fact that has renewed debate in the U.K. about whether the prize is becoming U.S.-dominated. There have been two American winners since the 2014 rule change: Paul Beatty’s “The Sellout” in 2016 and George Saunders’ “Lincoln in the Bardo” in 2017.
Last year, there also was only one British writer on a U.S.-dominated list of finalists, Scotland’s Douglas Stuart. He won the prize for “Shuggie Bain,” a gritty and lyrical novel about a boy coming of age in hardscrabble 1980s Glasgow.
For a second year, the coronavirus pandemic has scuttled the prize’s black-tie dinner ceremony at London’s medieval Guildhall. The winner will be announced in a ceremony broadcast live on BBC radio and television.
Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting
'Wheel of Fortune' has a crossword puzzle rule which states that no extra words can be added when solving it. Contestant Sharon Bower forgot about this rule and lost the round. Read what fans are saying about the moment. | |
In this Guide to Ethical Hacking, Matt Ford of Foursys sets out the definition, goals and processes involved in the use of ethical hacking.
Using practical examples, the guide covers the 5 key phases of hacking typically used by hackers to gain access to networks that IT Administrators all too often believe are secure.
The Guide offers often thought-provoking insights into the techniques and secrets of malicious hackers, such as:
- Initial network and system reconnaissance of target networks
- Scanning for possible areas of vulnerability
- Gaining and maintaining access
- Hiding the evidence of an attack
With example lab tests that can be readily used by IT professionals, the “Quick Start Guide to Ethical Hacking” offers a comprehensive look at the methods used, helping you stay a step ahead of the hackers by understanding their mind-set. Crucially, it will also help you put the necessary measures in place to prevent them compromising your network. | https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/white-papers/quick-start-guide-to-ethical/ |
Moon found round Kuiper dwarf planet
The discovery of a moon around the third largest dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt adds another piece to the puzzle of what our Solar System was like in its infancy.
A sequence of images of dwarf planet 2007 OR10 captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The images show that the moon moves with the dwarf planet as it orbits the Sun, proving that it is gravitationally bound to it.
Credit: NASA, ESA, C. Kiss (Konkoly Observatory), and J. Stansberry (STScI)
Astronomers have discovered a moon around the third largest dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, adding to our knowledge of what the early Solar System must have been like.
The dwarf planet, named 2007 OR10, resides in the Kuiper Belt, which is a region full of icy debris left over from the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.
Read more about dwarf planets from BBC Sky at Night Magazine:
- Distant dwarf planet confirmed by ALMA
- New dwarf planet discovered in Kuiper Belt
- Evidence for ice on dwarf planet Ceres
The discovery means that most of the known dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt larger than about 1,000km across have satellites. Studying these bodies reveals clues as to how moons formed in the early Solar System.
The fact that many of them appear to have moons shows that collisions must have been frequent, and also occurring at just the right speed.
If the impacts had occurred at a high speed, they would have created lots of debris that would have escaped from the system. Too slow, and they would have only created impact craters.
"There must have been a fairly high density of objects, and some of them were massive bodies that were perturbing the orbits of smaller bodies," says team member John Stansberry of the Space Telescope Science Institute. "This gravitational stirring may have nudged the bodies out of their orbits and increased their relative velocities, which may have resulted in collisions."
The team discovered the moon in images of 2007 OR10 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3. NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope revealed that it has a rotation period of 45 hours, while other Kuiper Belt objects would typically take under 24 hours to rotate.
"We looked in the Hubble archive because the slower rotation period could have been caused by the gravitational tug of a moon. The initial investigator missed the moon in the Hubble images because it is very faint,” says Csaba Kiss of the Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary.
Observations in far-infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory enabled the team to calculate the dimensions of both objects. The planet is about 1,500km across and the moon is estimated to be about 240 - 400km across.
2007 OR10 is the third largest dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt that we know of, smaller only than Pluto and Eris. It was discovered in 2007 by astronomers Meg Schwamb, Mike Brown and David Rabinowitz. | http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/moon-found-round-kuiper-dwarf-planet |
D. Koutsoyiannis, and D. Zarris, Simulation of rainfall events for design purposes with inadequate data, 24th General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society, Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 1, The Hague, 296, doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.2797.8482, European Geophysical Society, 1999.
[doc_id=66]
[English]
Recently, the new concept of using continuous simulation in hydraulic design attracts interest. However, the absence of long rainfall records with appropriate temporal resolution, coupled with the requirement of simulating a vast number of synthetic events to calculate the flood peak for a given exceedance probability have become a barrier to the use of such approaches. Therefore, the use of design storms based on local intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves remains at present the most popular method not only for its simplicity but mainly because most frequently the IDF curves represent the only available information on local rainfall. Also, IDF based approaches assure the reproduction of rainfall extremes whereas continuous simulation models may fail to do so. An intermediate method lying in between the traditional design storm approach and the continuous simulation approach is presented. The method is based on, and uses as the only input, the IDF curves of a particular catchment. The main concept is to keep the design storm approach for the determination of the total characteristics of the design storm event, extracted from the IDF curves, and use a disaggregation technique to generate an ensemble of alternative hyetographs. The stochastically generated hyetographs are then entered into a rainfall - runoff model and then routed through the hydrosystem in order to simulate its hydraulic performance. The proposed method is demonstrated via examples involving sewer systems and dam spillways.
Full text:
See also: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2797.8482
Related works:
Our works that reference this work:
|1.||D. Koutsoyiannis, and N. Mamassis, On the representation of hyetograph characteristics by stochastic rainfall models, Journal of Hydrology, 251, 65–87, 2001.|
Other works that reference this work (this list might be obsolete): | https://www.itia.ntua.gr/en/docinfo/66/ |
The Credit Write-Up and the CRE Analytical Process
Q: It appears that the Site Development Fees incurred with Clovis Supply, Ltd. are the basis of the Accounts Payable to Clovis. Would that payable not be eligible for conversion to a construction loan?
Q: My thought is that preliminary site cost increased $4.620 million in 2014 would be funded by construction loans. Please discuss.
A: We, too, would expect a construction loan would take out the accrued payable, but there is no information to the effect that the company has or is putting such financing in place. If Mr. Schumacher has difficulties in arranging a takeout loan or permanent financing for this Sequoia Properties expenditure, then the partnership is on the hook for payment to Clovis.
Q: The appropriate solution to Poll Question 7 can't be “All of the above”. The accountant compiled the financial statement. Please explain.
A: Poll Question 7 is as follows:
“The apparent under-reporting of depreciation expense suggests that:
- Accrual profit in 2014 was actually far less than reported.
- Sequoia Properties’ management manipulated accrual profit in 2014.
- Sequoia Properties’ accountant paid little attention to the financial statement numbers.
- All of the above.
- None of the above.”
The correct answer is “All of the above”.
Compiled financial statements indicate that the accountant simply takes what he or she receives from the client and puts the information into a standard GAAP format without running any process tests or verifying any of the amounts. The accountant’s inaction on this line item indicates that he either chose to ignore the recorded depreciation expense or that he paid little attention to the financial statement numbers provided by Sequoia Properties, Ltd. | https://www.shockproof.com/v4/techblog.item.asp?blogid=1221 |
For a brief moment in 2002, an obscure star called V838 Monocerotis (nicknamed V838 Mon by astronomers) suddenly became 600,000 times brighter than our Sun and temporarily was the brightest star in our Milky Way galaxy. Within a few months, it faded back into obscurity.
While the star has fascinated astronomers worldwide ever since, the source of the star's sudden outburst remains a mystery. Determined scientists remain hopeful they will learn more about the nature this stellar eruption by pointing a variety of telescopes at V838 Mon and its surrounding environment.
In one observation, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope discovered an infrared light echo around V838 Mon. This is only the second infrared light echo ever to be resolved, and its detection has helped astronomers gain some valuable insights into the star's "personality."
An infrared light echo occurs when light waves blasted away from an erupting star heats up clumps of surrounding dust, and causes them to glow in the infrared. Visually, the light echo resembles growing ripples in a pond. As light propagates outward over time, more of the star's surrounding environment is illuminated.
By observing the infrared light echo around V838 Mon, astronomers were able to obtain a three-dimensional view of its surrounding dust cloud. Using this unique perspective, they set a lower limit on how much dust was surrounding the star.
"Initially we didn't realize that we could resolve an infrared light echo around this source. The fact that we did is a testament to Spitzer's superb sensitivity," said Dr. Kate Su, of the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Ariz. Su is one of the authors on a paper describing Spitzer's observations of V838 Mon. The paper has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Prior to the Spitzer observations, some scientists pegged V838 Mon as a volatile star that has erupted frequently throughout its lifetime, spewing dust and other material into its surrounding environment with each violent outburst. They argued that the 2002 eruption was most likely one of these evolutionary, or developmental, outbursts that are part of the star's "growing pains."
However, by comparing the mass of the material illuminated in the infrared echo to the mass of the star, Su and her colleagues found that all the dust surrounding V838 Mon couldn't have come from the star. Thus, the 2002 outburst was most likely an anomaly, and the star is probably a lot more docile that previously believed.
"There is just too much material," said Dr. Karl Misselt, also of the University of Arizona and another author on the paper. "From previous studies we know that stars do lose some material as they evolve, or develop. However, only a very massive star -- more than 100 times the size of our Sun -- can lose that much material as part of its evolution, and this star isn't that massive."
Team members are continuing to use Spitzer data to study dust formation around V838 Mon. The star is located approximately 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. | https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/feature06-30-echoing-infrared-across-the-milky-way |
The Sublime, in art, was suggested to me in a tutorial last week. Something I've never actively looked into, with instead only a cursory awareness, the sublime can be read as something larger than ourselves, unattainable in anything other than experience. It is hard to define (by definition) and while the common use of the word has evolved to mean something akin to ‘very good’ it is actually a far deeper concept.
In an attempt to better understand the sublime in art I read an online article that I found extremely useful. (Bell, 2013) Combined with a podcast and a few conversations with other students; What follows is an initial overview of the key points in the text interspersed with a few of my own thoughts.
Bell speaks about the Sublime, to begin with, in regards to his practice. The interesting thing, for me, with the piece he has chosen is the chance element that the painting began with. Bell refers to “inviting a relatively random process” that felt like “reaching out to touch something other in my studio”. (Bell, 2013) This is a slightly romanticised version of one of the tenants behind my work in 2015, which evolved into my current explorations.
He goes on to describe ‘randomising tactics’ used by artists since the 18th century to a sense of the sublime in painting. This is extremely relevant to my practice, although incidental. The use of found materials, actions, and marks brings an element of chance to the work, which is a form of unintentional randomisation.
Richard Serra, (2005) The Matter of Time'. Weatherproof steel. Varying dimensions.
Richard Serra's large steel constructs invoke the sublime in size and relation to the viewer. A daunting otherness. (Bell, 2013) The viewer goes inside the artwork and is immersed in it.
Bell discusses the sublime in capitalist society - which is a subject in itself that fits the definition of the sublime, as something wholly other, larger than ourselves which controls emotions. The need for more and the control that need has over us.
Burke compared the sublime to darkness, an intangible feeling, best described by poetry. (Bell, 2013). He posited that we need a feeling of terror to achieve a truly sublime experience. Something found in oceans and by explorers on mountains. (West, 2015) There is, of course, far more to it than that, but this text marks is a cursory beginning to a subject with potential impact on my practice and understanding, with further research.
Whitechapel galleries series - ‘The Sublime’ (2010) MIT Press. - This series is known for creating well-edited collections of texts, and sections of text, about a particular subject. Useful for leading to further reading.
Bell, J. (2013) Contemporary Art and the Sublime.’ [Online] Avaliable from : http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime/julian-bell-contemporary-art-and-the-sublime-r1108499 [Accessed 13.11.17].
West, S. (2015) ‘The Sublime’, Philosophize This!. [Podcast] Avaliable from: http://philosophizethis.org/the-sublime/ [Accessed 13.11.17].
What I think can be taken from these artists, and this text is the idea that art itself can be described as an exploration of the sublime. Many artists describe looking for something, often thought to be an answer of some kind. I believe this indescribable ‘thing’ can be compared to the ‘Artworld’ coined by Danto.
These artists achieve in subject what art itself is, a ‘thing’ that we can sense is larger than ourselves (sight is a sense after all) that overwhelms the senses.
I feel that there are other ways to explore this subject, and I'm sure that there are artists who do just that. A task for ongoing research.
In my practice I feel the sublime can be a descriptor for the process of making, trying to capture something huge and unattainable, and something I am trying to convey to the viewer. On this last part, I am more sceptical, the sublime isn't a subject I've thought much about, but it feels like the right thing to say. The floor piece, the last work I am proud of in concept and execution, the sublime was a reference I hadn't intentionally explored. However it fits, the scale and location of the canvas alluded to a sense of the sublime, and the experience, however successful, was a sublime one.
I feel that in one of the ideas I am working towards I begin to approach the subject once more, however it is in a much more subtle way. Too much subtlety though becomes tenuous, something I need to be aware of. I'm interested in the idea of the sublime in separation from scale.
The other end of the discussion of the sublime in art is the notion of the unattainable something that art, must, therefore, always lack. If it is unattainable then it must not be attained and therefore lacking.
However if the sublime can also be found in the experiencing (as a viewer) and contextual history of art, then the practice for whatever reasons is once more vindicated. We need the practice to be able to have the experience and the context, which is a route to the sublime through ‘Art’.
In it's most practical terms - the sublime in my practice is the intent to create an experience for the viewer. Space is a factor in that, it has been for a while, and our studio/exhibition space in July will be an ideal location to test those theories with a large installation.
In a smaller studio, the experience is shown through studio and reference to the enormity of process and practice.
I've listened to a podcast from the series ‘philosophy bites’ on the sublime, and it was while listening to this I realised an important role the sublime plays in my artistic, and theoretical, practice.
I live in England so cloud cover is common (as is rain but I won't mention that too much) so this state is a normal one for me, I feel comfortable, safe, and free to think.
There are, however, many nights where the stars are visible.
I've always had a complex relationship with the night sky, I was lucky enough to have a skylight directly above my pillow as a child, which I feel it is safe to assume, has led to my comfort under the stars. A feeling I'm sure I share with many others is that I don't feel insignificant when looking at the stars, and the information we can't comprehend that we find within them. Instead, I feel a sense of peace, of insignificance in it's purest form, a grounding feeling. This is my personal experience of the sublime, the difference in scale between myself and the entirety of space (which is what that blackness is after all) is incomparable in other parts of life.
…….some thoughts take time to form. That visual references are removed while I figure out those thoughts (the phone goes in a pocket, not a tool needed for this) is not lost on me. In fact, it's one of the draws. We are overloaded with information during the day, in the light, especially when taking into account theories of visual culture. Time actively spent in the dark can counteract this, and I think frees up the mind to think.
Retrospectively it seems foolish not to have articulated this process sooner. Another sign of the benefits of this module, something that will be explored in a coming essay. | https://www.allymcginn.com/research-blog/2017/11/24/research-initial-the-sublime |
Alpine climate is the average weather (climate) for the regions above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate.
There are multiple definitions of alpine climate.
One simple definition is the climate which causes trees to fail to grow due to cold. According to the Holdridge life zone system, alpine climate occurs when the mean biotemperature of a location is between 1.5 and 3 °C (34.7 and 37.4 °F), which prevents tree growth. Biotemperature is defined as the mean temperature, except all temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) are treated as 0 °C (32 °F), because plants are dormant below freezing.
In the Köppen climate classification, the alpine climate is part of "Group E", along with the polar climate, where no month has a mean temperature higher than 10 °C (50 °F).
The temperature profile of the atmosphere is a result of an interaction between radiation and convection. Sunlight in the visible spectrum hits the ground and heats it. The ground then heats the air at the surface. If radiation were the only way to transfer heat from the ground to space, the greenhouse effect of gases in the atmosphere would keep the ground at roughly 333 K (60 °C; 140 °F), and the temperature would decay exponentially with height.
However, when air is hot, it tends to expand, which lowers its density. Thus, hot air tends to rise and transfer heat upward. This is the process of convection. Convection comes to equilibrium when a parcel of air at a given altitude has the same density as its surroundings. Air is a poor conductor of heat, so a parcel of air will rise and fall without exchanging heat. This is known as an adiabatic process, which has a characteristic pressure-temperature curve. As the pressure gets lower, the temperature decreases. The rate of decrease of temperature with elevation is known as the adiabatic lapse rate, which is approximately 9.8 °C per kilometer (or 5.4 °F per 1000 feet) of altitude.
Note that the presence of water in the atmosphere complicates the process of convection. Water vapor contains latent heat of vaporization. As air rises and cools, it eventually becomes saturated and cannot hold its quantity of water vapor. The water vapor condenses (forming clouds), and releases heat, which changes the lapse rate from the dry adiabatic lapse rate to the moist adiabatic lapse rate (5.5 °C per kilometre or 3 °F per 1000 feet). The actual lapse rate, called the environmental lapse rate, is not constant (it can fluctuate throughout the day or seasonally and also regionally), but a normal lapse rate is 5.5 °C per 1,000 m (3.57 °F per 1,000 ft). Therefore, moving up 100 metres (330 ft) on a mountain is roughly equivalent to moving 80 kilometres (45 miles or 0.75° of latitude) towards the pole. This relationship is only approximate, however, since local factors, such as proximity to oceans, can drastically modify the climate. As the altitude increases, the main form of precipitation becomes snow and the winds increase. The temperature continues to drop until the tropopause, at 11,000 metres (36,000 ft), where it does not decrease further. However, this is higher than the highest summit.
Although this climate classification only covers a small portion of the Earth's surface, alpine climates are widely distributed. For example, The Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, and the summit of Mauna Loa in the United States, the Alps, the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, the Snowy Mountains in Australia, the Pyrenees, Cantabrian Mountains and Sierra Nevada in Spain, the Andes, the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, Gansu, and Qinghai in China, the Eastern Highlands of Africa, high elevations in the Atlas Mountains and the central parts of Borneo and New Guinea.
The lowest altitude of alpine climate varies dramatically by latitude. If alpine climate is defined by the tree line, then it occurs as low as 650 metres (2,130 ft) at 68°N in Sweden, while on Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, the alpine climate and the tree line are met at 3,950 metres (12,960 ft).
The variability of the alpine climate throughout the year depends on the latitude of the location. For tropical oceanic locations, such as the summit of Mauna Loa, elev. 13,679 ft (4,169 m), the temperature is roughly constant throughout the year:
|Climate data for Mauna Loa slope observatory (1961–1990)|
|Month||Jan||Feb||Mar||Apr||May||Jun||Jul||Aug||Sep||Oct||Nov||Dec||Year|
|Record high °F (°C)||67
|
(19)
|85
|
(29)
|65
|
(18)
|67
|
(19)
|68
|
(20)
|71
|
(22)
|70
|
(21)
|68
|
(20)
|67
|
(19)
|66
|
(19)
|65
|
(18)
|67
|
(19)
|85|
(29)
|Average high °F (°C)||49.8
|
(9.9)
|49.6
|
(9.8)
|50.2
|
(10.1)
|51.8
|
(11.0)
|53.9
|
(12.2)
|57.2
|
(14.0)
|56.4
|
(13.6)
|56.3
|
(13.5)
|55.8
|
(13.2)
|54.7
|
(12.6)
|52.6
|
(11.4)
|50.6
|
(10.3)
|53.2|
(11.8)
|Average low °F (°C)||33.3
|
(0.7)
|32.9
|
(0.5)
|33.2
|
(0.7)
|34.6
|
(1.4)
|36.6
|
(2.6)
|39.4
|
(4.1)
|38.8
|
(3.8)
|38.9
|
(3.8)
|38.5
|
(3.6)
|37.8
|
(3.2)
|36.2
|
(2.3)
|34.3
|
(1.3)
|36.2|
(2.3)
|Record low °F (°C)||19
|
(−7)
|18
|
(−8)
|20
|
(−7)
|24
|
(−4)
|27
|
(−3)
|28
|
(−2)
|26
|
(−3)
|28
|
(−2)
|29
|
(−2)
|27
|
(−3)
|25
|
(−4)
|22
|
(−6)
|18|
(−8)
|Average precipitation inches (mm)||2.3
|
(58)
|1.5
|
(38)
|1.7
|
(43)
|1.3
|
(33)
|1.0
|
(25)
|0.5
|
(13)
|1.1
|
(28)
|1.5
|
(38)
|1.3
|
(33)
|1.1
|
(28)
|1.7
|
(43)
|2.0
|
(51)
|17|
(431)
|Average snowfall inches (cm)||0.0
|
(0.0)
|1.0
|
(2.5)
|0.3
|
(0.76)
|1.3
|
(3.3)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|1.0
|
(2.5)
|3.6|
(9.06)
|Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch)||4||5||6||5||4||3||4||5||5||5||5||4||55|
|Source: NOAA|
For mid-latitude locations, such as Mount Washington the temperature varies, but never gets very warm:
|Climate data for Mount Washington, elev. 6,267 ft (1,910.2 m) near the summit|
|Month||Jan||Feb||Mar||Apr||May||Jun||Jul||Aug||Sep||Oct||Nov||Dec||Year|
|Record high °F (°C)||48
|
(9)
|43
|
(6)
|54
|
(12)
|60
|
(16)
|66
|
(19)
|72
|
(22)
|71
|
(22)
|72
|
(22)
|69
|
(21)
|62
|
(17)
|52
|
(11)
|47
|
(8)
|72|
(22)
|Average high °F (°C)||13.6
|
(−10.2)
|14.7
|
(−9.6)
|20.7
|
(−6.3)
|30.4
|
(−0.9)
|41.3
|
(5.2)
|50.4
|
(10.2)
|54.1
|
(12.3)
|53.3
|
(11.8)
|47.1
|
(8.4)
|36.4
|
(2.4)
|28.1
|
(−2.2)
|18.4
|
(−7.6)
|34.0|
(1.1)
|Daily mean °F (°C)||4.8
|
(−15.1)
|6.2
|
(−14.3)
|12.9
|
(−10.6)
|23.9
|
(−4.5)
|35.6
|
(2.0)
|45.0
|
(7.2)
|49.1
|
(9.5)
|48.2
|
(9.0)
|41.6
|
(5.3)
|30.2
|
(−1.0)
|20.7
|
(−6.3)
|10.1
|
(−12.2)
|27.4|
(−2.6)
|Average low °F (°C)||−4.1
|
(−20.1)
|−2.4
|
(−19.1)
|5.0
|
(−15.0)
|17.4
|
(−8.1)
|29.8
|
(−1.2)
|39.5
|
(4.2)
|44.0
|
(6.7)
|43.0
|
(6.1)
|36.1
|
(2.3)
|24.0
|
(−4.4)
|13.3
|
(−10.4)
|1.7
|
(−16.8)
|20.6|
(−6.3)
|Record low °F (°C)||−47
|
(−44)
|−46
|
(−43)
|−38
|
(−39)
|−20
|
(−29)
|−2
|
(−19)
|8
|
(−13)
|24
|
(−4)
|20
|
(−7)
|9
|
(−13)
|−5
|
(−21)
|−20
|
(−29)
|−46
|
(−43)
|−47|
(−44)
|Average precipitation inches (mm)||6.44
|
(164)
|6.77
|
(172)
|7.67
|
(195)
|7.44
|
(189)
|8.18
|
(208)
|8.40
|
(213)
|8.77
|
(223)
|8.32
|
(211)
|8.03
|
(204)
|9.27
|
(235)
|9.85
|
(250)
|7.73
|
(196)
|96.87|
(2,460)
|Average snowfall inches (cm)||44.0
|
(112)
|40.1
|
(102)
|45.1
|
(115)
|35.6
|
(90)
|12.2
|
(31)
|1.0
|
(2.5)
|0.0
|
(0.0)
|0.1
|
(0.25)
|2.2
|
(5.6)
|17.6
|
(45)
|37.8
|
(96)
|45.5
|
(116)
|281.2|
(714)
|Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)||19.7||17.9||19.0||17.4||17.4||16.8||16.5||15.2||13.9||16.8||19.1||20.7||210.4|
|Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)||19.3||17.3||16.6||13.1||6.4||0.9||0.1||0.2||1.7||9.1||14.6||19.2||118.5|
|Mean monthly sunshine hours||92.0||106.9||127.6||143.2||171.3||151.3||145.0||130.5||127.2||127.1||82.4||83.1||1,487.6|
|Percent possible sunshine||32||36||34||35||37||33||31||30||34||37||29||30||33|
|Source #1: NOAA (normals 1981–2010, sun 1961–1990)|
|Source #2: extremes 1933–present|
Alpine lakes are classified as lakes or reservoirs at high altitudes, usually starting around 5,000 feet (1524 metres) in elevation above sea level or above the tree line.Alpine lakes are usually clearer than lakes at lower elevations due to the colder water which decreases the speed and amount of algae and moss growth in the water. Often these lakes are surrounded by varieties of pine trees, aspens, and other high altitude trees.Alpine plant
Alpine plants are plants that grow in an alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. There are many different plant species and taxon that grow as a plant community in these alpine tundra. These include perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses, and lichens. Alpine plants are adapted to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season.
Some alpine plants serve as medicinal plants.Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets lower until it reaches sea level, and alpine tundra merges with polar tundra.
The high elevation causes an adverse climate, which is too cold and windy to support tree growth. Alpine tundra transitions to sub-alpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone are known as Krummholz. With increasing elevation it ends at the snow line where snow and ice persist through summer.
Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide. The flora of the alpine tundra is characterized by dwarf shrubs close to the ground. The cold climate of the alpine tundra is caused by adiabatic cooling of air, and is similar to polar climate.Antennaria pulchella
Antennaria pulchella is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family known by the common names Sierra pussytoes and beautiful pussytoes. It is native primarily to high elevations in the Sierra Nevada from Nevada County to Tulare County, where it is a plant of the alpine climate. Additional populations occur on Lassen Peak in Lassen County, and also in Washoe County, Nevada.Astragalus austiniae
Astragalus austiniae is a species of milkvetch known by the common name Austin's milkvetch. It is native to the Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe. It is a plant of the alpine climate of the high mountains, where it tolerates exposed areas.Climate of Greece
The climate in Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. However, due to the country's unique geography, Greece has a remarkable range of micro-climates and local variations. To the west of the Pindus mountain range, the climate is generally wetter and has some maritime features. The east of the Pindus mountain range is generally drier and windier in summer. The highest peak is Mount Olympus, 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The north areas of Greece have a transitional climate between the continental and the Mediterranean climate. There are mountainous areas that have an alpine climate.Hardangervidda
Hardangervidda (English: Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: vidde) in central southern Norway, covering parts of the counties of Buskerud, Hordaland and Telemark. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and one of Norway's largest glaciers, Hardangerjøkulen, is situated here. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park. Hardangervidda is a popular tourist and leisure destination, and it is ideal for many outdoor activities.Hidaka Mountains
Hidaka Mountains (日高山脈, Hidaka-sanmyaku) is a mountain range in southeastern Hokkaido, Japan. It runs 150 km from Mount Sahoro or Karikachi Pass in central Hokkaidō south, running into the sea at Cape Erimo. It consists of folded mountains that range from 1,500 to 2,000 metres in height. Mount Poroshiri is the highest at 2,053 m. The Hidaka Mountains separate the subprefectures of Hidaka and Tokachi. Most of the range lies in the Hidaka-sanmyaku Erimo Quasi-National Park (日高山脈襟裳国定公園, Hidaka-sanmyaku Erimo Kokutei-kōen). Since the mountain range lies so far north, the alpine climate zone lies at a lower altitude.Hinterwald
The Hinterwald (German: Hinterwälder-Rind) is an old local breed of cattle from the Black Forest. There is a breed association in Germany and one in Switzerland. The scientific name is Bos primigenius f. taurus.The cows are small, only 115 to 125 centimetres (45 to 49 in) tall and weighing 380 to 480 kilograms (840 to 1,060 lb), making them the smallest breed of cattle still extant in Central Europe. The head is mostly white, the remainder of the coat being pied light yellow to dark red-brown. Having been bred to cope with extreme conditions, such as cold winters, steep pastures and a frugal diet, they are well adapted to the Alpine climate. They are used for both beef and milk production and are noted for their thriftiness, longevity and lack of calving difficulties.
These qualities have led to a significant rise in the number of Hinterwald cows in the Swiss Alps since the introduction of a breeding programme initiated by Pro Specie Rara, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of endangered domestic species. However, the breed is still endangered. The government of Baden-Württemberg pays husbandry bonuses to conserve it.
The breed was "Domestic Animal of the Year" in Germany in 1992.Japanese Alps
The Japanese Alps (日本アルプス, Nihon Arupusu) is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshū (本州). The name was coined by English archaeologist William Gowland, and later popularized by Reverend Walter Weston (1861–1940), an English missionary for whom a memorial plaque is located at Kamikochi (上高地), a tourist destination known for its alpine climate. When Gowland coined the phrase, however, he was only referring to the Hida Mountains (飛騨山脈).Juncus parryi
Juncus parryi is a species of rush known by the common name Parry's rush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist and dry spots in mountain habitat, including rocky talus and other areas in the subalpine and alpine climate. This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a dense clump of stems up to about 30 centimeters tall. There are short, thready leaves around the stem bases. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers accompanied by a long, cylindrical bract which appears like an extension of the stem. The flower is made up of a few pointed, brown segments with membranous edges.Kaghan Valley
Kaghan Valley (Urdu: وادی کاغان ) is an alpine-climate valley in Mansehra District of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The tourists from across the country come to visit this place. The valley extends 155 kilometres (96 mi), rising from an elevation of 2,134 feet (650 m) to its highest point, the Babusar Pass, at 13,690 feet (4,170 m). Landslides caused by the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake closed the Kaghan Valley road and cut off the valley from the outside. The road has been rebuilt.Klamath Basin
The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The 15,751-square-mile (40,790 km2) drainage basin is 35% in Oregon and 65% in California. In Oregon, the watershed typically lies east of the Cascade Range, while California contains most of the river's segment that passes through the mountains. In the Oregon-far northern California segment of the river, the watershed is semi-desert at lower elevations and dry alpine in the upper elevations. In the western part of the basin, in California, however, the climate is more of temperate rainforest, and the Trinity River watershed consists of a more typical alpine climate.Kosciuszko National Park
The Kosciuszko National Park is a 6,900-square-kilometre (2,700 sq mi) national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix of rugged mountains and wilderness, characterised by an alpine climate, which makes it popular with recreational skiers and bushwalkers.
The park is located in the southeastern corner of New South Wales, 354 km (220 mi) southwest of Sydney, and is contiguous with the Alpine National Park in Victoria to the south, and the Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory to the northeast. The larger towns of Cooma, Tumut and Jindabyne lie just outside and service the park.
The waters of the Snowy River, the Murray River, and Gungarlin River all rise in this park. Other notable peaks in the park include Gungartan, Mount Jagungal, Bimberi Peak and Mount Townsend.
On 7 November 2008, the Park was added to the Australian National Heritage List as one of eleven areas constituting the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves.Micranthes aprica
Micranthes aprica is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Sierra saxifrage. It is native to the high mountains of California, including the Sierra Nevada and the southern Cascade Range, and adjacent slopes in southern Oregon and western Nevada. It grows in mountain habitat in areas of alpine climate, such as meadows and next to streams of snowmelt. It is a perennial herb which spends most of the year in a dormant state in order to save water, and rarely flowers. It produces a small gray-green basal rosette of toothed oval leaves up to about 4 centimeters long. When it does bloom, it sends up an erect inflorescence on a peduncle several centimeters tall topped with a cluster of flowers. Each flower has five sepals, five small white petals, and a clump of whiskery stamens at the center.Nagqu Town
Nagqu Town, Nagchu in original Tibetan or Naqu (Chinese: 那曲; pinyin: Nàqū), also known as Nagchuka or Nagquka, is a town in northern Tibet, seat of Nagqu, approximately 328 km (204 mi) by road north-east of the capital Lhasa, within the People's Republic of China.
Nagqu railway station to the town's west sits on the Qingzang railway at 4,526 m (14,849 ft). "Ngachu (...) is an important stop on both the road and railway line between Qīnghǎi and Tibet. In fact, this is where Hwy 317 ends as it joins the Qīnghǎi–Tibet Hwy (Hwy 109) on its way to Lhasa."At the time of the visit in 1950 of Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama, Nagchukha was a small town with only a few clay huts but was also the headquarters of the District Officer, the Dzongpön. It was on the main caravan route coming from Amdo to Central Tibet.China is planning to build Nagqu Airport, the highest airport in the world at an altitude of 4,436 m (14,554 ft). The construction is planned to start in 2011 and expected to take three years to complete. When completed, it will overtake the current highest, Qamdo Bangda Airport, with an elevation of 4,334 m (14,219 ft).
In 2015 Phayul reported that, "the local Tibetans of Nagshoe Township in Driru County were forced to abide by a four point imposition by the Chinese authorities who warned that failure to follow them would prohibit them to harvest the Yartsa Gunbo (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) for a period of five years. Tibetans in the area hugely depend for livelihood on the harvest of the fungus valued highly for its herbal remedy. The four point imposed by the Chinese authorities dictated the locals must have a ‘talent show’ where local Tibetans must perform songs and dances wearing costumes with wildlife pelts, a move to turn the Tibetans against an appeal by the exiled Tibetan leader to stop the use of animal products in costumes."
With all months having a mean temperature below 10 °C, due to the town's very high altitude, Nagqu has an alpine climate (Köppen climate classification: EH), with long, very cold and dry winters, and short, cool summers.Rumex paucifolius
Rumex paucifolius is a species of flowering plant in the knotweed family known by the common name alpine sheep sorrel.It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist areas in mountainous habitat, up to areas of alpine climate.
Rumex gracilescens is a variant endemic to Turkey. It was on the IUCN Species Survival Commissions 1997 Red List of Threatened Plants.Tasmanophlebi lacuscoerulei
Tasmanophlebi lacuscoerulei is a species of mayfly in family Siphlonuridae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. It is known commonly as the large Blue Lake mayfly.This mayfly has a limited distribution in an area of about 80 square kilometers in Kosciuszko National Park. It occurs at Blue Lake and its inlet stream, and possibly at Lakes Albina and Cootapatamba.The species is native to the alpine climate of this area, and is likely sensitive to climate change. For this reason it was uplisted from vulnerable to endangered status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2014.Tourism in Switzerland
Tourists are drawn to Switzerland's diverse landscape as well as activities. Most interesting are the Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular for skiing and mountaineering.
As of 2016, tourism accounted for an estimated 2.6% (CHF 16.8 billion) of Switzerland's gross domestic product, down from 2.6% (CHF 12.8 billion) in 2001.
This page is based on a Wikipedia article written by authors
(here).
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses. | https://howlingpixel.com/i-en/Alpine_climate |
Ph.D.
Program
Psychology
Advisor
Charles Scherbaum
Committee Members
Kristin Sommer
Harold Goldstein
Yochi Cohen-Charash
Logan Watts
Subject Categories
Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Social Psychology
Keywords
virtual teams; virtual groups; interdependence; emergence; team communication
Abstract
Virtual groups and teams are increasingly common in today’s organizations, particularly since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis. However, little is known about how specific design features predict communicative team processes and emergent phenomena in the days immediately following virtual team formation. This dissertation examined the effects of task interdependence (i.e., shared resources) and outcome interdependence (i.e., shared goals and feedback) on task-oriented and relationship-oriented electronic communication between group members and emergent group perceptions over a 5-day experimental simulation. Results showed that while the majority of hypotheses were not supported, three key findings were culled from the analysis. First, virtual groups that were provided shared goals and feedback engaged in substantially more task-oriented and relationship-oriented communication across the length of the simulation than groups that were provided with individual goals and feedback. Second, task-oriented communication between group members predicted the emergence of cognition-based trust and team efficacy over the first 4 days of the simulation. Finally, contrary to expectations, emergence conformed to a nonlinear trajectory over time, as group member attitudes converged from day 2 to day 4 and diverged from day 4 to day 5 of the simulation. Implications and limitations of this research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Pesner, Erik, "The Dynamic Linkages Between Structural Interdependencies, Computer-Mediated Communication, and Emergence in Newly Formed Virtual Groups" (2020). CUNY Academic Works. | https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4038/ |
Volunteers muck in to build Woodford Green outdoor classroom to help kids learn about nature
Volunteers helped to build a “secret garden” which will help future generations of children learn about nature today.
An outdoor classroom is being constructed in Ray Park, off Snakes Lane East in Woodford Green.
Vision Redbridge, which runs the borough’s leisure services, is putting on a summer programme through its nature conservation team who guided volunteers who were willing to muck in.
The classroom will sit inside a walled garden near the park’s James Leal Centre, according to a Vision spokesman.
She said: “Once complete it will provide a private and secure outdoor learning space for schools and groups.
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“The landscaping within the secret garden area has solely been through the efforts of volunteer work parties.
“We hope it will be ready for 2013”.”
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Volunteers moved earth to lay on the path while youngsters helped out by weeding. | https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/volunteers-muck-in-to-build-woodford-green-outdoor-classroom-to-2930704 |
Osler Weber Rendu Syndrome
What Is Osler Weber Rendu Syndrome?
Osler Weber Rendu syndrome (OWR) is similarly called hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). It’s a genetic blood issue that frequently prompts to excessive bleeding. As indicated by the HHT Foundation International, the syndrome influences around one in 5,000 individuals. Be that as it may, many individuals with the illness don’t know they have it, so this number may certainly be higher.
The name Osler Weber Rendu syndrome is named for the doctors who took a shot at researching this condition in the 1890s. They found that issues with blood clotting don’t cause this condition, which was already accepted. Rather, this condition is created by issues with the blood vessels themselves.
In a healthy circulatory system, there are three sorts of blood vessels. There are capillaries, blood vessels, and arteries. Blood moving far from your heart is brought through arteries, which goes at a high pressure. Blood moving towards your heart is helped through blood vessels, and it goes at a lower pressure. The capillaries sit between these two sorts of blood vessels, and the thin way of your vessels brings down the pressure of the blood before it reaches the blood vessels.
Individuals with OWR are missing capillaries in some of their blood vessels. These abnormal blood vessels are known as arteriovenous malformations (AVM).
Since there’s nothing to bring down the pressure of the blood before it streams into the blood vessels, individuals with OWR regularly encounter strained blood vessels that may in the end rupture. At the point when substantial AVMs happen, hemorrhages can happen. Hemorrhages in these ranges can get to be life-debilitating:
- the lungs
- the gastrointestinal tract
- the mind
- the liver
Individuals with OWR additionally have abnormal blood vessels called “telangiectasias” close to the skin and mucosal surfaces. These blood vessels are enlarged, or dilated, and are frequently visible as little red specks on the skin surface.
Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of OWR and their seriousness vary widely, even among relatives. A usual sign of OWR is a substantial red skin pigmentation, once in a while called a port wine stain. A port-wine stain is brought about by a collection of dilated blood vessel, and it might darken as the individual ages.
Telangiectasias are another basic symptom of OWR. They’re regularly little red dots and are prone to bleeding. The marks may show up on youthful kids or not until after adolescence. Telangiectasias can show up on the:
- tongue
- lips
- face
- whites of the eyes
- gastrointestinal system
- ears
- fingertips
AVMs can happen anyplace inside the body. The most widely recognized sites are:
- the gastrointestinal tract
- the lungs
- the nose
- the cerebrum
- the liver
- the spine
The most widely recognized symptom of OWR is nosebleeds brought on by telangiectasias in the nose. Truth be told, this is frequently the earliest symptom of OWR. Nosebleeds may happen every day or as once in a while as twice for each year.
At the point when AVMs form in the lungs, they can influence lung functionality. An individual with a lung AVM may create shortness of breath. They may cough up blood. Serious complications from lung AVMs likewise incorporate strokes and contaminations in the mind. Individuals with OWR can build up these entanglements in light of the fact that without vessels, blood clumps and diseases can travel straightforwardly from whatever is left of the body to the mind without a cradle.
A man with a gastrointestinal AVM might be prone to stomach related issues, for example, bloody stools. These are not for the most part painful. Nonetheless, loss of blood regularly prompts to sickliness. Gastrointestinal AVMs can happen in the stomach, esophagus or intestines.
AVMs can be especially perilous when they happen in the brain. When one bleeds, it can bring about seizures and minor strokes.
Causes
Individuals with OWR acquire an abnormal gene that makes their blood vessels shape wrongly. OWR is an autosomal predominant issue. This implies just a single parent needs the irregular quality to pass it on to their youngsters. OWR doesn’t skirt an generation. Nonetheless, the signs and side effects may change incredibly between relatives. On the off chance that you have OWR, it’s conceivable that your kid could have a milder or more serious course than you.
In extremely uncommon cases, a kid can be conceived with OWR nevertheless when neither one of the parents has the syndrome. This happens when one of the qualities that cause OWR mutates in an egg or sperm cell.
Diagnosis
The nearness of telangiectasias is one sign of OWR. Different clues that may prompt to a diagnosis include:
- having a parent with the syndrome
- bloody stools
- anemia
- frequent nosebleeds
In the event that you have OWR, your doctor might need to do extra tests. For instance:
- An echocardiogram utilizes sound waves to check blood flow all through your heart.
- A blood test can check for anemia, or iron deficiency in the blood.
- A gastrointestinal doctor can insert a little camera down your throat to check for AVMs in your esophagus. This is called endoscopy.
- A CT scan can demonstrate internal AVMs, for example, in the lungs, liver, and mind.
If you have OWR, you ought to be screened for AVMs in the lungs and mind. This can help your doctor distinguish a conceivably dangerous problem before something turns out badly. A MRI can screen for issues in the brain. CT scans can identify lung AVMs.
Your doctor can screen the continuing symptoms of this syndrome through usual checkups.
Genetic testing isn’t generally expected to diagnose OWR. These tests are costly and may not be accessible in all conditions. Individuals with a family history of OWR who are keen on genetic testing ought to talk about their alternatives with a genetic advisor.
Treatment
The different symptoms of OWR each need their own sorts of treatment.
Nosebleeds
Nosebleeds are a standout amongst the most widely recognized symptoms of OWR. Luckily, there are a few sorts of medications that may offer assistance.
Noninvasive medications include:
- using a humidifier to keep the air in your home or work environment moist
- keeping within your nose greased up with ointment
- taking estrogen to actually diminish bleeding episodes
In the event that noninvasive remedies flop, there are different alternatives. Laser therapy seals and heats the edges of each telangiectasia. In any case, you may need rehashed sessions for lasting symptom relief. Septal dermoplasty is additionally a possibility for individuals with extreme nosebleeds. The objective of this strategy is to replace the mucous layer, or the thin lining of the nose, with a skin graft that gives a thicker lining. This eliminates nosebleeds.
Interior AVMs
More serious surgery might be required for AVMs in the lungs or mind. The objective is to make preemptive move before there are problems. Embolization is a surgical procedure that treats lung AVMs by ceasing blood flow to these abnormal blood vessels. It should be done in a couple of hours as outpatient surgery. This procedure includes the insertion of a material, for example, a metallic coil, glue or plug into the AVM with a specific end goal to close it off. Surgery is required for mind AVMs and relies on upon their location and size.
Embolization is substantially trickier to perform on the liver. It can bring about serious complications. Along these lines, treatment for liver AVMs is focused towards symptom improvement. If medical management fails, an individual with OWR requires a liver transplant.
Anemia
On the off chance that intestinal bleeding causes anemia, your specialist will prescribe iron replacement therapy treatment. This will be in pill form unless you’re not sufficiently absorb iron. All things considered, you may need to take iron intravenously. In serious cases, your specialist may organize hormonal treatment or a blood transfusion.
Skin Symptoms
Dermatologists can treat port-wine marks with laser therapy treatment in the event that they dislike the they bleed a lot.
Complications
At the point when mouth microscopic organisms (bacteria) enter the circulatory system and go through a lung AVM, it can bring about a brain abscess. An abscess is an accumulation of infected material containing immune pus and cells. This frequently occurs during dental procedures. In the event that you have lung AVMs or haven’t yet been screened, converse with your specialist about bringing antibiotics before continuing with any dental work.
Conclusion
Many people with OWR lead impeccably normal lives. The syndrome is just life-threating when an inner AVM starts to bleed uncontrollably. Visit your specialist frequently, so they can monitor any internal AVMs. | https://syndromespedia.com/osler-weber-rendu-syndrome.html |
Many of the most powerful stories are the soulful ones that teach us not to despair, not to be swamped by sorrow. They remind us that hope is a precious and buoyant emotion which can give our lives substance and meaning.
The Shawshank Redemption is based on a novella by Stephen King. Tim Robbins plays Andy, a banker who is sent to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. The judge who sentences him finds him "a particularly remorseless and icy man." Andy's cool reserve and aloofness is not accepted well by the other inmates at Shawshank maximum-security prison in Maine. He is raped by some angry men and given several long stretches in solitary confinement for his bad attitude.
Luckily, Andy is befriended by Red, played by Morgan Freeman, the prison fixer. He is awed by this young man's quiet reserve and inward resolve to make the best of his bad situation. Andy's accounting skills come in handy, and he begins doing the taxes for the guards and laundering money for the corrupt warden. This lands him the cushy job of librarian. Eventually, Andy wrangles money out of state officials to build the best prison library anywhere.
Writer and director Frank Darabont draws out strong and intense performances from Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins as soulmates who support each other while doing hard time. Red sees hope as a dangerous thing that can drive a man insane, but Andy believes it is fuel that keeps one going against all odds. The Shawshank Redemption is a jubilant tribute to hope as an essential quality of soul. | https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/4788/the-shawshank-redemption |
All of the children at Sunrise Montessori School are considered as a family. They have been taught to treat everyone with respect. My daughter came home one day, and while telling me about her day said “We have a new friend today, his name was Andrew. We are all friends”. I truly believe that they are all friends. I have personally witnessed this whenever I arrive to pick my daughter up at the end of the day. I have noticed that all of the children will play with one another and in addition to that, the teacher will be joining in as well. There is a friendly atmosphere between all.
To me social interaction plays an important role in learning. I find my child a sociable and happy child whenever I arrive there to pick him up. He would come home to tell us about the interaction between his peers and himself. This is very encouraging as it creates opportunities to practice social skills both individually and in groups. It also increased self-esteem. I find my child knows how to share and is always saying kind things to us. That really impressed me. Generally, the classroom teacher has acted as a model. She has taught with enthusiasm and passion. Thereafter also showing a positive attitude. The teacher uses childrens interest to involve them in all areas of activities.
The student body is something I didn't notice at first. But once my son started participating and paying more attention at school. I quickly realized that he was surrounded by a group of children that are all excited to be there. They are a big school with many students and multiple floors. The kids are taught valuable lessons which encourage them to treat each other with respect. He made friends with his entire class. Although my son was very shy, he was accepted by his classmates and he has many friends. He values the friendships he has at Sunrise Montessori School. It always has positive vibes in the classrooms. Even during the moments when they are learning new concepts, you can just feel the positive energy in the room and all the eager with their curious minds.
The children have developed a sense of family within their own classrooms. They are always welcoming of other students and will always include others within their social circle. It is very important for me to find my daughter happy and socializing with her friends. It is through this social interaction with others that will help her grow as an individual. In addition to that, it also teaches them important skills such as turn taking, sharing, empathy, communication and confidence. My daughter has always been shy prior to starting school, always sticking to me when in public. However, after starting school, I have noticed a big change in my daughter's personality. She is always sharing her stories about her day and her playing with all of her friends. I am very grateful to the teachers and for them in instilling these values into my daughter and helping her to overcome her shyness.
The diversity found at Sunrise Montessori School consists of various ethnicities. This allows for the children to thrive and grow. In addition to that, the children are able to feel accepted while being challenged and encouraged to be their very best. All of the children are provided with various opportunities to build long-term relationships with their friends and teachers. My daughter has made so many friends over the past year who have shared common interests with her. The atmosphere of the student body comprises of, respect, empathy, confidence, and leadership. I have personally witnessed older children assisting those who are younger than them. In addition to that, I have also seen past students who have came back to visit their old teachers. The joy and happiness expressed between the teacher and child really portrays the bond that has developed over time. This also shows how much love the teacher has for her students. | https://www.ourkids.net/school/sunrise-montessori-school/1121/reviews/on-students |
Paying homage to Nordic design, the Oslo 2 Seater Sofa embraces the rounded softness and slender legs and has a light and inviting appearance without compromising on comfort or style. The horizontal division in the seat is important, as it allows extra comfort in the lower part of the furniture while maintaining an airy overall expression.
Muuto’s Scandinavian roots are evident in their broad collection of furniture, lighting, and accessories—roots that go right down to the name itself: muutos is Finnish for “new perspectives”. These new takes blend modern elements with bold and creative thinking, resulting in quality design that constantly makes your home better and bolder. | https://www.rypen.com/muuto/oslo-2-seater-sofa |
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Copyright © 2018 IngaMeCity.com. Some Rights Reserved. | http://www.ingamecity.com/9434/tile-for-kitchen-floor.html |
Leading the way out of crisis: Women’s leadership can reshape our Covid-19 response.
Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal Future in a COVID-19 world is the UN Women theme for International Women’s Day 2021. The pandemic has tested leaders at all levels and in all organisations around the world. Although women leaders are still in the minority, emerging evidence suggests that countries led by women such as New Zealand, Denmark and Taiwan may have displayed a more effective early response to the pandemic. Globally, 70 per cent of health workers and first responders are women, and women-led organisations have been vital to an effective grassroots response, including in countries like Yemen, where access to health facilities is limited.
During the pandemic, leaders of all genders have been managing rapid and unprecedented change: illness, remote working, the accelerated adoption of technology, increases in caring responsibilities and the psychological effects of what has now been almost a year of lockdown here in the UK. Reflecting on this experience, SDDirect colleagues took some time to consider the value of feminist leadership principles. Vital elements include proactive inclusion of all voices in decision-making, even when it is challenging to do so; building relationships of trust; offering and delivering support; and acting to redress the power imbalances that underlie discrimination and exclusion. These qualities are always important, but may be particularly crucial in a crisis.
It can now be said with certainty that COVID-19 is a crisis that has reinforced existing economic and social inequalities, with disproportionate effects on women and girls. We have seen increasing rates of domestic violence and trafficking and new barriers to accessing support. Girls are at increased risk of dropping out of school. Women have been on the front lines as care givers and key workers. Women with disabilities and those with diverse sexual and gender identities face further setbacks.
If we truly intend to ‘build back better’ the response to the pandemic needs to change these patterns, not reinforce them. Already there are concerning indications that opportunities to create a more inclusive and sustainable response are being missed. Ensuring access to vaccines around the world is critical, but inequitable access within countries is equally important and there are real risks facing underserved groups, including people with disabilities and women.
Yet the opportunities to do better are immense. Covid-19 is arguably the most radical global disruption to social and economic patterns of behaviour since the Second World War. While nobody knows what the ‘new normal’ will be, there is the possibility to design new more equitable, more inclusive and greener solutions, in economic regeneration, the design of services and social protection, and many other areas. | https://www.sddirect.org.uk/news/2021/03/international-women-s-day/ |
As Driver Operations Manager, you will be responsible for helping deploy Via's innovative ride-sharing technology in Berlin as we expand our European partnerships business. You will play a key operational role in the mobility revolution happening in one of Europe’s most innovative cities. This is an excellent opportunity for an operationally-savvy person with strong people skills and good project management abilities to experience the dynamics of the rapidly changing mobility industry up close.
We’re Via, and we build technology that changes the way the world moves. We've partnered with Europe's largest cities and most progressive transport leaders to launch next-generation public mobility systems in over 50 European cities – from advanced wheelchair accessible services in Berlin, to on-demand buses in London, to reimagined school transport services in rural France, and everything in between.
We pioneered the TransitTech category to ensure that the future of transportation is shared, dynamic public mobility — the kind that reduces carbon emissions across congested cities, minimizes reliance on private cars, and provides everyone with accessible, efficient, and affordable ways of getting around
With the addition of Remix into our portfolio, we created the first end-to-end TransitTech solution for cities and transit agencies, offering world-class software, service design, and operational expertise to fundamentally improve the way the world moves.
We’re committed to building and nurturing a team as diverse as the communities we serve. Bringing transportation equity to the world begins with championing equal opportunity in our own offices. All backgrounds, identities, and voices are welcomed and celebrated here. | https://stellenpakete.de/ams_layouts/vorschau/STP-572027-102021/ |
Multiple choice tests are standard practice within the academic community; therefore, the test-taker should prepare himself in advance by studying thoroughly and understanding the basic concept of the multiple choice exam. The tests consist of a variety of questions either on one subject or multiple subjects, depending on the test-giver's preferences. Most questions contain up to five potential answers, and the test-taker is to decide which is the correct answer. Most multiple choice exams are given in conjunction with another form of test, such as an essay based test or fill-in-the-blank.
Place directions on how to take the test at the top of the test paper. The directions should be clear and concise to understand for the test-taker.
Instruct the test-taker to read each question carefully and look for key words that may change the meaning of the sentence. For example, the question may read, "What is the least possible outcome for this situation?" The key word is "least," which will change the question completely; if the test-taker does not read the question carefully, he may answer for the best possible outcome.
State what color of pen is to be used to take the test. Standard black or blue ink is typical for testing; however, if the test is standardized, then a pencil may be the tool of choice to fill in the bubbles.
Instruct the test-taker to choose the best answer to her knowledge. If the answer contains more than one correct answer, then let the test-taker know that certain questions may have more than one correct answer.
Advise the test-taker how you want the question to be answered, such as circled or boxed-in. In addition, the test-taker should let the test-taker know what the point value is per question.
Notify the test-taker if there is a time limit on the multiple-choice exam.
State any additional rules for test taking in a place other than the testing header, such as no talking or cheating. | https://www.theclassroom.com/standard-multiple-choice-test-directions-8368108.html |
Washington, DC (March 11, 2020) – The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights organization, today filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Micah Jessop and Brittan Ashjian’s request for a Writ of Certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court in Jessop v. City of Fresno, et al. The two Fresno businessmen are asking the justices to decide that it violates their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures for police officers to steal from them while executing a search warrant. They are appealing from a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that granted the officers qualified immunity from being sued on the theory that the officers may not have known that their conduct was unconstitutional.
Jessop and Ashjian, who operated an automated teller machine business, sued the City of Fresno and officers Derik Kumagai, Curt Chastain, and Tomas Cantu under 42 U.S. Code § 1983—which allows Americans to sue government officials civilly for the deprivation of their constitutional rights. The business partners claimed the officers took more than $275,000 in cash and a rare coin collection from them during a 2013 raid of their business and Jessop’s home, but only logged $50,000 in seized currency into evidence.
NCLA believes the Ninth Circuit misapplied the Supreme Court’s Saucier standard for analyzing the qualified immunity defense, which follows a two-step process. First, the court is supposed to ask whether the victim has alleged a harm to his or her actual constitutional rights. Second, the court should ask whether the right was “clearly established” such that the police officer (or other state actor) knew that his or her conduct would violate constitutional rights. In 2009, though, the Supreme Court changed course in the case of Pearson v. Callahan, where it held that a court may skip the first step in rare circumstances and grant immunity to the state actor by just finding that the right in question was not clearly established.
In this case, the Ninth Circuit skipped the first step. But the Pearson Court said that where the development of constitutional law needs a court to decide something—such as whether the police violated a constitutional right—a court must decide that issue. By instead refusing to resolve whether the theft of property seized pursuant to a warrant is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, the Ninth Circuit decision effectively granted immunity to all officers throughout the Ninth Circuit accused of theft in the future.
NCLA’s brief said that the Supreme Court should summarily reverse the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Jessop, or else revisit Pearson to clarify and limit when courts may skip deciding whether plaintiffs have alleged a deprivation of their civil rights.
NCLA released the following statements upon filing its amicus brief:
“It should be blatantly obvious to police that using a search warrant as a Trojan Horse to steal $225,000 was—and always will be—an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. But it should be equally obvious to the Ninth Circuit that if that right is not clearly established, it’s the Ninth Circuit’s duty to establish it clearly for future application.”
—Michael P. DeGrandis, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
“By missing the obvious, the Jessop judges created a giant mess under which police officers throughout the Ninth Circuit will enjoy qualified immunity to steal from suspects. The Supreme Court justices do not like to stoop to error correction, but the consequences here are just too dire. This case cries out for summary reversal.”
—Mark Chenoweth, General Counsel, NCLA
ABOUT NCLA
NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLA’s public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans’ fundamental rights.
For more information visit us online at NCLAlegal.org. | https://nclalegal.org/2020/03/ncla-amicus-brief-asks-supreme-court-to-summarily-reverse-decision-granting-qualified-immunity-to-police-officers-who-stole-money-while-executing-search-warrant/ |
The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2011, at hourly intervals. The Current Moon image is the frame from this animation for the current hour.This marks the first time that accurate shadows at this level of detail are possible in such a computer simulation. The shadows are based on the global elevation map being developed from measurements by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LOLA has already taken more than 10 times as many elevation measurements as all previous missions combined.The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 12 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration.The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre Scientific Visualisation Studio
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The last sixty years of research has provided extraordinary advances of our knowledge of the reward system. Since its discovery as a neurotransmitter by Carlsson and colleagues (1), dopamine (DA) has emerged as an important mediator of reward processing. As a result, a number of electrochemical techniques have been developed to measure DA in the brain. Together, these techniques have begun to elucidate the complex roles of tonic and phasic DA signaling in reward processing and addiction. In this review, we will first provide a guide for the most commonly used electrochemical methods for DA detection and describe their utility in furthering our knowledge about DA's role in reward and addiction. Second, we will review the value of common in vitro and in vivo preparations and describe their ability to address different types of questions. Last, we will review recent data that has provided new mechanistic insight of in vivo phasic DA signaling and its role in reward processing and reward-mediated behavior.
Microdialysis is one of the most commonly used methods to measure neurotransmitter levels in the extracellular space of the brain. The microdialysis technique evolved from the push-pull cannula, an arrangement of two concentric tubes that allowed fluid to be directed into the brain and then removed. First described in the late 1960s and practically implemented in the early 1970s (33, 34), over 10,000 papers have been published examining DA levels in the brain using some form of microdialysis (key word search: DA and microdialysis, Web of Knowledge database). Microdialysis itself is a collection method and is not to be confused with methods that are often used in conjunction with microdialysis to detect analytes of interest (i.e. DA). The microdialysis probe consists of a semi-permeable membrane that allows small molecules to pass through (<20 Kd). Typically, a physiological salt solution, such as artificial cerebral spinal fluid (aCSF), is infused through the microdialysis probe. Since most analytes of interest, such as DA, are not in aCSF, they will diffuse down their concentration gradient and across the dialysis probe to be collected and sent to a detector.
Ultimately, the samples collected via microdialysis must be analyzed. Typically the volumes of samples collected are on the order of microliters, therefore, the amount of analyte is very low, often in the femtomole range. Thus, the methods used to analyze dialysate samples must be very sensitive. The most common detection methods used in conjunction with microdialysis are chromotagraphic-based techniques, such as gas (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). GC is generally too insensitive for measuring neurotransmitters, therefore, HPLC is typically employed. HPLC uses stationary phases that are contained in columns. The mobile phase and sample are pumped into the HPLC column. Each analyte in the sample will interact differently with the stationary phase, which will produce different retention times, or time it takes to emerge from the column. The retention time typically serves as a unique characteristic of an analyte and therefore provides selectivity for this technique. HPLC is usually coupled with a sensitive detection scheme such as electrochemical detection (EC) (35), florescence (36), ultraviolet (UV) (37), or mass spectrometry (MS) (38, 39).
Two types of amperometry have been used to monitor DA. Constant potential amperometry, typically referred to as amperometry, is an electrochemical technique that provides high temporal resolution with limited selectivity (Figure 1). In this method, a constant, continuous potential is applied to the working electrode and the current produced is directly proportional to the number of molecules undergoing oxidation and reduction (43, 44). If maximal temporal resolution is desired, then amperometry is ideal as it can be used to detect individual exocytotic events and provide estimates of quantal release in single cells (45). The limitation of amperometry is that the current produced by the oxidation or reduction of all molecules at the applied potential will also be detected, limiting specificity. However, the technique can be used for monitoring electrically-stimulated DA in various preparations, by confirming the validity of the signal with anatomical, pharmacological and physiological data (46). Additionally, constant potential amperometry can be combined with enzyme-based detection systems to detect non-electroactive analytes, such as acetylcholine. In chronoamperometry, the potential is periodically pulsed to a value sufficient to oxidize DA (47). Some chemical selectivity is obtained by monitoring the ratio of the current when the potential is returned to its initial value relative to that measured during the potential step. This current ratio is determined by the stability of the electrogenerated product. Additionally, Nafion, a cation exchange membrane, can be coated on the electrode to limit access of anionic species. Coating the carbon fiber with Nafion can also be applied to other voltametric techniques (discussed below). Microdialysis coupled with HPLC, however, allows for enhanced chemical selectivity compared to chronoamperometry. Amperometry may also be used in conjunction with Michaelis-Menten based modeling in order gauge functioning of the DA transporter (DAT).
Fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) provides high chemical selectivity and temporal resolution. During FSCV, the potential at the working electrode is applied as a triangular waveform, and the time between scans is about ten times as long as the time of the scan itself. This allows the cyclic voltammograms to be recorded with high temporal resolution, typically repeated at 10 Hz. While this is very good temporal resolution, it is lower than the resolution possible with constant potential amperometry (Figure 1). In FSCV, current is generated at different potentials and the electrolysis of different species is manifested as distinct peaks. The background current in FSCV is stable over short periods of time, allowing it to be digitally subtracted. The resulting background-subtracted cyclic voltammogram (CV) provides an electrochemical “fingerprint” revealing the identity of the analyte detected (44). FSCV is further advantageous in that the cyclic voltammogram is able to separate the signal of interest from most interferents such as pH through the use of principal component regression to statistically identify DA events (48). However, brain regions for DA detection must be carefully selected as the CV for DA is almost indistinguishable from the CV for norepinephrine (NE). Thus, FSCV experiments are typically performed in areas that contain primarily DA or NE. Despite this limitation, FSCV has been used to characterize phasic DA release during reward-seeking behaviors, specifically, showing that the learning of reward-predicting cues correlates to cue-evoked DA release in the NAc (49).
Rotating Disk Voltammetry (RDV) provides the most accurate measurements of transport activity. RDE theory is based on the idea of a plane with infinitesimal thickness that is rotating about its axis in solution at a constant rate (50). This motion creates drag, which pulls the solution in a direction perpendicular to the electrode. The analyte of interest is brought towards the electrode and then spun radially away via centrifugal forces. If the analyte is electroactive, then RDV can be applied to oxidize or reduce the analyte and produce a current proportional to the analyte concentration. Typically, the applied voltage is fixed at a value sufficient to electrolyze the analyte. Because of the requirement of a liquid sample, RDV is used in synaptosomal preparations, or cell or tissue suspensions.
Although not an electrochemical technique per se, radiolabeling techniques are important given their extensive use in the measurements of DA uptake. The general approach is to incubate synaptosomes or tissue slices with [3H] DA, wash off the extracellular fluid, and measure via liquid scintillation counting, the radioactivity accumulated in the tissue (67, 68). The amount of labeled DA that enters the tissue can provide an estimate of DA uptake. An alternative approach to studying DAT is to use a radioligand that binds to DAT. This approach provides a quantitative estimate of DAT number and location, rather than DA function.
Fluorescent styryl dyes, such as FM1-43, are useful tools to monitor the endocytosis and exocytosis of neuronal synaptic vesicles. FM1-43 can be packaged and released with endogenous neurotransmitters. Therefore, neurotransmitter release can be indirectly measured by detecting changes in the intensity of florescence produced by FM1-43, typically detected by two-photon microscopy. This approach is most often used with in vitro preparations such as tissue slices and cell cultures (69-72). There are two major stages for optically monitoring neurotransmitter release using FM1-43: staining and destaining. Staining is accomplished by bath application of FM1-43 to the preparation followed by electrical stimulation of cells or terminal fields to provoke endocytosis of the dye followed by a washout period. Destaining is the process caused by a second electrical stimulation, which should release vesicles that contain FM1-43. After stimulation, the intensity of florescence produced by FM1-43 decreases, indicating vesicular release. The change in florescence is a proxy for neurotransmitter release.
Synapotosomes are the simplest preparation to study neurotransmitter release and uptake (73). Synaptosomes are isolated nerve terminals or varicosities whose axonal attachments have been removed by shearing the tissue in an isosmotic solution (73). In addition, synaptosomes can be used to isolate synaptic vesicles allowing the direct study of release and uptake of DA at the vesicular level. Using synaptosomes, two common techniques have been employed to measure release and uptake kinetics with similar levels of accuracy. These are[3H] DA radiolabeling and RDV, the former being the most popular.
Single cell experiments using voltammetry provide excellent spatial and temporal resolution for measuring neurotransmitter release mechanisms (84, 85). This preparation is suitable for use with all electrochemical, electrophysiological, and radiolabelling techniques which are often used in complement. The power of using single cell preparations is that measurements can be made with high spatial accuracy in conjunction with an inverted light microscope. Historically, single cell preparations using electrochemical detection methods have been utilized to investigate catecholamine release from vesicles (84, 86-89). Original investigations used bovine adrenal cells, which contain large vesicles with slow release kinetics on the order of milliseconds (87, 88), although neuronal cells such as the giant DA neurons in Planorbus corneus have also been used (90-93). The contents of these cells can be measured beforehand via high pressure liquid chromatography to verify dopaminergic content, which then allows the use of amperometry for high temporal resolution measurements. However, when the contents of a cell have more than one major electroactive species, FSCV is required (89) for chemical selectivity.
Thin (200-400 µM) slices of brain tissue that are continually perfused with oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal fluid are viable for several hours (44). There are several advantages for using slice preparations. Slices can be placed under a microscope for more precise anatomical placement of the recording electrode, which gives this technique greater spatial resolution than that obtained in vivo. Slices are also suitable for studying the effects of local application of drugs without interference from systemic processes and without surgical placements of cannulae. Therefore, a known concentration of drug can be applied to the slice. Measurements are also easier to make in slices due to enhanced DA release upon electrical stimulation of slices when compared to in vivo stimulation. The reason for higher concentrations of DA is unclear. One potential explanation is that electrical stimulation of the slice itself is more likely to activate the terminals of dopaminergic neurons, whereas in vivo stimulation may activate a smaller population of terminals and a larger population of cell bodies, which do not depolarize easily under most stimulation protocols which utilize as small pulse width (~4ms) (99-101). An alternative contribution could be due to the demonstrated lack of basal dopamine tone and basal D2 autoreceptor activation in the slice preparation (102), resulting in little inhibitory tone. Therefore, a combination of a lack of inhibition coupled with active excitatory input may explain greater evoked DA release in slices. Additionally, since DA cells are also silent in the slice preparation (102, 103), there may be a build-up of presynaptic vesicles in the slice, leading to greater evoked DA release.
FSCV has been the most common electrochemical technique in brain slices, although brain slice preparations do not preclude chronoamperometric techniques. Unlike single cell preparations in which potential analytes can be determined ahead of time, there is no clear way to determine the analyte species present in the slice. Hence, FSCV is the most straightforward approach to studying DA uptake in brain slices because of its ability to identify specific analytes of interest. Caron and coworkers used FSCV in striatal slices to determine changes in DA uptake mice with genetic deletions of the DAT (105, 106). The uptake rate was 300 times faster in striatal tissue from wild type mice than in tissue from the DAT knockout animals whereas the rate of DA uptake in heterozygous animals was approximately one half of the rate in wild type mice. One goal of this experiment was to also verify that DAT was the only transporter responsible in the striatum for DA uptake. Hence, there are three major reasons why Giros et. al chose slice preparations. First, since there is continually flowing fluid over the slice, the authors were able to verify that the removal of DA in knockout slices was attributed to diffusion facilitated by the perfusion fluid. This verification cannot be done easily in vivo. Second, tissue preparations allow application and wash out of drug. Therefore, when NE and 5-HT uptake inhibitors were applied and washed out of the tissue, there was no change in uptake or release in either condition. Ruling out the role of NE and 5-HT transporters is important because they can also transport DA (107, 108). Third, as previously stated, larger DA release in slices allows for easier characterization of the kinetics compared to other preparations. However, some precautions must be taken with slice preparation as the higher DA release in slices versus in vivo are likely due to differences in stimulation areas. Whether this is physiologically relevant is unclear. Overall, however, brain slices with electrochemistry provide a good model for studying release and uptake in complex systems.
DA neurons fire in two distinct modes, tonic and burst firing, which leads to different types of DA release at terminals in target regions. Tonic DA firing occurs at a frequency of 3-8 Hz and leads to DA release that results in steady-state DA levels. In contrast, burst firing occurs with intra-burst frequencies of ~12 to ~20 Hz and leads to transient, phasic increases in DA concentration ranging from 10 nM to 1 µM (26, 28, 30, 118-120). Different regulatory systems are capable of selective modulation of tonic and phasic DA signaling. For example, glutamatergic/cholinergic afferents from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT) to the VTA contribute to phasic DA firing/release, whereas GABAergic input from the ventral pallidum (VP) to the VTA modulates tonic DA/release (121). Distinct characteristics of phasic and tonic DA firing/release suggest that these differential temporal dynamics of DA release might have distinct roles in physiology and behavior. Therefore, distinguishing tonic and phasic contributions of DA release may shed light on DA-related central nervous disorders such as Parkinson's, schizophrenia, and addiction.
DA neurons in the VTA and substantia nigra (SN) project to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), dorsal striatum, prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. Phasic firing of DA cells activates excitatory, low affinity DA D1-like receptors, leading to activation of the direct pathway of the basal ganglia and facilitation of long term potentiation (LTP) at excitatory cortico-striatal synapses (122, 123). In contrast, tonic DA activity is proposed to activate DA D2-like receptors, producing long term depression (LTD) of the medium spiny neurons (MNS) within NAc and dorsal striatum and leading to suppressed activity of indirect pathway of the basal ganglia (122, 124). It has been proposed that coordination of D1 and D2 activation, by controlling striatal plasticity, modulates motor and cognitive function and facilitates behavioral flexibility (124). In line with these electrophysiological results is the recent electrochemical data demonstrating that phasic DA signaling in NAc selectively modulates excitatory but not inhibitory responses of NAc neurons during reward-seeking behavior (125). These observations suggest that phasic DA selectively activates discrete NAc microcircuits that influence goal-directed behaviors (125).
Burst activity of midbrain DA neurons resulting in transient increase in synaptic DA (123) is mediated by large amplitude, slow inactivating excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). Burst firing of DA neurons and subsequent DA transients are modulated by excitatory afferents from the midbrain pedunculopontine tegmental (PPTg) and laterodorsal tegmental (LDT) nuclei, which process cue-related sensory information to DA neurons (126-128). These afferents have been shown to be both glutamatergic and cholinergic, implicating the involvement of glutamatergic and/or cholinergic signaling in the modulation of DA neuronal activity. Indeed, activation of the PPTg results in burst firing in SNc DA cells and striatal phasic DA release (121) - an effect blocked by intra-SNc infusions of nonselective nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) antagonists (129). In addition, LDT projections to the VTA have been demonstrated to evoke burst firing of VTA DA cells (130, 131). Specifically, pharmacological activation of the VTA muscarinic ACh receptors (mAChRs) and nAChRs produces increased DA release in DA terminals, whereas blockade of VTA mAChRs and nAChRs attenuates phasic DA signaling in the NAc (121, 126, 132-134). Furthermore, inhibition of nicotinic or muscarinic receptors in the VTA attenuates LDT stimulated phasic DA signaling in the nucleus accumbens (126).
A growing body of literature examining DA signaling in freely moving rats continues to delineate the complex role of DA in reward mechanisms. For instance, the frequency of naturally occurring phasic DA in rat dorsal and ventral striatum has been shown to increase in response to rewarding events such as novelty, social interaction, and experimenter delivered or self-administered drugs of abuse (114-116, 138-141). Interestingly, cues associated with both natural and pharmacological rewards produce time-locked DA transients in the NAc (49, 138, 142, 143). Similarly, DA transients also occur in the NAc shell during intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) in response to the intracranial stimulus as well as to the conditioned stimuli that predict reward availability (144). Furthermore, phasic DA contributes to the maintenance of self-administration behavior, as DA transients in the NAc core precede lever depression in rats trained for cocaine self-administration and electrically evoked phasic DA release is sufficient to promote cocaine self-administration behavior (138, 141). These observations suggest that phasic DA may play a crucial role in incentive learning and goal-directed behaviors and are consistent with the idea that DA modulates reward-seeking behaviors (122, 145, 146). Interestingly, recent evidence points to a selective role of phasic DA in NAc in encoding anticipated benefits but not costs to obtain food reward in rats trained on a decision-making task (147). Similarly, the magnitude of the cue-elicited phasic DA firing and release has been shown to depend on the size of the reward, the time to reward delivery and the probability of receiving a reward (148, 149). In contrast, aversive stimuli such as quinine taste, stimuli conditioned with electric shock, or delayed cocaine availability modulates phasic DA signaling by producing a decrease in phasic DA levels detected with FSCV (136, 150). These observations suggest that phasic DA might encode the attribution of salience and/or valence to the environmentally salient stimuli. Taken together, the data suggest that phasic DA signaling plays an important role in reinforcement learning.
Several lines of evidence point to a role for phasic DA in reinforcement learning. During Pavlovian training for food reward, both burst firing of midbrain DA neurons and phasic DA transients in NAc shift from primary reward to the reward-predictive stimulus (142, 151). This phasic DA plasticity is also apparent during ICSS training with a conditional stimulus (CS). Initially, DA transients are only seen at ICSS delivery. However, with increasing number of repeated parings with the CS and ICSS delivery, DA transients begin to emerge and increase in response to CS – a process proposed to underlie S-R (stimulus-response) associative learning. Furthermore, ICSS extinction leads to the decrease and eventual elimination of CS-evoked DA transients across trials – an effect accompanied by significant decline in goal-directed behaviors. Furthermore, reinstatement of ICSS behavior is accompanied by the return of DA transients to pre-extinction amplitudes in response to the CS (49). Such results, showing that phasic DA release is associated with a CS that predicts reward, are in line with theories of reward-prediction error, in which DA neurons responsiveness encodes the predictive value of stimuli during associative learning (152). More recently, increased phasic DA encoding during S-R learning has also been demonstrated to reflect the incentive salience of the CS (153).
While microdialysis studies demonstrate that alcohol, nicotine, opiates, psychostimulants, and cannabinoids, increase DA levels (41, 157), recent in vivo FSCV studies have highlighted the importance of phasic DA signaling physiological responses to cocaine and in cocaine-mediated behavior. While cocaine self-administration behavior is mediated by cocaine inhibition of the DAT (158), cocaine also increases phasic DA release, in freely moving rats and this is likely a consequence of phasic firing of the VTA DA neurons (159). Interestingly, cocaine-induced increases in phasic DA release are more pronounced in the shell of NAc in comparison to the NAc core (118). This subregion difference is due to DA autoreceptor function, since it is abolished by DA D2 autoreceptor blockade before cocaine administration. These observations implicate that cocaine directly increases DA release in a regionally specific manner and demonstrates the significance of autoregulation in cocaine-evoked DA transmission (118, 160).
During cocaine self-administration behavior, DA transients occur in the NAc core both pre- and post-response (ie lever depression resulting in i.v. cocaine administration and cue presentation). The pre-response DA transients are associated with the lever approach, whereas post-response DA peaks are time-locked to cocaine predictive cues, as discussed above. Furthermore, pre-response DA appears to contributes to the maintenance of self-administration behavior, as electrically evoked phasic DA release is sufficient to promote cocaine self-administration behavior (138, 163). Interestingly, only the post-response DA release is subject to change in response to extinction or reinstatement procedures (141). Therefore, changes in phasic DA signaling appear to reflect associative processes linking cues with drug rewards. These observations suggest that phasic DA may play a crucial role in incentive learning and goal-directed behaviors and are consistent with the idea that DA modulates reward-seeking behaviors (122, 145, 146).
Several lines of evidence suggest that norepinephrine (NE) signaling in VTA modulates DA neuronal activity and DA release at terminals. It has been demonstrated that (i) the locus ceruleus – a major source of NE in the CNS - projects to the VTA (165, 166); (ii) NE terminals make synaptic contacts onto midbrain DA neurons (167); (iii) α-1 and α-2 adrenoceptors are present within the VTA (168, 169) and (iv) blockade of α-1 adrenoceptors as well as activation of α-2 adrenoceptors reduces burst firing in DA cells (170-172). These observations suggest that the NE system may modulate phasic DA signaling. The orexin/hypocretin system is also capable of modulating phasic DA release. Afferent projections from the lateral hypothalamus provide the source of orexin in the VTA (173-175). In addition, orexin release onto VTA neurons activates DA cells and produces DA release at the DA cell terminal fields (174, 176-178). Furthermore, orexin signaling facilitates cocaine-induced glutamate-dependent LTP in the VTA (179). Several lines of evidence suggest a role for orexin in reward-seeking behavior (173-175). Blockade of VTA orexin signaling decreases both basal and cocaine-evoked phasic DA release in NAc core as well as motivation to self-administer cocaine (180). In addition, activation of the orexin system by hypocretin-1 infusion into the VTA increases the effects of cocaine on tonic and phasic DA signaling as well as the motivation to self-administer cocaine (181). | https://dentisty.org/12-wojciech-solecki.html |
Bayesian statistical techniques can be applied when there are several radiocarbon dates to be calibrated. Like gas counters, bad hookup liquid scintillation counters require shielding and anticoincidence counters. Glaciology Hydrogeology Marine geology. This effectively combines the two uranium-lead decay series into one diagram.
How Does Carbon Dating Work
Levin Krane points out that future carbon dating will not be so reliable because of changes in the carbon isotopic mix. How the carbon clock works Carbon has unique properties that are essential for life on Earth. This result was uncalibrated, as the need for calibration of radiocarbon ages was not yet understood.
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They rely more on dating methods that link into historical records. The principal modern standard used by radiocarbon dating labs was the Oxalic Acid I obtained from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland. Wise, letter to the editor, and replies by M. However, things are not quite so simple. Decaying radioactive particles in solid rock cause spherical zones of damage to the surrounding crystal structure.
- It is not always possible to recognize re-use.
- The main mechanism that brings deep water to the surface is upwelling, which is more common in regions closer to the equator.
- Clearly, there are factors other than age responsible for the straight lines obtained from graphing isotope ratios.
- This only makes sense with a time-line beginning with the creation week thousands of years ago.
- It must be noted though that radiocarbon dating results indicate when the organism was alive but not when a material from that organism was used.
Photos Submit to Our Contest. Other ore bodies seemed to show similar evidence. There is plenty of evidence that the radioisotope dating systems are not the infallible techniques many think, and that they are not measuring millions of years. Rapid reversals during the flood year and fluctuations shortly after would have caused the field energy to drop even faster.
Fluorine absorption Nitrogen dating Obsidian hydration Seriation Stratigraphy. For example, researchers applied posterior reasoning to the dating of Australopithecus ramidus fossils. These techniques are applied to igneous rocks, and are normally seen as giving the time since solidification. Furthermore, different techniques should consistently agree with one another.
It makes no sense at all if man appeared at the end of billions of years. Carbon is made when cosmic rays knock neutrons out of atomic nuclei in the upper atmosphere. Canon of Kings Lists of kings Limmu. Carbon is a stable isotope, meaning its amount in any material remains the same year-after-year, century-after-century. Humphreys has suggested that this may have occurred during creation week and the flood.
Researchers had previously thought that many ideas spread by diffusion through the continent, or by invasions of peoples bringing new cultural ideas with them. To produce a curve that can be used to relate calendar years to radiocarbon years, a sequence of securely dated samples is needed which can be tested to determine their radiocarbon age. This helium originally escaped from rocks. By contrast, shin min methane created from petroleum showed no radiocarbon activity because of its age. Chinese Japanese Korean Vietnamese.
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Calibrated dates should also identify any programs, such as OxCal, used to perform the calibration. It was unclear for some time whether the wiggles were real or not, but they are now well-established. Numerous models, or stories, your ecards dating have been developed to explain such data. This also has to be corrected for.
Other factors affecting carbon dating
Over the next thirty years many calibration curves were published using a variety of methods and statistical approaches. The strength of the Earth's magnetic field affects the amount of cosmic rays entering the atmosphere. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. Only those that undergo alpha decay releasing a helium nucleus.
Bristlecone Pine Trees
Geodesy Geomagnetism Geophysical survey Seismology Tectonophysics. In this method, the carbon sample is first converted to carbon dioxide gas before measurement in gas proportional counters takes place. American Chemical Society. As radiocarbon dates began to prove these ideas wrong in many instances, it became apparent that these innovations must sometimes have arisen locally. In addition, a sample with a standard activity is measured, to provide a baseline for comparison.
Several formats for citing radiocarbon results have been used since the first samples were dated. Gentry, Creation's Tiny Mystery. Multiple papers have been published both supporting and opposing the criticism. Also, the Genesis flood would have greatly upset the carbon balance. Government Printing Office, relative dating association Washington D.
Carbon dating
- Steve Austin sampled basalt from the base of the Grand Canyon strata and from the lava that spilled over the edge of the canyon.
- In these cases a date for the coffin or charcoal is indicative of the date of deposition of the grave goods, because of the direct functional relationship between the two.
- Background samples analyzed are usually geological in origin of infinite age such as coal, lignite, and limestone.
- Are we suggesting that evolutionists are conspiring to massage the data to get what they want? | https://christianhistoryandarttours.com/carbon-dating-techniques.html |
Autophagy plays an important role in the development and pathogenesis of various diseases. It can be induced by a variety of events such as hypoxia, nutrient-starvation, and mechanical damage. Many neurological disorders such Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, cerebral ischemia, and acute spinal cord injury (ASCI), are closely related to autophagy. However, therapeutic strategies to manipulate autophagy have not yet been fully deciphered due to the limited knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying autophagy in these disorders.
ASCI is a severe condition characterized by major disability and poor prognosis. Due to the fact that pathological processes of secondary injury in ASCI usually last for several days or even months, the study and treatment of this disease have mainly focused on reducing the progression. Animal studies have shown that rat models with different degrees of contusion in the lower thoracic spinal cord...
Notes
Acknowledgements
This insight was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81301047). | https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12264-019-00368-7 |
Congratulations to our May Swimmers of the Month!
Gold: Paige MacLeod. Paige has been consistent with best times all season and she likes to get up and race. Even in season she races her best. Consistent attendance and hard work helps her achieve her in season bests. Keep it up Paige !
Silver: Leif Bowman. Leif had a great month. He has become very focused on his goals for swimming. He has had some great swims in may. He has qualified for some eastern Canadian championship. Congrats Leif !
Bronze: Jessica Sideris. Jessica has had an awesome year full of personal bests, however she rocked the Midtown Audi Meet at the Pan-Am pool! Jess has really improved the technical aspects of her stroke as well. So proud of all you have accomplished this year but especially this month. Way to go!
Blue: Victoria Petroff. Victoria joined the blue group after the Rainbow Classic and has been an awesome addition to the group. Every practice she is the first person on the pool deck and always pushes herself during practices. She pushes herself and everyone in the group around her. Her success in the pool is attributed to her dedication, her attendance, and her communication with her coaches. Congratulations Victoria, keep up the great work!!
Red: Zoe Bronilla. Zoe has really worked hard the last few months and it has shown in her recent meet results. She is a very mature and dedicated athlete and is always the first one into the pool, eager to get her practice started. She has a very strong work ethic and seeks harder pace times in our practices which she balances on a weekly basis playing with her high level rep volleyball team.She is a pleasure to coach and I have enjoyed having her as part of my Red group.
White: Jaiden Ali. Jaiden had a fantastic swim meet at the MAC Rising Star LC meet in Markham and achieved a total of 6 best times. His best stroke, breaststroke, looks incredible as he works his strong kick and glides at the surface. Even Jaiden’s butterfly has come a long way, after competing in 50m and 100m fly events. Continue to attend practice more regularly, and you will be amazed at the accomplishments you can attain.
Dev C: Matthew Paguirigan. Matthew was also a new swimmer this season and has excelled immensely. He has the fundamentals of all of his strokes mastered, but with more endurance and work on timing his strokes will be in amazing shape! Awesome job Matt, and all the best over the summer.
Dev B: Lauren Melchior. Lauren is one of the stronger swimmers in her group, as she is able to make the fastest pace times and train through hard sets. She is encouraged to stay focused on dryland and stroke corrections, as these tips will make your strokes more efficient in the long run. Amazing season this year Lauren, enjoy your summer!
Dev A: Keira McGrath. Keira always comes on deck wit a positive attitude and ready to swim. Although her favourite stroke is breaststroke, she has really worked hard in sets to better her butterfly and backstroke. Keira was a new swimmer this year and should be excited by her progress, as her coach is eager to see her continued growth next season! Enjoy your summer, Keira! | http://www.pickswimclub.com/may-swimmers-of-the-month/ |
The present invention relates generally to power distribution systems and, more particularly, to power distribution systems for offices and other environments in which power is supplied to a large number of computers or other pulsed, non-linear electrical loads.
Office power distribution systems supply electrical power to a variety of single phase and three-phase electrical loads. Typical loads have, in the past, included motors, lighting fixtures, and heating systems. These loads are, for the most part, linear in nature. When an alternating current is applied to a linear load, the current increases proportionately as the voltage increases and decreases proportionately as the voltage decreases. Resistive loads operate with a power factor of unity (i.e., the current is in phase with the voltage). In inductive circuits, current lags voltage by some phase angle resulting in circuits which operate with a power factor of less than one. In a capacitive circuit, the current leads the voltage. However, in all of these circuits, current is always proportional to the voltage and, when a sinusoidal voltage is applied to the load, the resulting current is also sinusoidal.
Until recently, almost all loads found in a typical office environment were linear loads. However, computers, variable speed motor drives, and other so-called "electronic" loads now comprise a significant and growing portion of the electrical load present in offices. These electronic loads are, for the most part, non-linear in nature. These loads have become a significant factor in many office power distribution systems, and their presence has lead to a number of problems and office power system malfunctions.
A non-linear load is one in which the load current is not proportional to the instantaneous voltage and, in many cases, is not continuous. It may, for example, be switched on for only part of a 360 electrical degree alternating current cycle.
The presence of non-linear loads on a power system can cause numerous problems. Typical office power distribution systems operate as three- phase 208/120 volt systems with a shared neutral conductor serving as a return path for currents from each of the three phases. Linear loads which are balanced among the three phases produce currents which typically cancel in the shared neutral conductor resulting in relatively low net current flow in the neutral. Pulsed currents produced by non- linear loads do not cancel in the neutral conductor because they typically do not occur simultaneously. These currents tend to add on the neutral even when the three phases of the system are carefully balanced. The resulting high current flows in the neutral conductor can lead to severe overheating or burnout of neutral conductors, and increased noise levels on the neutral. Pulsed, non-linear currents further cause relatively large variations in the instantaneous power demanded from the generator. These variations can cause problems and inefficiencies on the generator and distribution side of the transforming device. Moreover, pulsed, non-linear currents may cause typical induction watt-hour meters to show large calibration errors.
An object of the present invention is to provide a power distribution system for an office environment in which the adverse affects of pulsed, non-linear loads are reduced.
This object is achieved in a power distribution system in which three- phase electrical power is supplied to a primary side of a power transforming device, and in which at least six phases and a shared neutral conductor are provided at the secondary side of the transforming device. A plurality of electrical loads, including non-linear loads, are distributed between each of the six phases and the shared neutral so as to reduce by current cancellation the current which would otherwise flow in the shared neutral conductor due to the presence of the non-linear loads. Each of the first, second and third of the six phases provided at the output of the transforming device are preferably separated from each other by 120 electrical degrees. The fourth, fifth and sixth of these phases are also preferably separated from each other by 120 electrical degrees, and are from the first, second and third phases, respectively, by 180 electrical degrees. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, at least 12 phases are produced at the secondary side of the power transforming device. Each of these 12 phases is preferably separated from the other phases by 30 electrical degrees. In this embodiment, the 12 phases may be viewed as two sets of six phases, with each of the phases in a first of the two sets shifted relative to respective phases of the second set, so as to reduce variations in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source which would otherwise occur due to the presence of the non-linear loads. In this preferred embodiment, the six phases in the first set are preferably shifted by 30 electrical degrees relative to respective ones of the six phases in the second set. This may be advantageously accomplished by shifting each set of six phases by 15 electrical degrees in opposite directions relative to the phase angles of the incoming power source.
Other alternative embodiments of the invention which may be particularly useful in smaller power systems, or in retrofitting existing power systems, include systems which may have one, two or three input phases, and two, four, or six output phases, respectively. Illustrative embodiments of these systems may incorporate an autotransformer which is serially connected to an input phase to generate a second output circuit having a phase angle which has been shifted by 180 electrical degrees relative to the input circuit. This shifted circuit, when sharing a neutral with a circuit having the original phase, would offer the current cancellation advantage discussed above.
Still other alternative embodiments of the power distribution system of the present invention may be particularly useful in power systems where the electrical loads, including non-linear loads, are remotely located from one another. These systems include one or more transforming devices each having two or three input phases supplied to a primary side of the transforming device by an input source of three- phase power, two, four, or six output phases provided at a secondary side of the transforming device, and a shared neutral conductor provided at the secondary side of the transforming device for each group of two output phases.
Each group of two output phases includes a first output phase and a second output phase. The first and second output phases are separated from one another by approximately 180 electrical degrees. The electrical loads are distributed between the first and second output phases and the shared neutral conductor so as to reduce, by current cancellation, current which would otherwise flow in the shared neutral conductor due to the presence of the non-linear loads. In addition, each first output phase is shifted from one of the phases of the input source by approximately 15 electrical degrees and each second output phase is shifted from that same phase of the input source by approximately 195 electrical degrees. This shifting helps reduce the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source which would otherwise occur due to the presence of the non-linear loads. To the extent that there are 12 electrical loads, or electrical loads in multiples of 12, maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source is achieved through the use of a power distribution system having six two- output phase transforming devices, three four-output phase transforming devices, two six-output phase transforming devices, or any combination of these such as two two-output phase transforming devices and two four- output phase transforming devices. An advantage of these other alternative embodiments of the power distribution system of the present invention is that this maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source can be achieved with electrical loads at various remote locations. That is, all of the electrical loads do not have to be located in the same immediate area in order to achieve this reduction.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a switched power supply circuit of the type commonly used in devices such as personal computers.
FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) show the waveforms of the input line voltage and line current associated with power supply circuit 10 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic wiring diagram of a prior art office power distribution system.
FIG. 4a graphically illustrates the line voltages present on each of phases L1, L2 and L3 in the circuits of FIG. 3.
FIG. 4b graphically illustrates the current waveform for each phase of the circuits shown in FIG. 3 when a power supply circuit for the type shown in FIG. 1 is connected between each phase and the shared neutral.
FIG. 4c graphically illustrates the magnitude of the current flowing on the shared neutral conductor as a result of the currents illustrated in FIG. 4b.
FIG. 5 shows a schematic wiring diagram of a power distribution system of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a vector phase diagram which illustrates the phase separation existing between phases L1-L6 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 graphically illustrates the current waveform for each of phases L1-L6 of FIG. 5 when a power supply circuit of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 is connected between each phase and a shared neutral conductor.
FIG. 8 graphically illustrates variations in the level of power drawn by the loads connected between phases L1-L6 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 9 graphically illustrates the variations in the level of power drawn by the loads connected between phases L1-L6 and the shared neutral of FIG. 5, and by an identical set of loads identically connected between phases L7-L12 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 10 shows a summation of the waveforms illustrated in FIG. 8.
FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a transforming device constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 12 shows a schematic wiring diagram of an alternative embodiment of a power distribution system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 13 shows a schematic wiring diagram of another alternative embodiment of a power distribution system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 14 shows a schematic wiring diagram of yet another alternative embodiment of a power distribution system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
FIG. 15 shows a schematic wiring diagram of an alternative embodiment of a power distribution system similar to the system shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 16 shows a schematic wiring diagram of an alternative embodiment of a power distribution system similar to the system shown in FIG. 14.
FIG. 17 is a schematic wiring diagram of an embodiment of a two- output phase transforming device of the present invention and input connections for six transforming devices that can be used to generate six output phase sequences shown in FIG. 18.
FIG. 18 is a vector phase diagram which illustrates the shifted output phase sequences of the transforming devices of the power distribution system of the present invention that are used to achieve maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from an input source which supplies power to the distribution system.
FIG. 19 is a schematic wiring diagram of a four-output phase transforming device of the present invention and six possible input connections for the four-output transforming device which will yield various output phase sequences shown in FIG. 18.
FIG. 20 is a schematic wiring diagram of a six-output phase transforming device of the present invention and six possible input connections for the six-output transforming device which will yield various output phase sequences shown in FIG. 18.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a switched power supply circuit 10 of the type commonly used in personal computers. In power supply circuit 10 of FIG. 1, line voltage is rectified by a bridge rectifier 12 at the input of circuit 10. The resulting DC power charges capacitor C. A chopping circuit 14 is used to convert the resulting DC power back to AC power for subsequent transformation and regulation as required by the particular device incorporating the power supply.
FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) show the waveforms of the input line voltage and line current associated with power supply circuit 10 of FIG. 1. Since the diodes in bridge circuit 12 conduct only when the forward biasing voltage exceeds the voltage across capacitor C, line current flows into power supply circuit 10 in accordance with the waveform shown in FIG. 2(b). As shown, the line current drawn by power supply circuit 10 consists of a series of positive and negative peaks which are aligned with the positive and negative peaks of the line voltage, and which are separated by relatively long periods during which no line current flows. The "dwell" or conduction angle of each peak is typically 40-50 electrical degrees, but will vary in accordance with the demand for power at the output of power supply circuit 10.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic wiring diagram of a power distribution system for office power systems commonly used in the prior art. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, three-phase power is supplied from utility lines 20 at a relatively high voltage to the primary of a transforming device 22. The secondary of transforming device 22 provides three-phase power, typically at 480 volts, via conductors 24 to a service entrance or panel 26 of a customer. In this instance, service panel 26 may be located in an office building 28, schematically represented by dashed lines in FIG. 3. Connected to the output side of panel 26 are a plurality of distribution circuits represented generally by circuits 29 and 30. Circuits 29 and 30 typically include three-phase transforming devices 32 and 34, respectively. Electrical power is provided to the primary sides of transforming devices 32 and 34 from panel 26 at 480 volts (line to line) and is stepped down to voltage levels of 208 volts (line to line) and 120 volts (line to neutral). The secondary or output sides of transforming devices 32 and 34 are connected to a variety of loads, including lighting loads, computers and convenience outlets. Loads are typically connected between one of the three line conductors L1, L2 and L3, and a shared neutral conductor N. A separate ground conductor is also provided. Voltages on lines L1, L2 and L3 are 120 electrical degrees out of phase. When resistive loads are connected between each phase conductor and the shared neutral in a balanced manner, no current flows in the shared neutral due to current cancellation effects resulting from the relative phase relationships existing between the voltages on line conductors L1, L2 and L3.
FIG. 4(a) graphically illustrates the line voltages present on each of phases L1, L2 and L3 in the circuits of FIG. 3. As illustrated, each phase is separated from, or shifted relative to, the other two phases by 120 electrical degrees. FIG. 4(b) graphically illustrates the current waveform for each phase when a power supply circuit of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 is connected between each phase conductor and the shared neutral conductor N. As discussed in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 above, line current flows in each phase for only a portion of each half cycle due to the design of the power supply circuit.
FIG. 4 (c) graphically illustrates the magnitude of the current flowing on the shared neutral conductor N as a result of the currents illustrated in FIG. 4 (b). As is apparent from FIG. 4 (c), all of the current flow is present in the shared neutral conductor, notwithstanding the fact that equal loads are connected between each phase and the neutral (i.e., the loads are balanced). Due to the "pulsed" nature of the current flow occurring in each phase, current cancellation effects which might otherwise reduce or eliminate current flowing in the shared neutral conductor do not reduce or eliminate current in the neutral in this instance. As long as the conduction angles of the pulses illustrated in FIG. 4 (b) are 60° or less, current cancellation will not occur in the neutral conductor since there is no "overlapping" of currents from the individual phases.
FIG. 5 shows an electrical power distribution system in which the problem of excessive neutral conductor currents of the type illustrated in FIG. 4 (c) is addressed. Elements 20-28 of FIG. 5 are essentially identical to corresponding elements of FIG. 3 and, thus, have been numbered accordingly. Circuits 36 and 38 differ, however, from circuits 29 and 30. Specifically, circuits 36 and 38 include transforming devices 40 and 42 which transform the three-phase, 480 volt input power to a six- phase, 208 volt (line-to-line) output to provide six phases (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5 and L6 in circuit 36 and L7, L8, L9, L10, L11 and L12 in circuit 38), each of which is separated by 60 electrical degrees from the others. FIG. 6 is a vector phase diagram which illustrates the phase separation existing between phases L1-L6. As illustrated in FIG. 6, phases L1, L2 and L3 are separated by 180 electrical degrees from phases L4, L5 and L6, respectively.
FIG. 7 illustrates the current flowing in each of phases L1-L6 when a power supply circuit of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 is connected between each of these phase conductors and the shared neutral conductor N. As illustrated in FIG. 7, each of the current peaks caused by current flow in phases L1, L2 and L3 is offset by an equal and opposite current flowing in phases L4, L5 and L6. Thus, the net current flow in the shared neutral conductor N as a result of the loads illustrated in FIG. 7 is zero. In other words, "pulsed" currents of the type illustrated in FIG. 2(b) flowing in the shared neutral conductor as a result of the loads connected between phases L1, L2 and L3 and the shared neutral are offset or cancelled by equal and opposite currents flowing in the shared neutral due to similar loads connected between phases L4, L5 and L6 and the shared neutral. To the extent the loads on phases separated by 180 electrical degrees are identical, all currents, including the fundamental and all harmonics, cancel. The currents illustrated in FIG. 7 are, of course, idealized. In practical applications, "perfect" balance between opposing phases will rarely be achieved and is not necessary to provide the benefit of substantial reductions of current which might otherwise flow in the neutral conductor due to the presence of pulsed, non-linear loads in the system. References to "balanced" loads or "balancing" of loads in this application are not to be taken as requiring that precisely the same number of loads be connected between each phase and the shared neutral conductor.
The six-phase arrangement described above may be used to effectively reduce or eliminate excess neutral currents flowing in the neutral conductor on the load side of transforming devices 40 and 42 of circuits 36 and 38, respectively. Illustrated in FIG. 8, however, is a separate problem which still exists on the generator side of transforming devices 40 and 42. FIG. 8 shows a graphical representation of the instantaneous power demanded by circuits 36 and 38 operating with the loads illustrated in FIG. 7. Unlike the neutral currents on the load side of devices 40 and 42, the instantaneous power demanded by each load connected between phases L1-L6 and the shared neutral N does not cancel, but is additive to produce the "pulsed" power demand illustrated in FIG. 8. This type of power demand is more difficult for an electric utility to satisfy than is an essentially constant, steady demand. Indeed, in some locations, utility customers connecting such loads to the utility system will be penalized in the form of higher rates or other assessments.
The condition illustrated in FIG. 8 can be addressed, and substantially improved, by shifting the respective phases of circuits 36 and 38 relative to one another. In other words, phases L7-L12 of circuit 38 can be shifted relative to the respective phases L1-L6 of circuit 36 to smooth the overall demand for power, as viewed from the generator side of transforming devices 40 and 42. FIG. 9 illustrates the power demanded by circuits 36 and 38, respectively, after each of the phases L7-L12 of circuit 38 are shifted by 30 electrical degrees relative to the corresponding phases L1-L6 of circuit 36. FIG. 10 illustrates the sum of the two waveforms shown in FIG. 9, and thus illustrates the power demand as seen by the utility system on the generator side of transforming devices 40 and 42. As is readily apparent, the power demand illustrated in FIG. 10 is much more constant and steady than that illustrated in FIG. 8 (the difference between the peak value and the average value of the waveform of FIG. 10 is approximately 8%). This appears much more like a resistive load to the generator. In addition to easing other problems on the generator side of the transformer, this smoothing of the power demand tends to correct the large calibration shifts which occur in inductive watt-hour meters due to the presence of the pulsed, non-linear load currents.
As noted, FIG. 9 illustrates the power demanded by circuits 36 and 38, respectively, after each of the phases of circuit 38 are shifted by 30 electrical degrees relative to the corresponding phases of circuit 36. There are several ways in which this relative phase shift can be accomplished. However, it may be advantageous to achieve this relative separation by shifting phases L1-L6 of circuit 36 by 15 electrical degrees in one direction (relative to, for instance, the incoming phases), and shifting phases L7-L12 of circuit 38 by 15 degrees in the opposite direction. This arrangement may result in additional "smoothing" of the instantaneous power demanded from the generator due to the likely presence of other loads which are "in-phase" with the incoming power source.
Although the arrangement in FIG. 5 utilizes two transforming devices (40 and 42), the respective outputs of which are phase shifted to reduce the relative magnitudes of the power "pulses" on the generator side of the transformer, other arrangements may be used to accomplish this result. For example, a single transforming device having a twelve- phase output may also be used. Further, "smoothing" of the instantaneous power demanded from the generator can be accomplished in a system having fewer phases, and in which neutral current cancellation on the load side does not occur. For example, a system having a three-phase input and a three phase output in which each of the output phases is shifted, for example, by 30 electrical degrees relative to each of the respective input phases will smooth the power demanded from the generator by pulsed, non-linear loads. This arrangement will provide benefits to the utility company (or other power provider), even in the absence of the current cancellation benefits on the load side discussed above.
FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a transforming device 50 which can be used in accordance with the present invention. Device 50 has a delta- connected primary which provides power to three primary windings 52, 54 and 56. The respective secondaries associated with each of the primary windings comprise main secondary windings 58, 60 and 62, and a plurality of smaller windings labeled T1, T2 and T3, respectively. These smaller windings are connected in series with one or the other of each side of secondary windings 58, 60 and 62, as illustrated, to provide a 12- phase output in which, for example, phases L1-L6 are separated from each other by 60 electrical degrees, phases L7-L12 are separated from each other by 60 electrical degrees, and phases L1-L6 are each shifted 15 electrical degrees in one direction (relative to the input power source) and phases L7-L12 are each shifted 15 electrical degrees in the other direction.
Using a device such as that illustrated in FIG. 11, loads can be distributed between phases L1-L6 and L7-L12 so as to effectively eliminate, or reduce, current on the shared neutral conductor N on the load side of the transformer. Phases L1-L6 can further be shifted, relative to respective phases L7-L12, to reduce the instantaneous magnitude of the power demands on the generator side of the transformer. In "ideal" circumstances, loads will be evenly distributed between each of the phases and neutral to achieve maximum reduction of current in the neutral conductor, and the two groups of six-phases will be uniformly shifted to smooth the instantaneous power demanded from the generator to the greatest degree. However, under more realistic conditions, load distributions which are not precisely even, and varying degrees of relative phase shifting, may be most effective in mitigating the problems discussed above. The ability to "tune" the system by periodically re- distributing loads and adjusting relative phase shifts may be desirable and justifiable in particular circumstances. In large installations, additional six-phase and/or twelve-phase circuits, utilizing varying degrees of phase shifting, may further reduce the negative effects caused by large concentrations of loads such as that shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 12 shows a schematic wiring diagram of an alternative embodiment of the present invention which may be particularly advantageous in smaller power systems and/or in retrofitting existing installations. The system illustrated in FIG. 12 is similar in many respects to the prior art system illustrated in FIG. 3 and like reference numerals are used to indicate like elements, accordingly. However, in the circuit of FIG. 12, an additional element, in the form of transforming device 70 has been added. The primary side of transforming device 70 is connected to the three-phase output of device 32. The three-phase secondary output of device 70 (i.e., phases L4, L5 and L6) may be shifted by 180 electrical degrees, relative to phases L1, L2 and L3, respectively, to reduce or eliminate cur:cent flow in the shared neutral conductor resulting from connection of a plurality of pulsed, non-linear loads between the respective phases and the neutral. Alternatively, each of phases L4, L5 and L6 may be shifted by 30 electrical degrees, for instance, to smooth the demand for power on the generator side of device 32. Device 32 may also be wound to shift phases L1, L2 and L3 relative to the phases of the input power source by, for instance, 15 electrical degrees in the direction opposite the 30 degree shift effected by device 70.
FIGS. 13 and 14 show schematic wiring diagrams of additional alternative embodiments of the present invention which, like the arrangement of FIG. 12, may be particularly advantageous in smaller power systems and/or in retrofitting existing installations. These systems also illustrate the manner in which an autotransformer may be used in the invention. FIG. 13 shows an arrangement 72 which includes an input 74 having a single line conductor L1 and a neutral conductor N. An autotransformer 76 is connected on a first end 78 to input conductor L1. The other end 80 of autotransformer 76 is connected to an output conductor designated L2. Thus, the output 82 of arrangement 72 comprises conductors (or phases) L1 and L2, and the neutral conductor N. Neutral conductor N is also connected to a center tap 84 of autotransformer 76.
In the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 13, two output circuits are provided: L1-N and L2-N. The phase of the L2-N circuit is shifted by 180 electrical degrees relative to circuit L1-N. Accordingly, if non- linear loads are evenly distributed between these two circuits, the desired cancellation of neutral currents on shared neutral conductor N will occur.
FIG. 14 shows a similar arrangement 86 in which two input phases L1 and L2 are similarly connected to respective autotransformers 88 and 90. The resulting output circuits are L1-N, L2-N, L3-N and L4-N. The phases of circuits L3-N and L4-N are shifted by 180 electrical degrees, respectively, relative to circuits L1-N and L2-N. It should be readily apparent that, if input phases L1 and L2 are two phases of a three-phase system, additional and substantially identical arrangements can be provided for the remaining combinations of the input phases (i.e., L1-L3 and L2-L3) to provide three sets of output circuits, each set having four circuits as illustrated in FIG. 14. In such an arrangement, the relative phase angles of each of the circuits in a set can vary, relative to the phase angles of corresponding circuits in the other sets, to achieve reductions in the instantaneous level of power demanded from any one input phase, as has been previously discussed.
Although FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate alternative embodiments of the invention, the broad concepts embodied in arrangements 72 and 86 are the same as those embodied in the embodiment, for example, of FIG. 12.
FIG. 15 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention which is similar to the circuit shows in FIG. 13. In FIG. 15, a three-phase circuit breaker box 100 is shown to contain a plurality of circuit breakers 102. Each of breakers 102 is connected at its input and to one of three phases provided from a three-phase service entrance (not shown). The output side of two of the circuit breakers 102 are connected, as illustrated in FIG. 15, to a first output phase which is identified as phase L1. The output of a second breaker 102 is connected to an autotransformer (similar to autotransformer 76 of FIG. 13) to shift the phase of the circuit by 180° relative to circuit L1. Accordingly, this output is identified as L2. These circuits share a neutral conductor N in the same manner as discussed above in connection with FIG. 13. In this arrangement, each of the circuits L1 and L2 can provide current up to the full rating of each of the individual circuit breakers 102. This is in contrast to the arrangement of FIG. 13 in which the output of circuits L1 and L2 must be shared through a common circuit breaker having an output connected to phase L1.
Also shown in FIG. 15 is optional coil 104 which may be necessary or desirable for connection in series with phase L1 to assure that the respective impedences of phases L1 and L2 remain substantially equal. Again, this is an optional feature which may be necessary in certain situations and under certain conditions, but unnecessary in others.
FIG. 16 shows a similar arrangement which includes a breaker box 106 having a plurality of circuit breakers 108 which have outputs ends connected to four phases (L1 and L2, L3 and L4), as illustrated. This arrangement is similar to the arrrangement shown in FIG. 14, except that current can be drawn through each of the phases shown in FIG. 16 up to the maximum current ratings of each of the breakers 108. If necessary, coils similar to coil 104 of FIG. 15 may be provided in series with phases L1 and L2.
Other alternative embodiments of the power distribution system of the present invention are particularly useful in power systems where the electrical loads, including non-linear loads, are remotely located from one another.
FIG. 17 is a schematic wiring diagram of a two-output phase, transforming device 110 that can be used as a part of such a distribution system for remotely located electrical loads. Device 110 includes a major primary winding 112 and a millor primary winding 114. Major and minor primary windings 112 and 114 are electrically connected to a source of three-phase power, discussed above, through conductors labeled with circled numerals 1-4 in FIG. 17. In a preferred embodiment, major primary winding 112 handles approximately 2.73 times more power than minor primary winding 114. Device 110 also includes a major secondary winding 116 associated with major primary winding 112. A pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 5 and 6 in FIG. 17, are electrically connected to major secondary winding 116. A center tap of major secondary winding 116 is connected to the electrical neutral conductor, as indicated by the letters NEUT. in FIG. 17. This becomes a shared neutral for circuits utilizing the conductors indicated by circled numerals 5 and 6 as discussed above in connection with FIGS. 1- 16. In preferred embodiments, the neutral conductor is also the grounded conductor. A first output phase of device 110 is present on conductor 5 and a second output of device 110 is present on conductor 6. The first and second output phases of device 110 are separated from one another by 180 electrical degrees (i.e., the first and second output phases are in antiphase). Electrical loads are distributed between the first and second output phases and shared neutral conductor NEUT. so as to reduce, by current cancellation, current which would otherwise flow in shared neutral conductor NEUT. due to the presence of the non-linear loads. It should be noted that this circuit also cancels the current from all loads.
Device 110 further includes a pair of minor secondary windings, labelled as T.sub.2 in FIG. 17, that are associated with minor primary winding 114. One of each of minor secondary windings T.sub.2 are electrically connected in series with conductors 5 and 6 as shown in FIG. 17. Minor secondary windings T.sub.2, in combination with major winding 116, produce a predetermined phase shift between the input source of three-phase power and the output of device 110. Shifting the output phases of transforming device 110 relative to the phases of the input source helps reduce the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source which otherwise occurs due to the presence of the non- linear loads. In preferred embodiments, the first output phase is shifted approximately 15 electrical degrees from that same phase of the input source.
For device 110, an electrical load is divided into twelve groups. Maximum reduction of the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source is achieved through the use of a power distribution system having six two-output phase transforming devices 110. Input conductors 1- 4 of each device 110 are electrically connected, in various combinations, to the three phases of the input source as indicated in the chart in FIG. 17. Each of these various combinations of connections produces a different phase shift in time for each of the six pairs. These phase shifts are indicated in the chart shown in FIG. 17 by output phase sequences SEQ. 1-SEQ. 6.
A vector phase diagram illustrating the phase angle separation between output phase sequences SEQ. 1-SEQ. 6 and the three phases of the input source is shown in FIG. 18. Both Delta connection and Wye connection vectors are shown. As can be seen in FIG. 18, for example, output phase sequence SEQ. 1, which appears on conductor 5 for one of the input conductor combinations for device 110 shown in FIG. 17, is shifted from input source phase L1 by approximately 15 electrical degrees. As can also be further seen in FIG. 18, output phase sequence SEQ. 1, which appears on conductor 6 for the same input conductor combination, is shifted from the input source phase L.sub.1, by approximately 195 electrical degrees.
FIG. 19 is a schematic wiring diagram of a four-output phase transforming device 118 that can be used for remotely located electrical loads. Device 118 includes first and second primary windings 120 and 122. First and second primary windings 120 and 122 are electrically connected to a source of three-phase power, discussed above, though conductors labeled with circled numerals 1-4 in FIG. 19. Device 118 also includes first and second secondary windings 124 and 126. A pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 5 and 6 in FIG. 19, are electrically connected to first secondary winding 124 and a pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 7 and 8 in FIG. 19, are electrically connected to second secondary winding 126. Center taps of first and second secondary windings 124 and 126 become shared neutral conductors, as indicated by the letters NEUT and discussed above. In preferred embodiments, these neutral conductors are also the grounded conductors. First output phases of device 118 are present on conductors 5 and 7 and second output phases of device 118 are present on conductors 6 and 8. The first and second output phases of device 118 are separated from one another by approximately 180 electrical degrees (i.e., the first and second output phases are in antiphase). As discussed above, electrical loads are distributed between these first and second output phases and the shared neutral conductors NEUT. so as to reduce, by current cancellation, current which otherwise would flow on shared neutral conductors NEUT. due to the presence of these non-linear loads. It should be noted that this circuit cancels current from all load types.
Device 118 further includes a first pair of minor secondary windings, labeled as T.sub.1 in FIG. 19, that are associated with first primary winding 120. Device 118 also further includes a second pair of minor secondary windings, labeled as T.sub.2 in FIG. 19, that are associated with second primary winding 122. One of each of minor secondary windings T.sub.1 are electrically connected in series with conductors 7 and 8 as shown in FIG. 19 and one of each minor secondary windings T.sub.2 are electrically connected in series with conductors 5 and 6 as shown in FIG. 19. Minor secondary windings T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 produce a predetermined number of electrical degrees of phase shift between the first and second output phases of device 118 and the first phase of the input source. As discussed above, shifting the output phases of a transforming device relative to the input phases helps reduce the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source which would otherwise occur due to the presence of the non-linear loads. In preferred embodiments, the first output phases on conductors 5 and 7 are each shifted by approximately 15 electrical degrees from one of the three phases of the input source and the second output phases on conductors 6 and 8 are each shifted by approximately 195 electrical degrees from that same input source phase.
For device 118, an electrical load becomes divided into twelve sets. Maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source is achieved through the use of a power distribution system that utilizes three four-output phase transforming devices 118. Input conductors 1-4 of each device 118 are electrically connected in various combinations, to the three phases of the input source as indicated in the chart shown in FIG. 19. Each of these various combinations produces a different phase shift in time for the first and second output phases of each device 118, as also indicated in the chart by output phase sequences SEQ. 1-SEQ. 6. As discussed above, the phase angle separation between output sequences SEQ. 1-SEQ. 6 is shown in the vector phase diagram of FIG. 18.
In addition to a system incorporating three, four-output phase transforming devices 118, significant reduction in the level of instantaneous power demanded from the input source is achieved through the use of a single four-output phase transforming device 118 that generates two particular output phase sequences. Preferred single four- output phase sequences include sequences SEQ. 3 and 2, sequences SEQ. 1 and 6, and sequences SEQ. 3 and 6. Each of these preferred sequences is a pair in antiphase.
FIG. 20 is a schematic wiring diagram of a six-output phase transforming device 128 that can also be used for remotely located electrical loads. Device 128 includes respective first, second, and third primary windings 130, 132, and 134. First, second, and third primary windings 130-134 are electrically connected to a source of three- phase power, discussed above, through conductors labeled with circled numerals 1-6 in FIG. 20. Device 128 also includes respective first, second, and third secondary windings 136, 138, and 140 which are associated with respective first, second, and third primary windings 130- 134. A pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 7 and 8 in FIG. 20, are electrically connected to first secondary winding 136, a pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 9 and 10 are electrically connected with second secondary windings 138, and a pair of conductors, labeled with circled numerals 11 and 12 in FIG. 20, are electrically connected to third secondary winding 140. Center taps of first, second, and third secondary windings 136-140 become neutral conductors, as indicated by the letters NEUT. in FIG. 20 and discussed above. In preferred embodiments, these neutral conductors are also the grounded conductors. First output phases of device 128 are present on conductors 7, 9, and 11 and second output phases of device 128 are present on conductors 8, 10, and 12. The first and second output phases of device 128 are separated from one another by 180 electrical degrees (i.e., the first and second output phases are in antiphase). As discussed previously, electrical loads are distributed between first and second output phases and the shared neutral conductors NEUT, so as to reduce, by current cancellation, current that otherwise would flow in shared neutral conductors NEUT. due to the presence of these non-linear loads. It should be noted that this circuit cancels current from all load types.
Device 128 further includes a first pair of minor secondary windings, labeled as T.sub.1 in FIG. 20, that are associated with first primary winding 130, a second pair of minor secondary windings, labeled as T.sub. 2 in FIG. 20, that are associated with second primary winding 132, and a third pair of minor secondary windings, labeled as T.sub.3 in FIG. 20, that are associated with third primary winding 134. One of each of minor secondary windings T.sub.1 are electrically connected in series with conductors 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. 20. In addition, one of each of minor secondary windings T.sub.2 are electrically connected in series with conductors 7 and 8 as shown in FIG. 20. Finally, one of each of minor secondary windings T.sub.3 are electrically connected in series with conductors 9 and 10 as shown in FIG. 20. Minor secondary windings T. sub.1 -T.sub.3 produce a predetermined number of electrical degrees of phase shift between the first and second output phases and a phase of the input source. As discussed above, shifting the output phases of a transforming device relative to the input phases helps reduce the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source which otherwise occurs due to the presence of non-linear loads. In preferred embodiments, each of the first output phases are shifted approximately 15 electrical degrees from one of the three phases of the input source and each of the second output phases are shifted by approximately 195 electrical degrees from that same phase of the input source.
For device 128, and electrical load is divided into twelve groups. Maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source is achieved through the use of a power distribution system that includes two six-output transforming devices 128. Input conductors 1- 6 of each device 128 are electrically connected in various combinations to the three phases of the input source as indicated in the chart shown in FIG. 20. Each of these various combinations produces a different phase shift in time for the first and second output phases of device 128. Such phase shift is also indicated in the chart shown in FIG. 20 by output phase sequences SEQ. 1-6. As discussed above, FIG. 18 illustrates a vector phase diagram for these six different output phase sequences.
An advantage of a system incorporating six two-output phase transforming devices 110, three four-output phase transforming devices 118, or two six-output phase transforming devices 128 is that maximum reduction in the level of instantaneous power drawn from the input source can be achieved with electrical loads at remote locations. That is, all of the electrical loads do not have to be located in the same area in order to achieve this reduction. In addition, a system incorporating a combination of the two-output, four-output, and six- output transforming devices can also be constructed in accordance with the number of loads at various locations serviced by the system. Such a system is able to achieve significant instantaneous power reduction and, thus, significant reduction of the harmonic power in a distribution grid.
From the preceding description of the preferred embodiments, it is evident that the objects of the invention are attained. Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same is intended by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The spirit and scope of the invention are to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims. | |
Live Event communication with more meaning
We deliver objective based live events that engage with your audience and encourage actionable outcomes. Our live events communicate your brand message in a multi-sensory format that allows your audience to become part of the experience.
By understanding your audience we create relevant and effective content that is tailored to your brand personality. | https://www.primarylive.co.uk/live-events/ |
My favourite wildlife sightings in the African bushveld
Throughout his time on the Bushwise Professional Field Guide course, Kieth Windy has had some incredible wildlife sightings.
Camp manager blogs are written by our current students who each get a chance to lead and manage a group (of their fellow students) for a period of one week.
Studying at Bushwise’s Mahlahla campus has been a blessing because I have learned much more than I ever expected. It is mind blowing just how much information about nature we have learned, and the detail that is included with overall experience that the trainers provided. My mind has been opened to so many new facts about animals, plants and ecosystems.
It has been a wonderful experience, from day one when we received the greatest welcome into the bush. Meeting the students with different cultures and traditions was the best experience and biggest learning curve. The respect everyone gave to all the candidates was a blessing. The Bushwise trainers have enhanced the experience, they are kind and caring, and most of all helpful to all students, providing sufficient information and attention to help each student with what they need.
Our days are filled with so many different activities, and there have been so many amazing highlights along the way. One of these highlights was an experience that I believe was a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife sighting. It happened during my second time behind the game viewer wheel, when a spotted hyena – my personal favourite animal – popped out of the blue, making the whole group practice an emergency stop.
Another unforgettable moment was our group’s first elephant sighting of the course. After months of trying to track down an elephant to complete our big five sightings, the moment finally came.
We had an elephant crossing that blew everyone’s mind. I felt this massive being approaching the car, at first I was a little apprehensive about the encounter, but then, with the help of our trainer interpreting the elephant’s behaviour, I realised that the elephant was gentle and meant no harm. I felt more relaxed as I realised it was just as curious as I was in that wonderful moment. As the elephant smelled the car, I was intrigued by her size and the way she moved so gracefully. It was an absolutely magical moment and I hope that she enjoyed it just as much as I did.
One other sighting I am incredibly grateful for is the moment when we unexpectedly saw a baby leopard. We were not even on an official game drive that day, but rather going to practise our 4×4 training (another highlight of the course). Not even a minute past the entrance gate, a student shouted “Stop!”, and we all turned to see what he spotted. Sitting low in the grass, blended in perfectly with its surroundings, was a beautiful baby leopard.
It was unbelievable how close it was and it was fascinating to observe its behaviour. Of course, that was the day everyone left their cameras at camp, but it was a wonderful opportunity to observe the animal and truly appreciate how lucky we are to be doing this.
Learning about all the different species of animals, from the big mammals and reptiles to the smallest amphibians and arthropods – as well as the abundance of trees, grasses and wildflowers – has been an eye-opening experience. Seeing how they all contribute to the ecosystem has really helped me see how everything is connected and how important every little component is.
One of my favourite things to learn was track and sign. Being able to read the different animal tracks, including the behaviour through tracks, was fantastic. Knowing and understanding how to track animals in their natural environment was the best skill I have gained overall.
I am glad to be one of the candidates that had this marvellous experience, and all the incredible wildlife sightings, with unlimited information. I am proud to say I am a Bushwise baby.
Do you want to make life-long memories and see incredible wildlife sightings while earning a valuable FGASA qualification? Apply today to start your career journey with Bushwise. | https://www.bushwise.guide/blog/my-favourite-wildlife-sightings-in-the-african-bushveld/ |
Summary: This Radio Society of Great Britain summary of the work of the British government's RadioCommunications Agency Technical Working Group on DSL and PLC the WG's position on PLC, the extent of the interference problems reported and expected with PLC and lists a number of papers that have been produced by companies and organizations that support this conclusion.
Author: RSGB
The DSLPLC WG Final Report - UK Technical Working Group (TWG) on Compatibility Between Radio Services and VDSL + PLT Systems Operating between 1.6 and 30 MHz
Internet: http://www.radio.gov.uk/topics/interference/documents/dslplt.htm
Summary: This summary report of the British Radiocommunications Agency (RA) TWG concludes, "Field tests were undertaken by Agency officials to determine the possible levels of emissions from VDSL and PLT access systems respectively. The scope of this practical work was, by agreement, necessarily limited due to constraints on time and available facilities. It is accepted therefore that the significance of the results is correspondingly limited insofar as neither the VDSL or PLT access test arrangement was truly representative of likely practical commercial deployments. Nevertheless, sufficient data was gathered which enabled TWG to conclude that there is a finite possibility of interference to radio systems when operated within a few metres of cables or wires associated with VDSL or PLT systems. The propagation characteristics of the HF bands are unique in that it is possible, under certain conditions, to provide extended communications over exceptionally long distances, several thousand kilometres being a reasonable expectation under ideal conditions. This means that the bands are particularly valuable for international broadcasting; military applications; long distance maritime and aeronautical communication & navigation, and as a challenging recreational pursuit for amateur radio enthusiasts looking to develop techniques to establish contact over increasingly long distances taking account of prevailing conditions. But such extended propagation is variable, depending very much on seasonal conditions and natural changes in the ionosphere. This means that planning HF systems requires quite different techniques and assumptions to those used in higher order bands, where the limit of expected service area can be predicted with a high level of confidence." This committee report does not represent the official position of the British government.
Author: UK Technical Working Group
RSGB EMC PLT Position Paper
Internet: http://www.qsl.net/rsgb_emc/emcplc.pdf
Summary: The Radio Society of Great Britain raises a very robust objection to the current commercial proposals for PLT in the High Frequency spectrum with the currently suggested radiation levels. The Society will take all measures open to it to oppose the introduction of such mains HF signalling. The Society supports the introduction of broadband technologies provided they do not exceed a level allowing radio and telecommunications apparatus to operate as intended. The Radio Society of Great Britain recommends that all proposals for standards that would allow PLT to operate in the High Frequency spectrum be firmly rejected unless the signal levels are within the existing standards for mains conducted emissions or unless a specific frequency allocation is made for PLT that is compatible with radio services in the HF band.
Author: RSGB
PLT Test Information Including Sound Bites
Internet: http://www.qsl.net/rsgb_emc/PLTREP.pdf
Summary: This report summarizes field tests of PLC made by the Radio Society of Great Britain. As already reported elsewhere, it is difficult or almost impossible to capture and present the emissions from new broadband-communication systems using spread-spectrum-technologies at low or unknown data-rates (stand-by) by simple use of a spectrum analyser. Nevertheless even at these very low data rates, the harmful effect of these emissions on radio systems all over the spectrum used for radio communication is at once evident, as soon as emissions exceed the conventional limits.
Author: RSGB
Notes on RSGB Observations of HF Ambient Noise Floor
Internet: http://www.qsl.net/rsgb_emc/RSGBMeasurements_1b.pdf
Summary: A summary of the RSGB HF ambient noise measurements.
Author: RSGB
Background Noise on HF Bands
Internet: http://www.qsl.net/rsgb_emc/emcslides.html
Summary: Slide presentation on PLC made an an RSGB Amateur Radio convention.
Author: RSGB, Robin Page-Jones (G3JWI)
Notes on the RSGB Investigation of PLT Systems in Crieff
Internet: http://www.qsl.net/rsgb_emc/CRIEFF%20Notes%20Version_1.html
Summary: A summary of the RSGB field measurements made of the Crieff field trials. The report noted interference, but felt that more study was needed to quantify it more precisely. | http://www.arrl.org/bpl-in-great-britain |
Any other form of dispute resolution, such as mediation, can also be mentioned in the agreement. In general, capital transfer agreements have a clause that talks about what action to take when a party to the agreement violates the terms of the above agreement. A compromise clause is present in most agreements and stipulates that if a clause of the agreement is violated or if a dispute arises with respect to the terms of the agreement, the matter will be settled by arbitration. The clause mentions where the arbitration will take place, that is, the seat of arbitration, the language in which the proceedings are conducted and the manner in which arbitrators are appointed. The purpose of the capital transfer contract is to help make the transfer formal and legally binding. It protects the interests of the ceding and the ceding. The agreement must clearly specify which assets will be transferred. Assets transferred under a capital agreement may include investments and machinery, inventory, contracts, premises, know-how and goodwill. In the event of an asset purchase, the buyer may choose only certain assets and leave redundant assets. Therefore, the selected facilities must be broken down according to a schedule of the agreement. A purchase of assets allows a buyer to choose exactly what assets they are buying and to identify precisely which liabilities they wish to assume. An asset transfer contract, also known as an asset acquisition contract, a capital transfer contract, is a contract that concludes the terms of the purchase and sale of assets of a company. In the case of an asset sale, the company`s assets are transferred to a new owner without the actual ownership of the business being transferred.
Instead of acquiring all the shares of a company, and therefore both its assets and liabilities, a buyer very often prefers to take over only certain assets of a company. As a general rule, in the event of an asset acquisition, the company will sell the assets itself, while in the event of a share sale, the individual shareholders will be the sellers. An asset transfer contract is required when a company`s assets must be sold or transferred to another person. This is necessary for a company if it is willing to acquire the assets of another company and to define the terms and conditions. The agreement also helps the buyer to have proof of the transfer and the fact that he is now the owner of these assets. The agreement must clearly state the names of the parties between whom the agreement is concluded. These include a seller (or transfer) and a buyer (or buyer). It is worth mentioning the date on which the agreement was reached, as well as the area in which the agreement is enforceable. Here`s the process to follow when creating an asset transfer contract: If you need a template for a simple asset transfer agreement, you can download a model of The Asset Transfer Agreement here. In addition, the agreement must clearly state the law under which it is regulated and how the contract is terminated. It is also worth describing how the agreement should be amended.
The agreement may also mention that all disputes arising from the agreement fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of a particular jurisdiction. These agreements are non-refundable and non-transferable. If you need changes or questions, please contact us before you download. | http://astaart.com/asset-transfer-agreement-sample/ |
Judicial equity developed in England during the medieval period, providing an alternative access to justice for cases that the rigid structures of the common law could not accommodate. Where the common law was constrained by precedent and strict procedural and substantive rules, equity relied on principles of natural justice - or 'conscience' - to decide cases and right wrongs. Overseen by the Lord Chancellor, equity became one of the twin pillars of the English legal system with the Court of Chancery playing an ever greater role in the legal life of the nation. Yet, whilst the Chancery was commonly - and still sometimes is - referred to as a 'court of conscience', there is remarkably little consensus about what this actually means, or indeed whose conscience is under discussion. This study tackles the difficult subject of the place of conscience in the development of English equity during a crucial period of legal history. Addressing the notion of conscience as a juristic principle in the Court of Chancery during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the book explores how the concept was understood and how it figured in legal judgment. Drawing upon both legal and broader cultural materials, it explains how that understanding differed from modern notions and how it might have been more consistent with criteria we commonly associate with objective legal judgement than the modern, more 'subjective', concept of conscience. The study culminates with an examination of the chancellorship of Lord Nottingham (1673-82), who, because of his efforts to transform equity from a jurisdiction associated with discretion into one based on rules, is conventionally regarded as the father of modern, 'systematic' equity. From a broader perspective, this study can be seen as a contribution to the enduring discussion of the relationship between 'formal' accounts of law, which see it as systems of rules, and less formal accounts, which try to make room for intuitive moral or prudential reasoning.
'… diligent readers can learn much from his [Klinck's] wide-ranging and penetrating analysis of shifting and alternative meanings of conscience in legal and religious texts and works of political and moral philosophy.' Journal of British Studies 'It is this breadth of perspective that sets Klinck's book apart. It will be of great interest to historians of law, religion, theology, philosophy, and culture, because it provides a fresh and thoughtful perspective on a perennially difficult issue: understanding how one of the most important operative concepts in the Christian society of medieval and early-modern England was assumed, understood, and applied in a judicial manner.' Law and History Review 'Readers in legal history will welcome the author's clarity of thought; literary historians will profit from his reasoned examination of relevant texts.' Renaissance Quarterly ’As a work of substantive legal history, this work excels in many areas. But what is in it for the generalists? Plenty. …Those interested in legal history, contemporary legal scholars, and political historians will find this work most interesting, and generalists at the graduate level will find this work rewarding.’ Sixteenth Century Journal 'In his rich study Professor Klinck considers whether the shift [in the restriction of the potential claims of Chancery] might have been related to changing concepts of conscience as understood by divines writing or preaching on ethical theory and moral casuistry. Two of his chapters, Five and Seven, provide a splendid survey of these changes in the course of the seventeenth century. These are chapters that should be required reading for historians of English religion interested in the consequences of the Protestant Reformation and of the battles over ’freedom of conscience’ from the mid-century.' English Historical Review
Contents: Preface; Introduction; Conscience and the medieval chancery; The early 16th century and Christopher St. German; The later 16th century; Protestant conscience 1: the early 17th century; The conscience of early-17th century equity; Protestant conscience 2: the later 17th century; Later-17th century equity and Lord Nottingham; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index. | https://www.routledge.com/Conscience-Equity-and-the-Court-of-Chancery-in-Early-Modern-England-1st/Klinck/p/book/9781315573465 |
I recently posted a music theory puzzle of a Bach chorale excerpt which contains parallel fifths. I was reminded that some music students may not understand why parallel fifths are considered “bad.” In fact, a great deal of contemporary music uses parallel fifths and to our modern ears they don’t usually sound wrong.
The usual answer is that it “destroys the independence” of each voice, which is true. However, there are also some practical reasons for avoiding parallel fifths in compositions for a cappella voices – it’s hard to sing. ComposerOnline put together an nice video presentation that demonstrates this.
There are also some historical reasons why Baroque Era composers began consciously avoiding parallel fifths. Beginning around the 8th or 9th century polyphony (the idea of using multiple melodic lines together, rather than just unison voices or voices with drones) developed. The religious chants were sung in monasteries by both men and boys in octaves already, so it seems obvious in retrospect that they might also sing them in parallel fifths. This is known as “parallel organum.” David W. Barber describes organum in his book, “Bach, Beethoven, and the Boys: Music History As It Ought To Be Taught.”
Gregorian chants developed into something called organum, which was all the rage of the ninth to 12th centuries. In its simples form, this consisted of singing the same Gregorian tune as the monk beside you at the interval of a perfect fourth or fifth.* This is harder to do than it sounds, and requires the kind of concentration that monks are especially good at.
* Barber’s footnote reads, “It’s not worth explaining why fourths and fifths are called perfect. Just take my word for it.”
Parallel organum later evolved into “free organum,” although it still frequently used parallel fourths or fifths between the two voices. It’s quite a distinctive sound. Here’s an example.
By 1600 ( early Baroque Era) the sound of parallel motion had started to sound old fashioned. Even in instrumental music, which doesn’t have the technical difficulties writing for voices have with parallel motion, composers avoided the use of parallel fifths and octaves. When they were used, they were sometimes used to symbolize something rustic or old fashioned, such as in Beethoven’s 6th (“Pastoral Symphony”).
It’s not until the 20th century when composers began to start using parallel motion with more frequency. It’s now a sound that is ubiquitous in many styles of music. I find it interesting that a musical sound can go from 5 centuries of extensive use to 3 centuries of avoidance, to being used frequently again. Not to mention musical styles other than “western European art music” that use parallel motion all the time. Regardless of your stylistic interests, both the use and avoidance of parallel fifths is something that is worth learning about. The distinctive sound of parallel fifths still has an ability to elicit a powerful reaction on us. | http://www.wilktone.com/?m=201307 |
From afar, Dear White People creator Justin Simien might seem like an overnight success.
But the inspirational filmmaker has been creating his own opportunities long before Hollywood crowned him an indie darling.
BuzzFeed caught up with Justin to learn more about his creative process, his encounters with self-doubt, his approach to self-care, and his search for a college filmmaker to spotlight at the upcoming DWP Season 3 premiere.
What are three key steps you took that helped to bring Dear White People from a script to a successful Kickstarter campaign to an award-winning film to an acclaimed Netflix series?
JS: First, I decided that this would be my first film, no matter what, and, secondly, that I would try any and everything to get it made. Step three was protecting what was special about the film, shielding it from all of the chaos and anxiety that comes with making a movie in 19 days in a new city with less than two weeks of preparation. And step four was forcing myself to be proud at it all. (Yes, I added a step because as creatives we should also celebrate our accomplishments, especially when we've pushed ourselves so hard to achieve them.)
Your show explores race, gender, sexuality, and a lot of sociopolitical issues that are particularly volatile these days. In what ways does this affect your creative process as a black filmmaker? And what are some ways that you practice self-care in this regard?
JS: These issues are already on our minds because of Dear White People and its storylines, so we'd be thinking of them regardless. It’s actually nice to use the show as a cathartic outlet. In many ways, it's my way of documenting and processing events and traumas and observations and it provides us with ways to laugh at the absurdity. That’s the self care part.
In what moments do you typically experience the most self-doubt and insecurity and how do you climb out of that?
JS: I experience self-doubt and insecurity right when I’m finishing something and getting ready to reveal it. It’s like that daydream Lisa Simpson has while contemplating life as a rockstar. I just imagine a whole bunch of people showing up to the screening to boo me in person. As creatives, we usually get into this business because we don’t feel seen. That motivation seems to drive the work, but it can actually cripple too. Knowing when to listen to fear and when to move through it is an ongoing life lesson. You got some tips?
What's the best industry advice you've received and from whom? Why do you consider it to be the best?
JS: Hmm, I don't think I've ever been given advice that’s that good. We all hope a grown-up will tell us what to do, but from what I can tell most people are totally making up this whole film and TV business thing as they go along. Like, for real! Let that sink in. A scant few actually know what they are doing, and even fewer have been willing to talk to my black ass, which is terrifying and liberating all at once. Just pick good partners and learn to trust yourself.
What are some ways that you give back to young aspiring filmmakers who are working on their own Dear White People ?
JS: I created Culture Machine, an online community where filmmakers can share their experiences and knowledge on Facebook and Instagram. I also host talk sessions to help equip folks with the tools they need to give themselves a break. And right now, we're giving college filmmakers the opportunity to submit their own short films to the Dear White People Film Festival for a chance to screen it at the Netflix Season 3 premiere!
But overall, I try to remind every aspiring creative that, at the end of the day, they're the engine that powers their own goals. Nobody is going to save you, or put you on, or make your movie better than you can. This industry will have people thinking they aren’t good enough, when in reality, they're probably much greater and stronger than the fragile, fickle framework that is Hollywood. So, bust that thing down! | https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricepeck/dear-white-people-film-contest-justin-simien |
You are warmly invited to come along to Te Whau Open Days.
Registration is Closed
Time & Location
27 Jul 2019, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Te Atatu South Community Centre, Community Centre 247 Edmonton Rd, Te Atatu South, Auckland 6010, New Zealand
About The Event
Te Whau Pathway is a 15km. shared pathway of sub-regional significance linking transport networks, the Waitemata and Maukau Harbours from Green Bay to Te Atatu to celebrate the portage. It will provide a safe off-road shared path for pedestrian and cyclists in the Whau and Henderson Massey Local Boards.
Come find out more about the project, how you can benefit from walking and cycling, and how you can restore your local environment. | https://www.whauriver.org.nz/events/te-whau-pathway-open-day |
The present invention relates to the CT imaging. The invention finds particular application in conjunction with real time continuous CT imaging and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present invention will also find application in conjunction with other types of CT imaging apparatus and techniques, as well as other diagnostic imagers.
Early CT scanners were of a traverse and rotate type. That is, a radiation source and oppositely disposed radiation detector traversed together along linear paths on opposite sides of a subject. The detector was repeatedly sampled during the traverse to create a plurality of data values representing parallel rays through the subject. After the traverse, the entire carriage was rotated a few degrees and the source and detector were traversed again to create a second data set. The plurality of parallel ray data sets at regular angular intervals over 180° were reconstructed into a diagnostic image. Unfortunately, the traverse and rotate technique was very slow.
One technique for speeding traverse and rotate scanners was to replace the radiation source and single detector with a radiation source that projected radiation along a narrow fan beam and to provide several detectors such that a plurality of parallel ray data sets at different angles were collected concurrently. In this manner, several of the data sets could be collected concurrently. This was several times faster, but still very slow.
Rather than traversing the source and detector, it was found that the radiation source could be rotated only. That is, the radiation source projected a fan of data which spanned the examination region. An arc of radiation detectors received the radiation which traversed the examination region. The radiation source was rotated around the subject. In a third generation scanner, the arc of detectors rotated with the source. In a fourth generation scanner, an entire ring of the stationary detectors was provided. In either type, fan beam data sets were sampled at a multiplicity of a apexes around the subject. The data from the different angles within the fans at different angular orientations of the fan were sorted into parallel ray data sets. It was found that a complete set of parallel ray data sets could be generated by rotating the source 180° plus the fan angle. Although much faster than the traverse and rotate technique, a larger amount of data processing was required to sort or rebin the rays into the parallel ray data sets and to interpolate, as necessary, in order to make the rays within each data set more parallel. Although the data collection time was much faster, the image processing was slower. Parallel beam reconstruction was abandoned largely due to memory and speed limitations, as well as due to inaccuracy of the rebinning step when performed early in the processing chain without accurate detector corrections and angular view filtering, especially when a limited number of views were collected.
Rather than sorting the data into parallel ray data sets, it was found that the fan beam data sets could be reconstructed directly into an image representation by convolution and backprojection. Although the convolution and backprojection technique required significantly less processing hardware and time than the rebinning technique, the data collection was slower. In particular, the algorithm required the apexes of the data fans to span a full 360°, not just the 180° + fan angle.
More recently, improved convolution and backprojection techniques in which the apexes of the data fans need only span 180° plus the fan angle have been developed. While today these techniques are among the most widely used CT reconstruction algorithms, they still have drawbacks. In particular, they can be computationally complex and time consuming.
While successful for their intended uses, the previously described CT scanners and techniques have inherent drawbacks which make them unsuitable for real time imaging. In particular, the various combinations of data collection and data processing techniques are too time consuming to allow for accurate continuous image updating in real time.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a continuous CT scanner for producing a real time image is provided. The scanner includes a stationary gantry portion having an examination region and a rotating gantry portion for continuous rotation about the examination region. An imaging x-ray source is mounted to the rotating gantry portion and produces a fan-shaped x-ray beam having a plurality of rays through the examination region. A plurality of radiation detectors are mounted to one of the rotating and stationary gantry portions. The radiation detectors are arranged to receive rays of the fan-shaped x-ray beam after the rays have passed through the examination region. The plurality of radiation detectors convert detected radiation into electronic data. The electronic data includes a plurality of data lines in a fan-beam format. A rebinning processor interpolates the electronic data from the fan-beam format to a parallel-beam format. A reconstruction processor then takes the electronic data in the parallel beam format and convolves and backprojects it to form in real time an image representation of a subject within the examination region.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of producing a continuous real time image is provided. The method includes rotating an x-ray source about an examination region and producing a fan-shaped x-ray beam having a plurality of rays passing through the examination while the x-ray source is rotating. The rays of the fan-shaped x-ray beam are received after they have traversed the examination region. The received rays are converted to electronic data having a fan-beam format and then are interpolated from the fan-beam format to a parallel-beam format. Using the interpolated electronic data, an image representation of a subject within the examination region is reconstructed and updated in real time.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a continuous CT scanner system in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is an exemplary illustration of the weighting function applied by the angular view filter in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the interpolation of data from a fan-beam format to a parallel-beam format; and,
Figure 4 is a flow chart showing the data processing in accordance with aspects of the present invention.
Ways of carrying out the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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With reference to Figure 1, a continuous CT scanner includes a stationary gantry portion which defines an examination region . A rotating gantry portion is mounted on the stationary gantry portion for continuous rotation about the examination region . An x-ray source , such as an x-ray tube, is arranged on the rotating gantry portion such that a beam of radiation passes through the examination region as the rotating gantry portion rotates. A collimator and shutter assembly forms the beam of radiation into a thin fan-shaped beam and selectively gates the beam on and off. Alternately, the fan-shaped radiation beam may also be gated on and off electronically at the x-ray source .
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In the illustrated fourth generation CT scanner, a ring of radiation detectors are mounted peripherally around the examination region on the stationary gantry portion . Alternately, the radiation detectors may be mounted on the rotating gantry portion on a side of the examination region opposite the x-ray source such that they span the arc defined by the fan-shaped x-ray beam . Regardless of the configuration, the radiation detectors are arranged to receive the x-ray radiation emitted from x-ray source after it has traversed the examination region .
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In a source fan geometry, an arc of detectors which span the radiation emanating from the source are sampled concurrently at short time intervals as the x-ray source rotates behind the examination region to generate a source fan view. In a detector fan geometry, each detector is sampled a multiplicity of times as the x-ray source rotates behind the examination region to generate a detector fan view. The path between the x-ray source and each of the radiation detectors is denoted as a ray.
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The radiation detectors convert the detected radiation into electronic data. That is to say, each of the radiation detectors produces an output signal which is proportional to an intensity of received radiation. Optionally, a reference detector may detect radiation which has not traversed the examination region . A difference between the magnitude of radiation received by the reference detector and each radiation detector provides an indication of the amount of radiation attenuation along a corresponding ray of a sampled fan of radiation.
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In the illustrated fourth generation scanner embodiment, each view or data line represents a fan of rays having its apex at one of the radiation detectors collected over a short period of time as the x-ray source rotates behind the examination region from the detector. In a third generation scanner, each view or data line represents a fan of rays having an apex at the x-ray source collected by concurrent sampling of all detectors.
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The electronic data generated by the radiation detectors is fed to a rebinning processor . The rebinning processor converts each data line from its fan-beam format to a parallel-beam format. In the interest of speed and accuracy, this process is broken down into three rebinning operations or steps: an angular view filtering step, an interpolation step which sorts the data into unequally spaced parallel rays, and a final interpretive step that corrects for the unequal spacing of the rays. The rebinning processor initially receives the data lines into a first rolling buffer . An angular view filter retrieves the data lines from the first rolling buffer , filters them, and writes them into a preset position in a second rolling buffer . Additionally, any detector-specific corrections may be made prior to writing the data into the second rolling buffer . Preferably, as illustrated in Figure 2, the angular view filter is applied across a plurality of adjacent data lines , for example 3 to 5, to generate a weighted average thereof. The weighted average is characterized by a centred symmetric non-linear function . Further, at this stage associated view reduction contributes to reduced processing time.
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Next, an interpolator retrieves and reorders the data stored in the second rolling buffer such that parallel rays from the various data lines are grouped together. Optionally, the number of data lines may be reduced by skipping data lines, for example, every other data line, in order to shorten the data processing time. Further, at this point, any corrections common to all the radiation detectors may be made at this point. Next, an additional interpolative step is taken to equalize the spacing within each group of parallel data rays.
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With reference to Figure 3 and continuing reference to Figure 1, an illustrative drawing showing a source fan geometry is useful for describing the rebinning process. As the x-ray source follows a trajectory around the examination region , it generates a plurality of source fan views with each incremental degree of rotation. Each source fan view is received by an array of radiation detectors which converts it into a data line having a fan-beam format. The source fan views, are each made up of a plurality of rays with each ray corresponding to an individual radiation detector . For example, source fan view includes rays corresponding to radiation detectors , source fan view includes rays corresponding to radiation detectors , and includes detectors . The interpolator reorders the data to group the parallel rays which correspond to radiation detectors and from respective fans and together to produce a parallel beam format.
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After conversion from the fan-beam format to the parallel-beam format by the rebinning processor , a reconstruction processor reconstructs an image representation of a subject within the examination region such that it may be viewed on a human viewable display, for example a video monitor . The reconstruction processor employs a convolver which convolves the data with a convolution or filter function. It will be noted that in the fourth generation scanner embodiment, as the x-ray source moves, each radiation detector is concurrently generating intensity data. In order to accommodate this rapid flow of information, the convolver preferably includes a plurality of convolvers for convolving several data lines concurrently. The convolved data is conveyed to a backprojector which backprojects the convolved data into an image memory to reconstruct an electronic image representation.
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In addition to displaying the real time image representation, video monitor also displays or illuminates appropriate indicators or indicia which alert an operator of the status of the apparatus in real time. For example, suitable indicators include a signal that alerts an operator when a foot pedal that operates the x-ray source is either engaged or disengaged and/or an indicator that alerts an operator when the fan shaped radiation beam is on or off. Note that in some instances the radiation beam may not instantly be on when the foot pedal is engaged therefore making dual indicia advantageous.
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With reference to Figure 4 and continuing reference to Figure 1, in a preferred embodiment (Option A), a non-recursive backprojection technique is employed. The convolved data is weighted and combined into a 180° backprojection buffer , the 180° backprojection buffer is backprojected in to an image matrix , and the image matrix is transferred to the display buffer or image memory . In this manner, a backprojected image representing 180° of data lines is repeatedly loaded into the image memory such that a real time reconstruction of an image representation is continually stored in the image memory . This technique provides relatively high image quality with considerable reduction in motion artifacts since the weighting function can be tapered well beyond 180° and can have any smooth shape, as long as all weights 180° apart are summed while the data set gets combined into a single 180° backprojection data set for each image. Further, the backprojection time is constant and limited to the time it takes to backproject 180° of views for each new image.
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In another preferred embodiment (Option B), a recursive backprojection technique is employed wherein updating images is based upon a difference of view data. The difference between sets of data 180° apart are weighted into a difference buffer , an accumulated image matrix is updated with the backprojection of the difference buffer , and the image matrix is transferred to the display buffer of image memory . That is to say, the image memory is initially loaded with a plurality of backprojected data lines, for example 180°, corresponding to an initial image representation. Thereafter, real time updating is accomplished by subtracting from a plurality of newly acquired data lines, for example 60+° worth of data lines, a corresponding plurality of flipped or inverted data lines from the previous image that are 180° apart from the newly acquired plurality of data lines, and then backprojecting the difference. Note that the recursive updating can reoccur on any appropriate angular increment of data lines as may be desirable for a given application, for example, more frequent updating at 30+° intervals. At the extreme, individual data lines 180° apart may be subtracted. Further, while this embodiment has been described as subtracting pluralities of data lines 180° apart immediately prior to backprojection, it is to be appreciated the difference may be taken at any point in the processing prior to the backprojection after the data has been made parallel. For example, prior to equally spacing the parallel data lines. In any event, when the data lines are eventually backprojected, in fact what is backprojected is the difference between those pluralities of data lines 180° apart.
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In another preferred embodiment (Option C), a recursive backprojection technique with updating of images based on difference of image data is employed. Sets of data are weighted into a buffer , the buffer is backprojected as sub-image , sub-images 180° apart are subtracted and an accumulated image matrix is updated , and the image matrix is transferred to the display buffer or image memory . In this manner, the image memory is loaded with an initial image representation which is made up of a plurality of sub-images. Real time updating is accomplished by backprojecting a sub-image which corresponds to a plurality of data lines, for example 60+°. A previously acquired backprojected sub-image 180° apart from the updating sub-image is subtracted therefrom and the difference applied to update the full image. As with the previous recursive technique, the angular increment which defines the sub-image may be varied depending upon the desired performance for different applications.
In the preferred embodiments wherein recursive backprojection is employed, the reduction of motion artifacts is possible by weighting the electronic data. This can be accomplished by employing an essentially unity weighted function with tapering regions at the ends of the weighting function. That is to say for example, the additional part of the data lines associated with each recursion may be those small number of data lines under the tapered regions of the function. If the number of views in the tapered regions are small. the impact on reconstruction time is minimal and is given by the formula: % Increase in Backprojection time = 100 * (# Extra Views for Tapering) / (# Views Between Updates). For example, % Increase in Backprojection time = 100 * (12 degrees extra for tapering) / (60 degrees between updates) = 20%. Tapered weighting with up to 100% tapering may be used, increasing the backprojection time by two fold.
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While the real time reconstruction herein has been disclosed with reference to data reconstruction on a 180° basis, it is to be appreciated that the data reconstruction may also be based on a 360° rotation of the x-ray source . That is to say, the apparatus may be configured to optimize any number of characteristics. For example, temporal resolution may be optimized at the cost of noise reduction and vice versa. Additionally, a uniform noise filter is optionally employed which optimizes a weighting function for uniform noise filtration. Still another variation involves a dynamic zoom operation wherein as the field of view is changed, the convolution kernel and one of the view filter and interpolator kernels is changed. Ultimately, it is a matter of determining the particular characteristics which would be most advantageous for the desired CT scan application.
The CT scanner systems described have various advantages. One advantage is that the temporal resolution and latency intrinsic to a real time continuous CT scan are achieved. Another advantage is that it permits a simpler backprojection process to be used and reduces the costs of a real time reconstruction processor without sacrificing image accuracy. Another advantage is that motion artifacts otherwise observed in other recursive prior art techniques arc reduced. | |
Established in 1993, Grinham Architects maintains a core group of talented design professionals under the guidance and leadership of sole proprietor, Lloyd Grinham. Our knowledgeable complement of staff has a reputation for delivering small to large-scale projects within time sensitive schedules on budget and on time. We specialize in efficiency, accountability and open communication that guarantees individual attention to our Clients and utilizes the expertise of each member of our total project team to ensure seamless and comprehensive Consulting Services.
Our Goal
Our goal is to create buildings that are aesthetically satisfying, environmentally sustainable and financially responsible. We accomplish this by fostering relationships that allow us to fully understand the needs and aspirations of our Clients. As a firm, we recognize the responsibility associated with this engagement and are committed to investing the effort and diligence required to create buildings that meet and surpass each Client’s expectations.
Philosophy
Since 1993, our relatively small firm has been commissioned to design a number of extremely diverse projects, encompassing a wide spectrum of building types and sizes. In doing so, we have effectively avoided any tendency towards a singular area of specialization; preferring instead to continuously explore and expand our collective interests and expertise through the successful design and delivery of a range of projects.
Client Service
In support of the philosophy of our practice, we have developed a number of successful strategies for appropriately adapting our experience to the specific design task and challenges at hand, whether for a modest renovation addition or a multi-million complex large scale mixed-use facility. We have necessarily identified numerous techniques for the careful assessment of functional programming, total project cost control, construction scheduling and delivery, and long-term operational costing. More importantly, our understanding of which of these tasks can be appropriately carried out “in house” and when additional consulting expertise is appropriate or required to supplement our immediate capacities is the key to successfully responding to the needs of even the largest projects, without compromising our core Client Service philosophy.
Sustainability
“No phenomenon can be isolated, but has repercussions through every aspect of our lives. We are learning that we are a fundamental part of nature’s ecosystem.” -Arthur Erickson
At Grinham Architects we are not only practitioners of sustainable design, but truly believe in it and the difference it can make on the planet. We are very proud of our proven record in the field of sustainable design, having successfully delivered several projects incorporating ‘green’ innovations throughout our firm’s history. Our collective interest in sustainable design is rooted in a deep-seated awareness that as Architects we are in a unique position to shape the built and natural world, and a resultant sense of responsibility to act as stewards of the environment.
Over the years, sustainability has increasingly become a priority of many of our Clients and as a result characterizes much of our firm’s recent work. In our capacity as Architectural Consultants we act as an expert resource to our Clients in the selection and facilitation of practical and appropriate sustainable design techniques and technologies. Our portfolio of realized past work includes several projects in which we have successfully implemented energy and waste conservation strategies including advanced performance building envelopes, high efficiency mechanical and electrical systems and controls, solar domestic hot water and power systems, grey-water capture and re-use, vegetated (green) roofs, and an array of passive heating, cooling and lighting techniques. Further, we have worked extensively in the field of heritage building conservation and adaptive reuse, and in doing so have assisted in extending the life of numerous structures which may otherwise have been demolished thereby preventing the unnecessary creation of waste. Our firm has consequently come to be recognized locally as a leader in the discipline of sustainable design.
We endeavour to consistently deliver creative design solutions that balance aesthetic, environmental and economic priorities, adapting to the demands of deadlines, budgets and site conditions, towards the realization of buildings that fulfill our Client’s requirements and surpass their expectations.
Cost & Schedule Management
Throughout our history, we have placed significant emphasis on the initial establishment of realistic project budgets, and the subsequent efforts needed to maintain and succeed within these financial parameters on behalf of our Clients. Our Sub-Consultant affiliations we have established over the years similarly reflect this priority as it relates to the overall design development and execution of each project. We and our Sub-Consultants make every effort to stay up-to-date with current construction trends and related cost implications in the interest of improved, technically-informed designs and effective construction contract support and administration thereafter.
Occasionally we have employed the services of specialist Cost Consultant firms, and continue to make such specialist Consultant services available, if so requested by the Client. Typically in such instances we have also invited local General Contractors to provide preliminary construction cost estimates, based on the earliest available and sufficiently complete documentation to adequately reflect the proposed project scope and complexity. We can cite numerous built examples of this successful approach which were tendered well within our estimated construction budgets provided.
While it is crucial that appropriate initial budgets be established for any project, a key factor in the preservation of these throughout the tender and subsequent construction phases is the quality of the bidding and construction documentation. Without complete and accurate bid materials being provided for the tender itself, cost control during construction becomes an impossible task. Therefore it is essential that the necessary time and effort be allocated for the complete preparation of these critical documents prior to tender. In conjunction with this responsibility, we consistently recommend the undertaking of a comprehensive General Contractor Pre-Qualification process, between us and the Client, in order to invite an appropriate number of demonstrably qualified construction professionals to competitively bid the project. This approach has further contributed to significant cost control and scheduling successes on behalf of past Clients, and has also been met with consistent and widespread support from the larger construction industry itself.
Finally, the maintenance of an approved budget after the award of contract relies largely upon the abilities of the entire Consultant team to competently administer all aspects of the construction contract in a fair and timely manner. This is particularly relevant in the case of projects with limited schedules or timeframe flexibility. It is essential that all parties to the contract fully and professionally respond to issues that arise during construction in a timely and consistently fair manner in order to achieve the maximum degree and optimal balance of project delivery schedule, construction quality and cost control. | https://www.grinham.ca/about |
MIT.nano, in collaboration with NCSOFT, a founding member of the MIT.nano industry consortium, is seeking research proposals for projects that will explore software and hardware innovations in gaming technologies—including sensors, 3D/4D data interaction and analysis, augmented and virtual reality. Proposed research should focus on technical development via experimental, theoretical, and/or computational discovery.
Applications are due May 25, 2019.
Download the Request for Proposal a full description and application information.
Advancing the power of play
Sample proposal topics could include, but are not limited to, science, technologies, and applications associated with game development, communications, human-level inferences, and data analysis. Areas of interest include:
- Detecting, or reducing the sense of dizziness or VR sickness that some users may experience when using immersive headsets
- Reducing the cost and improving the accuracy of marker-less video based motion capture in open space
- Automatic voice generation for game characters—generating voices and sounds of game characters based on their characteristics of physical appearance atrributes and emotional state
- Techniques for skeletal animation from normal single camera video clips
- Techniques for incorporating and measuring emotions in virtual characters’ facial animation
- Novel approaches for voice-originated communication in extremely noisy environments
- Techniques for detecting and learning personalized gestures for communicating intent or assigning gestures to an indicated action
- Learning event—scene, video lifelog, sporting event—descriptions and attributes, or story-lines, from recorded audio-video clips, and other muli-modal data:
- in the case of sporting events additional data streams include game data
- in the case of video lifelog additional data streams include GPS, motion, and so forth
- Approaches for automatic generation of logically sequenced micro-tasks from high-level description of a mission (a macro-task)
Funding
Funding will be provided to support all aspects of the project with anticipated funding levels ranging from $100,000 to $175,000 for a specified project duration. Proiect duration should generally be from 12 to 24 months and should be requested and defined as part of the proposal. After project term completion, additional funding may be available to extend promising projects.
Deadlines and Key Dates
April 25, 2019:
Mini workshop for NCSOFT technology leaders and MIT PIs.
May 25, 2019:
Deadline for proposals
June/July 2019:
Notification given to applicants
July/August 2019:
Funds become available to award recipients, also subject to OSP review process.
Application Process
Applications must include a project proposal and the project budget. Please submit both via email to [email protected]. Any related questions can be raised via this email as well. | https://mitnano.mit.edu/NCSOFT-seed-grant-2019 |
Treatment planning strategy for whole-brain radiotherapy with hippocampal sparing and simultaneous integrated boost for multiple brain metastases using intensity-modulated arc therapy.
To retrospectively evaluate the accuracy, plan quality and efficiency of intensity-modulated arc therapy (IMAT) for hippocampal sparing whole-brain radiotherapy (HS-WBRT) with simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) in patients with multiple brain metastases (m-BM). A total of 5 patients with m-BM were retrospectively replanned for HS-WBRT with SIB using IMAT treatment planning. The hippocampus was contoured on diagnostic T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which had been fused with the planning CT image set. The hippocampal avoidance zone (HAZ) was generated using a 5-mm uniform margin around the paired hippocampi. The m-BM planning target volumes (PTVs) were contoured on T1/T2-weighted MRI registered with the 3D planning computed tomography (CT). The whole-brain planning target volume (WB-PTV) was defined as the whole-brain tissue volume minus HAZ and m-BM PTVs. Highly conformal IMAT plans were generated in the Eclipse treatment planning system for Novalis-TX linear accelerator consisting of high-definition multileaf collimators (HD-MLCs: 2.5-mm leaf width at isocenter) and 6-MV beam. Prescription dose was 30Gy for WB-PTV and 45Gy for each m-BM in 10 fractions. Three full coplanar arcs with orbit avoidance sectors were used. Treatment plans were evaluated using homogeneity (HI) and conformity indices (CI) for target coverage and dose to organs at risk (OAR). Dose delivery efficiency and accuracy of each IMAT plan was assessed via quality assurance (QA) with a MapCHECK device. Actual beam-on time was recorded and a gamma index was used to compare dose agreement between the planned and measured doses. All 5 HS-WBRT with SIB plans met WB-PTV D2%, D98%, and V30Gy NRG-CC001 requirements. The plans demonstrated highly conformal and homogenous coverage of the WB-PTV with mean HI and CI values of 0.33 ± 0.04 (range: 0.27 to 0.36), and 0.96 ± 0.01 (range: 0.95 to 0.97), respectively. All 5 hippocampal sparing patients met protocol guidelines with maximum dose and dose to 100% of hippocampus (D100%) less than 16 and 9Gy, respectively. The dose to the optic apparatus was kept below protocol guidelines for all 5 patients. Highly conformal and homogenous radiosurgical dose distributions were achieved for all 5 patients with a total of 33 brain metastases. The m-BM PTVs had a mean HI = 0.09 ± 0.02 (range: 0.07 to 0.19) and a mean CI = 1.02 ± 0.06 (range: 0.93 to 1.2). The total number of monitor units (MU) was, on average, 1677 ± 166. The average beam-on time was 4.1 ± 0.4 minute . The IMAT plans demonstrated accurate dose delivery of 95.2 ± 0.6%, on average, for clinical gamma passing rate with 2%/2-mm criteria and 98.5 ± 0.9%, on average, with 3%/3-mm criteria. All hippocampal sparing plans were considered clinically acceptable per NRG-CC001 dosimetric compliance criteria. IMAT planning provided highly conformal and homogenous dose distributions for the WB-PTV and m-BM PTVs with lower doses to OAR such as the hippocampus. These results suggest that HS-WBRT with SIB is a clinically feasible, fast, and effective treatment option for patients with a relatively large numbers of m-BM lesions.
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Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up
Showing until November 4 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
A courageous woman, a passionate lover, and an empowering woman of the 20th century, Frida Kahlo was an artist who wasn’t afraid to use her tragic experiences and emotional pain as a symbolic, powerful tool of art. ‘Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up’ delves into Kahlo’s distinctive taste in fashion and compelling life story, through a treasure trove of colourful Tehuana garments, hand-painted prosthetics, and a self-curated make-up selection that includes her signature Revlon ebony eyebrow pencil. Kahlo’s home – Casa Azul aka Blue House – where she was born, lived, and died is also reimagined here, offers an insight into her troubled marriage with muralist Diego Rivera, along with an insight into her orthopaedic-aided life after a near-fatal accident when she was 18. | http://harpersbazaar.my/culture/art-about/culturelist-three-exhibitions-to-catch-in-london/ |
When the State has failed to preserve evidence prior to testing it, is that a violation of defendant’s due process rights?
Not necessarily. Where evidence has been lost by the State prior to testing, to prove a due process violation, the defendant must show that the lost evidence either: (1) was both material and exculpatory or (2) that law enforcement acted in bad faith in failing to preserve the evidence. In this case, the defendants could not show that the lost evidence would have exonerated them of the crime of conspiracy to promote gambling or that the State acted in bad faith. Read opinion.
When the other side complains about the Youngblood rule being too difficult for the defense, remember to tell them that the burden of proof is always on the State to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that missing or lost evidence always makes that job harder. Here, the court gave the defense plenty of attention in showing that the lost evidence was neither exculpatory nor material.
Was it fundamental error for the judge to question a witness during trial based on his personal experience and not to clarify any preceding testimony?
Yes. The judge’s questioning of the defense witness was not for any common purpose and tended to give the jury the impression that the court disbelieved the testimony. Additionally the questioning cast doubt on the defense’s theory of the case and showed bias so egregious as to deem the trial court biased on the matter of Proenza’s guilt. Read opinion.
Judge Garza wrote to note he did not find the trial judge’s comments to be fundamental error as the error was not “structural”; thus, no harm analysis was required, and the comments were harmless under the applicable standard. Read.
A trial court can seldom go wrong if it limits its comments to: denied, sustained, granted, overruled, move along, and the jury will remember the evidence. Here, the trial court’s initial questions were of little moment, but when the trial court started quizzing the witness regarding its own experiences, it seems to have crossed a red line for the court of appeals. The bigger problem is that trial counsel did not object and preserve the error. Maybe trial counsel, who was actually present with the witness and all the parties, believed the questions were innocuous. Indeed, maybe trial counsel believed that the trial court’s questions helped his defense because the witness held firm in the face of the questioning. If the questioning was so wrong that trial counsel should have objected, then the defendant could obtain relieve via a writ. “Fundamental error” is a discredited concept in Texas criminal law that encourages laying behind the log and bushwack litigation—hopefully the Court of Criminal Appeals will use this case as an opportunity to discard the fundamental error doctrine.
In a failure to appear case, can a defendant selectively waive her attorney-client privilege for certain portions of testimony that are helpful to her case?
No. While presenting the statutory defense of reasonable excuse, the defendant expressly waived privilege as to a significant part of her communications with her original attorney, but not all communications (there were charges against the defendant in multiple counties, and she expressly waived attorney-client privilege for some charges but not all). The court found that the legal effect of the waiver could not be limited selectively to only those communications that were helpful to the defense. As a matter of law, the waiver also extended to all other related attorney communications which were relevant to the defense and thereby, in fairness, became admissible when Bailey injected those communications into the case. Given the defense’s theory of the case, it was not ineffective assistance of counsel to elicit testimony of the formerly privileged communications. Read opinion.
Chief Judge Radack wrote to express her belief that defense counsel was ineffective because he elicited testimony of privileged communications over the specific objection of his client. The defendant expressly waived the privilege regarding certain charges but also expressly held on the privilege for others. Defense counsel went further and prompted privileged testimony regarding the other charges for which privilege had not been waived. She believed this resulted in ineffective assistance of counsel. Read dissent.
A rare en banc opinion. And, it will rarely be useful outside the context of bail jumping cases. The opinion reveals that subsequent defense counsel attempted a difficult maneuver at trial but was not quite able to pull it off. | https://www.tdcaa.com/case-summaries/july-31-2015/ |
Not many people can endure the challenges that law school presents. For one, getting into law school is already a formidable task in itself. You need to have at least a bachelor’s degree, possess the right academic credentials, and pass the law school admission test or LSAT. On top of these, you also need to go through a series of tests and interviews and impress admissions officers, especially if you are applying to a prestigious law school.
Assuming that you do get it in, you then need to keep up with law school’s demands for at least three years. This means going through literally tons of resources, writing countless papers, and sitting through endless discussions. The writing part in particular can be daunting, as papers in law school need to be packed with insight. One of the most common projects you will write is the law research paper or legal research paper. In this post, we look at some tips that can help you accomplish this project.
What Is Legal Research Paper?
A legal research paper, as the term suggests, is a research paper that focuses on a topic in law or the legal system. The main objective of a legal research paper is to convey a point to the reader and support that point using evidence and reasoning.
Evidence and reasoning are especially important in a legal research paper since law as a field relies more on facts and logic than emotions.
A legal research paper has the basic elements of a research paper such as an outline, a standard format, and complete sections. But more than this, it has to be insightful. Thus your research paper needs to go beyond what other sources already say. It has to interpret and synthesize laws, legal concepts and principles, and cases to produce new knowledge. While writing a legal research paper is a complicated process, there are ways to ensure quality. The following sections offer tips for writing this project.
Tips for Writing a Legal Research Paper
If you already know how to write a research paper, then you are already off to a good start in learning how to write a legal research paper. But as noted earlier, this project is more complex than an average paper. This is largely because civil or criminal law essay topics tend to be multifaceted and downright controversial. It is no wonder the study of the law and the legal system is considered a difficult undertaking. Nevertheless, some ways of how you can tackle this task better are provided below.
1. Know the Type of Research Paper You Are Writing
A research paper is a general piece of writing and therefore may serve different purposes depending on the instructions. Once you receive the details of the task, examine the instructions to determine what type of research paper you are writing. A research paper can be considered as task-based, problem-solving, or just a general research essay.
- Task-based research paper. A task-based research paper requires you to perform a specific task. In other words, your research paper needs to meet certain criteria or components that comprise the task. This may mean answering a question or a series of questions, arguing a position, or any other task.
- Problem-solving research paper. A problem-solving research paper attempts to provide a solution to an existing issue. The legal system is an intricate web of laws, principles, concepts, and cases. In this type of legal research paper, your main aim is to resolve a conundrum by analyzing and utilizing evidence.
- General research paper. This type of research paper is largely expository; that is, your main purpose is to present findings from your research. But this should not be mistaken as merely to reiterate the content of your sources. You need still need to analyze and synthesize information to provide a consistent, comprehensive, and unified discussion.
2. Use High-Quality Sources
Law is a highly academic field. Your research paper should therefore use only sources of the highest quality. This means avoiding sources like user-generated webpages, blogs, or commercial pages. Instead, you need to use articles published in peer-reviewed journals, laws, cases, and books by experts in the field.
The rule of thumb is: the more scholarly the source is, the better it is for your paper.
You can also use other sources like newspaper reports, documentaries, and primary sources if necessary.
3. Conduct Strategic Research
Conducting research for a legal research paper is a meticulous and time-consuming process. If you are not sure where to look and what to look for, you may end up just wasting time and energy. It is to your advantage to research strategically. Being strategic with your research will help you gather information and learn about your topic while minimizing the expenditure of your resources. The following are some ways to conduct research strategically:
- Note key facts and search terms. Take note of key facts and search terms you come across as you read. Key facts are useful when you are dealing with large amounts of information since these bring out the gist of your sources and eliminate non-essential elements. Meanwhile, search terms are useful when you look for materials that relate to or corroborate your sources.
- Use a legal dictionary. Keeping a legal dictionary by your side at all times will help you understand better the material you are reading. When you come across an unfamiliar term, make sure you look it up in the dictionary. Proceeding without understanding what you are reading is just a total waste of time.
- Read legal commentaries. Legal commentaries, especially those given by experts, will provide you with insight into topics. Commentaries go beyond providing facts by offering informed perspectives, and thus these are helpful when you are formulating your own opinions.
- Use a legal encyclopedia. Having a legal encyclopedia at your disposal is useful for the same reason that having a legal dictionary is advantageous. This source can give you a quick overview of crucial topics before you begin delving deeper into your research.
- Look at relevant legislation. The law continues to evolve, so make sure that you look at relevant legislation to determine if you are updated. There may be proposed laws or recent amendments that affect the way the law is interpreted and implemented.
- Read authoritative cases. Relevant cases, especially landmark ones, are essential to understanding the law. Such cases show how the law is applied to real-life settings and situations.
- Read legal commentaries. Legal commentaries written by authorities and experts are a valuable source for various reasons. Such scholarly sources can offer you background on the topic, brilliant interpretations, and illuminating insights.
- Evaluate and consolidate results. The best research papers are those that make sense of the whole rather than merely the sum of its parts. So, consolidate your findings and evaluate them as a whole. Find common themes, contrasting viewpoints, and look at the overall findings.
4. Write a Tentative Response
To increase clarity and precision, try to write a tentative response. Determine your position or main message and then use this to create a thesis statement. Then create a legal research outline. If you know how to make an effective outline, then this should be easier for you. Outlines give your paper structure. It is the skeletal framework that you flesh out as you write your paper.
5. Do Not Be Descriptive, Be Analytical
Like any research paper, a legal research paper should exhibit analysis. Do not simply repeat what your sources say. Mere repetition will result in a descriptive paper and no professor will give you good marks if you cannot show that you used your analytical skills to come up with an original stance or opinion. Read between the lines and weigh the evidence to form your own conclusions.
6. Cite Proof
Aristotle once wrote that “the law is reason free from passion.” When applied to your legal research paper, this means that you should avoid making arguments based on emotion. While the three modes of persuasion are vital to most writings, not all of these apply in a legal research paper. What you need here are truths, facts, and logic.
7. Always Connect Your Argument to the Law
The law is at the center of the legal system. It, therefore, makes sense to always connect the law to your argument. Regardless of your position or claim, you should do your best to show how the law figures into the discussion. For example, use the law to show why the position you take is lawful. At the same time, if you are arguing against existing law, use other laws and reasoning to advance your position.
8. Avoid Verbosity
While eloquence and sophistication in writing are certainly welcome, verbosity has no place in a legal research paper. Keep in mind that the law is clearly and precisely worded so as to avoid confusion. Use only as many words as necessary. Avoid flowery words at all costs since these do not add any value to your writing and can even muddle your message.
9. Cite Your Sources
A legal research paper is among the most scholarly papers you will write in law school. Make sure you cite all your sources. Apart from helping you avoid plagiarism by showing where you derived your information, citing your sources also enriches the content of your paper. Your professor will know right away if you used legitimate sources by just looking at your citations.
Conclusion
Writing an excellent legal research paper is a tough job. This single project requires hours or even days of researching, reading, and writing. While there are ways to accomplish the task faster such as by conducting strategic research, it will still cost you precious resources. Completing this paper on time becomes more difficult if you have other papers to write.
Fortunately, there is a way for you to finish all your coursework. CustomEssayMeister offers a superb custom writing service that can provide you a well-written legal research paper at an affordable price. Many of our writers have a background in law, which makes them perfectly capable of writing your legal research paper. Simply place an order on our website to have your legal research paper written by a professional writer. | https://www.customessaymeister.com/custom-law-essay-writing.html |
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Introduction
============
Optic nerve damage resulting from decreased blood flow is known as Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (ION). ION is classified into two types: anterior (AION) and posterior (PION) \[[@REF1]\]. The AION can be the result of increased optic pressure and edema as well as decreased blood flow to the anterior optic nerve. It is hypothesized that the development of this compartment syndrome in the anterior portion of the optic nerve is the critical pathway for the occurrence of this complication \[[@REF2],[@REF3]\]. Ischemic optic neuropathy (ION) is an uncommon complication with significant and devastating implications for burns patients and their families following severe burns and trauma due to high levels of blood loss \[[@REF4]\]. It is not a direct consequence of the burn injury, but rather the result of multiple factors in a process poorly understood. Here, we discuss our experience in the light of our current knowledge of this pathology.
Case presentation
=================
A 27-year-old male with no previous medical history was admitted to the Burn Intensive Care Unit (BICU) following a house fire. The patient was conscious on arrival at the hospital and interacting with 85% TBSA full-thickness flame burns to his face, head, neck, entire torso, groin, perineum, buttocks, lower back and circumferential burns to the entirety of all four extremities, and with concomitant inhalation injury. He did not receive any fluids in the field or during transport, as the paramedic could not obtain IV access. Intubation was performed in the ED for airway protection. Bronchoscopy revealed evidence of thermal injury at the carina and main bronchi consistent with inhalation injury. Escharotomies were performed. The patient was resuscitated in the first 24 hours with a total of 42.5 liters (L) of crystalloids (Parkland Formula 4cc x125kg x 85% TBSA=42,500mL/24 hours). He did not require any vasopressors during this time.
An ophthalmology consultation was obtained. Due to the extreme condition of the patient, a full 8-point ophthalmologic exam could not be completed. Visual acuity, visual fields, and extraocular movement could not be determined. Tonometry revealed 14mmHg in the right eye and 13mmHg in the left. Pupil reactivity tests confirmed no afferent pupillary defects. An ophthalmologic exam also revealed exposure keratopathy of both eyes, which means that the corneas were damaged as a result of prolonged exposure to the outside. It also revealed a severe corneal epithelial defect of the left eye. However, the funduscopic exam was normal. A Prokera lens was placed, and topical antimicrobials and moisture chambers were applied to the eyes.
During his hospitalization, the patient's course was complicated by severe ARDS with refractory hypoxemia requiring prone positioning and vecuronium for paralysis. Also, he developed several episodes of sepsis with multi-organ failure and septic shock, requiring vasopressor support. Secondary to compartment syndrome, he required bilateral below-knee amputations. Neurosurgery and neurology were consulted for pupillary anisocoria and pupil non-reactivity. A CT scan of the head demonstrated a very small occipital horn intraventricular hemorrhage and possible cortical subarachnoid hemorrhage \[Figure [1](#FIG1){ref-type="fig"}\]. No intervention was indicated.
{#FIG1}
When the patient's mental status improved, he reported that he was unable to see. Neuro-ophthalmology performed a funduscopic examination that demonstrated bilateral pale optic nerves with sparing of the remaining peripheral retina, suggestive of a chronic process vs. acute change. Given his periods of hypotension, anemia, and multiple surgeries, the patient's findings were consistent with ischemic optic neuropathy.
The patient was discharged from the hospital after further recovery, at this time reporting complete bilateral vision loss with only recovery of mild perception to light.
Discussion
==========
The pathophysiology of Ischemic optic neuropathy (ION) is a highly complex process that involves multiple factors. It is a prevalent cause of blindness among the elderly after glaucoma and optic neuritis, but a rare and devastating complication in burn patients. The majority of ION is non-arteritic \[[@REF1]\]. The annual incidence is estimated at 2.3 to 10.2 cases per 100,000 in persons 50 years of age or older. Men and women are equally affected, and the vast majority (\>95%) are Caucasian. It is accepted that small vessel circulatory insufficiency of the optic nerve head is the most likely cause. Nevertheless, ION is a distinct process in the burn patient population, as well as patients with severe trauma. Unlike the typical ION patient, these patients are mainly young and previously healthy with no evidence of cardiovascular disease or other associated risk factors.
A review of the scientific literature revealed that the reported cases in burn and trauma patients share common elements sufficient to infer a predictive pathophysiology model. These patients commonly share the presence of extensive injuries requiring a significant amount of fluid resuscitation in the first 24 hours (usually more than 20 L in the first 24hr "massive fluid resuscitation") to prevent shock. Burned patients develop a well-known systemic inflammatory response (SIRS), associated with significant capillary leak and anasarca. The combination of these two elements (copious amounts of fluids and the capillary leak) predispose these patients to the development of compartment syndrome \[[@REF2],[@REF3]\].
Additionally, all the reported burned patients who suffered ION develop severe episodes of hypoxemia and global hypoperfusion during their hospitalization. Frequent events in these reported patients include ARDS requiring high levels of oxygen, acute anemia requiring a blood transfusion, and several episodes of sepsis requiring multiple pressors. Several publications have identified the association between hemorrhagic shock and ION outside the burn population \[[@REF4]-[@REF7]\]. In our case, the patient had an episode of hemorrhagic shock when he bled from his donor sites after becoming refractory to epinephrine soaks. He later required topical Tranexamic acid (TXA) for his donor sites to prevent bleeding.
It is important to note that not all the patients with these variables end up developing ION. Cullinane et al. reviewed 350 trauma cases which required more than 20L of fluid resuscitation in the first 24hr (massive volume resuscitation) and found that only nine patients (2.6%) developed ION \[[@REF8]\]. Nevertheless, the number of ION in burned patients is less well-defined, as a review of national data has not yet been performed. A study like this could reveal similar findings to that of Cullinane et al. in the Trauma population. To our knowledge, this is the 6th case reported in burn patients \[[@REF9]-[@REF11]\]. Consequently, this relatively small number of cases with ION indicates an idiosyncratic factor in these patients. It has been suggested that at least one of these factors is the presence of a small cup/macula ratio (a ratio of the optic to the optic disc - used to diagnose glaucoma). This anatomical feature predisposes the patient to compartment syndrome of the eye \[[@REF12]\]. Interestingly, in Cullinane's report, 56% of the patients who developed ION (5 patients) suffered monocular blindness (left eye) whereas four patients (44%) had bilateral blindness supporting the idea of an anatomical difference variable.
It is thought that the development of compartment syndrome in the anterior portion of the optic nerve is one of the possible causes of this complication. The compartment syndrome occurs in a fixed area, most likely where the optic nerve passes through the lamina cribosa. This compartment syndrome is caused by the edematous nerve fibers within the optic nerve and a small scleral canal at the lamina cribosa. This increased pressure in the compartment causes a venous outflow obstruction and critical venous hypertension followed by secondary arterial hypoperfusion and ultimately infarction of the anterior optic nerve. This mechanism also explains why prone positioning (either for severe and refractory global hypoxemia in ARDS or surgery positioning) might contribute to the development of AION in this patient by causing venous hypertension.
The recognition of this complication is usually delayed due to prolonged ventilatory support and sedation. Initial eye exam during the first hours of admission might reveal corneal defects secondary to the burns, but normal retina and eye light reflex. When the patient can communicate, they usually report painless vision loss. The diagnosis is primarily clinical, and the eye exam confirms the presence of an afferent pupillary defect and optic disc pallor and edema with sparing of the remaining peripheral retina on fundoscopy \[[@REF13]\]. A crucial finding on examination is the presence of a small cup-to-disc ratio (disc at risk), meaning a crowded optic-nerve head with a small physiological cup \[[@REF12],[@REF14],[@REF15]\]. On the other hand, the posterior ION (PION) has no well-known structural risk factors.
There is no proven therapy to impact or reverse the outcomes of this complication. In 1989, Sergott and Savino proposed that optic nerve decompression surgery (ONDS) might improve vision in the patient with a progressive form of NAION (not secondary to trauma or burn) \[[@REF16]\]. However, the Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Decompression Trial (IONDT), a singled-masked, multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute, concluded that ONDS is not safe, and in fact might be harmful; hence it was abandoned \[[@REF17]\].
Evans and Sullivan recommend routinely using tonometry to measure the intraocular pressure in patients with severe burns and orbital congestion in the setting of large amounts of intravenous fluids \[[@REF18],[@REF19]\]. Sullivan et al. reviewed 13 consecutive patients with TBSA of more than 25 % of which only 5 of 13 had intraocular pressure (IOP) higher than 30 mmHg and required prophylactic lateral canthotomies \[[@REF19]\]. No prospective studies have been done to prove any benefit of this procedure in preventing ION in burn patients.
In summary, our patient had multiple factors that predisposed him to develop ION. It is essential to have a high index suspicion for early recognition of ION, especially in patients with extensive burns. However, extensive retrospective and prospective studies remain a necessity to understand this pathology and potentially develop early interventions that could save these patients from blindness and debilitation.
Conclusions
===========
Further extensive retrospective and prospective studies remain necessary to understand more about burn-induced ION and to develop potential treatment and prevention methods. Early diagnosis is difficult, and although it may not benefit these patients, it will help with family discussion of prognosis and expectation. Clinical suspicion should be followed by fundoscopy. Prevention is the best option available at this moment. Judicious fluid resuscitation and minimizing hypoxemia and hypotension periods as well as selective pronation of patient with refractory ARDS remains the primary option to prevent ION.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Consent was obtained by all participants in this study
| |
Flashcards in Chapter 19-Teaching Family Counseling Deck (25)
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1
How can counselor educators usebest practices in the field of family counseling with students?
Create opportunities for students to:
1. interact with best practices in family counseling,
2. try on new behaviors
3. Discard old myths about families
2
What thoughts do students often bring to family counseling class about families.
1. There are normal families, then the rest.
2. Thoughts about how families “should” be
3
How can instructors help students move beyond entrenched perspectives about families?
1. Students encounter family norms and values that genuinely challenge ways of knowing about family
2. Their understandings of families are never “true” or final
3. Are contextual, shaped by social class, gender, history, ethnicity, and culture.
4
RE: families, social interactions and economic factors have affected:
1. Definition, structure, and functioning of the family
2. How the life cycle of the family may progress
3. Issues that may bring families to counseling
5
With the unique and diverse needs of families now, what can help counterbalance the challenges that bring them to family counseling?
1. Paying attention to the diversity
2. Helping them identify their unique resources
6
To achieve the necessary qualities of challenge and support in family counseling instruction, family counseling can be grounded in what principles ?
1. Constructivist
2. Multicultural
3. Cognitive developmental
7
In teaching family counseling, what does principles of constructivist teaching call for?
1. Abandonment of socially stereotyped definitions of family
2. Definitions shaped by family’s unique social history and context
3. Attentiveness to diversity in all aspects of family understanding, assessment, and intervention.
4. Cognitive developmental framework promoting students’ abilities to formulate counseling intervention with unique family culture
8
The evolution of marriage and family therapy is seen in the postmodern approaches, such as:
1. solution-focused and solution-oriented
2. narrative therapies
3. Therapist moves from being an expert to collaborator, participant, and observer-engages client/family in deconstructing the story of their lives
9
What do these postmodern therapy models focus on for the therapist and for therapy?
1. Therapist does not have solution, gives client opportunity to define what would be helpful, what solution to seek, and how to co-create solutions in therapy.
2. Focus on strengths
3. Look at social issues that define meaning people give to problems
10
How can counselor educators encourage the development of multicultural counseling competence?
1. Students’ awareness of personal biases
2. Seek knowledge about families’ unique cultural compositions
3. Integrate family counseling models to increase cultural relevance of counseling
11
To accomplish multicultural competence aims, the course emphasizes:
1. Dialogue among students and:
A. Other students
B. Their family members
C. The instructor.
2. Culturally focused reflective journaling
3. Family history genograms
4. Texts that expose students to influence of ethnic values on family life
12
The instructor meets students’ efforts toward cultural competence with:
1. Supportive guidance
2. Affirmation
3. Individualized feedback
13
RE: family counseling, a positive relationship exists between:
1. Counselor’s level of cognitive development and ability to comprehend complex family dynamics
2. Higher levels, greater ability to “read and flex,” more accurately assess client needs and choose appropriate interventions
14
What are 3 assumptions that drive development-oriented education?
1. Process of accommodation and assimilation
2. The notion of hierarchy
3. The idea of mismatch
15
Describe the first assumption: process of accommodation and assimilation.
1. Learner initially attempts to assimilate the experience into existing cognitive structures.
2. When structures prove insufficient, learner creates new meaning-making structures that accommodate for new experience.
3. Disparity results in anxiety or disequilibrium, provides drive for cognitive growth.
16
Describe the second assumption: the notion of hierarchy.
1. Cognitive development occurs in hierarchical and sequential stages
2. Reflect qualitative advances in learner’s capacity for processing and making meaning of complex experiences
17
Describe the third assumption for cognitive development: the idea of mismatch.
For cognitive development to occur, must be “constructive mismatch” between learner’s current stage of cognitive development and educational intervention with developmental intentions
18
DPE provides what five necessary learning conditions to trigger development?
1. Qualitatively significant new perspective-taking experience
2. Guided reflection
3. Balance between experience and opportunity for reflection on that experience
4. Instructor challenge and support
5. Assurance of continuity
19
What does research suggest is the optimal time for developmental interventions?
Weekly interventions for 6 months to a year
20
In the family counseling course, experiential activities encourage students to:
1. Personalize experience
2. Engage in self-reflection
3. Make meaning of what helps families function better
21
Assignments recommended for the family counseling course:
1. genogram
2. family story paper
3. family role play
4. case study paper
22
Drawing from tenets of Murray Bowen’s family counseling model, what should the genogram contain?
1. At least three generations of the students’ family histories.
2. Include a written reflection on:
A. relationship patterns
B. trends
C. alliances
D. cut-offs
E. separations
F. cultural elements
23
The genogram assignment serves what 4 purposes?
1. Gain greater understandings about the family patterns
2. Promote multicultural counseling competence
3. Gain greater self-awareness.
4. Increase cultural sensitivity
24
How do case studies help students in family counseling course?
Initial opportunity to integrate family counseling theory with individual client needs. | https://blog.brainscape.com/flashcards/chapter-19-teaching-family-counseling-9078292/packs/15643048 |
Obesity, it appears, has something in common with smoking: once the pattern is established, it’s difficult to change. A new study shows that children who are overweight or obese as 5 year olds are more likely to be obese as adolescents. Other studies have shown that obese adolescents tend to become obese adults. Thus, it appears that, if a child is obese at age 5, chances are high that child will become an obese adult.
However, the new study of obesity does offers reason for hope. If a child can avoid obesity by at age 5, he or she has a good chance to avoid a lifetime of obesity and all of the health problems associated with it.
The study was conducted by Solveig Cunningham and her colleagues at Emory University in Atlanta. With financial support from the NICHD, the Emory researchers analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, a data set compiled by the U.S. Department of Education (with support from a number of federal partners, including NICHD). The researchers analyzed data on height and weight collected from more than 7700 children throughout the United States, as the children progressed from kindergarten through eighth grade.
The researchers found that 12 percent were obese when they entered kindergarten, and another 15 percent were overweight. By the eighth grade, almost 21 percent were obese and another 17 percent were overweight. Not all obese or overweight children retained their extra weight and not all normal weight children remained that way. However, the trends were clear. Overweight 5-year-olds were four times more likely than normal-weight 5-year olds to become obese by eighth grade (incidence of 32%% vs. 8%).
No one can say just why one person becomes obese and another remains trim. The overwhelming consensus among researchers is that obesity results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Some people may simply have more of a tendency to gain weight than do others. However, environment also plays a role. For example, children in certain neighborhoods may not have as many opportunities for getting out and moving around as children from other areas. Similarly, some families, for reasons of tradition, cultural heritage, economics, or even lack of knowledge about good nutrition, may select more caloric foods, and be in the habit of serving larger portion sizes.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12 percent of preschoolers are obese. Even in childhood, obesity carries the risk for such physical and mental health problems as high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and asthma. More than one-third of adults are obese. For adults, obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and many kinds of cancer.
Fortunately, we’ve learned a few things about how to prevent obesity and to help those who may already have gained weight. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has reviewed the research supported by NICHD and others to formulate recommendations for preventing and treating overweight and obesity in children. I’ve cited them here, along with additional information on nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight.
Limiting sugar sweetened beverages. The CDC reminds us that with drinks containing sugar or other added sweeteners, calories can really add up.
Consuming recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. ChooseMyPlate.gov/ provides information about not only about recommendations for fruits and vegetables, but for other food groups as well.
Limiting television and other screen time. Children who are sitting and watching television aren’t likely to be exercising and burning calories. The AAP recommends that children under age 2 don’t watch any television. After age two, children should have no more than 2 hours of television time each day. For older children, AAP recommends no more than 2 hours of total screen time a day—this means limiting TV viewing, as well as computers and electronic games. Similarly, AAP cautions against keeping television or other screens in children’s rooms.
Eating breakfast daily. Skipping meals may make you feel hungrier and lead you to eat more than you normally would at your next meal. In particular, studies show a link between skipping breakfast and obesity. People who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast, according to NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Limiting eating out at restaurants—particularly fast food restaurants. Restaurants tend to serve large portions and offer energy dense foods.
Encouraging family meals in which parents and children eat together. Families who eat together often have healthier diets and lower obesity rates.
Limiting portion size. Restaurant portion sizes have grown in the last 20 years. Many restaurant dishes may contain enough food for two or three people. The NIH’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Portion Distortion pages show how portions have increased and compares them to appropriately sized servings. Of course, parents should avoid being overly restrictive, either in limiting what children eat, or forcing them to eat more than they’d care to. The goal is to teach children self-control, so that they can consistently make their own healthy choices.
I encourage all parents and caregivers to take advantage of the federal government’s information resources to help their children maintain a healthy weight. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative is dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. The Let’s Move! Website provides helpful information on diet and exercise for parents, school systems, and community leaders. Here at NIH, NHLBI’s We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) national education program provides parents and caregivers with tools and activities, so they can encourage their children to eat healthy, increase physical activity, and reduce screen time.
And finally, NICHD’s “Media Smart Youth” program is an interactive after-school program that teaches young people how media influence their health, nutrition, and physical activity. The program helps students build skills to make informed decisions about being physically active and eating nutritious food in daily life. The goal is to establish healthy habits that will last into adulthood.
Especially with the data from this recent study, it appears best to start when children are young and establish healthy habits before weight becomes a problem. And, although it may be difficult to change things for families in which unhealthy habits have taken hold, nothing is set in stone, and change is still possible. What may be most important is to start now. | https://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/overview/directors_corner/prev_updates/022614 |
2020-02-19 15:51 Importance of Good Nutrition Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer), and promote your overall health.
Health education builds students' knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes about health. Health education teaches about physical, mental, emotional and social health. It motivates students to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease, and reduce risky behaviors. injury prevention, mental and emotional health, nutrition, physical importance of health education in nutrition
Unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678, 000 deaths each year in the U. S. , due to nutrition and obesityrelated diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. 1 In the last 30 years, Health care costs 8, 900 per person per year. 21
A healthful diet and good nutrition are crucial in preventing some of the issues inadequate nutrition can cause such as short stature and delayed puberty, nutrient deficiencies and dehydration, menstrual irregularities, poor bone health, increased risk of injuries, poor academic performance and increased risk of eating disorders. importance of health education in nutrition
Help your preschooler eat well, be active, and grow up healthy! Young children need your help to develop healthy eating and physical activity habits for life. Mesirow MA, Welsh JA. Changing Beverage Consumption Patterns Have Resulted in Fewer Liquid Calories in the Diets of US Children: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2015; 115(4): . The Importance of Nutrition Education in the 2015 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Kids eat more fruits and vegetables when they have access to healthy meals and nutrition education. Overview The United States is facing an epidemic of childhood obesity. Access to healthy food is critical to solving this problem, and is importance of health education in nutrition Health Education in Schools The Importance nutrition, lack of physical activity, drug and alcohol use, as well as actions that increase stress, A strong relationship exists between school health education and health literacy. 22 Health literacy is the capacity of individuals to Health education is imparted with the aim of improving the health of an individual or a group of individuals. . Importance of Health Education: Many are the blessings of imparting health education. Health education enables a person to remain physically fit and in proper health. The Importance of Nutrition Education and Why It Is Key for Educational success. Marilyn Briggs. If one of our primary goals as educators is to help students prepare for healthy and productive lives, then nutrition and health education are central to that goal. The most systematic and efficient means for improving the health of Americas Training of professional worker in nutrition and dietetics In almost all countries specialized training are available for training of nutritionist and dietitian suitable for working in schools, colleges, hospitals, Maternity child health centres for imparting nutrition education in the community.
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CT Scan Also known as computed tomography, the CT scan was first invented in 1972. British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield and South African physicist Allan Cormack are credited with the invention. With the above 15 interesting facts about the history of radiology and radiography just the beginning, there are loads more advances and careers in
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What are the factors or divisors of the number 8, 365? Find out the answer and a whole lot more! Toggle navigation. Q: What are the factors or divisors of the number 8, 365? Unfortunately, there's not simple formula to identifying all of the factors of a number and it can be a tedious process when trying to identify the factors of larger numbers. | https://tuzasyn.ml/73284-importance-of-health-education-in-nutrition.html |
Recent work in experimental philosophy has indicated that intuitions may be subject to several forms of bias, thereby casting doubt on the viability of intuition as an evidential source in philosophy. A common reply to these findings is the ‘expertise defense’ – the claim that although biases may be found in the intuitions of non-philosophers, persons with expertise in philosophy will be resistant to these biases. Much debate over the expertise defense has centered over the question of the burden of proof; must defenders of expertise provide empirical evidence of its existence, or should we grant the existence of philosophical expertise as a ‘default’ assumption? Defenders have frequently appealed to analogy with other fields; since expertise clearly exists in, e.g., the sciences, we are entitled to assume its existence in philosophy. Recently, however, experimentalists have begun to provide empirical evidence that biases in intuition extend even to philosophers. Though these findings don't yet suffice to defeat the default assumption of expertise the analogy argument motivates, they do force any proponent of the analogy argument to provide more specific and empirically informed proposals for the possible nature of philosophical expertise.
|Original language||English|
|Pages (from-to)||631-641|
|Number of pages||11|
|Journal||Philosophy Compass|
|Volume||9|
|Issue number||9|
|Early online date||4 Sep 2014|
|DOIs|
|Publication status||Published - Sep 2014|
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Philosophical expertise'. Together they form a unique fingerprint. | https://scholars.ln.edu.hk/en/publications/philosophical-expertise |
Research: Tackling the energy crisis in Nigeria – a case for solar
The author, Ola Olaniyi, is a Director at Triox Capital. This article was written specifically for the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies, a trilateral platform for government, business and academia to promote knowledge and expertise on Africa, established by Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Business Federation.
Electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria remains erratic. Only 50% of the population have access to electricity, and more than 90 million Nigerians – about the population of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand combined – are without access to electricity. Access in rural areas is even worse with only 10% of the population having access.
Ongoing industry reform and privatisation efforts by the government are encouraging, but continue to face significant challenges to drive the investments required to breathe new life into the power industry. While most of the ongoing efforts are focused on utility-scale power generation and transmission, the ability to scale solar power generation to meet specific types of demand – residential, distributed, and utility-scale – makes solar a particularly attractive solution to contribute to solving Nigeria’s power challenges.
In addition, the abundance of a free fuel source, the falling cost of PV solar panels, the ease and speed of installation, low operations and maintenance costs, modularity, and energy security make solar an attractive source of energy for the Nigerian economy.
Finally, the ability to deliver energy from solar PV to targeted clusters of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), makes the technology a key potential driver of economic growth. These, in turn, represent significant investment opportunities to potential investors.
A nation full of potential, fraught with challenges
Nigeria, the largest country in Africa, by population and GDP, suffers from significant power shortages. With a population of 186 million inhabitants, Nigeria accounts for close to half of West Africa’s total population, while its GDP of US$405bn makes the country Africa’s largest economy. The country possesses some of the world’s richest energy resources – proven crude oil reserves of 37.5 billion barrels, a proven natural gas reserve of 190 trillion cubic feet, and proven recoverable coal reserves of 190 million tonnes.
However, most of Nigeria’s population and businesses remain in perpetual darkness due to significant power shortages. Nigeria has a total installed generating capacity of 10,400 megawatts (MW), although only 4,500MW is available for generation. Actual average generation drops even further. Less than 40% of the country is connected to the national grid and between 20% and 30% of generated electricity is lost due to poor transmission. The result – approximately half of Nigeria’s 186 million population currently does not have access to electricity, while those that are connected, suffer from extensive power outages. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the national average for electricity supply is 35 hours per week or 5 hours per day.
By comparison, South Africa, the continent’s third-largest economy by GDP with a population of 56 million inhabitants, generates 31,880MW compared to Nigeria’s 4,500MW. Seventy-seven percent of South Africa’s population have access to electricity, compared to Nigeria’s 50%. Nigeria’s per capita power consumption of less than 150kWh is one of the lowest in Africa (Figure 1), lower than those of many less developed countries, including the Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Yemen and Togo. According to CSL Research, the total power supply is equivalent to electricity supplied to the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, which have a combined population of 1% of Nigeria’s population.
It is important to note, however, that Nigeria’s power problems are not limited to generation capacity. Poorly maintained infrastructure results in a significant loss of power transmission capabilities. The persistent interruption of gas supply to the existing power generating plants and the vandalisation of the existing infrastructure, are additional factors leading to poor electricity supply.
Multiple paths to energy availability
Given Nigeria’s enormous shortage in power generation, the country needs to pursue all possible generation sources available to it.
Nigeria is blessed with significant natural resources, including abundant deposits of non-renewable fossil fuels. The country has proven crude oil reserves of 37.5 billion barrels, with an average daily production of about 1.5 million barrels. In addition, Nigeria has a proven natural gas reserve of 190 trillion cubic feet. The 11 known coal deposits that account for proven recoverable reserves of 190 million tonnes of coal, are an additional potential source of energy.
Today, 82.4% of Nigeria’s electricity production comes from natural gas, while the balance is sourced from hydropower (Figure 2). There are ongoing efforts to develop coal-fired power plants, including Geometric Power’s 1,000MW plant in Enugu.
On the renewable energy front, the four existing hydropower plants in Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro and Zamfara currently supply 17.4% of the country’s electricity generation and have a combined generation capacity of about 2,000MW. There are also plans for additional hydropower plants at, amongst others, Kano, Kiri and Mambilla. In the meanwhile, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company has signed a number of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar projects at different stages of development, totaling approximately 975MW. Currently, however, there is no utility-scale, grid-connected solar or wind power plant.
Various energy options need to be pursued to improve the current state of electricity generation and transmission in Nigeria.
The case for solar
As things currently stand, Nigeria does not have the luxury of cherry-picking one source of power over another, and there are a number of factors that make solar energy particularly appealing. While some small-scale, mostly-captive, solar power plants are in operation in Nigeria, it does not currently contribute in any significant way to Nigeria’s power generation. Solar thus presents itself as a viable source to complement existing energy sources for the reasons mentioned below.
1. The abundant availability of sunshine
Nigeria lies between latitudes 4° and 14o north of the Equator. This relative proximity to the equator means the country enjoys significant irradiation, resulting in strong solar energy potential (Figure 3).
Average annual irradiation ranges from about 1,600kWh/m2 in the southern coastal region to over 2,200kWh/m2 in the northern, semi arid regions (Figure 4). Given the high irradiation, especially in the northern parts of the country, solar systems in Nigeria will enjoy relatively high energy output.
2. Falling cost of PV solar panels
The most compelling reason to push for increased solar installations in Nigeria and elsewhere, is the continued decrease in the cost of solar PV panels. Over the past three decades, prices have continued to fall significantly, largely owing to the efficiencies gained in technology improvements and the increase in solar installations around the world.
Since 1977, prices have fallen from about $77 per watt to current levels of about $0.30 per watt (Figure 5). Swanson’s Effect observes that the price of solar PV modules drops by 20% for every doubling in cumulative volume of PV modules shipped. At the current installation rates, costs are expected to reduce by 50% about every 10 years.
This continued drop in the cost of solar PV modules has made solar energy significantly more competitive with other sources of energy today than ever before. This is especially true for utility-scale solar plants.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar power plants entering service in 2022, is $85 per MWh compared to the average LCOE of $102 per MWh for all power plants (Figure 6).
When tax credits are included in the LCOE calculation, solar PV becomes even more competitive. At $66.8 per MWh (Figure 7), solar PV becomes approximately 30% lower than the average LCOE of other energy sources.
Though it is true that fossil fuel energy sources, such as gas-fired and coal-power plants, are still largely cheaper sources of power than solar PV in many parts of the world, the environmental cost of fossil fuel energy is often left unaccounted for. Additionally, the installation costs for solar PV is expected to continue in its decline relative to other sources of energy. According to a January 2017 Bloomberg report (Figure 8), the global average solar cost may fall below coal within 10 years.
3. Ease and speed of installation
Developers of solar PV plants in Nigeria are likely to be constrained by interconnection, payment settlement and other government-related issues. However, once all relevant permits are obtained, designs finalised, and funding secured, large utility-scale, grid-connected solar farms in hundreds of megawatts can be completed within six months. This is especially relevant in the case of Nigeria, where the need to ramp up power generation could not be more dire.
4. Operations and maintenance cost
One of the attractions of solar power plants is the low cost of operations and maintenance (O&M) relative to other energy sources. This is largely driven by the absence of ongoing fuel cost for the life of the plant – sunlight is free.
According to the EIA, for power plants entering service in 2022, total O&M cost for solar PV plants is 23% lower than the average total O&M cost for all energy sources (Figure 9).
Besides the obvious cost advantage, existing technologies such as remote monitoring, automated panel cleaning systems, etc. reduce the need for significant plant operations overhead, training costs, and human error.
5. Modularity
The modular nature of solar PV makes it especially suitable for Nigeria. The technology lends itself to everything from single-panel residential installations, or commercial-scale or distributed solar farms, to large-scale, grid-connected power plants. Large solar plants can easily be developed in multiple phases, adding more MWs over time.
This implies that in addition to the opportunities for large-scale solar plants to provide additional generation capacity to the national grid, individual homes can complement existing power sources of erratic grid-supplied electricity and diesel generators, with rooftop solar installations. Companies and industries, including those with warehouses, light manufacturing, etc., can complement their existing power sources and reduce their cost of electricity. Also, given that only 50% of Nigeria’s population is currently connected to the grid (Figure 10), solar provides a relatively easy approach to increase electricity delivery, especially to remote parts of the country via off-grid solutions.
6. Energy security
Energy security is defined by availability, affordability and reliability. Reliability of energy supply in Nigeria has been plagued by incessant attacks on infrastructure, leading to major supply disruptions.
In April 2016, Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped by 800,000 barrels per day (Figure 12), when oil pipelines were attacked by a militant group – a practice not uncommon in Nigeria’s recent history. The vandalism of crude oil and gas pipelines often leads to a shut down of gas supply, crippling generation at the country’s gas-fired power plants.
Besides vandalism, low gas prices for the power sector, as well as a significant debt overhang to gas suppliers, further disrupts the supply of gas to Nigeria’s gas-fired power generators. According to the Power Sector Recovery Programme, a Nigerian government intervention plan, the total gas supply indebtedness of power producers from January 2015 to December 2016 alone is $500m.
The ability to bypass the vulnerable interstate oil and gas pipelines, which are often subjected to militant attacks, makes solar a particularly attractive energy source for the Nigerian economy. It will provide significant benefits towards energy availability and reliability, contributing meaningfully to energy security.
Investment Opportunities
The opportunities to invest in utility scale solar power plants in Nigeria are significant and the benefits are obvious. While issues surrounding cushions for naira depreciation in the existing PPA framework, interconnection, etc. are getting solved for the handful of projects that have been granted generation licences, it is worthwhile to focus on a few distributed generation (DG) opportunities.
1. DG – potential driver of economic growth
The ability to immediately deliver targeted electricity supply to SMEs could represent a potential transformational opportunity to the Nigerian economy. The growth of SMEs is stunted as they often operate on tight margins where energy cost is a major component of total operating cost. The cost of self-generated power, mostly diesel generators, is estimated to be five to 10 times as much as power from the grid. According to CSL Research, power shortages are estimated to cost the Nigerian economy approximately $250bn in lost GDP annually. By targeting a specific set of industries, such as agriculture and trading, solar energy could deliver the much-needed electricity required to drive productivity, reduce operating cost and increase employment by SMEs.
2. Agriculture / agribusiness
Agriculture is the largest contributor to the Nigerian GDP at 22% and employs 40% of the population (Figure 13). Unfortunately, significant portions – over 80% by some estimates – of Nigeria’s agricultural produce spoils before it gets to market. This is largely due to infrastructure inadequacy, including poor storage and transportation facilities. Solar-powered, centralised farm-gate storage facilities, processing plants, and distribution centers will significantly improve productivity and help smooth out seasonal price fluctuations.
3. Trading
Trading, a space largely dominated by SMEs, is the second largest contributor to GDP at 16.5%. Market clusters such as the Onitsha Market, Oke Arin Market and others could benefit significantly from rooftop DG solar installations to reduce the cost of operations and to improve security and overall productivity.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s severe power supply shortage is primarily driven by extremely low generation capacity, further compounded by poorly maintained infrastructure. This results in a situation where a country of 186 million people survive on less than 4,500 MW of power generation – one of the lowest in the world on a per capita basis.
While every available, economically viable, source of energy should be pursued, solar PV provides an opportunity to immediately deliver solutions at different scales. The ability to provide off-grid or mini-grid power directly to homes and businesses and to deliver large utility-scale power plants, make solar PV especially beneficial to Nigeria. In addition, the ability to avoid expensive interstate pipelines susceptible to vandalism increases the attractiveness of solar PV.
More PPAs will be signed beyond the existing set, and opportunities in utility-scale power plants will remain. However, there is a significant opportunity for developers and investors in providing power solutions directly to clusters of SMEs, especially those involving agribusiness and trading. Developers with distributed power solutions that provide low upfront costs to consumers and ensure an effective billing and collection system, are likely to be winners in this space.
The author, Ola Olaniyi, is a Director at Triox Capital. Prior to Triox, Ola worked as Head of Corporate Development and Acquisitions, Asia Pacific at SunEdison, and in Private Equity at Temasek Holdings. This article was written specifically for the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies, a trilateral platform for government, business and academia to promote knowledge and expertise on Africa, established by Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Business Federation. Ola can be reached at [email protected]. | https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/research-tackling-energy-crisis-nigeria-case-solar/59635/ |
CitationRobinson, Whitney R.; Furberg, Helena; & Banack, Hailey R. (2014). Selection Bias: A Missing Factor in the Obesity Paradox Debate [Comment]. Obesity, 22(3), 625.
AbstractDear Drs. Ravussin and Ryan: The September issue of Obesity featured articles by Tobias and Hu and Flegal and Kalantar-Zadeh that explored the observation that, in clinical populations, such as individuals with heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes, those with higher BMI often have lower mortality rates than leaner individuals. The articles disagree whether this phenomenon, known as the obesity paradox, is a true causal effect. Flegal and Kalantar-Zadeh assert that the research on the obesity paradox is consistent with greater BMI conferring “modest survival advantages” . Tobias and Hu disagree, arguing that the obesity paradox is likely an “artifact of methodological limitations” . Notably absent from the discussion is selection bias, one potential explanation for the obesity paradox. Selection bias can occur when the probability of being included in a study population is influenced by the exposure and outcome, or by factors that causally affect the exposure and outcome . The result of this bias is that the association between exposure and outcome among those selected for analysis differs from the association among those eligible . Selection bias could occur if heavier, sicker patients die faster, before they can be included in studies. Selection bias could also occur if an unmeasured factor influences disease risk and is a stronger predictor of mortality than obesity (see Figure 1). For instance, assume that the study population is restricted to those with disease (e.g., diabetes), and one gets disease via only two pathways: (a) one pathway involving obesity or (b) another involving an unmeasured disease risk factor (e.g., chronic hepatitis C infection). If the mortality rate among people who have the unmeasured risk factor is greater than among those with obesity, then obesity will appear inversely associated with mortality among patients (e.g., diabetics) since all non-obese patients must have the factor (e.g., hepatitis C) associated with higher mortality. Figure 1. Directed acyclic graph representing causal relations between obesity, chronic disease, mortality, and unmeasured factor(s) U. A frequently cited example of selection bias from the perinatal epidemiology literature is the birthweight paradox. Similar to the inverse association between obesity and mortality in clinical populations, maternal smoking appears protective against infant mortality in analyses restricted to low birthweight infants. The birthweight paradox led to many investigations into mechanisms underlying the seemingly protective effect of maternal smoking against infant death. However, simulation studies and causal analysis demonstrated that the protective effect of smoking was likely a spurious association induced by restricting to a clinically defined subpopulation . Analogously, Banack and Kaufman recently demonstrated that the obesity paradox among heart failure patients could be due to selection bias . Reweighting back to the average association between obesity and mortality in the total population revealed that being obese could increase mortality risk among heart failure patients even if obesity appears associated with lower mortality in conventional analyses. Statistical methods exist to determine the possible extent of and to correct for selection bias, but have not been widely adopted. We applaud the journal's focus on methodological considerations related to the obesity paradox and encourage future investigations into selection bias as a potential explanation for these associations.
URLhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oby.20666
Reference TypeJournal Article
Year Published2014
Journal TitleObesity
Author(s)Robinson, Whitney R.
Furberg, Helena
Banack, Hailey R. | https://www.cpc.unc.edu/resources/publications/bib/8306/ |
| Tips for a Full Risk Management Process |
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks (defined in ISO 31000 as the effect of uncertainty on objectives) followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities. Risk management’s objective is to assure uncertainty does not deflect the endeavour from the business goals.
Risks can come from various sources: e.g., uncertainty in financial markets, threats from project failures (at any phase in design, development, production, or sustainment life-cycles), legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents, natural causes and disasters as well as deliberate attack from an adversary, or events of uncertain or unpredictable root-cause. There are two types of events i.e. negative events can be classified as risks while positive events are classified as opportunities.
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Several risk management standards have been developed including the Project Management Institute, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, actuarial societies, and ISO standards. Methods, definitions and goals vary widely according to whether the risk management method is in the context of project management, security, engineering, industrial processes, financial portfolios, actuarial assessments, or public health and safety.
What is a Risk Process?
A Risk Process, or Risk Management Process, describes the steps you need to take to identify, monitor and control risk. Within the Risk Process, a risk is defined as any future event that may prevent you to meet your team goals. A Risk Process allows you to identify each risk, quantify the impact and take action now to prevent it from occurring and reduce the impact should it eventuate.
When do I use a Risk Process?
You use a Risk Process whenever your ability to meet your objectives is at risk. Most teams face risks on a regular basis. By putting in place this Risk Process, you can monitor and control risks, removing all uncertainty. The Risk Process involves running risk reviews to identify and quantify risks. The risks are then documented and the Risk Process helps you take action to reduce the likelihood of them occurring. This Risk Process will help you put in place the right processes for managing risk today.
This Risk Process helps you:
- Identify critical and non-critical risks
- Document each risk in depth by completing Risk Forms
- Log all risks and notify management of their severity
- Take action to reduce the likelihood of risks occurring
- Reduce the impact on your business, should risk eventuate
- Lists all of the risk procedures in depth
- Includes a diagram explaining the risk process
- Tells you how to identify, monitor and control risks
- Helps you mitigate risk through best practice processes
This Risk Process is different, as it:
Most teams are subject to constant risk of meeting their objectives. The key to success lies in how you manage risks, by putting in place a clear Risk Management Process. This process describes the steps taken to mitigate risk as it occurs, helping you to meet your team goals more easily.
What is a Risk Plan?
A Risk Plan helps you to foresee risks, identify actions to prevent them from occurring and reduce their impact should they eventuate. The Risk Management Plan is created as part of the Risk Planning process. It lists of all foreseeable risks, their ranking and priority, the preventative and contingent actions, along with a process for tracking them. This Risk Plan template will help you perform these steps quickly and easily.
When do I use a Risk Plan?
A Risk Plan should be used anytime that risks need to be carefully managed. For instance, during the start up of a project a Risk Plan is created to identify and manage the risk involved with the project delivery. The Risk Plan is referred to frequently throughout the project, to ensure that all risks are mitigated as quickly as possible. The Risk Plan template helps you identify and manage your risks, boosting your chances of success.
This Risk Planning will help you to:
- Identify risks within your project
- Categorize and prioritize each risk
- Determine the likelihood of the risks occurring
- Identify the impact on the project if risk does occur
You can then use this Risk Plan template to:
- Identify preventative actions to prevent the risk from occurring
- List contingent actions to reduce the impact, should the risk occur
- Schedule these actions within an acceptable timeframe
- Monitor the status of each risk throughout the project
Creating a Risk Management Plan is a critical step in any project, as it helps you to reduce the likelihood of risk from occurring. Regardless of the type of risk, you will be able to use this template to put in place processes and procedures for reducing the likelihood of risk occurring, thereby helping you to deliver your project successfully. The following ten tips will help you to perform Risk Management more rigorously and effectively for your project.
- Plan for risks. Create a Risk Management Plan to ensure that describes how you will identify, analyze, respond to and monitor project risks.
- Perform Risk Reviews. These reviews are meetings between key members of the project team to monitor and control risks within the project. At each review meeting, the current risks should be assessed and any new risks will be raised for consideration.
- Use Risk Forms. Every time you identify a new risk within the project, you should document it by completing a Risk Form. This form helps you to fully describe the risk and rate its likelihood of occurrence and impact on the project should it actually eventuate.
- Identify the Risk Priority. For each risk raised, you should calculate the overall priority of the risk by summarizing the likelihood and impact rating scores previously assigned Create a Risk Register. The Risk Register (or Risk Log) contains the actual risks of your project. By recording the details of all risk forms in a Risk Register, you will be able to monitor and track risks and their priorities quickly and easily each week.
- Report High Level Risks. You should report all high level risks to the sponsor to ensure they are kept fully informed of the overall risk status of the project. This also helps them to share in the ownership of key risks which may severely impact the project. Assign Risk Actions. Once each risk has been reviewed and its priority determined, you should assign the actions needed to avoid, transfer or mitigate it. Each action identified should be assigned to a project team member to carry out.
- Monitor Changes. Many risks change in nature over time. Make sure that you review the status of each risk weekly to ensure that it has not suddenly increased in priority and need urgent attention.
- Share the Work. Make sure that you gain the full buy-in of all of your project team members to help identify, monitor and control risks successfully throughout the project.
- Assign Risk Roles. Identify and list the responsibilities of team members, Project Managers and the Project Board for managing risks within the project.
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The Author: Ala'a Elbeheri
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A versatile and highly accomplished senior certified IT risk management Advisor and Senior IT Lead Auditor with over 20 years of progressive experience in all domains of ICT.
• Program and portfolio management, complex project management, and service delivery, and client relationship management.
• Capable of providing invaluable information while making key strategic decisions and spearheading customer-centric projects in IT/ICT in diverse sectors.
• Displays strong business and commercial acumen and delivers cost-effective solutions contributing to financial and operational business growth in international working environments.
• Fluent in oral and written English, German, and Arabic with an Professional knowledge of French.
• Energetic and dynamic relishes challenges and demonstrates in-depth analytical and strategic ability to facilitate operational and procedural planning.
• Fully conversant with industry standards, with a consistent track record in delivering cost-effective strategic solutions.
• Strong people skills, with proven ability to build successful, cohesive teams and interact well with individuals across all levels of the business. Committed to promoting the ongoing development of IT skills throughout an organization. | https://www.engineeringmanagement.info/2020/12/tips-for-full-risk-management-process.html |
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