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The Living Condition And Vulnerability Of Poor Urban Older People In Alemgena Area.
Fasika, Getachew
(
ASTU
,
2013-06
)
The main objective of this study was to investigate and analyze the problems encountered by elderly people around the area.And to provide comprehensive information on coping mechanisms and vulnerabilities of urban older ...
Practices And Challenges Of Instructional Leadership In Government General Secondary Schools (Grade 9-10) Of Hetosa Woreda In East Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State
Abdul-Jewad, Kurkura
(
ASTU
,
2015-09
)
The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of practices and challenges of instructional leadership in government general secondary schools (grade 9-10) of Hetosa woreda in East Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional ...
The Contribution Of Instructional Supervisionin In Improving Teachers’ Pedagogical Skills In Abobo Anuak Zone Secondary Schools
Deng, Lam
(
ASTU
,
2016-07
)
The purpose of the study was conducted in nine selected government secondary schools in Abobo Anuak Zone in Gambella Regional States. The main objectives of the study was ...
Assessment Of Internal Efficiency Of Secondary Schools In Arsi Zone Of Oromia Regional State
Alemu, Sisay
(
ASTU
,
2016-08
)
The general objective of this study was to assess the internal efficiency of secondary schools and investigate the challenges that inhibit the internal efficiency of the Schools. In this study descriptive survey design ...
The influence of principals’ Leadership Styles on Teachers’ Job Performance in selected government schools; The case of Adama City and East Shewa zones of, Oromia Regional Stat
Zecharias, Erdolo
(
ASTU
,
2016-06
)
The main objective of this study is to assess the influence of leadership styles on job performance. Having the objective in mind, the study employed a descriptive survey type of research design. The study was carried out ...
Socioeconomic Impacts Of Villagization Program In Oda Buldiglu Woreda, Western Ethiopia
Yayut, Befekadu
(
ASTU
,
2017-08
)
First and for most I would like to thank to the Almighty God since everything is done through his permission. I am highly grateful to Messay Mulugeta (PhD) for his constructive criticism and helpful corrections throughout ...
Grade 12 Teachers And Students Practices In Listening Skills In Line With The New Textbook: The Case Of Abyot Kirs Preparatory Schoo
Samuel, Seifu
(
ASTU
,
2015-05
)
The present study aims to investigate grade 12 teachers and students classroom listening practice in line with the new textbook in Abyot Kirs Preparatory School in Addis Ababa. Moreover, it examines whether listening ...
Causes And Consequences Of Migration To South Africa: The Case Of Migrant Returnee Of Hosanna And Sheshego Woreda
Mulat, Gebremariam
(
ASTU
,
2015-06
)
The purpose of this study is to examine migrants’ awareness, attitudes and practices in relation to migration, its drivers and its associated protection risks on Ethiopian returnees from South Africa and provide a baseline ...
The Inhabitants And Livelihoods Of Slum Dwellers Of Hadid Sefer Community In Adama City
Dinku Ambaye, Ambaye
(
ASTU
,
2015-05
)
The general objective of this study is to describe the inhabitants and livelihoods of Adama Kebele 04 slum dwellers towards revealing their situations and also to forward a feasible recommendation in order to give dimensions ...
Exploring the Practice of Grade Nine Teaching Writing Skill In EFL Class :Gogh High School In Focus
Berhanu, shumi
(
ASTU
,
2015-05
)
The main objective of this study was to explore the practice of teaching writing skill in EFL classes. Teaching writing skill is a method of teaching that can help for the students to build a confidence for any type ...
Challenges To Urban Plan Implementation In Deder Town, Oromia Regional State, Eastern ETHIOPIA
ABDI ALIYI, ALIYI
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
This study was investigated challenges to the urban plan implementation in Deder town. The objectives of the study aimed to identify gaps in physical, administrative, social and economic challenges to urban plan ...
House Holds Solid Waste Management Practice In Addis Ababa, Ketena 1 Of Wereda 4 In Lideta Sub-City
Bizuneh, Teshome
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
The overall aim of the study is the assessment of household solid waste management practice of ketena 1of wereda 4 in Lideta sub-city. In addition to this, the study had also specific objectives such as assessing the common ...
Adoption Of Soil Conservation Practice As A Means For Management Of Land Degradation: The Case Of Boji Dermeji Woreda, Western Ethiopia
Belay Teferi
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
This study was carried out to examine adoption of soil conservation as a means for management of land degradation: the case of Boji Dermeji woreda, Western Ethiopia. The study was based on the secondary data obtained from ...
The Role Of Micro Enterprises In Urban Solid Waste Management:In Selected Areas Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Helen, Megersa
(
ASTU
,
2017-09
)
This study objectives to identify the role of micro enterprises in urban solid waste management in Addis ketema sub-city, woreda 1and 2 of Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia. This study was undertaken based on cross-sectional ...
Causes, Consequences And Coping Techniques Of Work Related Stress Among Nurses Vis-À-Vis Their Demographic Characteristics In Adama City
Dereje, Guta
(
ASTU
,
2014-05
)
The main objective of this study was to examine causes, consequences and coping techniques of work-related stress among nurses vis-à-vis their demographic characteristics in Adama City. To attain this objective descriptive ...
Chalangs And Peroformance Of Urban Dairy Farm In Mekelle City, Tigray, Ethiopia
Atsibha, Desta
(
AST
,
2015-05
)
This study main objective of this study was assessing the performance and challenges of dairy farming in the context of Mekelle City Tigray Region. There is limited scientific evidence about the progress and challenge ...
Causes Of Deforestation In Benchi Maji Zone, Shay Bench Woreda Snnpr, Ethiopia
Hussen, Ebrahim
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
Forest is important resource which provides the required needs for human beings. But its degradation is one of the major environmental problems, challenging agricultural production and biodiversity loss in many parts ...
Determinants Of Small – Scale Irrigation Utilization Among Rural Households In Bora Woreda, Eastern Shewa, Ethiopia
Garoma, Mekonnen
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
Improved small-scale irrigation use efficiency is an important tool for diversifying agriculture in Ethiopia, resulting in higher economic yield from irrigated farmlands with a minimum input of water. Ethiopia has ...
Challenges And Prospects Of Land Restoration Practices In Nejo Woreda, West Wollega Zone, Oromia Regional State,Ethiopi
Yemane, Gemeda
(
ASTU
,
2018-08
)
This study was under taken on challenges and prospects of land restoration practices in Oromia regional state west Wollega Zone in Najo woreda. In order to achieve the objective of the study the researcher selected a ...
The Policy Implementation Gap in Addressing the Problem of Accessing Infra-structure to People with Disability in Addis Ababa: In the case of Jemo and Repi site condominium.
Tirst, Gebre
(
ASTU
,
2013-01
)
UN- United Nation WHO- World Health Program ILO- International labor Organization FENAPD-Federation of Ethiopian National Association of Persons with Disabilities. WPA- World Program of Action NGO-Non Governmental ...
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: solid waste, household and disposal of solid waste (1)
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antimicrobial activity, phytochemical investigation C. macrostachyus (Euphorbiaceae ), Gram-positive organism, Gram-negative organism, (1)
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Contact us: | http://etd.astu.edu.et/handle/123456789/107 |
AbstractClostridioides difficile is a spore-forming, Gram-positive, obligate anaerobe majorly implicated in nosocomial infections. It causes antibiotic-induced nosocomial diarrhoeas and related healthcare infections in most parts of the world. Dissemination of C. difficile infections occurs mainly via surfaces contaminated with spores especially in clinical settings and disease control is significantly hindered by spore formation. Spores are highly infectious, and resistant to heat, alcohol, and standard disinfectants. Transglutaminases are produced during sporulation in Streptomyces mobaraense and Bacillus subtilis and promote survival and virulence by modulating cellular protein crosslinking which increases resistance of cellular structures. Transglutaminases are enzymes in microbial and mammalian organisms that irreversibly crosslink proteins by forming covalent epsilon (gamma-glutamyl) lysine bonds that are proteolysis-resistant. The detection of novel important genes not explored previously by antibiotics can facilitate the discovery of alternative efficient antimicrobials to surmount existing resistance associated with disease control and treatment. The aim of this study was to identify novel transglutaminase-like genes associated with sporulation in C. difficile 630. We detected transglutaminase activity in sporulating cells and spores of CD 630. Also, transglutaminase gene expression was detected during sporulation. Three transglutaminase-like genes were identified in CD 630 and successfully cloned in various vectors and expressed in E. coli. No transglutaminase activity was detected in culture supernatants and in purified recombinant proteins. However, transglutaminase-like proteins were purified from sporulating C. difficile 630 cells by a two-step strategy to attain a specific activity and purification fold of 4 and 57 respectively. The purified proteins were characterized and found to be calcium-independent like most microbial transglutaminases, significantly inhibited by PMSF, and only inhibited to a small extent by thiol group inhibitors. Mass spectrometry analysis of the purified proteins suggests that they are mainly involved in metabolism in CD 630. We conclude that CD630 produces transglutaminase-like proteins during sporulation whose role necessitates functional analysis involving gene knockouts and the associated phenotypes of spores. | https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/identification-of-novel-transglutaminase-like-proteins-associated |
KAWASAKI, Japan, Dec 18, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - The high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) developed by Fujitsu Laboratories has been certified as an IEEE milestone. The technology was developed by the company in 1979 and was recognized for its innovative achievements in improving the performance of radio telescopes and satellite broadcasting receivers.
Award ceremony
IEEE Milestone Plaque
Fujitsu was awarded the IEEE Milestone plaque at a ceremony held on December 18 in Tokyo, Japan.
About IEEE and IEEE Milestones
With over 420,000 members in more than 160 countries, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the world's largest technical professional society in such fields as electricity, electronics, information and telecommunications. The IEEE Milestone has recognized historic achievements in these areas that have successfully contributed to the development of local communities and industries over the past 25 years.
About HEMT
The HEMT is a newly structured transistor that can operate at high speed by creating a two-layer structure that spatially separates the source and travel regions of electrons within the transistor. This feature enables the transistor to receive weak, high-frequency signals with high sensitivity. In 1985, Fujitsu commercialized the HEMT as a microwave semiconductor device product with the world's lowest noise level and it was adopted for the radio telescope at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) in Nagano, Japan.
The telescope discovered an unknown interstellar molecule one year later in 1986, significantly contributing to the progress of basic science. After being installed in satellite broadcasting receivers around the world, the transistors have become an essential part of various microwave and millimeter-wave devices, such as mobile devices, base stations, GPS receivers, and millimeter-wave radar that prevents collisions between automobiles. Accordingly, the HEMT has been the fundamental technology supporting the information and communications society.
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 132,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (Code: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.0 trillion yen (US $36 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.
About Fujitsu Laboratories
Founded in 1968 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. is one of the premier research centers in the world. With a global network of laboratories in Japan, China, the United States and Europe, the organization conducts a wide range of basic and applied research in the areas of Next-generation Services, Computer Servers, Networks, Electronic Devices and Advanced Materials. For more information, please see: http://www.fujitsu.com/jp/group/labs/en/. | |
The Senate has approved the 2017 budget of the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) worth N132,550, 000.01.
The senate has also passed the appropriation bill of NTA which worth N4,094,179,773.00, NBC, N2,090,009,787.62 while that of FRCN was N2,014,345,624.96.
This followed the presentation of the report of the 2017 Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Budget and Expenditure of governments owned information agencies during plenary yesterday.
The agencies included National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Presenting the report, Chairman Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Senator Suleiman Adokwe said NAN’s projection was N132, 550, 000.00 while projected expenditure was N132, 550, 000.01.
He noted that the agency’s IGR performance for 2016 was 97.54 per cent.
“The agency did not remit 25 per cent Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the year 2016 due to inadequate overhead releases. The amount meant to be remitted was used for the running of the organisation,” Adokwe said.
He further said that the actual IGR budget for 2016 was N129, 298, 342.89 while the expenditure was N129, 298, 342.72.
The chairman said that the committee observed that NAN should widen its revenue base through introduction of new products.
While considering the report, Sen. Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano) decried why some the agencies were not able to make the appropriate remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
“If these agencies are able to make those remittances, there would be more monies to fund budgets,” Barau said.
Also speaking, Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa (PDA-Abia) said the agencies were income generating agencies and as such it was epected that they assisted in remitting to the CRF.
“We must ensure we enforce these agencies to pay at least the 20 per cent remittance, even if they cannot, at the end of the year we should see at least a remittance of 10 per cent into the CRF,” he said.
Similarly, Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC-Kaduna) noted that “these things keep recurring by these agencies.
“It shows that we truly have a responsibility within the chamber to sit up and look at these expenditure profiles as it will align with the revenue profiles of these agencies. If we sit down and these budgets as approved, and they apply them differently as they wish, what is the use then.
“This is a clear manifestation that these agencies run accounts that do not pass the litmus test and approval of the financial regulations as enshrined. We must rise to the responsibility particularly on IGR budgets so that at the of the end day, we will be able to make enough savings,” Hunkuyi said.
Responding to questions raised, the chairman said the IGR performances of the agencies “was far below expectation.
“If you look at NTA, there are a lot of government agencies that are owing NTA; but they can better than that.”
Adokwe said that as government corporations having fundamental duties, they must ensure they did not go off air.
“NTA has the capacity to generate over N10 million per annum, unfortunately, they are weakened by debts.”
For NAN, the chairman said the committee had looked into it not remitting any amount at all.
“That is both looked into by the Accountant-General of the Federation and the committee.
“I plead that we cannot because of that refuse to approve the budget because they have to function. They are the major agency of government that disseminate news both locally and internationally. We believe that these agencies have the capacity to generate these projections.
“What remains is for us to have a serious oversight function to ensure that there are no leakages and that what is collected is what is taken into the treasury,” Adokwe said.
In his remarks, Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu said ”this Senate does not rubber stamp any request from any agencies of government or from government itself. | https://peoplesdailyng.com/senate-approves-appropriation-bill-for-nan-nta-others/ |
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the gender wage differential of labor market entrants and the determinants of their starting wages.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of a unique data set on graduates in economics from a large German university that contains detailed information on the graduates’ course of study, their additional qualifications and their transition from university to the labor market. Based on these data, Mincer-type earnings functions as well as wage decompositions as proposed by Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973) are performed.
Findings
The paper finds a significant gender wage differential of 7 percent. Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions suggest that the major part of this gap remains unexplained by gender differences in observable characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The main feature of our analysis – having a highly homogeneous sample of graduates from a single university – comes at the costs of reduced ability to draw generalized conclusions from our findings.
Originality/value
This paper investigates the determinants of entry wages for a homogeneous group of high-skilled workers using a unique data set of graduates in business and economics from a large German university. Concentrating on a highly homogeneous sample limits the problem of unobserved heterogeneity, which results in an overestimation of the unexplained component of standard decompositions analyses. Hence, the finding that a large part of the gender pay gap remains unexplained can be considered as an indicator for gender discrimination in the labor market for economics graduates.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
JEL Classifications — J16, J31, J71
The authors are grateful to Thomas K. Bauer, Katja Görlitz, Katharina Lindenbaum, two anonymous referees, and participants at seminars at RWI for helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Manfred Lösch and the team of the Chair of Quantitative Analysis at the Ruhr University Bochum for providing the data. Sebastian Otten gratefully acknowledges financial support from the German Science Foundation (DFG) through the program SPP 1169 “Flexibility in Heterogeneous Labor Markets.”
Citation
Bredtmann, J. and Otten, S. (2014), "Getting what (employers think) you’re worth: Evidence on the gender gap in entry wages among university graduates", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 291-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2012-0013
Publisher: | https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJM-01-2012-0013/full/html |
A lecture given in Christiania, 26th November, 1921. Lecture 2 of 8 from the volume: The Reality of the Higher Worlds (also published under the title, Self-consciousness: The Spiritual Human Being). The volume of the Complete Edition of the works of Rudolf Steiner containing the original text of the this lecture, among eight others, is entitled: Die Wirklichkeit der Hoeheren Welten, (No. 79 in the Bibliographical Survey, 1961).
Translated by persons unknown from Shorthand reports unrevised by the Lecturer. Published by kind permission of the Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung and in agreement with the Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co.
agreement with Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co.
Printed by Lawrence Bros. (Weston-super-Mare) Ltd.
I have been asked to speak to-day on the subject: Paths leading to higher, that is to super-sensible knowledge. As not all of you were present at my last lecture, it will be necessary to weave into this lecture some of the more important things explained yesterday.
The spiritual science of Anthroposophy strives above all towards a full harmony with the scientific truths which have emerged in the course of the past centuries. Anthroposophy is in no way directed against the efforts of natural science, as so many people believe; on the contrary, those who honestly and earnestly stand within our anthroposophical movement appreciate most of all such men as can fully judge the achievement of our modern times, resulting from scientific conscientiousness, from inner scientific feeling. It is however true that one cannot penetrate into the super-sensible worlds with the aid of the generally accepted science, and in regard to this point Anthroposophy in a certain way shares the views of the officially recognised scientists.
Anthroposophy clearly recognises that people are quite right when in regard to natural science they speak of boundaries to human knowledge. Anthroposophy also recognises that one cannot step beyond these boundaries with the ordinary forces of human understanding. Consequently Anthroposophy does not even attempt to discover paths to super-sensible knowledge by applying the forces of ordinary consciousness and ordinary knowledge, but it strives not only as regards the results of scientific investigation to begin where ordinary science must come to an end, but through its methods Anthroposophy also strives to begin where the generally accepted science must come to a final point in regard to a knowledge of external Nature and also of the physical nature of the human being.
Consequently Anthroposophy must not only speak of different subjects, but it must also speak in a different way. Nevertheless it is in full harmony with scientific conscientiousness and scientific discipline. Its starting point is to draw out of man’s inner being latent forces, to rouse slumbering forces of knowledge enabling the human being to penetrate into the super-sensible worlds.
Anthroposophy does not say that special qualities and capacities are needed for a knowledge of the super-sensible worlds, it does not declare that such a knowledge is based on qualities which can only be possessed by a few people, but it takes as its foundation forces which can be drawn out of every human soul, forces which transcend those which we inherit, as it were, from childhood onwards and which also transcend those which we gain through ordinary education, through an ordinary schooling.
A person who wishes to become a spiritual investigator, in the anthroposophical sense of this word, must set out from the point where he stands in ordinary life and in ordinary science; from there he must guide his development of his own accord. The forces which should be developed first of all are the forces of thinking. This is a first step in such a development, and we shall see that this does not imply the development of one-sided intellectual forces of thought, but the unfolding of the whole human being. But a beginning must be made with a particular exercise in thinking.
The kind of thinking to which we are accustomed in ordinary life and also in ordinary science is given up to external observation and follows, as it were, the thread of external observation. We direct our senses towards the external world and link our thoughts with perceptions transmitted by the senses. The observation of the external world provides a firm support, enabling us to connect our experiences with the contents of our soul.
It has been the endeavour of science, and rightly so, to develop more and more the support given by external observation. Observation has been enhanced by the use of scientific experimental research, where every single condition leading to different manifestations can be clearly surveyed, so that the processes become, as it were, quite transparent.
For the attainment of its task, the spiritual science of Anthroposophy must deviate from this way of thinking which is entirely directed towards the objective reality outside. Anthroposophy must above all strengthen and intensify thought within the human being. In the public lecture which I gave yesterday I remarked that a muscle grows stronger if it does a certain work and that the same applies to the forces of the soul. When certain definite concepts which can easily be surveyed are again and again set at the centre of our consciousness by systematic practice, so that we completely surrender to such concepts, our thinking power grows stronger.
This intensification of the forces of thinking must of course be reached in such a way as to maintain throughout our clear and complete willpower. A person who wishes to become a spiritual investigator in the anthroposophical sense, may therefore take mathematics above all as an excellent example for the scientific mentality of modern times.
Though it may sound strange and paradoxical it must be said that an anthroposophical spiritual investigator who wishes to transcend the stage of dilettantism, must in the first place observe a rule which already existed in the old Platonic school: That no one can penetrate into real spiritual-scientific knowledge unless he has a certain mathematical culture.
What particular result can the human soul gain through mathematics? The result that everything which confronts the soul through mathematics can be inwardly surveyed, is inwardly transparent, and that mathematics contains, as it were, nothing to which we submit unconsciously, without the application of our will.
The spiritual science of Anthroposophy is naturally not mathematics. But a significant example may be found in the way in which one penetrates into mathematical thought. It is not mathematics in itself which constitutes this example, but — if I may coin this expression, — “mathematizing,” the activity of mathematical thinking. If such a “mathematizing” culture shows us how to transcend any illusionary or suggestive element, we shall be particularly successful in concentrating upon concepts which can be surveyed and which are quite new to us.
Such concepts can be obtained from an experienced spiritual-scientific investigator, or in some other way we may seek to develop concepts which do not live in our memory. They are set in the centre of consciousness, and we then concentrate upon them with the whole life of our soul, with all our power of concentration. Our attention is turned away from everything else, and for a certain space of time which must not be too long, we try to concentrate ourselves upon such a concept, or complex of concepts.
Why must such a concept or complex of concepts be something quite new? When we draw reminiscences out of memory, we can never be quite sure of what takes place within our organism, where processes may lead to certain experiences coming from the unconscious spheres outside the soul. Our cognitive power can only act freely when we confront a sense-perception, for it can be envisaged at any moment and because we are quite sure that a sense-perception is not drawn in some fantastic way out of the reminiscences of our life.
The same applies to that which we now allow to fill our consciousness with the exclusion of all sense-perceptions and to which we yield completely. Though we have no sensory perceptions, we are inwardly just as living as is ordinarily the case with external sense perception. The first thing which should be borne in mind when treading the path to higher knowledge, is that our thinking, which is free from sense impressions, acquires an inner activity which completely claims the attention of our soul, in the same way in which this attention is ordinarily claimed only by an external sense perception. One might say: What we ordinarily experience in connection with an external sense impression, we should learn to experience in connection with that intensified thought-activity which is completely permeated by a clear, conscious will.
This in itself sets up a strong barrier against anything which seeks to enter human consciousness in the form of suggestions, illusions, visions or hallucinations. Spiritual-scientific knowledge, in our meaning of the word, is not understood in the right way if people say: By his exercises, a spiritual investigator might after all be led to hallucinations or to similar results, he may be led into all kinds of pathological conditions of the soul. But those who earnestly consider the way in which Anthroposophy describes the path leading to higher knowledge, will see that this kind of spiritual investigation reveals most clearly of all the true nature of illusions, hallucinations or mediumistic phenomena. It rejects all this severely, as pathological elements; in fact, the results obtained by real spiritual research, clearly enable us to perceive the worthlessness of such phenomena.
Then one comes to quite a new way of thinking. The old way of thinking which is used in ordinary life and in ordinary science, remains. But a new way of thinking is added to it, if we do the exercises principally characterised as thought-exercises (you will find them in my book Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, or in my Outline of an Occult Science) and if we constantly practise them in a systematic way. (One person will need longer time for the attainment of results, and another person a shorter time). These thoughts, constituting a systematic practice, should be carried out in our consciousness as an inner soul-development.
I might describe this new way of thinking which is added to the old way of thinking in the following way.
Perhaps you will allow me to make a personal remark; which, however, is not meant personally, but, as you will readily admit, it belongs to the objective part of my descriptions. In the early nineties of the nineteenth century, I wrote my Philosophy of Spiritual Activity in order to show that freedom really lives in man’s ethical, moral life. There it has its roots. The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity called forth many misunderstandings, because people simply cannot penetrate into the way of thinking which is employed in this book.
My Philosophy of Spiritual Activity already employs that form of thinking which must be gained by systematic practice in order to reach a knowledge of the higher worlds. It is a first beginning in this direction, a first step which anyone can make in ordinary life. Yet it is at the same time a first step leading to a knowledge of the higher worlds.
Ordinary thinking (it suffices to bear in mind the true nature of the ordinary way of thinking, in order to see that my remarks are justified)—ordinary thinking really consists of spatial perceptions. In our ordinary thinking everything is arranged spatially. Consider that even time is led back to space! For time is expressed by the movements of the clock. The same process in fact is also contained in our physical formulae. In short, we finally must come to the conclusion that ordinary thinking is a combining way of thinking, one that collects scattered elements. We use this way of thinking in our ordinary sound conditions of life, and in ordinary science.
But the kind of thinking which should be used for the cognition of higher worlds and which is gained with the aid of the exercises I have described, is one which I might call morphological thinking, one in which we think in forms.
This way of thinking is not limited to space; it lives within the medium of time, in the same way thinking lives within the medium of space. This thinking does not link up one thought with the other; it sets before the soul a kind of thought-organism. When we have a conception, an idea or a thought, we cannot pass over at will to another. Even as in the human organism we cannot pass over at will from the head to any other form, but must first pass over to the neck, then the shoulders, the thorax, etc., even as in an organism everything has a definite structure which must be considered as a whole, so the thinking which I characterised as morphological thinking must be inwardly mobile. As stated, it lives within the medium of time, not of space. But it is inwardly so mobile that it produces one form out of another, by constantly growing and producing an organic structure.
It is this morphological way of thinking which should be added to the ordinary way of thinking. It can be attained through exercises of meditation which are described in principle in some of my books. These exercises strengthen and intensify thinking. The morphological way of thinking, the thinking activity which takes its course in forms and pictures, enables us to reach the first stage in the knowledge of super-sensible worlds, namely the stage described in my books as imaginative knowledge.
Imaginative knowledge does not as yet supply anything pertaining to an external world. To begin with, it leads only to man’s self-knowledge, but it is a far deeper knowledge of self than the one which is ordinarily reached by self-contemplation. This imaginative knowledge brings forms into our consciousness, forms which are experienced just as livingly as any sense-perception. But they have a peculiar quality of their own.
Our ordinary thoughts could not live within our consciousness in a sound way if we were unable to remember them. In regard to spiritual health and a sound development of soul-life, a very great deal depends upon our remembering capacity, upon our memory. Only those who have a continuous memory in their waking-life condition, a memory which goes back to a certain moment in childhood, can be said to be of sound mind.
Perhaps you will also have heard of the terrible condition of certain psychopathic people due to the fact that certain memories are blotted out. Psychiatry knows this state in which memories are blotted out, and it shows us the great importance of a continuous memory if the human soul is to live in a sound condition. This applies to the ordinary development of thought.
But it does not apply to the way of thinking just characterised as morphological or imaginative thinking. When our eye, or some other sense-organ is turned to some external object, the perception can be experienced only as long as our sense-organ is exposed to it. In the same way morphological thinking, or imaginative thinking, only exists while we experience it, and what thus arises within imaginative thinking cannot in the ordinary sense be impressed upon our memory. It must be called forth every time afresh, if it is to be experienced.
Those who reach such an organic-morphological way of thinking which develops as it were into a living process of growth, cannot retain the results of this thinking in their ordinary memory. Freedom, too, can only be characterised by ascending to such growing, constantly developing way of thinking. This is why my Philosophy of Spiritual Activity gave rise to so many misunderstandings. But it had to be transmitted through this method of thinking, because freedom is a spiritual experience and it is impossible to come to it with ordinary combining thinking.
Beginners in the method of spiritual science generally think that an imaginative experience can be impressed on the soul like any other thought. But this is not the case. An imaginative thought vanishes from our consciousness. The only thing which can be retained is the way in which the imaginative experience was reached. The conditions can be reconstructed, thus giving rise to the experience. If we wish to see again a flower which we have already seen, we must return to it and look at it; in the same way, the inner processes leading to an imaginative experience must be recalled, if we wish to have this experience again.
A spiritual-scientific content cannot be remembered without further ado. This even applies to the most elementary things in honest spiritual-scientific investigation. Here again, allow me to mention something personal, but which is also an objective fact.
You see, what an anthroposophical investigator of spiritual science has to say, cannot, as it were, be transmitted day by day in the form of lectures, in the same way in which natural-scientific facts are generally advanced. Scientific facts can be remembered, they live in our memory and can be set forth with the aid of memory. But the facts which a spiritual-scientific investigator has to advance, must come from his inner living experience. He cannot prepare himself in the same way in which one generally prepares lectures based on memory. The only thing he can do is to reconstruct the conditions enabling him to experience the most elementary facts of spiritual science.
We should realise that the spiritual science of Anthroposophy leads in its very first steps to a development of otherwise dormant forces of the human soul, and we should not think that any results can be reached in regard to higher worlds through ordinary philosophical speculations.
The imaginative knowledge described to you just now, leads, as already stated, to a kind of self-knowledge. Finally it leads us to a great tableau in which we simultaneously survey all the organic elements that have built up our whole life from our earthly birth onwards. Inwardly we perceive the creative formative forces which build up the human being and we first perceive them in connection with our own self.
We can see this tableau in the same way in which certain people in danger of death (even natural-scientific thinkers admit this), for instance, when they are drowning, see before them a weaving, living picture of their past life; we do not however, see it as a memory-picture, we do not look upon the small details of life, but we survey its chief facts, the forces which made us progress. We see, as it were, a deeper memory-tableau. At the same time, this tableau does not merely set before us the ordinary thinking life of the soul, but that inner life which works upon the physical organism from the soul.
This conception leads to a standpoint that makes it appear childish that even in the first decades of the 19th century people should have spoken in a speculative way of vital forces, of vitalism. Anthroposophy does not speak of such a vital force. It speaks instead of the conception of life, of what I call the etheric body, or body of formative forces, which represents on the one hand a soul-element, and on the other, a condensed, intensified soul-element which works upon the physical organism.
You know that recognised modern psychology does not go beyond certain speculative ideas in regard to the connections which exist between the soul and the body. The soul is described as if it were the body’s motive force, and scientists with a more materialistic mentality consider the body as a plus, which as it were, produces the soul. Most frequently of all modern psycho-physicists speak of parallelism, viz., that psychic phenomena and bodily phenomena follow a parallel course, and so forth. But all these things are mere speculations, simply based on the fact that people are unwilling to penetrate with the scientific spirit that prevails elsewhere into the psychical-bodily life of man.
You are all acquainted with the physical concept of latent heat contained in every object, but which does not manifest itself as heat. But this heat can be freed, it is said, if certain conditions are created, and in that case it manifests itself. But before the heat appeared, it existed in the objects as a latent force, where it gives rise to something which does not reveal itself outwardly through heat-processes. We therefore speak of latent heat and of heat which is set free.
This conception — of course, duly modified and extended — should be applied to the soul-life, by observing it in a concrete way, and not speculatively. We can observe the child’s growth until the time of its second dentition around the seventh year. Far more than one generally thinks is connected with this second dentition. If we observe the soul-bodily processes in an unprejudiced way, we can see that after the second dentition the child’s whole way of thinking, its whole life of representation and feeling, in fact the whole life of the soul, undergoes a complete change.
When the child changes its teeth, it reaches a final point in regard to a certain direction of life. After the second dentition, the human being no longer requires certain forces for the development of his physical organism which he formerly required. The forces which push out (if I may use this trivial expression) the second teeth are not merely localised in the human head, but they are forces which work in the whole body and manifest themselves locally when the second teeth appear. They exist however in the whole physical organism.
Those who observe this whole process as objectively as natural scientists are accustomed to observe and think in natural science, reach the point of recognising that the forces which push out the second teeth were latent forces, bound up with the physical organism. They gave the child’s physical body its structure, but with the second dentition they were set free, so that they can now appear in the child as soul-spiritual forces.
Here we may see concretely how the soul-spiritual forces and the bodily organisation are inter-related. This is not seen speculatively, but in a real, concrete way. Those who only wish to observe the soul at one moment and then the body, may speculate or experiment for a long time, yet they will only come to quite abstract results in regard to the connection which exists between the soul and the body. But those who observe the processes in the sequence of time, will find that after the second dentition certain soul-forces appear in the child revealing a more sharply outlined concept of memory, more sharply outlined feelings, and they will know that these are forces in the soul which were set free and which now manifest, whereas formerly they were submerged in the physical organism. Observations, not mere speculative thought, shows them the connection between the body and the soul.
This example shows us how we should investigate the inter-activity of soul and body with the aid of imaginative thought. We gain insight into the activity of the soul-spiritual forces in the physical-bodily organisation. This is what is presented in the tableau which I have described.
If we have reached the point of developing this imaginative way of thinking, we must proceed further with the strength thus gained. Even as a muscle grows stronger through practice, so the thinking power grows stronger if we do these exercises which are described in greater detail in the books mentioned. If we develop within us an intensified thinking endowed with plastic forces which lives in time, other forces of our soul may be developed and intensified.
The ordinary thoughts of life come and go, or we try to get rid of them either by discarding them from our soul, or the organism sees to it that we forget them, and so forth. But the thoughts of the kind described, which are called up in our consciousness for the sake of gaining higher knowledge, cannot be blotted out as easily as ordinary thoughts. A great effort must be made to forget them. This is a second kind of exercise: an artificial forgetting, as it were, an artificial suppression of thought.
If we have practised this artificial suppression of thought for a sufficiently long time, corresponding to our individual development and predispositions, we become able to suppress the whole tableau of which I have spoken, so that our consciousness is quite empty. The only thing which should remain to us is our calm thinking power, permeated by the will. But this thinking now appears in a new form.
I have now described to you two ways of thinking: the ordinary way of thinking which is connected with space, and a way of thinking which has a growth of its own, in which one thought always grows out of the other, even as in a living organism one limb is connected with the other.
If this morphological way of thinking is practised for a certain time, we gradually develop a third way of thinking, which we need in order to ascend to a higher stage of super-sensible knowledge. We need this kind of thinking when we rise to a stage which is higher than that in which we merely survey our own organisation.
Imaginative knowledge leads us to a survey of our own organisation, so that we say to ourselves: Here on earth, the soul-spiritual element, which is super-sensible, works upon the physical body. We must use this morphological way of thinking, for otherwise it is not possible to understand what takes place in the medium of time and works upon the physical body out of a super-sensible sphere, for this is something which undergoes continual metamorphoses. Our thinking must become mobile and our thoughts must be inwardly connected with each other. Mere combining thought cannot grasp the life which proceeds from the spirit, this can only be grasped by an inwardly living thinking.
But still another way of thinking must be developed if we wish to rise up to the next stage of super-sensible knowledge. Let me use an example in order to explain this to you. Even this example is difficult to penetrate, but I think you will be able to grasp what I mean.
Let us bear in mind the fact that Goethe tried to interpret the single cranial bones as metamorphoses of the vertebrae. In the single bones of the skull Goethe perceived transformations of the vertebra. Though somewhat modified, modern science also adopts this view, but it is no longer entirely in keeping with Goethe’s conception; nevertheless this view is valid to-day.
It does not suffice, however, to consider the purely morphological derivation of the cranial bones. We must go further if we wish to understand the relationship of the human head to the remaining human organism (we will restrict ourselves to the skeleton). We must not only envisage a transformation, but something very different. Let us ask, for instance: What relation exists between the bony system of the arms or legs and the bony system of the cranial bones, of the bones of the head? Here it is the case that the metamorphoses through which one form gives rise to the other can only be grasped if we bear in mind that this is not only a spatial metamorphosis taking place within the medium of time, but that quite another process takes place which is very difficult to understand, namely, a kind of turning over, a reversal.
If you wish to grasp the mutual relation between the bones of the leg and the bones of the skull, you must compare the external surface of the skull with the inner surface of a hollow bone, let us say of the upper thigh bone. This means that the inner side of the thigh bone must be turned inside out, so that also its elasticity would change; its inner surface would in that case be turned outwards and correspond to the external surface of a cranial bone; and vice versa, the outer surface of the thigh bone would not correspond to the outer surface of the cranium, but to its inner surface.
Imagine this process of metamorphosis like a glove which is turned inside out, but at the same time the elasticity of the glove undergoes a change. A new form arises. It is as if the glove is not only turned inside out, but takes on quite a different shape through the new elasticity.
You see, as a first indication of this third kind of thinking I must bring before you a very complicated process. This kind of thinking does not only live in constantly changing forms, but it is able to reverse the inner structure, so as to change its form.
This can only be achieved through the fact that now our thinking no longer lives in the medium of time, for in this process of reversion the subject of our thoughts transcends space and time and penetrates into a reality which lies beyond space and time.
I know that we cannot immediately become familiar with this third kind of thinking, which differs so greatly from the combining and the plastic ways of thinking. It is not easy to penetrate into this third kind of thinking, which dives down, as it were, into spacelessness and timelessness; it is not easy to understand that it reappears in a changed form turned inside out.
Anthroposophy does not wish to speak of the higher worlds in the amateurish way adopted by so many people, but because Anthroposophy is as honest as any other honest science it must point out that it is not only necessary to abandon the sphere of higher science, but that it is even necessary to acquire a completely new way of thinking.
If we wish to advance to a qualitative thinking man’s inner forces must be held together in an entirely different way, for the whole quality of our thinking undergoes a change during this process of reversal, when the inner is turned into the outer.
When we succeed in submerging our thought into a qualitative element, it is possible to ascend to that stage of knowledge of the super-sensible worlds which follows the stage of imaginative thought.
If the tableau of which I have spoken has been suppressed, so that an empty consciousness is established, then we have an empty consciousness for a certain time; this can be achieved if we suppress merely a concept. But when such a reality is suppressed, when we suppress forces which are constantly at the service of growth and nutrition during our earthly existence, we dive down into a completely new world. We then really are in the higher worlds and the ordinary physical world lies behind us like a memory. We must have it as a memory, for otherwise we should not be of sound mind; without memory we should be psychopaths, subjected to hallucinations and to illusions.
If we proceed in the right way along the path of spiritual investigation, we maintain our calm thoughtful consciousness permeated by the will even when we ascend to the highest worlds and there can be no question of falling a prey to hallucinations or suggestions.
When we are subjected to hallucinations or suggestions, the ordinary consciousness is entirely supplanted by a pathological consciousness. In the state of consciousness which Anthroposophy strives to reach for the attainment of knowledge of higher worlds, the essential thing is to maintain our ordinary consciousness in its full extent, so that we keep our sound common sense and our calm state of mind while ascending to the higher worlds. Even the thinking strengthened with the reversion of thought already mentioned, or the super-morphological thought, even this exists only for the sake of penetrating in full consciousness into the higher worlds. We then really experience the higher worlds and their spiritual contents.
Through the imaginative consciousness which enables us to gain a conception of the forces working in us from birth onwards, a conception of super-sensible forces working upon the physical body, we gain knowledge of that part of our being which existed before our birth, or before we were conceived within the physical world, when we still lived in a soul-spiritual world surrounded by soul-spiritual beings, even as here on earth, during the time between birth and death, we are surrounded by physical beings.
In short, we experience the eternal kernel of man’s being, when we look behind birth into that stage of existence through which we passed before the earth received us into the physical stream of heredity; we experience man’s eternal being in his spiritual environment.
Thus it is neither speculation, nor a system of thought that has led us to a knowledge of the higher worlds; it is a beholding. Even as the development of the body, from the embryonic stage onwards, gives us a conception of the external physical world, so the steps described to you in principle (details can be found in the books I have mentioned) lead us to a knowledge of soul-processes and enable us to live in a spiritual world in which we existed before birth and into which we enter when we pass through the portal of death. Objective vision leads to a knowledge of the higher worlds.
I have now described to you in the first place a path of knowledge. But this is incompletely described if it is merely described as a path of knowledge, for the experiences which we gain call for something besides a mere activity of thought. Though it may be difficult to acquire these two higher forms of thinking, there is something else which presents far greater difficulties.
If here in the physical world we preferably cling to observation and experiments, it is because in a certain way this sets our mind at rest in regard to the reality of our knowledge. From the standpoint of a theory of knowledge one may dispute about the true nature of sense-perceptions and their relation to reality, etc., but this is not the point just now; the point is that sense-perception gives us a guarantee for the truth of our soul’s experience, the reflected images of our sense-perceptions which arise in the soul; we set our minds at rest by leaning upon the external reality.
Real spiritual science seeks for an ascent into the spiritual worlds and not a drawing down of the spiritual worlds into material processes.
But when we ascend to the spiritual world in the manner described we no longer have the support which the external world provides, as it were, for our soul-experiences. We need something which gives the certainty that we are not floating in emptiness, that our soul-experiences in the higher worlds are not mere fancies; we need a support in the same way in which the external sense perceptions give us a support in our ordinary life. This again can only be reached through the development of inner forces.
Please do not misunderstand me. I do not mean that the forces which we already have in ordinary life (one has to speak in terms taken from ordinary life) suffice. We must develop forces even in spheres which are not the spheres of thought, in order to reach not only vision, but vision rooted in reality.
The assurance which our sense-perceptions provide from outside, consists in the fact that one sense supports the other. When we have an impression of sound or of sight, we do not immediately know whether this is a hallucination or not. We can only be sure of the impression gained, when we are supported — I might say — by the sense of gravitation, when another sense comes to our aid, when an impression which is not sufficiently guaranteed by the sense of sight or hearing can be supported by some other sense.
What is it that gives us the right to speak of reality in the physical world? Several things may be taken into consideration. I should have to speak for hours from the standpoint of a theory of knowledge (of course, I cannot do this now) in order to prove the fact which I now briefly wish to summarize. But if you follow the corresponding train of thought you will see that the following fact can be accepted: In the physical world we designate a fact as “real” when it influences us in such a way that we should be obliged to deny our own existence were we to deny the existence of that thing. If you not only hear the sound of a bell, but if you can touch it and discover its connection with other things, you would have to blot out your own self if you were not able to say that the external object is real, when you experience its reality within your soul. An external object can be called real, if we should have to deny our own reality in denying the reality of the object.
What we describe as reality is therefore intimately related with our own reality. That is why forces must also be drawn out of our own reality, which is a soul-spiritual reality, and these moral forces may be compared with an object which I grasp and which shows itself to be heavy. Within our own being we must seek supporting forces for the reality of the spiritual worlds into which we penetrate in the way I have described.
This can only be done if we develop certain moral qualities which we already have in our ordinary ethical attitude in life; the moral forces must be strengthened in the same way in which we strengthen the force of thought. These moral forces should not only be developed for the sake of our ethical life, they must be further strengthened.
Let me now speak to you only of two kinds. The first is what we call moral courage, or courage in general; this should be intensified in the same way in which the forces of thinking are intensified. The forces of courage within us may be intensified if the retrospective tableau arising through imagination is placed before the soul and we then look upon it and experience it in the right way. We then discover a higher kind of courage in our own life; when diving down into this tableau we discover inner forces of courage which are greater than those which we generally use in our external life, which is more or less passive. This courage should be intensified.
There is another moral force which should be intensified. Whereas courage is generally connected with the life of feeling and resembles an inner sense of sureness, a certain inner power, it is necessary to unfold certain forces which are connected with the will and which consist, for example, in the fact that at certain given moments we determine to do something, which we set about to do at some later time, by establishing with an iron will the conditions which enable us to carry out our resolution. An Anthroposophical spiritual investigator should carry out these exercises quite systematically. He should inwardly connect his present will-impulses with impulses that were in him at a former time.
In our ordinary life we give ourselves up to the present. But in the life which is to bring us into higher worlds we must visualise with an inner continuity of the will. Throughout many years we should be able to hold a purpose in mind and carry out at some later time things which we once resolved to do. This unfolds strong forces which support the will; it develops a strong current of volition which we ourselves establish within us.
This a special form of self-discipline. We are then no longer dependent on external circumstances or on ideals which induce us to do certain things, but by the will-impulse we inwardly connect in a soul-spiritual manner a later moment of our soul-life with an earlier moment. If a higher form of courage unfolds within our soul, if we develop the continuity of our will-impulses so that our will-impulses endure over the gulfs of time then we come to the point of ascending into the higher worlds, we shall be able to verify the reality of what we then perceive in the same way in which we do this in regard to the external physical world. The reality which we perceive there must be verified with the aid of inwardly intensified forces.
Hence the path leading to the spiritual worlds is not the development of a one-sided cognitive force, but the development of the whole human being in the direction of thinking, feeling and will, which implies a striving after knowledge, an aesthetic striving and an ethical striving. This path leading to the higher worlds is at the same time a religious immersion, a religious deepening of the human being.
There is one essential point which should be borne in mind: In modern times, even as through science to a great extent doubts have arisen in regard to the spiritual worlds, so through science these spiritual worlds must be conquered again. It is shortsighted to believe that the religious life must suffer through the fact that it is possible to ascend to the spiritual worlds with the same clear consciousness that we have in the physical world.
Those who advance criticism in this respect, generally do so because they think that the spiritual science of Anthroposophy remains within the limits of the intellect and rationalism. This is not the case. The whole human being, with his feeling and his will, flows into the development of thought, which is acquired in the manner I have described. The path leading to higher worlds indicated by the spiritual science of Anthroposophy is the unfolding and the development of the whole human being. Even as in ordinary physical life thinking grows out of the organism like a flower, so higher knowledge grows out of the fully developed human being, who unfolds all his forces harmoniously and intensively along the path leading to the higher worlds.
Through the development of mere thinking we only come to a world of images. If reality is to be perceived within this world of images, we must develop in the way I have indicated the courage contained in moral forces, the will contained in our character, our own individual will which we maintain throughout periods of time.
These two forces, and others, which you will find described in the books already mentioned before, should be intensified. The human being as a whole must be led in a soul-spiritual way into those other worlds in which he lives before he is conceived by physical forces and enters physical life on earth or in which he lives after passing through the portal of death.
If we wish to ascend to this life with knowledge, if we wish to acquire the vision of the super-sensible worlds, the whole soul-spiritual being of man must be led towards them — not only some vague part of him which desires to become acquainted with these worlds theoretically.
The spiritual science of Anthroposophy can therefore fructify the whole life of man. Anthroposophy does not seek in some abstruse mystical way to estrange us from the world, but strives on the contrary to lead us into practical life, into a life which is truly practical. That is why it can be so fruitful for science and art, social and religious life—in short, for the most different spheres of life.
I can only give a few indications in this connection.
If we can see the life-tableau of retrospective vision of which I have spoken, a tableau which is in reality a structure of formative forces moving in the stream of time, if we can recognise this structure, we can also see how the human body arises out of this system of forces and how it develops. For it is only an external illusion to speak of the heart, the lungs, etc.; in reality, the heart is a process, and the external spatial form of the heart is merely the process which is held fast for a time. This applies to every organ. What is retained for a moment within a certain shape, can be perceived. But we cannot perceive the incessant life-process giving rise to health and illness unless we attain to a knowledge of the super-sensible formative forces of the body.
Medicine, and therapy in particular, can be essentially fructified by spiritual science, and we have already opened Clinical-therapeutic Institutes in Stuttgart and Dornach where the sickness of humanity can benefit from knowledge derived from Anthroposophy.
Spiritual science can fructify life in many other directions. When a School for Spiritual Science was opened at Dornach it was not possible to give it any ordinary kind of frame. What the friends of our anthroposophical world-conception had in mind when they wished to erect a building for a school of spiritual science was something quite special. Let me explain this by a comparison.
Take a nut with its shell. An unprejudiced person will think that the nut’s shell must have the form which it has, because the nut itself has a definite form. The shell forms part of the nut. When a spiritual world-conception, such as that contained in the Anthroposophical movement, is called into life, the members may find themselves in the position to erect a building and they may think: Let us go to an architect who will draw us a plan in this or in that style, in accordance with traditional customs, or something thought out which would not in any way be connected with the things which are to be cultivated within it — just as if the nut’s shell were not to fit the nut!
Since Anthroposophy is not a mere theory, and does not merely live in words, the Anthroposophical Movement can therefore not proceed in this way, not even in regard to its frame. At Dornach, the words which resound from the speaker’s platform, the scenes on the stage, whatever art is presented through word or movement from the stage, must have exactly the same inner essential style as that which is expressed in the walls, in the external architecture of the Building. Even as the shell of the nut is formed by the same forces which formed the nut, so the Anthroposophical realities which come to expression in the world must have an artistic frame and call into being a new style of architecture.
It was therefore an organic necessity for a new style of architecture to arise in Dornach. This new style is simply the externally visible part of the reality which lives soul-spiritually in the world. One will be able to see what is the intention of Anthroposophy to-day just through the fructifying influence which it exercises also upon the artistic spheres of life.
In Eurhythmy, which is only a beginning, we called into life a human art of movement in which the single artists or the groups of artists do not dance or pantomime, but in which the forms of movement constitute a speech based on laws just as strict as those of spoken language, or a visible song, similar to that which one ordinarily hears in the form of sound. Eurhythmy is entirely drawn out of the law of man, in spirit, soul and body.
Through Anthroposophy we have thus been able to exercise a fructifying influence on many different spheres of art.
In my Threefold State the attempt has been made to face the great social problems of the present time from the anthroposophical standpoint. Those who bear in mind that from the anthroposophical standpoint the whole human being has to be taken into account in the social question, and not only that part which is accessible to a rationalistic science, to Marxism and similar directions of thought, must admit that forces which penetrate into the higher spiritual worlds can also penetrate into the social laws of human life, for these in fact are soul-spiritual laws pertaining to the higher worlds; they can also lead us to laws which are able to call into existence satisfactory social conditions in human life. For it is a spiritual element which unites human beings in their life in common, and physical links are simply formed out of the spiritual.
The terrible catastrophe of the present time and the decadent forces which now hold sway are largely due to the fact that people forget this spiritual foundation. Humanity must again permeate itself with the spirit.
Anthroposophy has also had a fructifying influence on education, pedagogy. At the Waldorf School at Stuttgart, founded by Emil Molt, the results of anthroposophical research in the direction of a true knowledge of man are applied to the developing human being, to the child. The paths which lead us to the higher worlds also enable us to observe the child year by year and week by week, as it develops from birth to puberty; it enables us to see in the child the forces which it brought with it from the spiritual worlds and which the teacher or the educator must conjure forth.
I can only give a few indications in this direction, for at the Waldorf School we have tried to develop all these things in detail into an art of education. These are a few examples showing how Anthroposophy can influence different spheres of life.
I already told you that Anthroposophy can also fructify religious life, because it leads in a scientific way to the higher worlds and because it shows us the true nature of man’s eternal being which he bears in his transient earthly existence as an ever-developing spiritual element not accessible to the ordinary forces of cognition. It shows this eternal essence in its own element, in the super-sensible worlds. Higher vision can discover it there. Here it is concealed, because when it enters earthly life through birth it becomes absorbed by the physical form. But this fact does not deprive the spirit of its living forces, for the physical substance only conceals it. The spiritual can however be perceived in physical substance, in matter. An aid to such an insight is provided by the paths leading to the super-sensible worlds, which Anthroposophy seeks to indicate.
Anthroposophy does not wish on this account to lead us away from the ordinary world into asceticism, but it opens out the paths to the spirit, to the super-sensible worlds in such a way that with the aid of the spirit we can once more form and shape material, practical life.
The essential thing is to recognise a creative power in the spirit. The spiritual world would be weak indeed were we to experience it only as an uncreative element transcending matter. There are many people who say: The physical aspect of the world is something low, let us rise above it; let us abandon matter in order to reach high spiritual spheres.
Many things assuredly must be overcome in order to attain a knowledge of this spirit, but when we have reached it through love (and it can only be reached through love, through religious devotion and warmth, for the development of the moral capacities mentioned above lead us, through love, into the super-sensible worlds) then we take hold of the spiritual, super-sensible essence as we approach matter. For the strong spiritual element is not one which flees matter, but one which forms matter, which can be spiritually active within matter. This is one aspect.
On the other hand let me tell you one other thing which should be borne in mind, my dear fellow-students, namely that the spiritual science of Anthroposophy, as it is meant here, treads the paths leading to the super-sensible worlds in such a way that the results obtained along these paths do not stand outside the ordinary natural-scientific facts and their operations, but penetrate them as a soul-spiritual force.
Even as a person is a full human being in the true meaning of the word because here on earth he lives in a physical body which bears within it a soul-spiritual element, so science can only be science in the full meaning of the word if it is not a mere knowledge of the external, physical reality, but if this knowledge can be permeated by the knowledge of the spiritual worlds. For this reason the spiritual science of Anthroposophy wishes to set itself within the other science by meeting the demands of the being and nature both of man and of the universe. Even as in his physical life man must bear within him spirit and soul, so a real spiritual science which opens up true reliable ways into the super-sensible spiritual worlds, must become the spirit and soul of ordinary science dealing with the physical world. And even as the spirit and the soul in man do not fight or rebel against the body, but should harmonise with it fully, so the spiritual science of Anthroposophy should be in full harmony with real, genuine knowledge of nature and history. | https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/Dates/19211126p01.html |
Awe can be understood as a feeling of wonder when experiencing something greater than oneself. According to Van Cappellen and Saroglou, two Belgium researchers, awe, love, and admiration are self-transcendent emotions because the emphasis is outside the self. Nature (e.g., mountains, vistas, oceans) is the most common cause of the experience of awe. People frequently described a mindset in which the out-of-doors inspired connection to a higher purpose or power. Or, as a research participant more formally put it, “it is hard trying to explain the religious sense in nature. And you can use all the words like wonderful or awe but it is hard to really find the poetics that I think describe nature in words. It is more like communing with the land and this sense of awe that you get …it is kind of spiritual.” (Loeffler, 2004).
Dachner Kelter, a psychologist at UC Berkeley, insist that human benefit from experiences that feel truly “awesome”. His research has highlighted the various mental health paybacks when experiencing awe such as increase in kindness, pro-social behavior, personal growth and re-orientation of values. Bearing witness to something filled with awe, has the potential to take us outside of our habitual way of thinking, the novelty of such a moment transports us into the present moment. Generally speaking, when our attention rests in the here and now, our mental health blossoms.
A person needs not travel vast distances in order to have an experience similar to mine; perceptively witnessing the miracle of a minuscule seed maturing into a palatable herb on your window sill is no less astounding. It is quite intriguing to find that the clear majority of people, regardless of race or culture, consider the world filled with beauty. Is it possible to shape the human mind into such consideration or is it part of our human makeup? Does the possibility exist that our hardwired affection for the beauty of nature is ultimately intrinsic? E.O. Wilson speaks of biophilia – a fundamental human need to connect with the natural world.
The television phenomena “Man vs. Wild” portrays a British man skilled in survival techniques exploring remote areas of our planet. In one episode he reaches a part of the Amazon Rainforest that has never been explored. He experiences an overpowering sense of beauty there and he commented on the fact that this splendor, while completely hidden, fills the purpose of providing pleasure to God. Even in the unseen places, nature cannot help but persistently create beauty.
Charles Cummings, in his latest written work Eco-Spirituality, speaks of the mystical human reaction towards an awe-inspiring encounter in nature. He believes such “creature-feelings” symbolize a person’s perceived littleness and nothingness before the glory of God. Perhaps it is the exposure to the grandeur of nature that provides us with perspective and we become aware of the minuteness of our problems.
Connection
In 2018, more than half of American people report feeling lonely. According to a nationwide survey done by the health insurer Cigna, loneliness is on the rise, especially in younger Americans. This recent statistic highlights the magnitude of loneliness felt by people in our society. In fact, loneliness is at the root of most mental health complains. Therefore, many desperately seek relief of their loneliness within the arms of their neighbor but often experience that the relationship lacks sincerity and depth. Perhaps the possibility exists that the uncovering of the existing bond between us and our brothers and sisters of the animal and plant kingdom will ease our suffocating loneliness? Perhaps Nature offers us a sense of authentic belonging, being part of a larger reality. Nature does not pressure us to reveal the cause of our loneliness, but its sacred availability can be felt. If continuous exposure to nature exists, it can guide us to recognize the interconnectedness that we share with all beings, we become aware of our shared origin and our mutual bond.
Jack Kornfield, the internationally renowned author and meditation master, tells about a time where Buddhist teachings focused mainly on the individual mind until logging companies began cutting down a vast number of trees right in front many monasteries. At this point the monks became activist for their forests and consequently woke up to the principles of interconnection. Visionary Buddhist teachers awoke to the fact that the human and natural realm are not separate and a sense of oneness with the mountains and the rivers can lead to extensive spiritual growth Kornfield reflects on the words of a yoga teacher who comments that “the pure mind and the purity of rivers and our air are interconnected”. The newly found realization and comprehension of our interdependence with all beings may bring transformation to our daily life. In this way, care for the earth stems from love not from duty. The realization of interconnection moves us to be care takers of the earth because every burden we leave onto the earth is a burden we cast upon ourselves.
In the early 1990’s a study by Hartig and Evans was conducted where participants were randomly assigned to one of three "treatments": A walk in a natural environment, a walk in an urban environment or relaxing in a comfortable chair. At the end of each exercise, instruments indicated that people who had taken the nature walk had significantly higher scores on overall happiness and positive affect and significantly lower scores on anger/aggression. The beneficial effects of nature are so observable that we cannot afford to overlook the intricate connections between optimum mental health and exposure to the natural world. | https://www.cmhcweb.com/post/2019/04/08/nature-spirituality-mental-health-are-they-joined-at-the-hip-part-2 |
Empowering Others to Be Courageous
Having the courage to acknowledge, reject, and overcome your own fears is a lifelong endeavor. Sometimes it can feel like you take one step forward and two steps back when it comes to living a life full of courage. From that perspective, empowering others to be courageous might seem like something you could never do (“How can I help other people when I can’t help myself?”). But, as is often the case with relationships (and fear, for that matter), it isn’t really that simple.
No matter where you are on your own journey to a more courageous life, you can inspire and empower others to be more courageous, too. And if you’re lucky, your own courage will benefit from your endeavors as well.
What does it mean to empower others to be courageous?
What does it mean to empower others to be courageous? I think that, in this case, it might be more useful to discuss what it doesn’t mean.
It doesn’t mean you dismiss their fears.
Think of something you’re afraid of that other people aren’t. Most of us have the misfortune of suffering from an irrational fear or two. Now, what happens when someone says to you, “You’re afraid of that?” You really shouldn’t be afraid of that.”
Are you magically cured of your fear? No. Are you more capable of facing your fear? No.
You might feel ashamed, embarrassed, or discouraged, but it’s safe to say that you don’t feel any braver. You’re being told you “shouldn’t” be afraid of something you actually are afraid of. If anything, that’s going to make you feel like you’re just a “scared person,” which will lower your confidence and make you feel less powerful.
Empowering others to be courageous starts with acknowledging their fear, and allowing them to acknowledge it, too. It means being willing to look their fear in the face right alongside them, and to help them feel like if and when they face this fear, at least they won’t do it alone.
It doesn’t mean you handle their fears for them.
When someone you care about feels afraid, it’s natural to want to step in for them and help them avoid the fear.
“I’ll represent our team at the meeting.”
“I’ll have that tough conversation for you.”
“No, you don’t have to do it.”
It’s important to recognize that when you let people off the hook for something they’re afraid of, you’re comforting them, not empowering them. Yes, there’s a place for comforting people, and there are even times when that is the best course of action. However, don’t confuse it with empowering people to courageously face their fears.
Empowerment gives them the opportunity to face their fear on their own.
It doesn’t mean you make their fear go away.
Fear is a constant of life. In a lot of ways, this is a good thing. Fear is the original survival instinct, and it protects us from actual danger throughout our lives.
We’re always going to be afraid of something. The question isn’t whether or not we can completely eliminate the fear, but whether or not we can continue to function and thrive even with the fear keeping us company.
This is important to remember when you’re trying to empower someone to overcome their fears. You aren’t trying to get rid of their fears; you’re trying to help them to continue to grow and progress as they actively reject the fear that is inside of them.
Why does it matter?
Why does it matter if you empower others to be courageous? Don’t you have enough on your plate trying to live a courageous life of your own? Why should you worry about other people’s fears?
Because bringing joy to other people is one of the best ways to live a happier, more fulfilled life.
Let’s break that down a bit.
Showing love to other people has multiple physical and emotional benefits.
Love matters. Showing care to others is as good for you as it is for them. In fact, some of the regarded “health benefits of love” include:
- Fewer trips to the doctor
- Shorter hospital stays
- Reduced risk of depression and anxiety
- Reduced risk of substance abuse
- Better ability to handle stress
- Faster healing and natural pain control
- Longer life
In other words, love helps you live a healthier, happier life—inside and out.
There may be more practical benefits.
People in healthy relationships focus more on what they can give than on what they can get. Still, you can’t deny that when someone does something for you, you’re more likely to return the favor if and when the need arises.
Think about someone who has made a real difference in your life. What would you do for them? Or rather, what wouldn’t you do for them?
Serving and empowering others can help you build meaningful relationships that will benefit you for the rest of your life. And because courage is so important to creating a happy life, they’ll likely remember you as the person who helped them in a powerful, meaningful way.
Additionally, empowering others may help you in a more direct, practical way. For instance, if you empower your team at work to be more courageous in their efforts, they may be more willing to stretch the boundaries of their creativity and come up with new, innovative solutions. Empowering your children or spouse can remove stress and tension at home.
Empowering other people helps you feel empowered.
This is sort of a “meta” benefit, but bear with me. When you effectively empower someone, you see the impact you can have on someone’s life. You see the good you can do in the world. You yourself feel empowered.
Similarly, seeing someone face their fear with courage is inspiring. Watching the person you empower work and progress in spite of their fears might be just the push you need to face your own fears.
How can you empower others to be courageous?
This, of course, is the million dollar question. You may recognize the importance of empowering others, you may have an idea of what it means and what it could do for you and for them, but still…where do you start?
Different people respond to different things. No one method is going to work on everyone. But there are some general “best practices” to follow when trying to empower others.
Acknowledge your own fears.
Set the example. Show other people the power that can come from owning up to your fears and refusing to let them hold you back. Express the fact that you were afraid, but you did it anyway.
Your example will pave the way for them to courageously face their own fears.
Help them break the fear cycle.
When we perceive a threat, our bodies experience fear. That can lead us to think thoughts that make the fear grow (about what might happen, worst case scenarios, etc.), which then in turn creates a stronger physiological fear response. This cycle perpetuates fear, and eventually causes it to become so entrenched within us that our fears feel like a matter of fact rather than a product of our minds.
Empower someone to be courageous by hitting pause on their fear cycle. The best way to do this is to allow them to express the fearful thoughts they think when they feel the fear. What do they think is going to happen? How do they feel about that? Why do they feel as though they’re in danger or being threatened in some way?
Introducing someone to this process, and to the concept of the fear cycle, can help them understand their fear so that it becomes less shameful and more manageable. And by doing this, you’re giving them a tool that they can use on their own later (aka, you’re empowering them).
Remind them of what matters.
One of the biggest motivators for overcoming fear is priorities. For example, you may be deathly afraid of snakes, but if a snake is threatening your child, you’d better believe you’re going to do whatever you need to to stop it.
When we’re faced with fear, love can pull us out of it. Help people focus on what they love, rather than on what they fear. Ask:
“What is this fear holding you back from?”
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
“Is this the kind of person you want to be?”
Encourage baby steps and reward effort.
Baby steps count. Every movement in the right direction counts. It can be hard to give ourselves credit for the seemingly miniscule steps we take forward, but it’s important that we give ourselves credit when credit is due.
It’s often easier to give other people credit than it is to give yourself credit. That means you can use encouragement and praise for baby steps to your advantage when you’re trying to empower someone to be courageous.
If they’re too afraid to take a big step, make the step smaller. Help them land on a task that’s just a little outside of their comfort zone. No matter what they try, or how small the step may be, help them feel good about the effort. The effort is what matters—not the result. If you can help them feel that, they’ll feel more empowered to try again next time.
Build confidence—always.
Helping others feel empowered requires continuous love and support—not occasional cheerleading or day-saving. It’s good to help when there’s a problem, but it’s important to recognize that you can help people feel empowered when there isn’t a problem.
Build confidence. Be encouraging and positive. Develop the relationship so they feel comfortable turning to you when things do get hard. If you work on building their confidence when things are good, they’ll be more empowered to be courageous when things are bad.
Empowering yourself to face your fears feels great, and so does empowering others to be courageous. As you help other people face their fears, you’ll bring more light and positivity into the world, and it will help you on your own journey toward “creating happy.”
Learn to empower others and yourself, with Design.org.
Develop the mindset and learn the skills you need to help you “create happy” in your life and in the lives of others. It all starts with our free assessment and free, personalized coaching program. | https://design.org/empowering-others-to-be-courageous/ |
Seven tips for managing stress during the pandemic
Our mental health is taking a beating. Here are several ways to regain control and feel better.
If you’ve ever found yourself sitting at home, scrolling through Twitter or watching the 6 p.m. news with a sinking feeling that you’re living through the end of the world, you’re not alone. The pandemic is taking a toll on our mental health. This toll is exacted in the form of bad moods, difficulty concentrating and feeling burnt out.
Fortunately, there are a few easy steps to stay sane (or as sane as possible) in these troubling times.
Regular exercise, sleep and staying connected with family and friends, offer protection from stress and anxiety. Getting back to workplaces and school may give us a sense that things are returning to normal, but those places have been altered by the pandemic. Instead, everything from shopping to eating out feels eerie from behind a mask.
Recognizing what has changed may help us understand why we need to focus on mental health, and why we’re not alone in feeling higher stress levels, says Shilagh Mirgain, a distinguished psychologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Mirgain says stress and anxiety during the pandemic is all too common. A third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, according to a new Census Bureau survey, and with the pandemic causing an economic slow-down, layoffs, an increasing number of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and schooling moving online, stress has become the new normal.
“We are really finding an increase in mental health challenges as a result of the pandemic,” Mirgain says. “It’s really important to recognize that these are challenging times [that] try our mental health, and to work on coping strategies to really strengthen overall wellbeing and foster resilience.”
But stress and anxiety don’t have to be a daily expectation. Basic stress management — like spending time in nature and practicing mindfulness meditation — can help you cope when the world as we knew it is nowhere to be found.
Spending time in nature
Nature is always available to us, says Mirgain, and the solace of the great outdoors can be just the place to take a break from the seemingly constant stream of bad news. As few as 10 minutes of walking outside can help boost your mood and relieve mental fatigue, says Mirgain. With plenty of stunning hiking trails in the Madison area, nature presents an easy way to escape and destress.
As the cold winter months approach, Mirgain recommends having a plan to keep active and in touch with family members. Wisconsinites are used to the cold, so sledding, making snowmen, cross-country skiing and winter hiking are all options for outdoor adventure.
Mindful Meditation
Want to stop the negative thoughts racing through your brain, if only for a few minutes? Mirgain, who has both prescribed and practiced mindful mediation herself, recommends a couple different strategies. Mindfulness is meant to help keep a person in the moment — rather than in their own head, ruminating on all the possible things that can go wrong.
Start, Mirgain says, by naming out loud five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. Or take five deep breaths while counting. “That act of just pausing can help you get out of an autopilot way of reaction and into a more intentional way of responding,” she says.
Spending time with family and friends
Social support — which we can get by spending time with friends and family — also helps protect you from mental health issues. While maintaining connections can be difficult in an ever more virtual world, Mirgain says one of her patients had a great idea to stay connected: creating a fall bucket list. The patient got friends and family doing things on the list, taking pictures of themselves doing those things and sharing the photos online.
Bucket list activities and virtual get-togethers give people something to look forward to, and having things to work towards is a way to stay positive, says Mirgain. While Halloween and Thanksgiving might look a different this year, planning safe ways to connect with those closest to you can make the future look a little less bleak.
“We may be in for some tough times for the next few months, but we’ll get through this. We’ll be stronger and stay resilient if we continue to support one another in our community,” Mirgain says.
Reducing ‘doom scrolling’
Scrolling through your Twitter feed right now probably includes news about the coronavirus, wildfires in California, the president’s taxes, the coronavirus, storms, the upcoming election and, yet again, the coronavirus. “Doom scrolling” — or “doom surfing,” as Mirgain calls it — is obsessively scrolling through article after article of bad news online, adding stress to your daily routine.
It can be easy to recognize this nasty habit, but harder to stop, as social media is designed to keep you plugged in. Mirgain says being mindful of what media you are consuming, how much and when, is key to not overburdening your mental health.
Regular exercise
“There is a mind-body connection,” says Mirgain. “As we care for our body it actually helps strengthen the mind.”
Exercise is a useful and natural way to alleviate depression, lower stress and boost overall wellbeing, says Mirgain. It’s important to prioritize exercising, particularly as the winter months approach, to help prevent poor mental health. Regular exercise, like 30 minutes of walking five days a week, is a great way to lower mild to moderate forms of depression.
Sleeping well
“Sleep is one of the best things you can do for physical health, your overall well-being and [to keep] that immune system strong — something we all want to prioritize during COVID-19,” Mirgain says. “If you’re sleep deprived, everything else starts to go haywire.”
Going haywire might mean more poor decision making from day to day. Sleeping well can help people make the right decisions — like deciding to eat right and exercise — and helps a person maintain a more stable mood, says Mirgain.
So once you’ve survived another day of Zoom meetings, remember to get under the covers early without social media or another Netflix original to deprive you of a good night’s sleep.
Getting help
While all of these strategies are great, it’s not enough for everyone. Mirgain recommends people reach out for additional support or seek counseling, especially for those struggling with depression and isolation
All of the above strategies can fight the feeling that the world is ending. Coping with stress, instead of letting it build up inside you like a shaken up can of soda, is crucial at times such as these. The consequences — which include difficulty concentrating or doing simple tasks — can be debilitating. So start by acknowledging that the world isn’t normal and that pretending that it is might do you more harm than good. And go from there.
Celia Young is an editorial intern at Madison Magazine. | https://www.channel3000.com/seven-tips-for-managing-stress-during-the-pandemic/ |
President Theodore Roosevelt created Mesa Verde National Monument on June 29, 1906. The monument is located near Cortez and Mancos, Colorado. Ancestral Puebloans inhabited Mesa Verde from 6000 BCE. to about 1300 CE. Their broader cultural group encompassed most of northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado and southern Utah.
Fathers Escalante and Dominguez were the first Europeans to record seeing Mesa Verde on their way to what is now California. The ruins then went unnoticed until geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden led an expedition across southern Colorado in 1874. When he heard about cliff houses nearby, instead of going to the ruins himself, Hayden sent his expedition photographer, William H. Jackson, to photograph them. Stunned by what he saw in the photographs, Hayden returned the next year to document the ruins and the artifacts inside them.
In 1888, Richard Wetherill and his brothers who lived in the area found the ruins while looking for lost cattle; they explored them and began collecting artifacts. By 1890 Wetherill had built a substantial collection from all over Mesa Verde and began to sell to collectors and museums. Also during this time, Wetherill started taking tourists to Mesa Verde. In 1891, he led a Swedish scientist, Gustav Nordenskiöld, to the ruins. During his time exploring the ruins, Nordenskiöld developed a systematic method for excavating the ruins and how to record artifacts. Afterwards, Nordenskiöld removed the objects from the site. During his excavation, the Swede noticed the pottery went from painted black- on- white, refined pottery to simple and crude pottery. This pattern led Nordenskiöld to notice how the Anasazi changed over time through their pottery.
When Nordenskiöld tried to return to Sweden with his large collection, customs agents stopped and detained him. Undeterred, Nordenskiöld negotiated his release when he pointed out that the US did not have any laws preventing him from taking the objects out of the country. After Nordenskiöld returned to Sweden, Wetherill stopped taking tourists to Mesa Verde to focus on his excavation at Chaco Canyon. Tourists continued to visit the sites for the next decade until archaeologist and preservationist Edgar Lee Hewitt fought to make Mesa Verde a national monument. Hewett was instrumental in lobbying congress to create the Antiquities Act of 1906 which led to President Roosevelt’s declaration of Mesa Verde a national monument.
Although the Antiquities Act was the first step in protecting artifacts in national monuments, pot hunting continued at Mesa Verde as well as at other sites such as Canyon de Chelly and Chaco Canyon. The punishment of taking a pot or artifact from federal lands today is punishable by a year in jail and up $10,000 in fines. | https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/64 |
As children grow into adolescence, their family relationships dim in comparison to their social relationships. A teen starts to find great value in the connections they have with friends, mentors, coaches, teachers, and peers. Socialization is an important facet of adolescence because it is through social relationships that a teen gets to know more and more about themselves. An adolescent slowly develops a sense of self, which forms the foundation for healthy adulthood.
Although many parents recognize the need for socialization in their teen, they may not know that the mental and emotional health of your teen’s friends also matters. Recent research reveals that the mental and emotional health of a teen’s peers can impact a teen’s psychological well being.
Happiness May be Contagious
There are a handful of recent research studies that show just how influential a good mood can be. For instance, one study from the United Kingdom explored whether a teen who has friends with healthy moods is less likely to be depressed. This study also explored whether emotionally healthy friends can help a teen recover from depression. Essentially, the results of the study revealed that having a network of friends with good emotional health cuts a teenager’s probability of developing depression in half over a period of 6 to 12 months. Also, having a group of mentally healthy friends around can help a teen more quickly recover from depression if they are struggling with it.
Positive Friends Can Contribute to Your Teen’s Resilience
Another study, published by the British Psychological Society in June 2015, found that when teens are faced with adversity, especially those in lower socioeconomic circles, friendships can be a tremendous support. The study asked questions of 409 students between the ages of 11 and 19 who resided in low income areas of England. The researchers examined the quality of the students’ friendships in a psychological assessment. In various ways, the assessment measured the students level of resilience when faced with challenges and how they coped with those challenges. Students of both genders found that their closest friendships helped them deal effectively with the problems they faced. The research found that friends helped with finding the positive in problems and with strategizing and planning. The results revealed that friends provided emotional support, which helped students develop skills and resilience so that they could meet the challenges they faced. In short, the research found that friends can help build resilience in teens.
Resilience is a Psychological Strength
Resilience is the ability to bounce back after a challenging event or a stressful period of time. Imagine a rubber band that is thin and stretched to its limit. If you let go of that rubber band, it likely won’t return to its original shape. In the same way, a teen who has experienced a high degree of stress and who is stretched out to their limit might also not be able to bounce back fully. However, when a teen has a high degree of resilience, stressful periods in life won’t affect them as much.
When teens are resilient, they tend to:
- say no to drugs
- curb peer pressure
- know when to make the right choices
- avoid risky behavior
- learn to manage stress effectively
- have healthy relationships with adults
- display easy going dispositions
- have emotional awareness
- can access inner resources that help them move easily into adulthood
Here are a few contributing factors to a teen’s resilience:
Build Positive Friendships– As mentioned above, time with friends is incredibly important for teens, and if those friends are mentally and emotionally healthy, they can support the resilience of a teen. Plus, it’s important for parents to remember that time with friends is more than having an online connection. When teens have in-person interactions with others that are fulfilling and engaging, that’s what matters most.
Exercise on a Regular Basis – Regular physical activity can be an important factor in a teen’s psychological health. In fact, mental health among adolescents does not a stand alone; psychological well being is interwoven with physical and emotional health. When teens are getting exercise on a regular basis, they are likely to also stay psychologically fit.
Get Good Sleep – In the same way, a teen who goes to bed and rises at the same time every day will often feel the difference in his or her mental health. Stress usually inhibits a regular sleep schedule; however, having a regular sleep schedule can help build resilience to that stress. Getting at least 9 hours per day is ideal for adolescents, giving them a balanced internal rhythm of rest.
Eat Well – This goes along with exercise and having healthy sleep routine. Eating well includes eating three balanced meals a day, not skipping meals, and having a balanced intake of vegetables, meats, and grains. Eating well also includes drinking enough water throughout the day.
Encourage Your Teen to Have Healthy Friends
If you are concerned about the friends and peers your teen is currently spending time with, you may want to encourage your teen to make new friends who have good mental and emotional health. This can be a difficult process for some teens. However, with some encouragement, they may find that making friends is an easy and enjoyable process. Here are a few ways your teen might meet someone new to spend time with:
Join a club, team, or church group. If teens have an interest in a certain type of book, for example, or in a particular kind of sport, then joining a club with others with the same interest can be a great way to make new friends. A sports team or church group are other great ways to meet new people who enjoy the same activities. The newspaper and online sites may have reveal details about clubs to join.
Make friends with co-workers. Spending time with coworkers is often an easy way to make friends. If a teen wanted to develop a friendship with a coworker, one way to do this is ask to carpool with someone. If carpooling doesn’t work, a teen might find a reason to celebrate and invite friends from work to join in the celebration.
Volunteer at a favorite charity. Just like with working, when a teen volunteers, they have the opportunity to get to know and spend time with coworkers. Also, volunteering immediately puts you in touch with others who care about sobriety too.
Take your teen to an event where you know they will be in good company. If you want your teen to make friends with positive people, be sure to take your teen to events that draw your kind of crowd. You might go to a community event at the Library or a local used book sale.
Support your teen’s positive friendships. If your teen already has friends with good mental and emotional health, you might try to support those friendships by having your teen’s friends over for dinner or a movie. You might also take your teen and a friend out for lunch. Although your teen may not always accept your invitation, your effort communicates that you appreciate your teen’s friend.
Positive Teen Psychology
In a way, the studies mentioned above are a form of positive psychology….for teens. This new field of study is exploring how to tap into and utilize the incredible resources we have within us. Similarly, when teens have positive friendships, a large network of support, and an accepting family, that teen is likely to succeed and easily transition into adulthood. Furthermore, with these positive factors, a teen is also likely to build and access the resilience, confidence, and competence they need for a successful future. | https://paradigmtreatment.com/emotional-health-friends-impacts-teen/ |
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Cloux, the brainchild of french guitarrist Sylvain Ducloux, ventures (brilliantly) into the instrumental Technical Metal arena. He is assited here by members of the other bands he plays with: City Weezle and Forgas Band Phenomena, which are more jazz/fusion oriented outfits. Musicianship, composition and recording are top notch, and the results are reminiscent of Ron Jarzombek's albums mixed with a bit of Satriani. Fans of Jarzombek's solo efforts and instrumental technical metal in general will be pleasently surprised with it.
Ducloux has also formed the band Chromosome since late 2005.
Current (or Last Known) Lineup
|Musician||Instruments||Currently Also In||Used To Be In||Guest Appearances|
|Sylvain Ducluox (as Cloux)||Guitar, Programming|
|Simon Fleurry||Vocals|
|Kengo Mochizuki||Bass|
|Xavier Zolli||Bass||Chromosome|
Past Lineup (Members Who Never Appeared on an Album)
Discography (2 Releases)
2008 - Metal Version Volume 1 by Cloux
Label(s):
Genre(s):
Lineup:
|Sylvain Cloux||Guitar, Bass, Drums, Programming|
2004 - Full Fool (EP) by Cloux
Genre(s):
Lineup: | http://librariusmetallicus.com/Band/view/3744?genre_id=2 |
How do I get my mom to lose weight?
How I did it
- Firstly stop eating sugar. …
- Don’t drink any fizzy drinks or juices they are full of sugar.
- Don’t buy diet foods. …
- Eat full fat foods only as they will make you feel fuller longer.
- Watch your portion size. …
- Seriously cut back on your carbs and I mean seriously. …
- Try to eat far less processed foods, buy fresh foods.
2.02.2021
How do I talk to my parents about losing weight?
The Don’ts
- Do not use shame.
- Do not force the issue.
- Do not frame the discussion around weight and food.
- Do not offer “helpful” weight loss hints.
- Do not monitor their food or exercise.
- Do not judge.
- Do remember that your loved one may already feel ashamed.
- Do speak about health and feelings.
2.10.2013
How do you convince someone to lose weight?
Top 10 Ways to Help a Dieter Succeed
- Be a cheerleader, not a coach. “You don’t want to find faults with what the dieter is doing,” says Wolfe-Radbill. …
- Become an active part of their program. …
- Help develop healthy incentives. …
- Show them you care about the person, not the diet.
10.02.2006
How can a woman get skinny fast?
How To Get Skinny Waist Fast
- Consume fewer calories.
- Track the number of calories you consume.
- Consume more protein and fibre.
- Reduce sugar intake.
- Drink more water.
- Get enough, quality sleep.
- Avoid stress.
- Exercise and keep active throughout the day.
11.03.2021
Should you tell your daughter she needs to lose weight?
If you want your teen to lose weight, the American Academy of Pediatrics has some advice: Don’t tell them that. Doing so may raise their risk of developing unhealthy habits or even an eating disorder, the AAP states in new recommendations published online this week.
How can an obese person lose weight?
“Reduce calories by 500 calories per day to lose about a one pound a week, or cut 1,000 calories a day to lose about two pounds a week.” Consider adding physical activity after reaching a minimum of 10 percent weight-loss goal. Medication.
How do obese people get motivated?
16 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Lose Weight
- Determine Why You Want to Lose Weight. Clearly define all the reasons you want to lose weight and write them down. …
- Have Realistic Expectations. …
- Focus on Process Goals. …
- Pick a Plan That Fits Your Lifestyle. …
- Keep a Weight Loss Journal. …
- Celebrate Your Successes. …
- Find Social Support. …
- Make a Commitment.
24.04.2017
How do I get my parents to diet?
Here are 4 tips on talking to your parents about their health habits:
- Think about it ahead of time. What do you want? …
- Approach parents the same way you’d like them to talk to you. You know it’s a turnoff when parents nag or criticize. …
- Come up with a plan together. …
- Show encouragement, understanding, and support.
How do I approach my daughter about weight gain?
Here are some tips for discussing weight with kids, and what to do if a child brings up the topic.
- Encourage open dialogue. …
- Don’t make negative comments. …
- Take action. …
- Avoid the blame game. …
- A united front. …
- Talk with your healthcare provider. …
- Seek advice. …
- Focus on health over weight.
12.06.2019
Is it rude to tell someone to lose weight?
1. “How much weight did you lose?” Asking someone his or her weight is rude and invasive and it downgrades the immense effort it took to create the weight loss to a simple number. Think of it this way: how much someone has lost is as private as their current weight, age or salary.
How can I lose weight naturally?
Here are 30 easy ways to lose weight naturally.
- Add Protein to Your Diet. …
- Eat Whole, Single-Ingredient Foods. …
- Avoid Processed Foods. …
- Stock Up on Healthy Foods and Snacks. …
- Limit Your Intake of Added Sugar. …
- Drink Water. …
- Drink (Unsweetened) Coffee. …
- Supplement With Glucomannan.
Is it unhealthy to be obese?
But being overweight is actually a medical concern because it can seriously affect a person’s health. Diabetes and heart disease are health problems that can stem from being overweight. Being overweight can also affect a person’s joints, breathing, sleep, mood, and energy levels.
What’s a skinny fat person?
“Skinny fat” is a term that refers to having a relatively high percentage of body fat and a low amount of muscle mass, despite having a “normal” BMI. People of this body composition may be at a heightened risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
How can a 13 year old get skinny fast?
16 Healthy Weight Loss Tips for Teens
- Set Healthy, Realistic Goals. Losing excess body fat is a great way to get healthy. …
- Cut Back on Sweetened Beverages. …
- Add in Physical Activity. …
- Fuel Your Body With Nourishing Foods. …
- Don’t Avoid Fat. …
- Limit Added Sugars. …
- Avoid Fad Diets. …
- Eat Your Veggies.
28.01.2019
How can I get skinny in 5 days?
To lose weight in 5 days, you would have to exercise every single day consistently. Strenuous exercises like running and vigorous biking are two great options available to you. For your plan to lose weight in 5 days, there is no meal as significant as breakfast. Do not skip it at all. | https://focused-on-fitness.com/weight-lossing/how-can-i-get-my-mom-to-lose-weight.html |
Is Vision Therapy right for me?
Vision therapy, often referred to as physiotherapy for the eyes, is an individually prescribed program of activities that aim to correct or improve specific visual dysfunctions. It provides one the opportunity to develop their visual system so that these learned skills can be applied to perform relevant tasks with greater efficiency and ease. It is a clinical approach to the treatment of amblyopia (lazy eye), eye movement and tracking disorders, strabismus (eye turn), focusing difficulties, reduced depth perception, and visual-perceptual disorders, among others.
Please refer to the video below for more information:
The first step in the process is to undergo a visual skills assessment to detect any inefficiencies in your visual system. Following this, Dr. Yew will plan a vision therapy curriculum catered to your visual needs. One-on-one 50-minute vision therapy sessions will take place on a weekly basis, with progress evaluations taking place periodically. Your performance will be monitored closely so that exercises are made more difficult to encourage further improvement with time.
For more information please visit the following vision therapy sources below:
College of Optometrists in Vision Development
https://www.covd.org/
What is Vision Therapy? | https://www.polariseyecare.com/what-is-vision-therapy/ |
Watch. Do. Share.
Get inspired and get involved with this film
from our Second Annual UnLonely Interactive FilmFest.
Watch. Do. Share.
Get inspired and get involved with this film from our Second Annual UnLonely Interactive FilmFest.
Gerda
Follow the five steps below to get the most out of your UnLonely Film Festival experience!
Step 1: Watch the film.
Gerda Saunders has a fabulous sense of style. She also has a progressive form of dementia, and lately, she’s been asking herself whether all this effort she’s putting into her appearance will be worth it once she can no longer manage it herself.
About the Filmmakers
Elaine Clark, Writer/Producer, is a Producer at Radio West, of KUER.NPR Utah. She studied Folklore and Germanic and Middle East Studies which included work for an education NGO in the West Bank.
Doug Fabrizio, the director, has been reporting for KUER News since 1987 and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became a host and executive producer of KUER’s RadioWest, a one-hour conversation/call-in show.
Step 2: Explore these things after watching the film.
Click Here
Reflective Questions:
- For Gerda, clothing or style is one of her core expressions. What is your core form of expression? How do you express the most authentic version of yourself? How would you feel if you weren’t able to express yourself in the same way?
- How would you feel about having to leave your job due to an ailment of some kind? How would you feel if a part of your identity no longer centered on your profession? How would you spend your time?
- We see Gerda needing her husband to finish getting dressed, find her shoes, etc. How do you feel about relying on your partner or a family member to help you with your basic needs? Would you allow it or would you design work-arounds to avoid it? Why? Have you had a discussion with your partner or loved ones about how you want to live your life in the case it becomes severely compromised?
Activities
- Following Gerda’s example, write your own ‘field notes.’ Write about something that is ailing or troubling you, or that you are afraid of. Write without emotion and feel free to include illustrations.
- In spite of everything, Gerda seems to remain upbeat and grateful for the positive aspects of her life, like her husband. Make a list poem of all of the things you are grateful for in your life. The big and the small. Try to add a line or two that wraps the list together and makes sense of it. Share with somebody close to you.
- Stage your personal fashion shoot. Take a critical look at your closet: what clothes do you own that are unique, brightly colored, and grab your attention? Pull out everything that fits the description and especially the clothes that you’ve never worn because you’ve been too self-conscious. Mix and match clothes, shoes, and accessories to create unusual and eye-catching outfits. Set up your phone, or ask a friend or family member to take photos of you. Then model each of these outfits for the camera and take a few shots of each in different poses. Once you’ve modeled each of the outfits and their various permutations, look carefully at the series and determine which if any successfully serve as a form of personal expression.
PS: Looking for even more ways to "creatively connect?" Follow this link for a few other ideas.
Step 3: Join in the conversation about the film.
5 Comments
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Joe on September 16, 2018 at 10:23 am
Lovely film
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Ann Rinkenberger (@harvestmoonMN) on October 12, 2018 at 7:25 am
Very touching film.
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Elise on December 5, 2018 at 7:03 pm
Gerda if you read this your husband has a look i his eye of absolute admiration. My great uncle looked after his bed rested wife for over ten years and every day he was happy to do it. He died at 97 years old just happy to have loved her. I hope you don’t feel guilt of the future. It looks like you have an absolutely wonderful life partner. I hope you come to piece of mind in what ever way you need. It seems to me he is like my uncle just happy to love you. You are not a burden in peoples life you are a gift and worth the little extra time.
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Susan Shifrin on March 8, 2019 at 7:42 am
Gerda, Elaine and Doug, I am the founder and director of ARTZ Philadelphia, a U.S. non-profit whose primary mission is to offer people living with dementia and those who love them opportunities to connect and interact around arts and culture. This is a beautiful short film in so many ways — it speaks to the core of who Gerda has been and is becoming; it shines with the love she and her partner have for each other; and it teaches the lesson that letting go is not giving up, and that our core remains our core no matter the illness. Gerda, you are brave and beautiful and are empowering others by your example. Thank you to all of you!
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Matt on May 28, 2019 at 12:05 pm
very touching film
Leave a Reply
Step 5: Discover other films that may interest you.
Your Support Helps!
We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. | https://artandhealing.org/gerda/ |
Garla Mare Fish Farm on the lower Danube in Romania is one of the wetland areas that has been identified by WWF for its potential for restoration. Re-connecting the wetlands to the Danube channel will not only enhance the biological value of the area, but also contribute to flood and water management in the area. Preparatory work for restoration of the area has been undertaken with support from the Coca-Cola Company.
The selection of the site was preceded by a scoping study and a restoration plan to assess the potential of several areas. The assessment was based on a set of criteria including nature conservation priorities, stakeholder involvement and flood risk mitigation.
The natural connection of Garla Mare marsh to the Danube was cut off by dikes, and the area was turned into fish breeding nursery and fishing ponds (nowadays mostly abandoned).
The plan is to remove the dikes and reintroduce a natural hydrologic regime. This will lead to the development of local vegetation; wildlife will repopulate deserted ponds. The Garla Mare area is also in need of ecological restoration to remove pollution sources from agriculture and waste management.
Garla Mare is an important Natura 2000 site. Garla Mare hosts 19 bird species protected under the EU’s Birds Directive, 89 bird species protected under the Bonn Convention and 6 globally endangered bird species. The Garla Mare model site is important for the wintering of Phalacrocorax pygmeus, Aythya nyroca and Aythya ferina. The site is also important during the bird migration period. | http://danube.panda.org/wwf/web/search/details.jsp?pid=131072 |
One of the challenges of introducing class actions to the Czech legal system is the finding of a proper balance between the interests of clients and those of attorneys. While the default position is that attorneys are to protect the justified interests of their clients and place them before their own (within statutory limits, of course), a careful balancing exercise will need to be carried out if class actions are to be allowed. While class action law is still at the stage of an initial proposal in the Czech Republic, this proposal is demonstrative of the direction the Czech Ministry of Justice intends to take.
A perfect example of the trickiness of this balancing exercise is the determination of the remuneration payable to attorneys representing claimants in class actions. There are many examples from other jurisdictions (including the USA in particular) that clearly demonstrate the difficulty of the task as well as the extremes that can occur when sufficient safeguards to protect relevant interests are not put in place (including, for example, when attorneys’ fees significantly exceed the damages received by the claimants, whether as individuals or even a group).
The current proposal in the Czech Republic allows for the possibility of attorney remuneration on the basis of a percentage share of the awarded damages, up to 25% of the awarded amount. While this structure is generally allowed in the Czech Republic, it is not an entirely traditional form of attorney remuneration. Historically, it was permitted only in exceptional circumstances, and even today the Czech Bar Association’s Code of Conduct requires that remuneration on this basis be proportionate and generally amount to a maximum of 25% of the awarded amount.
Even though this proposed system of remuneration in the context of class actions may, at first glance, seem somewhat noble – it does, after all, provide access to justice to even the poorest of claimants – steps must be taken to ensure that it does not serve as an incentive for claimants (and their attorneys) to file frivolous claims forcing defendants to choose between entering into costly settlements or even more costly litigation. It must also be ensured that an attorney is not motivated by this form of remuneration to pursue a class action against the interest of his or her clients. It is questionable whether a limit of 25% can do this.
Concerns in relation to remuneration as percentage of the award have also been voiced by the European Parliament’s Committee for Legal Affairs, which has proposed an amendment to the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers and Repealing Directive 2009/22/EC, which reads: “Member States shall ensure that the lawyers’ remuneration and the method by which it is calculated do not create any incentive to litigation, unnecessary from the point of view of the interest of any of the parties. In particular, Member States shall prohibit contingency fees.”
It should also be noted that despite the popularity of the class action instrument in the USA, some US states have now also started restricting the use of contingency fees or limiting the remuneration awarded to attorneys.
Despite the evident shift in the approach to class actions (and attorney remuneration in relation thereto) and the experience in other jurisdictions, the Czech Ministry of Justice has failed to take into account extensive (and constructive) criticism of the draft law by professional bodies, courts, and other legal professionals. The draft law therefore still contains the concept of remuneration as a share of the amount awarded and does not, as yet, incorporate sufficient safeguards and guarantees to ensure that the system of collective redress would not be abused.
By Robert Nemec, Partner, and Azlbeta Hermankova, Associate, PRK Partners
This Article was originally published in Issue 6.9 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here. | https://ceelegalmatters.com/czech-republic/12106-the-challenge-of-implementing-class-action-regulation-in-the-czech-republic |
The TRU Students’ Union (TRUSU) will be hosting a referendum on November 21 – 23, 2018 to ask if students are interested in establishing the World University Services of Canada’s “Student Refugee Program” (SRP) at TRU. Over the next few weeks, TRUSU will be providing information from other organizations about the SRP to give students the opportunity to make an informed decision in the upcoming referendum.
Refugees are described in international law by the Geneva Convention as: “Someone outside his or her own country, who is unable to return as a result of a well-founded fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a social group.” Refugees are fleeing extreme violence, conflict, war, and other persecution in their home country and are seeking refuge in another safe country.
Who helps and supports refugees?
Every signing country of the Geneva Convention has an obligation to provide safe haven to refugees fleeing legitimate persecution. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is the main coordinating body that registers and supports displaced refugees. They partner with countries to provide food aid, shelter, and the other necessities of life, alongside economic and social supports.
The UNHCR has been in operation since the end of World War 2 to tackle the displacement of millions of individuals after the war, and they have grown to address new refugee crises as they develop around the world. Check out this video discussing the history of refugee crises and the UNHCR.
Why have refugees become a crisis today?
Ongoing civil wars, ethnic cleansing, and conflict in many countries like Syria, Myanmar, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan, have generated a large number of refugees fleeing violence. While most of these refugees seek a safe-haven in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Kenya, etc., there are a number of refugees who try to travel to Europe, the US, or Canada for help. Most neighbouring countries are developing nations with limited resources that are strained by an influx of millions of refugees. These countries argue that developed nations in Europe and North America should share the workload of sheltering these refugees instead of expecting them to do it all themselves.
Check out this video from educational organization Kurzgesagt which sheds light on the current crises faced by refugees across the globe, what some neighbouring countries are doing to help, as well as the reaction by more developed nations to the ongoing issue.
How does the SRP play a role in the refugee crisis?
While organizations like the UNHCR and countries like Jordan, Kenya, etc. are doing their best to respond to the current refugee crisis, the amount of effort required to safely and humanely shelter these refugees is becoming overwhelming in the face of such a large problem. The SRP looks to help by bringing a small number of refugee students to Canada to spread the workload to more developed nations instead of relying on the UNHCR and neighbouring countries. In this way, the SRP provides Canadian universities and colleges with a practical and pragmatic opportunity to help refugees, and the countries currently supporting them.
Check out this article from Vox which describes the problems Syria’s neighbours face in taking on the problem alone, and what opportunities there are for Canada and the United States to assist.
While the global refugee crisis is a very large and complex problem, Canadians still have many opportunities to positively impact the crisis through programs like the SRP.
TRUSU will be hosting a referendum to ask students if they want to invest in the WUSC SRP on November 21 -23, 2018. | https://trusu.ca/news/equity/student-refugee-crisis-explained/ |
While it may be tempting to follow interior design trends and fads, scientific evidence shows that it’s a good idea for your sleep schedule and stress levels to stick to simpler routes. According to statistics released by the Center for Disease Control, one in three Americans aren’t getting enough sleep which can lead to heightened stress and anxiety in everyday life.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the bedroom within the household. It’s an area that allows the body to recharge and relax after a busy day. In order to get the full benefits of a relaxing room, here are seven interior design tips on how to reduce stress and maximize sleep.
1. Add a few plants around the room
Photo: James Bombales
In a 2008 study, hospital patients who were exposed to plants in their rooms reported much less stress and anxiety than those who weren’t. Deena Shaffer, who runs a weekly event called Mood Routes at Ryerson University to help students and staff de-stress through nature, says that humans’ innate need to be around nature is known as biophilia and that having plants around the home actually acts as a stress reliever.
“[Having] plants in the home is a great first step to honoring our biophilic natures and to repairing that separation from nature. Plants help with air quality, remind us of the cycles of life, and require our tending which are all positive aspects,” she says.
At every stage of her life, Shaffer has had plants. At work she has hibiscus and peace lilies and at home she has spider plants, bamboo and a yucca. Tending to plants is also a family affair. Shaffer has her two daughters help water the plants around the home and they do some seed work in the late winter to prepare for their spring flower and vegetable garden.
“If you’re starting out with plants, I would keep it simple,” says Shaffer, “A simple, flourishing plant is a lot lovelier than a wilting, fussy, tropical one.”
She suggests looking at the NASA guide for best air filtering plants to keep your bedroom fresh. Before you buy though, check and see what type of light you can provide for your plant.
“There’s no point fighting against what is. If you have low light, stick with those few plants that can take it.”
2. Use focal point lighting
Photo: Maewoven/Instagram
Throughout evolution and before man-made lighting, humans lived by the sun and moon cycle. During the moon cycle, the lack of light would cause our bodies to create more melatonin, which is the chemical that makes us feel tired. With the invention of man-made lighting, the cycle our bodies have grown accustomed to over the course of thousands of years has changed. Now, during the moon cycle we are exposed to constant indoor lighting meaning our melatonin levels aren’t increasing around bedtime in order for us to start feeling tired.
To get those melatonin levels where they should be, instead of a harsh overhead light, start using soft focal lighting from lamps in the evening to allow your body to enter that relaxed stage. A decorative lamp on the bedside table or a standing lamp in the corner of the room are both good ideas to boost the aesthetics of the room while also boosting the melatonin in your body.
3. Install opaque window curtains
Photo: Villageblindslondon/Instagram
Since our bodies chemically react to light, it’s also important to make sure that once you’re asleep you stay asleep. Opaque blinds not only block out the sun, but also car headlights, street lamps and any other nuisances that could interrupt your sleep cycle.
While sheer curtains look nice, they don’t block much when it comes to light which is why completely opaque blinds are best when trying to catch some z’s. But there’s no need to toss aside those sheer curtains. Instead, layer them underneath the opaque ones so you can still have some privacy throughout the day while letting sunlight in to brighten your room.
4. Shield your technology
Photo: Thelocalproject/Instagram
Not only are the little blue, red and green lights distracting and act to reduce melatonin levels, they also prevent the brain from getting the time it needs time to relax and slow down. Gadget use before bed keeps the brain alert and cuts into the seven to nine hours of sleep adults should be getting per night. And, unless they’re put on silent, notification beeps and phone calls interrupt natural sleep cycles.
To avoid these distractions, furniture like TV cabinets, desks with a laptop drawer or even a decorative room divider or shelf between your bed and the gadgets will drastically change your sleep. Not only will it make your room look a lot tidier and organized, but you will seriously notice a difference in how rested you feel throughout the day.
5. Paint the room in cool hues
Photo: Centered_by_design/Instagram
There are many reasons why colors influence our moods. First off, socially we attribute certain colors to certain objects. Red is associated with alarm like fire trucks, green is associated with calm like nature, and so on. However, our reactions to colors are also influenced by human evolution. Our visceral reaction to red, which causes our heart rate to speed up, dates back to the caveman era when the color was associated with fire or danger.
Cool colors like blue and green have the most beneficial effects on your body. Green relates to our biophilic natures and blue causes the opposite reaction to red, lowering our heart rate and blood pressure. While yellow, a warm color, has beneficial effects when it’s related to the sun and flowers, it also has negative effects when related to jaundice and sickliness.
So, it may be best to save that bold accent wall for the living room and paint your bedroom a cool green or blue. Not only will these colors help you relax at night when you’re getting ready to wind down for bed, but they will also offer a safe haven from the distractions from the rest of the house.
6. Use proper storage
Photo: Seejanework/Instagram
Everyone has that one desk in the bedroom that they swear they’ll keep clean and tidy but instead it just ends up becoming a dumping ground for things that need to be taken care of later. While it may not seem like it, that pile of bills is actually causing higher levels of stress and anxiety which leads to a less restful sleep.
The visual trigger keeps our minds thinking about things that need to be done or worries that we have in our day-to-day lives. If the papers are properly stored and hidden from view when it’s bedtime, the mind can fully shut down without being plagued by stress-inducing thoughts. Not only would those thoughts interrupt our dreams, but they keep us awake longer than we should be, cutting into those precious hours of sleep.
Office file sorters or inbox bins are not only visually appealing, but they keep those pesky papers out of view and can sit on top of your desk. Or, if you prefer less clutter, a filing system within your desk drawers is another helpful trick.
7. Install a ceiling fan
Photo: Kendyl Young/Flickr
While ceiling fans keep air circulated to avoid stagnancy, they have a couple other benefits that will improve your sleep. Temperature control is important for a good sleep and ceiling fans have settings for both winter and summer months to keep the fan circulating the air at exactly the right speed to either keep you warmer or cooler throughout the night.
Fans also create white noise which can mask any background noise that might keep you awake. White noise — a mash-up of many different frequencies delivered at a consistent volume — has proven to help many people not only fall asleep, but stay asleep. This noise can block out noises from other rooms around the house or even soft snoring from your partner, ensuring a long and restful sleep. | https://www.livabl.com/2017/04/7-interior-design-tips-bedroom-help-reduce-stress-increase-sleep.html |
The following has been sent by Rishi in India. Please help if you are able; spread the word to find a home for all the animals shown below.
Thanks – SAV.
Dear All,
These two kittens are thrown out by the owner. please help me to find the good home for these little ones .
They are cute and healthy.
Regards
Fizzah Shah [email protected]
09821036075, 09821372959
From: nandini kakar
Dear friends,
Here are some photos of Joey- an 8 year old springer spaniel , a very affectionate and obedient pet.Please help find a good, caring home for him.
Regards,
Nandini
9417186919
From: Anita sharma
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 12:52 AM
Subject: A loving home for my Dog, Maximus
Dear Rishi,
A friend of mine is looking for a home for her 3 year old Dog, Maximus, as she is not able to keep him due to circumstances beyond her control.
I am attaching a write up (by her), which is pretty moving. I do hope you can help.
Both of us would be eternally grateful.
Warm Regards
Anita
9899062220
My dog’s name is Maximus – but he responds to Max, Dubsimus, Poopaditoes …
Max is a unique character – a law unto himself! His life is simple – the people he loves are god to him and he knows how to assert himself – not for him the occasional pat on the head – when he wants to be petted, he will walk over to you, put his head on your knee and force you to acknowledge him and pay attention to him!!
I got him from a pet shelter three years back – a tiny, scraggly , insecure and scared little puppy – I was told he needed extra love and attention – more so because he had been rejected a few times as he was not a pure bred – well, I did get him but he was anything but scared and insecure! He is a very lively and frisky dog – jumps and runs around the entire day. Not an aggressive dog, Max is very loving and makes friends easily.
The little one had his clear likes and dislikes which he started to assert within a few days of arriving. It breaks my heart to think I have to give him up however, he deserves better than I am able to provide right now.
A very loving and affectionate dog, Max needs to belong to a family that genuinely loves pets for their devotion and loyalty. Due to some personal reasons I am no longer able to provide Max the home he was part of and am looking for a family for him that genuinely feels for animals and will love him and judge him on the basis of his breed (or lack of it ) J
Max has been a guardian angel and also my best friend – watching over me when I was low and not judging me inspite of the low’s – constant in his love and devotion and always lighting up in my presence.
In case Max is not the dog you are looking to add to your family, if you are animal lover, I am sure you will find time to help me look for a home for him. A new home that is waiting for him, just as Max is waiting to belong to his new family.
Thank you J
Warm regards, | https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/2009/03/17/ |
Children and families require a health care system that serves their unique needs and supports life-long health and well-being. Knowing that the nation’s pediatric medical system fails so many children, particularly from Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities, it is imperative to rethink how children and families receive care. During a recent discussion with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) on the urgent need for racial justice in the pediatric health care system, Ben Danielson, MD, a pediatrician and advocate for improving outcomes for all kids, noted: “We need to redesign the spaces and places where we go, where we live, where we play, where we find joy, and where we work every day. And we are the ones to do it.” We — including every one of us, whether we are policymakers, pediatricians, public and private payers, philanthropic funders, community health workers, advocates, or families — all have a role to play in reimagining how we care for children and provide opportunities for them to thrive.
A Reimagined Health Care System
To fully support the goals of health and well-being for children, a reimagined health care system should be intentionally anti-racist, seek to meaningfully partner with children and families, and honor each family’s unique strengths and challenges, all with the goal of supporting health and well-being. Unfortunately, in most instances child health care providers do not have the time, resources, or tools to make these changes, particularly now as they navigate vaccine rollout and a surge in demand for COVID-19 testing. This, in combination with the racism ingrained in our country’s health care system, results in poor health outcomes for children in marginalized communities.
Fortunately, there are experts across the child health care field who are committed to identifying, testing, and implementing strategies to transform how care is practiced. These experts recognize that health is impacted by so much more than the small amount of time a child typically spends in a doctor’s office. Expanding the focus of pediatric care beyond medical care can provide significant benefits for health and well-being.
Following are strategies that are integral to supporting a more upstream, preventive, and holistic pediatric delivery system that treats all young patients and their families with dignity. These strategies were developed through Accelerating Child Health Care Transformation (ACHT), a national initiative led by CHCS with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that is seeking to uncover opportunities for improving children’s health care.
1. Adopt Anti-Racist Practices and Policies to Advance Health Equity.
Racism, a driver of health inequities, is experienced in the health care system by patients, caregivers, and providers alike and is reinforced by policies, practices, and interpersonal relationships. Child health care providers can work to dismantle racism in the field through explicit efforts, such as establishing anti-racist policies and practices that disrupt systemic racism and promote equity and dignity for patients and their families, as well as for staff. For example, a pediatric practice leader may work with staff to promote a trauma-informed environment rooted in mutual trust and dignity by validating feelings that families of color express about their health care treatment; ensuring that interventions are responsive to families’ unique needs; and considering beliefs and cultural backgrounds in planning and delivery of care.
2. Co-Create Equitable Partnerships Between Families and Providers.
Families are a powerful force for sustaining child health and lifelong well-being. Valuing a family’s autonomy and expertise about their child creates an opportunity to gain their confidence and establish a trusted partnership. Children have a better chance of receiving the care they need when their caregivers feel comfortable asking questions of their child’s health care providers, providing context to inform the care plan, and openly sharing areas of struggle or need. Some practices may invite family members to participate on their board to co-design family engagement opportunities, which can result in families feeling confident that their opinions and values are respected.
3. Identify Family Strengths and Health-Related Social Needs to Promote Resilience.
Every family possesses a unique set of strengths and needs. The pediatric care team can help families identify and explore their strengths as well as their health-related social needs as part of an assessment done during routine visits. By using tools such as co-creation of ecomaps with families, the pediatric care team can gain a better understanding of the family’s priorities and, in turn, help connect families to any necessary resources and referrals. Encouraging a child or their family to define their own needs alongside the clinical expertise of the pediatric care team promotes resilience and allows a family to inform their care in ways that are equitable, which encourages positive health, developmental, and educational outcomes.
Bringing Pediatric Practice Change to Scale
Innovative financing structures and accountability measures are needed to address the lack of time, resources, and tools that pediatric care teams have for committing to a reimagined child health care system. Accountability measures need to be patient-centered, focus on the specific developmental needs of children, and gauge progress in addressing racial and ethnic health disparities to better support child and family well-being. Financing structures must encourage more intentional investment in optimal child development and upstream prevention. Though time intensive, some have successfully co-developed tools with families that measure things that families prioritize, such as family’s unique goals for their care or developmental milestones related to secure bonding and attachment.
Moving Forward
Making these necessary shifts in the child health care system is an exciting but daunting prospect. Luckily, there are many people in the field dedicated to this work who are inching the needle forward every day, including representatives from 12 pediatric practices and six family advisors across the country engaging in the ACHT learning community. Together we have a long way to go, but we are committed to sharing what we learn along the way. Look for new resources and tools on CHCS.org. | https://www.chcs.org/opportunities-for-transforming-pediatric-care/ |
The second bridge connecting the Thai north-western province of Tak and Myanmar is now open.
The bridge crosses the Moei river in the Mae Sot district of Tak and is expected to give Thai exports a significant boost, up from the current 78 billion baht a year to 100 billion.
The second friendship bridge was opened by the Thai Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob and Myanmar’s minister of construction, U Han Saw, in a ceremony held yesterday. As part of that ceremony, Thai PBS World reports that Mr Saksayam officially handed over the border road, along with an office building and office equipment, to Myanmar governance.
The second friendship bridge will be open to passenger vans, buses with more than 13 seats, as well as six-wheel and larger trucks, and will be open from 6.30am to 6.30pm everyday. The first bridge will be open to cars and smaller buses.
Mr Saksayam credits the first friendship bridge with easing travel between Mae Sot and Yangon, with around 230,000 vehicles crossing the border each year, as well as increasing trade between both countries to about 190 billion baht last year.
He added that a third bridge may be a possibility in the future if demand justifies it.
According to Thai PBS, border crossing fees are 50 baht for seven-seat four-wheel cars, 100 baht for mini buses with 7-12 seats, 150 baht for medium-sized buses with 13-24 seats, 200 baht for buses with more than 24 seats, 50 baht for four-wheel trucks, 250 baht for six wheelers, 350 baht for ten-wheel trucks and 500 baht for articulated lorries. | https://sarawut.news/news/second-bridge-connecting-thailand-and-myanmar-opens/ |
"Apache and Dakota love vacationing at Orchard Lake Pet Resort. They're so excited to arrive at the Resort that they jump out of the car and run to the door before I can get my seatbelt off! They come home clean, healthy, happy and we know they're safe."
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- Gail Peszynski, Royal Oak, MI.
"This morning, all 3 of our animals begged me to take them to Orchard Lake Pet Resort. Instead, we are going to Grandma's. They were disappointed."
- Linda Glass, West Bloomfield, MI.
"Taffy always looks so cute when I pick her up!!! You always do an amazing job and when you carry her out to me she looks like a little princess. You are all so kind and caring. I wouldn't trust any other groomer with my little girl!!! Only Orchard Lake Pet Resort!!! You are the BEST!!!!!! Thanks for taking such good care of Taffy. She loves you all!"
- Laurie Lefkowitz, West Bloomfield, MI.
"Our entire family wants to extend the deepest appreciation for your care of Lightning. Though we didn't know until a few weeks ago, his anxiety and behavior changes were due to an inoperable brain tumor. Since Christmas, his condition deteriorated rapidly. Sadly, he is gone now. The care you gave him was as if you were members of our family. Your patience and understanding was incredible. Thank you. It is truly rare to find the level of service you provide in any business. We will be clients for life."
- David & Lisa Drews
Dear Natalie & everyone at Orchard Lake Pet Resort,
Our beloved Buddy passed away on Friday. He was 14 1/2 years old. He was such a sweet boy. We miss him very much. Thank you so much for the care, patience, & special treatment that accommodated his fragilities so well. I've enclosed a picture of him I took this past Christmas. Your kindness will always be remembered. If you ever need a reference from a delighted customer don't hesitate to call.
- Fond regards, Karla Middlebrooks
"We can't speak highly enough of Orchard Lake Pet Resort. The staff is professional and friendly and the service has been second to none. But most importantly, Lucy loves to stay there. She can't wait to get through the door when we drop her off for boarding and grooming, which says a lot for the attention she receives while she is there. Everyone at the Pet Resort clearly loves dogs, and the dogs know it!"
- Bill & Laura Wangerin, Farmington Hills, MI.
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My Rocky, Lola, and Boo LOVE Orchard Lake Pet Resort :) They get the 5 star treatment there... Keep up the GREAT service :) I highly recommend this place :). | http://orchardlakepetresort.com/the-resort.html?ada=1 |
The invention relates to antibacterial crease-resistant fabric for hollowed-out alternatestripe socks and with a flame retardant fabric layer. The antibacterial crease-resistant fabric for the hollowed-out alternatestripe socks and with the flame retardant fabric layer comprises hollowed-out flower parts (1) and color stripe parts (2). Both the hollowed-out flower parts (1) and the color stripe parts (2) are in strip shape and equal in width. The hollowed-out flower parts (1) and the color stripe parts (2) are in the same plane, arranged in a staggered mode and connected in parallel to form a concave-convex structure. The hollowed-out flower parts (1) are made of fabric. The fabric is composed of a positive layer crease-resistant layer, a middle bonding layer and a back face antibacterial layer. The crease-resistant layer is a polyurethane material with a memory function. The bonding layer is a thermosetting type mucilage glue layer. The antibacterial layer is a fabric layer containing nanometer bamboo charcoal fiber. Through the concave-convex structure of the antibacterial crease-resistant fabric for the hollowed-out alternatestripe socks and with the flame retardant fabric layer, the three-dimensional feeling of the antibacterial crease-resistant fabric for the hollowed-out alternatestripe socks and with the flame retardant fabric layer is enhanced, and through the antibacterial crease-resistant fabric, the antibacterial and crease-resistant functions are achieved. | |
We, Wujiang First Textile Co.,Ltd., is very strong on tencel woven fabric.
Tencel is a sustainable fabric owned by Australian company Lenzing AG. Woven tencel fabric was first developed back in 1972.
There are two types of Tencel: Tencel lyocell and Tencel modal. Tencel lyocell fibers combine cellulosic fibers with other textile fibers, including cotton and polyester, to enhance the fabric’s properties. Tencel lyocell is stronger, more breathable, and commonly found in many bedding brands.
Tencel modal fibers follow the same production process as Tencel lyocell, except the threads are thinner and softer to the touch. You’re more likely to see Tencel modal in apparel. Today, Tencel is one of the most popular fabrics in both bedding and clothing. | https://www.fstexsilk.com/pages-63641 |
I’m working on a writing question and need an explanation to help me study.
Threaded Discussion InstructionsReview the threaded discussion question posted by the course faculty. You are required to submit at least two (2) responses to this question by 11:59pm EST on Sunday. The first response should be to the faculty; the second response can be directed either to the faculty or to other students in the class. Your responses should be substantive, and reflect analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as, a thorough understanding of your reading assignment. A typical response should consist of 100-150 words in a single-spaced format. Refer to the TDQ Rubric below for more guidance on how to respond.Describe the early societies of the Middle East. Discuss the main features and achievements of early Northeast African societies. Identify the main features of early Indian society and culture.In this discussion board forum you should be able to, pick one, analyze the early societies of the Middle East, and hypothesize how these early societies impacted the development of later civilizations. Or, compare the main features and achievements of early Northeastern African societies and report how these features aided in the establishment and development of African societies. Or Distinguish the main features of the societies of the early Indian societies and cultures, support how these features helped other civilizations in India to develop.In your choice of topic you should be able to evaluate its impact upon the region in which it developed.Your reading assignment for this week (chapters 1, 2, and 3) described several early “civilizations,” emerging out of the Neolithic Revolution which established sedentary agricultural societies, in what was to become Europe and Asia. (These are not the hunting-and-gathering groups that preceded them.) These societies emerged around the Earth as the ice sheet receded, as people settled mainly along bodies of water–rivers, lakes, and the oceans–and they abandoned their previous primarily nomadic lifestyles. In the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of Southwest Asia, along the Nile River and coastal regions of the Mediterranean and Western Europe, among the lowlands of Central America, on the banks of the mighty Indus River in South Asia, and scattered among the major rivers of China, our early ancestors planted their societies and created their cultures.As we study these early civilizations, it is apparent that in some ways they were different, but in other important aspects, they were similar. In fact, avoiding getting hung-up on the specifics, they tend to be more similar than different. So, please briefly describe similarities among the early civilizations of America, Europe, and Asia, in terms of their material culture (their “stuff,” or artifacts), their social Relationships, their political, economic, and religious Institutions, and other cultural Values. Please provide at least one specific example for each of the categories: cultural, social, political, economic, and religious. Along with referencing your textbook, you might draw examples from the Power Point lecture notes included at the end of your Reading Assignments section. How were their artifacts similar, and in what ways did they similarly use them? In what ways did they similarly construct their societies? And, how similar were their political, economic, and religious institutions?Your second response, or critique of another student, should be at least one to two paragraphs and do the following: state what you agree with as to what is written; state what you might not agree with; and, add something else to the discussion. It is expected that you will be on your best netiquette when you respond to either my of other student’s writing.Students Response Part 2:In Northeastern African societies, most North Africans settled near the Nile River, where they clustered in farming villages along its fertile floodplains. These villages eventually formed the foundations of large, complex, dynamic societies later called Egypt and Nubia. Religion played an integral role in the life in Egypt. Egyptians worshipped many gods, including their rulers. Central to Egypt’s worldview was the concept of ma’at, the universe’s elemental order, which encompassed truth, justice, harmony, and balance. The rulers called pharaohs were powerful, godlike figures whose main duty was to maintain “ma’at”, without it which there would be chaos. Ancient Egyptians made momentous contributions to culture, knowledge, and communication. They produced many artworks by decorating temples and tombs with splendid paintings and sculptures. They also charted constellations, created a calendar, and practiced medicine based on natural remedies. They even invented an accounting system and developed mathematics to advance their architectural and engineering skills. The most influential early West Asians were the Hebrews. Who developed a monotheistic faith that would serve as a basis for some of our current today’s most influential religions which are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Reply to Thread
HIS 103 Ashworth College World Civilizations African Societies Questions
For your Final Project in the course you will work in the roles of financial analyst and create a full analysis between two different companies in the same industry which is CVS and Walgreens. Please ensure that you fully explain all calculations and that you answer every question thoroughly. Your Team will need to locate information about the two companies’ annual financial statements for the most recent year available. To do so, go to one of the many financial sites on the Internet to download their reports.MSN MoneyYahoo FinanceYour analyses should address the following items:What are the primary lines of business of these two companies as shown in their notes to the financial statement?Which company has the dominant position in their industry?What are the gross profits, operating profits, and net income for these two companies?Compute both companies’ cash coverage ratio, current ratio, and free cash flow.What ratios do each of these companies use in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of the annual report to explain their financial condition related to debt financing (meaning you MUST find each of the two firms’ annual reports)?What are the gross profits, net income, EBIT, EBITDA and free cash flow (FCF) for these two companies?For both companies, compute:current ratio;quick ratio;total debt ratio;debt-equity ratio;total asset turnover;inventory turnover;day’s sales in inventory;profit margin on sales;return on assets; andreturn on equity.Fully explain what each ratio is telling you (NOT just a definition), but relevant to your firms.Complete your study with a full DuPont Model.Specifically, after calculating the ratios, explain what each tells you about the company and compare/contrast with the other company. For example, when discussing the day’s sales in inventory and inventory turnover, indicate where and why there might be a significant difference between the two companies you have selected.Finally, using two of the several valuation models we have studied in this course, demonstrate whether the stock is overvalued, undervalued, or correctly valued by the market. (The might include CAPM, Dividend Discount, Free Cash Flow, or Earnings Multiplier…) your choice, but be prepared to defend your answer in your final classroom presentation.
Grand Canyon University Walgreens and CVS pharmacies Financial Analysis
Trials And Triumphs Of Inner City Students Social Work Essay
The book, And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students, offers valuable insight into the lives of inner-city youth in Los Angeles and throughout the country. Inner-city students are frequently subjected to poverty, violence, gangs, and drugs in their schools, homes, and communities. Yet, many of these students manage to survive and thrive despite their volatile environment. The book provides school social workers with a unique opportunity to understand the challenges presented to inner-city students, and the power of resilience to overcome adversity. Let us now examine how various psychosocial and environmental factors contributed to the development and success of the students discussed in the book. Developmental Tasks, Systems, and Resilience Adolescence is arguably one of the most difficult and challenging stages of development for an individual. It is a time of great social, psychological, emotional, and academic growth that poses many challenges for youth surrounding identity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy (Zastrow
The Political Agenda Of Cloud Nine English Literature Essay
assignment writing services Cloud Nine – A Political Agenda Introduction Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, which means “in a state of blissful happiness,” was written during the height of conservative rule and the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. The play, therefore, is primarily concerned with exploring notions of British self-identity during the post-colonial era, especially in relation to gender and sexual identity. It does so by focusing on two specific time periods: the Victorian age (Act 1), which is well-known for its restrictive and suppressive world view, and the contemporary era in which the play was written – 1979 London (Act 2) t which as a “time of sexual revolution and women’s liberation” (Madore, 2006). Churchill employs a two-act model as a means of showing the way in which many British people were attempting to break away from old stereotypes and to create new identities, as do most of the characters in his play (Madore, 2006), while also showing how Victorian traditions and values continued to influence British society and culture. The playwright, for example, uses obscenity and sexuality as a means of establishing a parallel between colonialism and sexual oppression, while also critiquing Thatcher and her government. As a result, the audience is ultimately presented with “the views of the “left” in Britain during a period of conservative rule …” (Madore, 2006). This paper, therefore, will explore the political agenda in Cloud Nine by focusing on feminist and gender theories and how these are linked to colonialism, subsequently arguing that the nature of the play’s political agenda is significantly rooted in ideas that had emerged during the Sexual Revolution. As such, Churchill aimed to demonstrate the way in which she believed British society to be still locked within its Victorian past. Reflections of British Identity Although gender theory is a significant factor in Cloud Nine, Churchill’s approach is not one that is strictly feminist. Instead, the playwright portrays the way in which all people can be sexually repressed through using two contrasting repressive periods within British history. The first Act, for example, takes place in Africa at the height of British colonialism, thus placing it in the Victorian era – a time during which colonialists perceived themselves as having a responsibility to civilize local cultures, while Act II takes place in London in around 1979. As such, Act I acts as a backdrop for Act II, a time during which British colonialism was all but over, and yet various forms of its oppression remained present within British society. The end of the 1970s marked a unique and distinctive period of the sexual revolution in London, thus clearly contrasting it with Victorian sexual ideology, which was undeniably oppressive. By the late 1970s, homosexuals, although still frowned upon in many societal sectors, had established a firm presence within Britain’s cultural landscape, while women had gained a number of rights and new freedoms, thus increasing their status. Divorce, for example, had become acceptable, and cohabitation was rising. Churchill, therefore, thrusts her Act I characters into this new political landscape in order to see how they react (Madore, 2006). In Act I, the audience is introduced to British upper-middle class family who are living in colonial Africa. Clive, the father, is characterized by Victorian ideals, including sexual repression and the notion of having to civilize the “other” in colonial regions such as Africa. His inability to change and grow, however, means that he is left behind in Act II, while Betty, his wife, displays her need to develop through her extramarital affair with Henry. As such, Betty’s need to redefine her identity is shown through the way in which she ends her unhappy marriage, ultimately divorcing her husband, and, as such, depicting her as a modern woman. Her statement, “But if there isn’t a right way to do things you have to invent one” (Churchill, 1989, Act I), indicates her new understanding of her own power and place in the world, while also showing her disassociation with tradition. Clive, on the other hand, is unable to break away from his patriarchal world view, thus making him incapable of inventing new things. Betty spoke these words to Gerry, the character who symbolizes sexual freedom. William (2000), for example, highlights the way in which Gerry does as he please with whom he pleases, thus identifying his attitude as one that clearly dismisses Victorian ideals and values. Betty, however, is not yet quite as free – as seen by the way she “invents” masturbation as a means of satisfying her sexual needs rather than immediately launching into an extramarital affair. This, therefore, suggests that Betty has not wholly dismissed the traditions of the past, but that she has accepted that times change and that people need to change in accordance with such differences. In fact, London in 1979 is so far removed from colonial Africa that “many ways to do things must be invented” (Bermal, 1997, p.174). As previously discussed, the patriarchal nature of colonial Britain is clearly showed through the character of Clive, who tells his son; “You should always respect and love me, Edward, not for myself, I may not deserve it, but as I respected and loved my own father, because he was my father. Through our father we love out Queen and our God” (Churchill, 1989, Act 1). Victorian world views, as demonstrated by this quote, were constructed on perceived duty, responsibility, and societal expectations. The quote, which is taken from Act 1, scene 3, portrays the way in which Clive just mindlessly accepts British history and tradition. He believes, for example, that Edward has a duty to love him because of him being his father, and, as such, fails to take into consideration his own personal behaviour. Instead, Clive associates family loyal with nationalism and Britain’s state religion, Christianity, thus suggesting a parallel between colonialism and sexual oppression (Madore, 2006). In the course of Act I, Churchill engages the audience with colonial history by challenging gender and sexuality notions that were current during the late 1970s. This is achieved through deploying a cross-gender and cross-racial cast, thus undercutting perceived racial and gender stereotypes. In Act I, for example, Betty is played a man, a woman plays Edwin, and Joshua is white-skinned. This technique is used by Churchill as a means of demonstrating the way in which Betty does not value her womanhood, but instead tries to live in accordance with male standards, values, and expectations. As such, Churchill demonstrates the way in which notions of femininity were primarily male constructions of what they believed a woman should be, thus identifying femininity as “an imposed construction of the [given] society” (Harding, 1998, p.254). When Clive states, for example, “We must resist this dark female lust, Betty, or it will swallow us up” (Churchill, 1989, Act 1), he is echoing his previously stated fear of Africa “swallowing” him up (Ibid), thus connecting perceived female weakness with the “dark”‘ savagery of Africa. As such, Clive associates Betty’s “dark” lust as being evil, which suggests that it is beyond her control and something that only be defeated through them working together. His perception of femininity, therefore, is of female weakness. He does not, for example, allow Betty to make choices or decisions, but instead perceives his own male strength (his control) as being her only way of overcoming her weakness (Harding, 1998). It has also been argued that the use of gender-bending enables the play to achieve “one of the main epic-theatre goals; Verfremdungseffekt … [which is] the use of techniques that remind the spectator that the play is a representation of reality and not reality itself” (Madore, 2006). This suggests that Churchill attempted to make homosexuality more palliative to her audience by making such relationships appear visibly normative and heterosexual, and that she used gender-bending as a means of distancing the audience from the play. In consequence, she severed “their ability to believe that the reality of the play is in fact their true identity” (Ibid.). However, Jenkins (1996) argues that the way in which the text is used as a “tool of intervention” supports the notion of the play being written as a means of enabling individuals to discover their own reality. This is also supported by the way in which the “reality in which …. the play is occurring, is one in which the country is struggling to find its own identity (to resurface from the post-war image) much like the characters in Act II are trying to find their sexual identity” (Jenkins, 1996, p.47). Questions and issues surrounding identity, therefore, are “carried in to the second act of the play where sexual relationships and identities are pushed even further than in Act I with the introduction of orgies and “out of the closet” homosexual relationships in to the text” (Jenkins, 1996, p.51). The audience, therefore, are presented with non-stereotypic characters, thus challenging common notions of what it meant to be male, female, homosexual, and black. Using a white man to play Joshua the black servant in Act I, for example, depicts the rupture in Joshua’s identity, which has been caused by the internalizing of colonial values, while his being played by a black actor in Act II suggests that he has established who he is in relation to his surrounding world. Colonial oppression and suppression, therefore, are depicted in Act II in the form of neo/post colonialism. As such, “the actors … established a parallel between colonial and sexual oppression, showing how the British occupation of Africa in the nineteenth century and its post-colonial presence in Northern Island relate to the patriarchal values of [British] society” (Patterson, 2007, p.84). British life, especially for the working class, became increasingly difficult during the period in which Cloud Nine was written. What came to be termed as “Thatcherism,” had started out with great promise, and indeed many individuals and organizations did, at first, benefit from the introduction of various government policies. As such, many people were riding on “cloud nine” during the first years of Thatcher’s governance. Nevertheless, the privatization of all major public industries ultimately worsened the well-being of the working classes, thus dispelling a cloud of doom across the country as the adverse effects of privatization manifested themselves in diminishing labour productivity, a reduced workforce, and growing unemployment (Jenkins, 1996, p.324). The result was growing dissatisfaction with “right wing” politics and growing support for the “left,” a factor that Churchill shows through Lin’s brother not caring about his country as much as he did about “getting laid” (1979, Act II). Churchill, therefore, uses political discourse as a means of demonstrating the way in which Britain is far from being on “cloud nine,” while also showing the way in which so many people remained locked in Victorian traditions, thus creating a national identity crisis. Conclusion As demonstrated in Cloud Nine, British identity was very much in question in the latter years of the 1970s and the early 1980s. The country that had once “ruled the world” had lost its position as the world’s greatest superpower, thus meaning that the British government was too focused on its perpetual bid to remould its international reputation that it tended to overlook the welfare of its citizens. Churchill, therefore, sets out to explore the patriarchal nature of Britain’s colonial era and the way in which this continued to influence the draconian racial and gender disparities that continued to mark post-colonial Britain. For example, when Clive confronts Mrs. Saunders by stating, “… it is positively your duty to seek my help; I would be hurt, I would be insulted by any show of independence” (Churchill, 1989, Act I), he portrays the way in which women were powerless within colonial times, whereas Betty’s choice to divorce portrays the way in which women ultimately gained their sexual freedom. Nevertheless, Churchill also uses political discourse, gender and feminist theories, and social commentary, as a way of portraying the way in which 20th century Britain remained caught up in Victorian traditions – a perception of the world that had clearly become obsolete.
Graham Kapowsin High School Discovery of DNA Timeline
Graham Kapowsin High School Discovery of DNA Timeline.
#1 This assignment is an introductory assignment to Unit 1. It is designed to get you to think about the many ways that energy flows through ecosystems. To complete this assignment, download the assignment file (click here) and complete it in Notability. When you are finished, save your work and upload the file here on Canvas. The document for this is attached as unit ! science Prob.# 2 Who played a role in our modern understanding of the structure of DNA?This assignment is designed to teach you a little about the history behind our discovery of the structure of DNA, as well as those who contributed research and countless hours to this endeavor.Begin by downloading this file right here, completing it in Notability, and then uploading it here when finished.Note:Your timeline must have at least 5 events on it. Each event must include the researcher’s name, what they did or discovered, and the year.While we are not in a class setting, you can work with a classmate to create the timeline. Each student must turn in their own assignment though.Use your textbook (eBook pg 84) and put the timeline at the bottom of the first page or add a page to the document.THIS DOCUMENT FOR THIS ASSIGNEMNT IS ATTACHED AS U3+M11 launch
Graham Kapowsin High School Discovery of DNA Timeline
NUR 4828 UCF Enhancing Nurse Education & Clinical Practice Discussion
NUR 4828 UCF Enhancing Nurse Education & Clinical Practice Discussion.
I’m working on a nursing discussion question and need an explanation to help me understand better. | https://onlinecustomessaywriting.com/his-103-ashworth-college-world-civilizations-african-societies-questions/ |
The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) responded to the federal government’s Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation’s call for input through a public letter released on August 3rd, 2016. In it, they address the federal government’s five key themes and highlight what they see as concerns and opportunities moving forward.
Overall, the AUMA’s input reinforces two key points:
1) Given that Municipalities and their officers will be at the frontline of delivery and implementation for whatever regime is developed in the end, the federal government must continue to engage with cities to ensure they are included in the decision making process.
2) Cities already have the tools in place to manage much of the oversight that will be needed — including zoning powers, licensing bodies, and enforcement officials. They will however, require training, support and clear guidance from the federal government before moving forward.
Areas of biggest concern
The AUMA highlights four key concerns throughout the document:
- Marketing and labelling: There is a need for strict labelling and restriction on the potency of THC in products with particular concern for edibles, the AUMA contends. They also want to see similar restrictions on marketing and advertising imposed on the industry to those we see in the current cigarette market.
- Home growing: The AUMA is very concerned about the potential security and health and safety risk of home growing (note: this letter was released before the updated ACMPR was revealed in late August 2016). In particular, they want strict rules in place on the number of plants that can be grown at home, as well as clear insurance and security protocols. Further, the AUMA has called for clear rules to be provided to law enforcement officials so they are able to easily identify legal home grows from illegal production facilities.
- Driving under the influence: The AUMA sees an opportunity for Canada to take a leadership role in the research and development of new tools to monitor and enforce current impaired driving rules, including the development of accurate roadside testing. They also call for a public health and education campaign on the dangers and alternatives to impaired driving to run in parallel with legalization, similar to past campaigns on drinking and driving.
- Proliferation of storefronts: While the AUMA acknowledges the need for some form of storefront access for recreational cannabis to be introduced in order to compete with the ease of access provided by the black market, they are concerned about the normalization and proliferation of marijuana that could accompany the introduction of privately run storefronts. Instead, they suggest that marijuana be dispensed through existing locations - such a post offices or pharmacies.
The letter is as interesting for what it does say as it is for what it declines to say. In particular, the AUMA chose not to respond to two points of concern that have been very topical in other jurisdictions: namely, what age limit should be imposed on the use of marijuana for personal use, as well as what role the current medicinal Licensed Producers should play in a recreational market. However, given that there is only one LP currently in operation in Alberta, it is not surprising that the Association has little stake in that conversation.
The AUMA appears open and ready to handle to the legalization of cannabis, and has made it clear that they, along with their municipal counterparts across the country, should remain key contributors in the development of future regulations.
The AUMA will also be discussing the municipal implications of marijuana legislation at their upcoming convention in early October. Panel description — attendees will learn from a panel of industry and legal experts: the current state of the law, who is entitled to produce, what standards/regulations municipalities are required to comply with, home grow and what it means for municipalities, what legalization may look like, and what municipalities should be doing to prepare for the changes in this industry. | https://news.lift.co/alberta-municipalities-want-say-legalization-process/ |
This week is National Park City Week – a week to celebrate our city’s amazing green spaces, as we kickstart activity to make London the world’s first National Park City in 2019. This means a greener city, rich in wildlife, where people and nature are better connected and everyone has access to green spaces, clean air and waterways.
Take a look at the calendar to find events near you or activities going on all week.
London's hedgehogs are in trouble, with the city's population falling by almost a third in the past two decades. London Wildlife Trust is calling on Londoners to help reverse the decline by counting them. You can also monitor butterflies and moths during the Big Butterfly Count, which runs from 20 July to 12 August. And for avid wildlife spotters, recording your sightings is very helpful for conservation groups, so they can protect habitats now and in future.
Half of London’s front gardens are paved over – something which can be harmful for biodiversity, as species such as hedgehogs, moths and birds are driven away. Green spaces have been shown to boost wellbeing, while plants also absorb emissions, improving the quality of air we breathe. And concrete doesn't soak up rainwater, so a paved garden can raise the risk of flooding. Find out how to de-pave your garden and help green the grey.
Home-grown fruit and veg taste better than shop-bought and save you money at the supermarket. If you don’t have space for garden beds, you can grow vegetables in window boxes, grow bags or pots – just make sure there’s plenty of good-quality soil. For more advice on growing your own fruit and veg, the Royal Horticultural Society and the National Trust have a wealth of fantastic tips.
Numbers of many bee species have fallen in recent years. A shortage of bees can seriously affect gardens and food growing, as many plants need bees to transfer pollen from flower to flower. The RSPB has a list of bee-friendly, nectar-rich flowers to plant in every season – look out for the Plants for Pollinators logo in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Plant Database. Nature charity, Plantlife, also has some great tips for planting wildflowers.
Ideas, apps, maps and suggestions of places to visit this National Park City Week. | http://webcachetest.london.gov.uk/city-hall-blog/five-ways-enjoy-national-park-city-week |
Why is employee satisfaction important in business?
Name: Jahan said Ali Al-Shamli
Submitted to: Dolores Geraldine
ID: 2016584081
Course: ENGL2111
Teacher: Dolores Geraldine
Word count: 764
Group: 10
The human element is the real capital of all institutions and organizations, because it is responsible for production and the satisfaction of employees is to all institutions, The satisfaction of employees is a state of acceptance, employee sense of safety, stability in the work environment, and of course, job satisfaction is the cornerstone of the institution or institution to do success and superiority over other organizations. It should be noted that the process of job satisfaction is a link each leads to the other where if the institution provides the proper climate for work will increase the size of the reason on production, and this helps the company to grow. Objectives and increase its profits and then it is the responsibility of managers and officials in various bodies and institutions a great responsibility, which is good investment of the human resources available to them to do the desired results. In this essay I will write about employee satisfaction I discuses four ways to increase employee satisfaction this is healthy environment, respect, salary enthuses staff to work and employee feel in as an indispensable.
A healthy working environment equals successful institutions. Healthy working environment is an environment in which the employees have the best climate for work, creativity and development. In order to achieve employee satisfaction, the workplace must have a healthy and positive environment so that staff morale increased and Stress-free employees. Work out strategies to increase movement and physical activity in the work environment. The healthy environment of work encourages the employee to excel in the performance of tasks in order to increase productivity, “Employees also report that Googleallows them flexibility to work on passion projects and feed their creativity. The company continues to grow, adding nearly 9,000 jobs in the last year” (Loudenback, Martin & Pipia. 2016). The ideal work environment is also conducive to job satisfaction, and increases efficiency rates, which positively affects performance, and contributes to a large extent in attracting expertise, and managers in turn contribute to significant roles in creating a sound environment encouraging tender. That the healthy environment is always that stimulates the giving and creativity, and is keen to apply the principle of efficiency among all workers; If the employer contributed to create creative opportunities for employee, and opened the way for innovations, and planted positive confidence, and motivated to continue in innovative ways, A word in the life of an employee. Thus achieving employee satisfaction.
Respect the basis satisfaction at work. A respectable workplace benefits huge organizations. Respect is a two-way road as dictated by Newton’s strict laws, that is, as much as the manager respects his staff, he has this same respect for himself. If the manager wants respect, he will respect his staff. Especially as employees who say they are respectful are more satisfied with their jobs and more grateful to their companies – loyalists, more flexible, more cooperative, better performing and more creative, and more likely to be guided by their leaders. “Respect – According to the SHRM report, employee’s rate respectful treatment of all employees as the most important factor in job satisfaction” (Bisk.2018).
The most important factor affecting employee satisfaction is employee benefits. Employees need to earn good salaries according to their appointment, roles and responsibilities in the organization. The moment the employee earns less, he will create problems for the whole organization. Do not prefer any employee. Make sure that incentives and monetary benefits are directly proportional to the efforts of the individual. You do not have to keep payments and unnecessary payments if you want your staff to continue for a long time.
Make employees feel as an indispensable resource for the organization. According to (Gaurav, 2012) Companies that aim to achieve more success in business, feel the importance of rethinking their business strategies to maximize their success. Employee satisfaction is therefore given greater importance in the process of rethinking. Employee satisfaction is a very important element to the financial success of any business. By understanding the level of employee satisfaction, the company can have a better chance of delivering positive experiences to customers, producing innovative products and services.
This paragraph will slow the method of my primary research.
This paragraph will slow the results my survey.
In conclusion, employee satisfaction is very important for employee so I discuses four ways to increase employee satisfaction this is healthy environment, respect, salary enthuses staff to work and employee feel in as an indispensable. There are many ways to increase employee satisfaction. The smart leader uses appropriate method for employee in business. In my opinion satisfy the employee before customer satisfaction.
Reference:
Gaurav, K. (2012). Drivers of Employee Satisfaction and Attrition. Norderstedt, Germany: Grin verlag. | https://gerardcambon.net/ministry-of-higher-education-ibri-college-of-applied-sciences-english-department-why-is-employee-satisfaction-important-in-business/ |
Let's start with the basics:
Why do we need data storytelling?
My answer is pretty straightforward:
We need data to make informed decisions.
We need storytelling to make our results memorable, inspiring, and persuasive.
So, if we want to move our audience from inaction to action, we need
DATA STORYTELLING.
There are many, many components that go into crafting a data story. I might one day write a book on this topic. But, for now, I'll discuss data storytelling in two parts:
Part 1 (this post) will walk you through 3 core ingredients for powerful data storytelling
Part 2 will discuss the storytelling structure
1. Befriend Your Data
Yes, you read that right. Don't look at the data as being an abstract series of numbers. Or a summary of words, in the case of qualitative data. Instead, understand how those numbers or words came to be.
Let's assume that you are looking at survey data that shows how satisfied patients were with a particular service or device. Put yourself in the shoes of those patients. Were patients likely to answer the survey questions truthfully? Were the questions too personal? Or potentially misleading?
A recent example comes from "The Bleeding Edge," a Netflix documentary about the medical device industry. The documentary describes how data on Essure, a birth control device for women, was collected during clinical trials. After wearing the device for about 18 months, the women who participated in the clinical trial were asked to fill out a survey. Although patients had complaints about the device, such as pain, the nurses collecting the data re-framed the survey questions or crossed out the patients answers altogether. This had devastating implication. It led to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving the medical device based on misleading (in same cases even falsified) information.
The lesson? Don't believe the data at face value. Otherwise, your data storytelling might be misleading.
Here's an excerpt of the "The Bleeding Edge" documentary. I was not able to find it online, but I recorded it with my phone.
2. Synchronize
Imagine you're going to see a ballet play. You're having a great time, enjoying the performance when, all of a sudden, the orchestra starts playing a piece that's totally unsynchronized with the ballet dancers. Ugh, that felt like someone just scratched your ears, didn't it? The same concept applies to the business world when presenting data in front of an audience. Our verbal and visual communication need to be in perfect synchrony. Unfortunately, many times, they are not.
Here's an example that I recorded where the verbal and visual communication are synchronized. Notice how the cursor, the words, and the visuals are all contributing to building the story simultaneously.
Do you see how, without synchrony, you risk losing your audience's attention? As you are presenting point A on your graph, your audience might be looking at point B. If you lose your audience's attention, then you lose the opportunity to persuade or inspire them. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience.
Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite movies, Black Swan. Notice the absolute synchrony between the orchestra and the ballet dancers. It's simply spectacular.
3. Words Matter. Tone Matters Too
Whether written or spoken, words matter. Let's say that you are ready to send a report via e-mail. What is one element that you should not forget? Think about it in reference to your day-to-day work.
My suggestion? Annotations!
Annotations help your audience understand the context around numbers. Annotations also ensure that you are in control of how your charts are interpreted. Here's an example of data visualization without and with annotations.
If your presentation is in-person (or, nowadays, on zoom), words matter. Tone matters too.
Words
Use adjectives. Adjectives have two roles. First, they engage your audience. Second, they provide a better understanding of the charts that you are describing. For example, use "most" and "least" for a ranked bar chart.
Use action verbs. Action verbs are dynamic. They engage your audience and pull them into your story. For example, use "declined" or "climbed" for a line graph that shows how something evolved over time.
Be concise. Everyone is busy. Say what you need to say in as few words as possible.
Use simple language. When you spend hours and hours reading or researching a topic, it is easy to fall into the trap of using language that's ambiguous for your audience. Be aware of this pitfall and keep your language simple.
Tone
In verbal communication, tone is as important as words. Pause where you think your audience should also pause and contemplate. Increase the speed of your speech when you want to make your audience alert about the data point that you are referencing.
Final Thoughts
While there are many techniques that you can use to elevate your data storytelling, I suggest starting with the ones described here: befriend your data, synchronize, and be thoughtful about how you use words and tone. These 3 lessons can be the foundation for more tips and tricks that you'll learn along the way.
If you want to learn more, check out our workshops, which dive deeper into the concept of data storytelling and incorporate hands-on exercises. | https://www.vizlogue.com/post/the-power-of-data-storytelling |
Chelsea's Christian Pulisic voted U.S. Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year for 2019
Christian Pulisic has been voted U.S. Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year for 2019, becoming the youngest two-time winner of the award.
The Chelsea attacker edged out Seattle Sounders midfielder Jordan Morris for the honor, garnering 38% of the vote to Morris' 35%. Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie finished third with 13% of the vote.
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Other nominees included New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long, Fulham defender Tim Ream and Columbus Crew forward Gyasi Zardes. The six players were nominated for their achievements at both club and international level.
Votes were cast from national team coaches, national team players who have earned a cap in 2019, members of the U.S. Soccer board of directors, the U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council, American soccer league (MLS and USL) head coaches, select media members and former players and administrators.
Pulisic was already the youngest player to win the award back in 2017. Now at 21 years, 85 days, Pulisic is the youngest two-time winner, bettering Landon Donovan, who was 22 years, 293 days when he won for the second time in 2004.
Pulisic is also the seventh player to have won multiple times, joining Donovan (four), Clint Dempsey and Kasey Keller (three each), as well as Jozy Altidore, Marcelo Balboa and Tim Howard.
Pulisic exceled for both club and country in 2019. He scored five goals and added three assists for the U.S., helping the Americans reach the final of the Gold Cup, where he was named to the tournament's Best XI.
In August, he moved to Premier League side Chelsea, where he has become a regular in manager Frank Lampard's lineup. Pulisic has scored six goals and added five assists in 20 league and cup appearances, including a hat trick against Burnley on Oct. 26.
In the first half of the year, Pulisic was on loan at Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, where he tallied three goals along with two assists in 13 appearances across all competitions.
Comments | http://www.espnfc.com/english-premier-league/story/4011494/chelseas-christian-pulisic-voted-us-soccers-male-athlete-of-the-year-for-2019 |
After all the craziness of the Oscars Dakota Arsenault and Mehek Seyid needed to talk about what transpired.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:00:38 — 27.8MB)
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:00:38 — 27.8MB)
– La La Land was accidentally named Best Picture because of an envelope mixup
– Jimmy Kimmel making fun of non-white names isn’t cool
– John Legend performed both La La Land songs
– Mahershala Ali was the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar
– Damien Chazelle is the youngest Best Director winner ever
– Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won the first Oscar for a Potter-verse film
– All five directors of the Best Foreign Language Film signed a note deriding Trump’s Travel Ban
Based on the guesses Dakota, Rachel Gordon and Mehek made during the two part predictions episode Dakota ended up with 16 right, Rachel with 9 and Mehek with 14.
Follow Dakota @Dgapa and follow the show @ContraZoomPod on Twitter. | http://www.liveinlimbo.com/2017/03/01/contrazoom/41-post-oscars-recap-2017.html |
Paulette Watson thoughts – “This year’s International Women’s day theme: #BreakingTheBias is really important for me as a black women and also the #BeMe digital inclusion program of raising one million females aspiration in Science Technology engineering maths related careers.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sector is growing fast, and the supply of skilled STEM workers can’t keep up with demand. According to the World Economic forum – Future of jobs 2020, there will be 55 billion digital/tech jobs in 2022 and beyond. Yet our black girls from poorer backgrounds are vastly underrepresented in the tech industry. A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM found that 65 per cent of the STEM workforce are White men compared to around 43 per cent of the UK’s population at the last UK.
If our black girls are not digitally equipped, then they will be displaced and this will have a negative strain on our local economy. I understand the immediate challenges that are faced amongst these girls, because they have told me, (Mental health issues, lack opportunities, feeling socially isolated due to covid), I have spoken to key stakeholders, myself and leaders from Academy Achievers sit on BAME community groups across the London boroughs, I am also a member of Newham Independent advisory board and Newham Working Partnership, where we recognised what the transformation will look like.
Similar challenges exist in the creative sector. The Arts Council’s 2019-20 ‘Equality, Diversity and the Creative Case’ showed London has the highest percentage of Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse staff, at 19 per cent of the total workforce. However, this is still a significant under-representation where London’s population is approximately 40 percent Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse.
Furthermore, our #BeMe mentoring focusing on BAME/BME girls getting into tech has more of an edge – according to the McKinsey report (Diversity wins: How inclusion matters 2020) suggests that having diverse and inclusive teams have been shown to be better able to radically innovate and anticipate shifts in consumer needs and consumption patterns.
#BreakingTheBias is all about ensuring that our black girls are the ones who create and design the algorithms so that we can rid the oppressive algorithms, unrealistic and unconscious biases that plague our tech community. Let’s make it happen #BreakingTheBias #BeMe
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Press Release
The State of AI in Africa: 2022 Report
The State of AI in Africa Report launch was held on the 14th June at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Pretoria, South Africa and co-hosted by the World Economic Forum Centre for the 4IR South Africa and City of Tshwane. This 32-page report will appeal to analysts, enterprises, channel managers, governments, VCs or investors, NGOs, Embassies, trade missions and regional promotion agencies who are seeking deeper insights about the dynamics of this rapidly growing frontier tech market.
A key finding was just how cross cutting this technology is, with South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya dominating this sector and AI impacting at least 120+ separate market segments across Africa. Privately owned SMMEs or Micro businesses make up 75% of this sector, 40% of which were founded in the last 5 years, showing the importance nation states need to place on supporting their local tech ecosystems.
It’s also attracting serious capital, with Tunisian AI start-up InstaDeep receiving $100m USD Series A funding earlier in 2022. The global AI market is also projected to grow from $387 Bn USD in 2022 to $1,394 Bn by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 20%. Bradshaw concluded, “It’s a positive sign that this technology and the growing regional AI start-up ecosystems can win big across Africa if these trends continue.”
A copy of the report can be obtained online here.
The AI Media Group is a South African based industry analysis, publishing & business events consultancy specializing in the 4IR or smart tech sector in Africa. They are curators of AI Expo Africa, the continent’s largest B2B/B2G Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trade show and publishers of Synapse, the first quarterly trade magazine charting Africa’s 4IR innovation journey. The group also runs AI TV which hosts discussions on trends in AI and 4IR technologies with local, regional and global thought leaders.
Technology
Digital Asset Marketplace in a Web3 Economy with Chains CEO
The digital asset landscape has been evolving over the past decade since blockchain technology made it possible to exchange value digitally. This was not previously possible before the launch of the Bitcoin network by Satoshi Nakamoto due to the double-spend problem.
A crypto exchange is effectively a marketplace where people buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The first well-known example of such a platform was Mt Gox which appeared in 2010, created by Jed McCaleb who is also co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of Stellar – a payment network blockchain ecosystem focused on enabling low-cost cross-border transactions. The exchange imploded when it got hacked for hundreds of thousands of bitcoins and following that, many other exchanges started popping up, promising better security and liquidity.
The industry has evolved since then. Now there are hundreds of crypto exchanges – centralised and decentralised, custodial and non-custodial, from peer-to-peer marketplaces such as Paxful to order-book based exchanges such as Binance. These digital asset marketplaces also offer different services from spot to futures trading, savings products, NFT marketplaces and so much more.
Chains.com hopes to become one of the new market leaders by introducing a comprehensive offering that amalgamates all the different crypto products and services into an all-in-one platform. In this interview, Anderson Mccutcheon, CEO of Chains.com gives insights into the future of crypto marketplaces. Excerpts below:
BAO: How would you best describe Chains?
Anderson: Chains is a MetaFi platform, aimed at the next generation of web3 users. A single account, connected to multiple products, that are connected to multiple blockchains. Our goal is to cater to users that want to utilise cryptocurrency and NFT products, without having to learn the underlying technology.
BAO: There are already many crypto projects offering launchpads, exchanges and marketplaces. Why does space need a platform like Chains?
Anderson: For the same reason the world needs an Apple and a Samsung. A Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Variety and competition breed excellence and better results for users. We see what happens in markets where few players dominate – innovation slows down and users get locked into mediocre products.
BAO: Is Chains an open-source project and are you building on or integrating with any public blockchains?
Anderson: We are integrating with multiple blockchains that are open to various degrees. We natively support ETH, Polygon, BSC and TRON, with our generation-1 products. We will definitely be introducing more support for more blockchains and products in the immediate future.
BAO: What are the components of the Chains blockchain ecosystem? Can you share some key insights into your technology stack?
Anderson: Chains is not a technology company. Just like Coinbase isn’t. We are a product company that uses hundreds of technologies at any given time. We are part of the Amazon Activate program and our centralised services are mostly AWS-powered.
BAO: Are you looking to bring NFTs to your ecosystem in the future? In what ways will NFTs be used within your ecosystem?
Anderson: NFTs are an integral part of our ecosystem. We are conducting one of the biggest NFT allocations in the world with the Deep Space Society GEN-0 drop. 1 million NFTs allocated on Polygon.
BAO: What is a CHA token and can you describe its utility or tokenomics?
Anderson: It’s a utility token that is the backbone of our product ecosystem. Not using CHA and using Chains would mean paying more fees, not having access to certain stages of token sales and advanced marketplace features.
BAO: When can people expect the token sale?
Anderson: We are currently in the pre-sale phase, an opportunity that hasn’t presented itself in years where those who believe in the project can buy into a blue-chip ICO. It’s been a long time since a CeFi/MetaFi platform has conducted a token sale in this way for early adopters.
BAO: Is the sale subject to any regulatory oversight and will you be accepting accredited investors?
Anderson: Yes. We have successfully completed SEC 506c compliance, meaning we are not only compliant, but we can market openly to accredited investors from the US.
BAO: Currently you have one of the most popular whitelists in the entire crypto space, what do you think makes a good crypto project?
Anderson: A strong team, a financial model that has been tested and proven to be working, a multi-year roadmap and a track record of delivering.
BAO: What is vCHA and how can people earn or acquire some?
Anderson: vCHA is a non-currency issued to our early adopters. You can accumulate it by registering, filling out your profile and inviting others to the platform. vCHA is converted into a permanent discount on the platform (which includes the upcoming CHA token sale) , which is the equivalent of staking $5000.
BAO: What can the community expect next from your roadmap?
Anderson: Launchpad comes first. Our goal is to showcase our ability to deliver world class products that can serve hundreds of thousands of users. Prism, our Analytics product, will also be launching this year, and will set a new standard for what a portfolio and asset tracking system should look like.
Press Release
Bridgia Joins Google Education Integrated Solutions Initiative to Take the Industry Closer to Africa’s Higher Institutions
Bridgia, which connects African higher institutions to the industry to drive innovation and student skill development, has announced it has joined the Google for Education Integrated Solutions Initiative. The call for higher education; to be more responsive to industry needs is a global one. It is evident in the increased industry demand for graduates with innovation and technology skills. Industry linkage offices such as Career Services in most African universities typically lack access to digital resources and supporting services to support their objectives.
Google for Education Partners are a select group of companies recognised for their capabilities to deliver digital services to students and educators. Bridgia, focused on Africa, is now among this group of partners. Bridgia’s platform provides industry insights, resources, and programmes to make the industry more accessible to Africa’s Higher Institutions.
Bridgia’s Co-Founder/CEO, Segun Ogunwale, commented: “We are delighted to progress from being a Google Cloud Partner to a member of the Google Education Integrated Initiative. This collaboration provides us more opportunities to leverage Google for Education’s resources. And reach to provide easy access to the Bridgia’s platform for students, faculty, and staff members in Africa’s higher institutions.”
At Bridgia Africa, we believe Africa’s future lies not in its abundant mineral resources but rather; in its young, agile, and booming human capital. Its goal is to support the transformation of Africa’s human resources to human capital by providing resources and opportunities. To strengthen Africa’s higher education system while building talent pipelines for the global world of work.
Bridgia’s aim to achieve this by connecting Africa’s higher institutions to the industry to provide access to information, resources and career opportunities in collaboration with industry partners. Its mission is to champion innovation, employability and development of talent pipelines in African higher institutions. These are achieved through widened access to industry information, programmes, and opportunities. For students and faculty in collaboration with institutional and industry partners. | https://businessafricaonline.com/paulette-watson-on-international-womens-day-2022-breaking-the-bias/ |
Pre-historic remains unearthed on a Dartmoor
Nationally important pre-historic remains unearthed on a Dartmoor burial site...
are to be x-rayed by Wiltshire Council conservation experts at Salisbury District Hospital tomorrow (Tuesday April 24). An excavation, co-ordinated by Dartmoor National Park Authority, discovered an important collection of Early Bronze Age remains in a burial site situated in Dartmoor National Park. The discovery could prove to be one of the most important archaeological finds of the last 100 years. Wiltshire Council’s Conservation Service has been brought in to cast its expert view on the finds. Tomorrow Senior Conservator Helen Williams will be taking objects found on the site to the spinal unit at Salisbury District Hospital to see what further information can be revealed with its specialist scanning equipment. A preliminary x-ray already carried out by Helen has revealed further contents of a woven bag found on the site. She will be scanning this and some of other objects.
Helen said: “The level of preservation of the objects within the cist burial is excellent with a number of different materials present. “We have a real opportunity to research these finds and potentially discover more about the individual buried there. I feel extremely fortunate to be part of the team working on such an exciting project.”The burial cist, located on Whitehorse Hill, was excavated in August 2011. The excavation revealed that cremated human bone and burnt textile was placed within an animal hide or fur on top. Also found was a delicate woven bag or basket with fine stitching still visible. The contents inside included beautifully preserved shale disc beads, amber spherical beads and a circular textile band.
Jane Marchand, Senior Archaeologist for Dartmoor National Park Authority and Whitehorse Hill Project Manager, said: “This is a most unusual and fascinating glimpse into what an early Bronze Age grave goods assemblage on Dartmoor might have looked like as it was buried, including the personal possessions of people living on the Moor around 4,000 years ago.” A programme of analysis will now follow to examine the peat surrounding the cist. Studies of pollen, other plant remains and testate amoebae (microscopic single cell organisms) supported by radio carbon dating will provide evidence of vegetation and climate at the time of the burial.There is also much specialist analysis to be carried out on the different items within the cist burial before conservation work can begin stabilising the finds under controlled conditions. This will allow further examination and study of the objects to find out how they were made and the materials used around 4000 years ago.
The excavation was carried out by archaeologists from the Historic Environment Projects Team, Cornwall Council, led by Andrew Jones, with assistance from English Heritage (EH) and Plymouth University specialists. | https://wshc.org.uk/home/news/item/nationally-important-pre-historic-remains-unearthed-on-a-dartmoor.html |
Prominent AIDS Researcher Named As CDC Chief Despite Concerns Over Misconduct Investigation
Dr. Robert Redfield "has dedicated his entire life to promoting public health and providing compassionate care to his patients," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said. Critics had spoken out against Redfield over complaints that his work on a high-profile vaccine research more than 20 years ago was flawed -- though a probe found no evidence of misconduct -- and that he advocated for policies like mandatory patient testing for HIV and for segregating HIV-positive Army soldiers.
The New York Times:
AIDS Researcher Robert R. Redfield Named To Lead The C.D.C.
A leading AIDS researcher and proponent of medication-assisted therapy for addiction was appointed Wednesday to oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alex M. Azar II, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, announced that the agency’s new director would be Dr. Robert R. Redfield, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and co-founder of the Institute for Human Virology. (Kaplan, 3/21)
The Associated Press:
Leading AIDS Researcher Selected As CDC Director
"Dr. Redfield has dedicated his entire life to promoting public health and providing compassionate care to his patients," Azar said in a statement. Redfield's appointment doesn't need Senate approval, and he'll start at the CDC on Monday. Redfield, 66, is a medical school professor at the University of Maryland, where he co-founded the Institute of Human Virology. He has extensive experience treating HIV patients as well as heroin addicts and has been praised for his work in Maryland on the opioid crisis. (Stobbe, 3/21)
The Washington Post:
Longtime AIDS Researcher Robert Redfield Picked To Lead CDC
Azar said Redfield’s scientific and clinical background is “peerless” and noted that during his two-decade tenure at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Redfield made “pioneering contributions to advance our understanding of HIV/AIDS.” He also praised his more recent work running a treatment network in Baltimore for HIV and hepatitis C patients, which Azar said prepares Redfield “to hit the ground running on one of HHS and CDC’s top priorities, combating the opioid epidemic.” (Sun, 3/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Robert Redfield Named To Head Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
Dr. Redfield, a professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, weathered criticized in the 1990s for his stance on mandatory HIV testing for patients that some saw as adding to the stigma around AIDS. He was also criticized in the 1990s by consumer health organizations and some congressional Democrats for his work on an experimental AIDS vaccine, according to several news reports. Critics said his analysis and statement created false hope for patients. An investigation at the time by the U.S. Army determined there was no evidence to support scientific misconduct, but some Democrats have already said they oppose his nomination. (Armour, 3/21)
The Baltimore Sun:
University Of Maryland AIDS Expert Named New CDC Director
The Center for Science in the Public Interest also protested the selection of Redfield because of what it says is a history of scientific misconduct. The group said he doesn’t have important relationships with local health departments. Dr. Peter Lurie, the organization’s president, called the appointment “disastrous.” He noted that Redfield was investigated by the military for scientific misconduct for exaggerating the benefits of a “putative” HIV vaccine. Researcher disputed his findings that the vaccine worked and Congress stopped plans for a large clinical trial. Smaller studies later proved the vaccine ineffective, but the investigation cleared Redfield. (McDaniels, 3/21)
Politico:
Trump Administration Taps AIDS Researcher To Lead CDC
Redfield’s colleagues defended his record, saying he was motivated by a desire to help his patients. “He took a position not caring about the politics,” said Robert Gallo, who co-founded the Institute of Human Virology and has worked closely with Redfield for decades. “That was a time of a lot of panic and a lot of pressure politically in a lot of directions. Bob, in his position in the Army, was concerned about soldiers and I’m sure he acted in the best interest of his patients.” (Ehley, 3/21)
Modern Healthcare: | https://khn.org/morning-breakout/prominent-aids-researcher-named-as-cdc-chief-despite-concerns-over-misconduct-investigation/ |
Balls of Clay
A potter sits with a ball of clay, shaping and molding this piece of raw material into whatever they dream or desire. After they get it to the desired shape, they allow it to dry and do special steps to prepare it for the kiln. After trimming and waiting for it to get to a certain texture, they fire it. If they want to paint it to decorate it, they put a special glaze on it before firing it again. This is the transformation from raw material to a useable tool such as a bowl, plate, cup or vase.
One of the biggest takeaways that I experienced while traveling across the south west and installing these solar panels, is that in some form or another everyone is in various stages of turning themselves into beautiful pieces of pottery. Many people are still these raw pieces of clay. They haven’t been transformed by life or have allowed themselves to dry out to sit in the fire. Some people that I met were exquisitely shaped and painted into beautiful pieces of pottery, but weren’t very functional. Some people were not so pretty on the outside, but were functional as hell. Regardless, I’m starting to tell who are the people who allowed life to transform, mold, and shape them into functional works of art. They did the work to allow themselves to sit in the fire to harden them into who they were meant to be. They didn’t run from the discomfort of life trying to teach them a lesson. They learned to push forward even when it was changing the very constitution of who they were.
I would like to touch on the people who I saw that are still raw balls of clay. They keep being pounded on by life, constantly being changed and molded into different shapes. When put in different situations, they can’t make up their mind or go back and forth because they are missing the experience of sitting in the fire to have them make that strong and confident decision. Some have a natural default of being a “victim” because they are complaining of how life keeps happening to them, being beat this way and that. Others who are still clay tend to “go with the flow” and depend on others to make decisions for them so they don’t have to make a choice (which allows them to not sit in the fire).
There is no judgement, just observation on my behalf. But there is definitely a sadness that wells up in me when I see someone that is well into their “adulthood” that is still a ball of clay. I see the potential for them to be anything that they could or would want to be, but they choose not to.
The biggest growing experience was interacting and working with one or two of these people. I was angry at their indecisiveness, until I looked inside myself to ask why. I found a part of me that was a ball of clay that had not been shaped into a functional tool. It was being beaten by life, and I found an aspect of myself as the victim ball of clay. I was angry at myself because it was a resource within myself that was wishy washy, not sure of herself, and not fired by life. No wonder why the balls of clay got under my skin. I was one.
I share this because of connection. Not because I need connection, but just to relate my experiences to any other balls of clay out there that are scared to sit in the fire. Ask yourself the question if there is a part of you that is done with being shaped and knows what shape you need to take? What parts of you have already been shaped and fired once, but need to be decorated with different glazes so they can be fabulous? With the fire and the hardening comes a concreteness of knowing who you are. These are also ways that you can really dig deep for those resources and USE them more effectively in your life. This is the path of self mastery, and of getting to know yourself that much more deeply. Interesting thoughts to ponder as a majority of our society is in quarantine at the moment. | https://eagletherapies.com/2020/03/25/balls-of-clay/ |
When it comes to therapy, African Americans and many other people of color are more apt to discuss their feelings on a friend’s couch than a stranger’s. And some would rather hold it in and discuss nothing at all. I asked several African Americans to share their thoughts about why this community is less likely to attend therapy. The most common comments are:
- “We were raised that whatever happens in this house stays in this house. As we got older that stayed gospel”.
- “It is hard to trust people. Sharing my most private experiences with a stranger is taboo. Real help comes from full disclosure and that is not going to happen without trust."
- “My parents did not believe in going to tell someone your private business."
- “It is hard to find experienced black therapists or black physicians that are specialists in this area. The work it takes to find someone qualified who lives in your area is overwhelming."
- “There is too much stigma and too many labels associated with mental health. Black people have been given enough labels and stereotypes. Receiving mental health treatment usually results in another label and the false pretense that black people are crazy.”
Being a black mental health counselor who happens to come from a family with mental illness, I find myself on both sides of this issue. Growing up, mental health meant you had been a suffering veteran or you had a nervous breakdown. I grew up in the inner city of Detroit during the crack-cocaine epidemic. My mother died early in the AIDS epidemic. Therapy was never on the table as an option for support. If I knew a kid today who was going through what I went through, I would strongly recommend they be in therapy. It feels awkward to say this, but I don’t know that I even knew there was someone outside of my family or friends to talk to. There was a lot of privacy and mistrust in outside agencies because they were viewed as part of the machinery of marginalization. Below I have included some of the findings from research (Glassgow et al., 2019) conducted on the association between mental health and community disorganization along with suggestions on how to address these limitations. I recommend you think about these points and have conversations.
- Parents are not aware that what they are experiencing with their children is considered a mental illness. We have to accept that in this melting pot of cultures, mental illness will be perceived differently. Depressive symptoms are often dealt with in the family or by talking to close friends or pastors. However, black adults, children, and adolescents do engage in self-harm and commit suicide and it is important that black people understand what balanced limits look like. In other words, at what point do you call someone?
- Why does it seem like schools are quick to diagnose black children as having behavioral issues and white children as depressed or anxious? When you hear “behavioral issues” do you think acting out and when hear depressed do you think sad? Glassgow states that “discrimination within healthcare and mental health settings, including from providers, has been associated with under-utilization of services.” Earlier we learned that a lack of culturally competent providers is an issue. We are underrepresented in the field of mental health, in the classroom, in law enforcement and numerous other places where we experience disparities.
African Americas are more likely to drop out of therapy (Mays, Jones, Delaney-Brumsey, Coles, & Cochran, 2018). It will take more awareness and time to address the issues of stigma and mistrust between the black community and mental health community. Mental health impacts us all. However, we would be remiss to overlook the cultural and historical factors for each individual. If you are considering joining this field we need you. America is becoming more diverse than ever and the mental health field must be representative of our nation. Two of the main factors I see in the anonymous comments above are trust and fear. There is also a real issue of accessibility. Here are some ideas on how to begin addressing these issues.
- Use websites like ours to locate a therapist. Each of our therapists have a bio and insurance information along with their treatment specialties. Trust is something that has to be built over time. It is acceptable to tell a therapist up front you have trust issues. You can also ask about the limits of their confidentiality. Mental health providers must adhere to HIPPA guidelines.
- I grew up with the same rules what happens in this house stays in this house. What happens when someone in the house loses their job during a bipolar manic episode that their boss assumed was anger management issues? What if someone in the house becomes addicted to drugs, or worse, commits suicide? These are things that can destroy the family that lives in the house. When the family needs help, the expectation is to do whatever it takes to preserve the family. Even if it means you choose to only work with therapists of a certain cultural or religious background. You have that right; just get the help you need for the family. There are systemic issues that need to be resolved in our country, but I would like to live my best life in this generation while I can. I believe you would like the same.
- Mental health providers have a responsibility to educate the public about mental health and treatment. Opportunities to do this include getting to know your neighbors, hosting and/or speaking at mental health and health care events, making our presence known on social media, utilizing blogs and podcasts, local churches, and newspaper and magazine articles. Join more directories to make yourselves accessible.
References Glassgow, A. E., Gerges, M., Atkins, M., Martin, M., Caskey, R., Sanders, K., ...Kim, S. (2019). Exploring racial disparities in mental health diagnoses and neighborhood disorganization among an urban cohort of children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions. Health Equity, 3(1):604-611. Mays, V. M., Jones, A., Delaney-Brumsey, A., Coles, C., & Cochran, S.D. (2018). Perceived discrimination in healthcare and mental health/substance abuse treatment among Blacks, Latinos, and Whites. Medical Care 55(2):173-181. | https://www.adolescentfamilybhs.com/blog/291351-the-problem-with-race-amp-mental-health |
For a book that has already gained a great deal of attention for its weighty themes, Yann Martel’s new novel, Beatrice & Virgil, is a quick read, easily finished in two or three sittings. It is built of discrete sections, a number of which include the scenes of a play.
These, written by one of the novel’s two main characters, make use of the epigrammatic language of children’s stories. But Martel’s intentions in this, his third novel, are undoubtedly grand.
Beatrice & Virgil (Knopf Canada) aims to offer a philosophical response to the mistreatment of animals and to the meaning of the Holocaust, while examining the demands of making art about such difficult subjects. Autobiographical links inform key narrative threads, as Martel can be recognized as a model for Harry, the novel’s successful writer who has gone incommunicado to evade his new-found fame.
If not for the Man Booker Prize, which was awarded to Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi, Beatrice & Virgil would not attract great scrutiny. But the Booker catapulted Martel into the literary stratosphere, where follow-up efforts attract multi-million dollar advances and intense critical and popular attention. This latter phenomenon is exaggerated in Canada’s small literary market, where our literary stars are sometimes lavished with a celebrity that swamps their actual effect on the page.
Beatrice & Virgil is foremost a book about animals, as was Life of Pi. Its two central human characters are less sensitively portrayed than the animal creatures on whom Martel’s descriptive power alights. Here, one thinks of another beloved Canadian author, Timothy Findley, whose rural home was a menagerie of sorts, and whose provocative novel, Not Wanted on the Voyage, also linked the abuse of animals and the environment with the Holocaust. This aspect of Findley’s novel gained little attention; rather, it was his burlesquing of traditional religion (Lucifer as a cheeky cross-dresser, God as a desiccated aristocrat) that gained him some surly readerly response.
The Holocaust themes in Beatrice & Virgil are more overt than they are in Findley’s book. Martel’s largely actionless plot ends with a splash of violence – graphic Gestapoesque torture and a cinematic pogrom visited on two mothers and their infants. But for much of the narrative, Martel’s Harry pursues an enigmatic relationship with the proprietor of a taxidermy shop.
This taxidermist is writing a play about a howler monkey and a donkey – the Beatrice and Virgil of the novel’s title – which employs a range of Holocaust motifs. We are meant to uncover them gradually, as does Harry, but the press about all this has preceded the novel, so we know we are reading a book “about the Holocaust” before Martel’s goals become clear.
Gradually, the excerpts from the taxidermist’s play build toward an allegorical response to the Holocaust, which culminates, late in the novel, when Henry acknowledges that he “knew for certain what the taxidermist was doing. . . . he was using the Holocaust to speak of the extermination of animal life. . . . He was seeing the tragic fate of animals through the tragic fate of Jews. The Holocaust as allegory.”
Through much of Beatrice & Virgil it would seem that this is Martel’s goal (certainly it is the main effect of much of the narrative). Yet, by the novel’s end, readers may not be entirely clear on what Martel’s goals have been. The taxidermist turns out to be someone other than Harry took him to be, so the status of his play is up for grabs.
Certainly, the challenge of making a tricky, writerly book about the events of the war, and forcing its readers to look for clues and encounter surprising associations, are among the novel’s motivations. But only readers with a great deal of knowledge about Holocaust history and art will catch the ins and outs of Martel’s coded approach to his subject (the street address where part of Emmanuel Ringelblum’s Warsaw Ghetto archive was unearthed is raised, but the uninitiated will have to do further research to engage with this remarkable historical site).
In fact, it is children’s books about the war that often make use of a similar strategy, in an effort to both reveal and hide aspects of the wartime disaster beneath a palatable surface of word and image. This strategy, in books like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is also found in films such as Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful. Book designers at Knopf seem to have picked up on a cover detail employed for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: for Beatrice & Virgil, the iconic stripes of a camp inmate’s uniform are transformed on the hardback’s cloth cover into the curved stripes of an animal’s hide.
It is not clear how readers of Beatrice & Virgil should take the notion that one might better understand the experience of animals, doomed “creatures that could not speak for themselves,” once they are “given the voice of a most articulate people who had been similarly doomed.” Certainly, one of Martel’s accomplishments – not necessarily one he consciously strove for – is a Holocaust-themed book with almost nothing Jewish in it. One strives for an analogy: a baseball game without the ball; or an architectural drawing sketched in plain air.
There is a skilled suppleness, almost a naiveté, in Martel’s tone as he works at making this material weighty and wise. It may be that Beatrice & Virgil arrives at a time when Holocaust-related writing and art is shifting once more, based on a new generational and cultural context. Readers, the press and critics will make use of this literary season to grapple with such issues.
Norman Ravvin’s essays on Jewish literature are collected in A House of Words: Jewish Writing, Identity and Memory. His forthcoming novel, from Gaspereau Press, is The Joyful Child. He is Chair of the Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies. | https://www.cjnews.com/culture/books-and-authors/yann-martel-post-holocaust-tradition |
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Name Course Professor Date Reflective Summary: Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal communication is one of the significant skills while communicating with other individuals. It normally covers an extensive area and includes both verbal and non-verbal communication. Body language and facial expression may affect the accurateness of the message transmission directly. Interpersonal communication skills normally ensure that the message is sent and received correctly without any alteration thus improving the communication efficiency. Learning diverse aspects of interpersonal communication has greatly aided me in better understanding of what it consists. I am capable of applying the knowledge gained from this course to my personal experiences. This paper reflects on my personal experience in learning interpersonal communication. The interpersonal communication class was just awesome in that I learned many diverse aspects from understanding non verbal communication and interpersonal communication. The semester was filled with different activities that helped us to enhance our interpersonal communication skills. different relationships. The course has really changed my interpersonal communication skills. Before the course I used to be cruel on individuals who failed to understand me. Moreover I used to conflict often with people around me since I did not know how to maintain close relationships. However after undertaking this course a lot of things have changed. For instance my relationship with my husband has greatly improved and I am able to view social media in a more optimistic manner. In conclusion my experience with this class was very positive. The course actually aided my understanding of particular aspects of interpersonal communication that I never understood before. The course did not leave me empty but I am now intelligent than before talkative talkative and nonjudgmental. I feel that my communication skills have greatly been improved and thus I can be able to express my thoughts and ideas more effectively. [...]
Order Description: | https://studybay.com/latest-orders/218843/ |
Published: July 05, 2018 16:12:15 | Updated: July 09, 2018 10:54:18
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its 2018 forecast for German GDP growth to 2.2 per cent, saying the rising protectionism and the threat of a hard Brexit had exposed the economy to significant short-term risks.
The Washington-based lender, whose previous prediction from April was 2.5 per cent, edged its 2019 forecast up to 2.1 per cent from 2.0 per cent, reports Reuters.
“Short-term risks are substantial, as a significant rise in global protectionism, a hard Brexit, or a reassessment of sovereign risk in the euro area, leading to renewed financial stress, could affect Germany’s exports and investment,” it said in a report.
President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on a wide range of US imports that threaten to unleash a global trade war, and London and Brussels remain at odds over the terms of Britain’s looming departure from the European Union.
The IMF welcomed plans by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new coalition government to raise public investments and support long-term growth, but it said Berlin could do more.
Given Germany’s rapidly ageing society, IMF directors recommended further expanding public investment in infrastructure and education as well as setting more incentives for private investments.
“Such measures would bolster productivity growth, further lift long-term output, and reduce Germany’s large current account surplus,” it said.
The surplus fell to 8.0 per cent of economic output last year from 8.5 per cent in 2016, but is expected to rise again to 8.3 per cent this year, the IMF said. | http://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/global/imf-cuts-german-2018-economic-growth-to-22pc-1530785535 |
Organization can be termed as distributing functions of a business to a qualified personnel to get the best output.
- Industrial Engineer Interview Questions
- 300+ TOP INDUSTRIAL Engineering Interview Questions and Answers
- Ace your interview for a job of an Industrial Engineer
- Industrial Engineer Interview Questions
Industrial Engineer Interview Questions
What is plant organization? What points should be kept in mind to build an effective organization? Which two groups of management manages the control organization and what are their responsibilities? What is process analysis? What are the requirements of a good organization?
Industrial Engineer Interview Questions. There are 3 different sets of questions for this title. How did the solution benefit your employer? Top 4 Interview Mistakes. Provide a time when you were able to identify a complex problem, evaluate the options, and implement a solution. Name a time when your advice to management led to an improvement in your company or otherwise helped your employer.
300+ TOP INDUSTRIAL Engineering Interview Questions and Answers
The interviewer wants to know that you are familiar with the critical path method and that you know how to keep vital projects moving in the face of adversity by using it. Explain the concept by saying, 'The critical path method is a tool used to calculate the length of your project, and it is a sequence of dependent tasks that will form the lengthiest duration. Mapping the tasks allows for tweaking and determining the most efficient timeline possible to finish a project. You can also show them a print out from a Gantt chart in Microsoft Project you did for the living room project. Examples you did in college and on the job work, too. Explain any tweaks you made for changes in the critical path to prevent scope creep in the printouts.
Industrial engineers should be capable of looking at your company's engineering processes, the people who work with them and how they operate. Once they assess the situation, they should identify gaps to close to increase efficiency. Your industrial engineer should be able to give insight into their methods for streamlining processes. What to look for in an answer:. I have excellent organizational skills, and I restructured those protocols so that the company could manage time and resources more efficiently. Because an industrial engineer might need to refine a company's manufacturing processes, they'll also work at improving their safety.
Ace your interview for a job of an Industrial Engineer
Following are frequently asked mechanical engineering interview questions for freshers as well as experienced engineering candidates. The second law of thermodynamic depicts that the total entropy of an isolated system can never reduce over time. The shear center is a center where the force can act with no twist, whereas elastic center is located at the center of gravity. It is one of the types of a joint that are used to connect two rods, which are under compressive or tensile stress.
Surprisingly enough, technical questions do not prevail in the interviews for this position. HR managers and other interviewers will ask you primarily personal and behavioral questions. They will inquire about your motivation, experience, goals, and attitude to various situations that happen in the workplace. You may have to answer two or three questions that relate to the efficiency of production process, or to safety regulations. Most employers trust the educational system.
An industrial engineer manages industrial production processes in order to eliminate waste and increase efficiency on the production line. This can include eliminating waste of time, money, materials, and manpower, among other things. Industrial engineers study, develop, and manipulate systems in order to develop the most efficient processes possible.
Глаза Клушара расширились. - Так полицейский сказал вам, что это я взял кольцо. Беккер смущенно подвинулся.
Industrial Engineer Interview Questions
На это уходило много времени, но математически гарантировало успех. Когда мир осознал возможности шифровки с помощью грубой силы, пароли стали все длиннее и длиннее. Компьютерное время, необходимое для их угадывания, растягивалось на месяцы и в конце концов - на годы. К началу 1990-х годов ключи имели уже более пятидесяти знаков, в них начали использовать весь алфавит АСКИ - Американского национального стандартного кода для обмена информацией, состоящего из букв, цифр и символов.
- Мы должны позвать людей на помощь. Нам обоим грозит опасность. Сьюзан не верила ни единому его слову. Хейл подтянул ноги и немного приподнялся на корточках, желая переменить позу.
Все повернулись к экрану, где над всем этим хаосом появилась надпись: ВВЕСТИ ПАРОЛЬ. 3 - Да! - скомандовал Фонтейн. - Нажимайте. Сьюзан задержала дыхание и опустила палец на клавишу Ввод.
Отпусти. - Чтобы вы меня убили. - Я не собираюсь тебя убивать.
Сьюзан открыла одно из старых входящих сообщений, и у нее тотчас же перехватило дыхание. ТО: NDAKOTAARA. ANON. ORG FROM: ETDOSH1SHA.
А у вас здесь… - Беккер не сдержал смешка. - Да. Это очень важная часть! - заявил лейтенант.
Она кружила по пустому кабинету, все еще не преодолев ужас, который вызвало у нее общение с Хейлом. Надо выбираться из шифровалки. Черт с ней, с Цифровой крепостью. Пришла пора действовать.
ГЛАВА 125 - Сколько у нас времени? - крикнул Джабба. Техники в задней части комнаты не откликнулись. Все их внимание было приковано к ВР. Последний щит угрожающе таял.
Дэвид почувствовал, как пол уходит у него из-под ног. - Немец. Какой немец. - Тот, что был в парке. | https://luciegaillard.org/and-pdf/1466-industrial-engineering-interview-questions-and-answers-pdf-197-754.php |
139 minor planets discovered
Astronomers have found 139 new “minor planets” in the far reaches of our solar system just beyond Neptune’s orbit, which could potentially boost scientists’ continued searches for the putative Planet Nine.
A new study published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed how data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) helped researchers to detect a new cluster of Trans-Neptune objects, from which 139 out of 316 minor planets had not been documented before.
The so-called “trans-Neptunian Objects” (TNOs), the most famous of which is Pluto, orbit celestial bodies in the Kuiper belt, a region in our Solar System that stretches beyond our system’s eight major planets. Extending outward by some 50 astronomical units — that’s 50 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun — the Kuiper belt is far larger than the asteroid belt.
The discoveries could uncover new ways to search for the mysterious Planet Nine, a hypothetical ninth planet in our Solar System that some suspect to be causing strange gravitational effects on a cluster of trans-Neptunian objects beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Fun Fact
While on Earth we are concerned about hurricanes, the strength of these storms is nowhere near what you would find on Neptune. At its highest altitudes, according to NASA, winds blow at more than 1,770 kilometers per hour. | https://mycoup.in/139-minor-planets-discovered-%EF%BB%BF |
Bilirubin is a yellow breakdown product of normal heme catabolism. Its levels are elevated in certain diseases and it is responsible for the yellow colour of bruises and the brown colour of feces. Bilirubin reduction in the gut leads to a product called urobilinogen, which is excreted in urine.
Chemistry
Bilirubin consists of an open chain of four pyrrole-like rings (tetrapyrrole). In heme, by contrast, these four rings are connected into a larger ring, called a porphyrin.
Bilirubin is very similar to the pigment phycobilin used by certain algae to capture light energy, and to the pigment phytochrome used by plants to sense light. All of these contain an open chain of four pyrrolic rings.
Like these other pigments, bilirubin changes its conformation when exposed to light. This is used in the phototherapy of jaundiced newborns: the illuminated version of bilirubin is more soluble than the unilluminated version.
Several textbooks and research articles show incorrect chemical structures for the two isoforms of bilirubin.
Function
Bilirubin is created by the activity of biliverdin reductase on biliverdin. Bilirubin, when oxidized, reverts to become biliverdin once again. This cycle, in addition to the demonstration of the potent antioxidant activity of bilirubin, has led to the hypothesis that bilirubin's main physiologic role is as a cellular antioxidant.
Metabolism
Erythrocytes (red blood cells) generated in the bone marrow are destroyed in the spleen when they get old or damaged. This releases hemoglobin, which is broken down to heme, as the globin parts are turned into amino acids. The heme is then turned into unconjugated bilirubin in the macrophages of the spleen. It is then bound to albumin and sent to the liver.
In the liver it is conjugated with glucuronic acid, making it water soluble. Much of it goes into the bile and thus out into the small intestine. Some of the conjugated bilirubin remains in the large intestine and is metabolised by colonic bacteria to stercobilinogen and then oxidised to stercobilin.
Some is reabsorbed, and excreted in the urine as urobilinogen and the oxidised form, urobilin. If the liver’s function is impaired, or biliary drainage blocked, some of the conjugated bilirubin appears in the urine, turning it dark amber.
Bilirubin toxicity
Unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia in the neonate can lead to accumulation of bilirubin in certain brain regions, a phenomenon known as kernicterus, with consequent irreversible damage to these areas manifesting as various neurological deficits, seizures, abnormal reflexes and eye movements. Aside from specific chronic medical conditions that may lead to hyperbilirubinaemia, neonates in general are at increased risk since they lack the intestinal bacteria that facilitate the breakdown and excretion of conjugated bilirubin in the feces (this is largely why the feces of a neonate are paler than those of an adult). Instead the conjugated bilirubin is converted back into the unconjugated form by the enzyme b-glucoronidase and a large proportion is reabsorbed through the enterohepatic circulation.
Bilirubin benefits
Reasonable levels of bilirubin can be beneficial to the organism. Evidence is accumulating that suggests bilirubin can protect tissues against oxidative damage caused by free radicals and other reactive oxygen species. Statistical analysis of people with high normal or slightly elevated bilirubin levels in blood shows that they have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
Bilirubin blood tests
Bilirubin is in one of two forms:
|Abb.||Name||Soluble?||Reaction|
|"BC"||conjugated or direct||Yes (bound to glucuronic acid)||Reacts directly when dyes are added to the blood specimen.|
|"BU"||unconjugated or indirect||No||Free bilirubin does not react to the reagents until alcohol (methanol) or Caffeine is added to the solution. Therefore, the measurement of this type of bilirubin is indirect. (It is transformed into a soluble or direct form, in the liver. )|
Total bilirubin measures both BU and BC. Total and direct bilirubin levels can be measured from the blood, but indirect bilirubin is calculated from the total and direct bilirubin.
To further elucidate the causes of jaundice or increased bilirubin, it is usually simpler to look at other liver function tests (especially the enzymes ALT, AST, GGT, Alk Phos), blood film examination (hemolysis, etc.) or evidence of infective hepatitis (e.g., Hepatitis A, B, C, delta E, etc).
Bilirubin is an excretion product, and the body does not control levels. Bilirubin levels reflect the balance between production and excretion. Thus, there is no "normal" level of bilirubin.
Bilirubin is broken down by light, and therefore blood collection tubes (especially serum tubes) should be protected from such exposure.
Interpretation
Different sources provide reference ranges which are similar but not identical. Some examples for adults are provided below (different reference ranges are often used for newborns):
|μmol/L||mg/dL|
|total bilirubin||5.1–17.0 ||0.2-1.9 , 0.2-1.0 , 0.3–1.0 , 0.1-1.2 |
|direct bilirubin||1.0–5.1 ||0-0.3, 0.1–0.3, 0.1-0.4 |
Mild rises in bilirubin may be caused by
- Hemolysis or increased breakdown of red blood cells.
- Gilbert's syndrome - a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism which can result in mild jaundice, found in about 5% of the population.
- Drugs: Cladribine
Moderate rise in bilirubin may be caused by
- Drugs (especially anti-psychotic, some sex hormones, and a wide range of other drugs such as Vedolizumab).
- Hepatitis (levels may be moderate or high).
- Biliary stricture (benign or malignant)
Very high levels of bilirubin may be caused by
- Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia, where the newborn's liver is not able to properly conjugate the bilirubin (see jaundice).
- Unusually large bile duct obstruction, eg stone in common bile duct, tumour obstructing common bile duct etc.
- Severe liver failure with cirrhosis.
- Severe hepatitis.
- Crigler-Najjar syndrome
- Dubin-Johnson syndrome
- Choledocholithiasis (chronic or acute)
Cirrhosis may cause normal, moderately high or high levels of bilirubin, depending on exact features of the cirrhosis
Indirect bilirubin is fat soluble and direct bilirubin is water soluble.
Jaundice
Jaundice may be noticeable in the sclera (white) of the eyes at levels of about 30-50 μmol/l, and in the skin at higher levels. Jaundice is classified depending upon whether the bilirubin is free or conjugated to glucuronic acid into:
- Conjugated jaundice
- Unconjugated jaundice
Cultural references
- (1988) Bilirubin was used as a wordplay in the novel The Silence of the Lambs. The incarcerated psychopathic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter assists the FBI in capturing a killer. Lecter gives the name of the killer as "Billy Rubin". After Lecter escapes from custody, they find a piece of paper in his cell on which he had written his warden's name (Chilton) and, from the C,H,N,O in the name, given the formula for bilirubin.
- (1990) In Juan Luis Guerra's song, "Me sube la bilirrubina" on the album Bachata Rosa, the protagonist's bilirubin levels increase as a result of unrequited love.
- (2001) German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten have a song called "Bili Rubin", on Strategies Against Architecture III.
References
- ↑ "Bilirubin's Chemical Formula". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ↑ Baranano DE, Rao M, Ferris CD, Snyder SH (2002). "Biliverdin reductase: a major physiologic cytoprotectant". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (25): 16093–8. doi:10.1073/pnas.252626999. PMID 12456881.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Bilirubin". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 MedlinePlus Encyclopedia 003468
- ↑ "Bloodindex - Haematology Reference Values". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Laboratory tests". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
See also
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis
- Primary biliary cirrhosis
- Gilbert's syndrome, a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism which can result in mild jaundice, found in about 5% of the population. | https://es.wikidoc.org/index.php/Bilirubin |
UK NEWSPAPER AND magazine publishers sought a last-minute court injunction today to stop a mechanism backed by politicians to regulate the press from being approved later.
The newspapers are seeking permission for a legal challenge over a decision to reject the industry’s own proposals for a so-called royal charter to oversee a new system of regulation.
The 11th-hour attempt at the High Court in London is aimed at stopping ministers from seeking the Queen’s approval for a rival royal charter that is backed by politicians.
It was drawn up by Britain’s three main political parties, but is fiercely opposed by most of the newspaper industry.
Ministers are due to go to the Privy Council, the formal body of advisors to the queen, later today to seek her green light.
But if the newspapers succeed in their application for an interim injunction, the process will be put on hold until the legal challenge has been heard.
Coincidentally, the High Court hearing falls on the day that the prosecution opens in the trial of key figures accused in the phone-hacking scandal that sparked calls for tougher regulation of Britain’s pugnacious press.
The main defendants in the trial are Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the defunct News of the World tabloid and a close confidante of its owner Rupert Murdoch, and Andy Coulson, who also edited the paper before becoming Prime Minister David Cameron’s media chief.
Newspaper owners argue that the proposals backed by the government and anti-hacking campaigners are an attempt to introduce a degree of state control to an industry that is currently self-regulated.
Roger Alton, executive editor of The Times, told BBC radio that the Independent Press Standards Organisation, the new regulator supported by the newspaper industry, would be a tough watchdog.
“It is extremely tough, it’s a contract-based system. You sign a contract into the regulator and you are liable for extremely severe fines,” he said.
He said the government-backed proposals were “extraordinarily depressing”.
Email “UK newspapers go to court to block press regulation system”.
Feedback on “UK newspapers go to court to block press regulation system”. | https://www.thejournal.ie/uk-press-regulation-1152782-Oct2013/ |
Camden Highline is a new charity and community initiative to develop a new park in London, with the aim of fostering connection.
Designed to be an elevated park and walking route, this new green space will rejuvenate a disused stretch of railway, between Camden Gardens and York Way. The space is planned to include seating areas, cafes, as well as public art spaces, and opportunities for charities to hold activities and events. It will occupy a route of around 1.2km in length, will be 8 metres above the ground, and is expected to be able to provide access to a new green space for 20,000 people.
The project is the vision and work of hundreds of community residents, and local business owners who have contributed and volunteered their ideas, time, and other resources to developing the plans for the park. The park is being developed to unite communities, and bring together neighbours in the spirit of community and connection.
The project is currently collection donations in order to get their project off the ground. For more information about the project, and how you can find ways to contribute to this new green space within the city, visit, https://www.camdenhighline.com/
Green spaces are important for urban residents. They help urban residents connect with nature, provide places to unwind and relaxed, and also create the perfect places for people to meet, build relationships, and socialise. At Vonder we believe in the importance of green spaces, both within our co-living London complexes, and within our neighbourhoods. | https://www.vondereurope.com/magazine/camden-highline-community-park |
- 1 What is an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump?
- 2 How does an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump work?
- 3 What are the risks for intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
- 4 Components of IABP
- 5 How do I prepare for intra-aortic balloon pump treatment?
- 6 What happens during intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
- 7 What happens after intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
- 8 How to use an intra-aortic balloon pump
- 9 Advantages of IABP
- 10 FAQ Section
What is an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump?
An intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) is a mechanical machine that rises the oxygen (O2) perfusion to the heart and the heart’s muscle and also increases the blood flow (cardiac output). Increased cardiac output boosts the flow of the coronary blood, which increases the supply of O2 to the heart.
An intra-aortic pump is made up of a balloon locates in the aorta (the largest vessel and main arteries in the human body, located just below the heart). As the heart ventricles tighten and release the blood, then IABP deflates. This pump reduces resistance (afterload) behind the heart and increases blood flow forward. As the ventricle of the heart loosens (diastole) and fills with blood again, the pump actively expands and increases the flow of blood to the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply O2 to the heart). Combining these actions reduces the heart’s need for oxygen and improves the O2 delivery to the heart.
During the working, the intra-aortic balloon pump balloon expands and depresses due to the reverse pulsation process. In simple words, it inflates during diastole and depresses aggressively during systole. With the help of the vacuum effect, the systolic deflation reduces the afterload and indirectly improves the anterior blood flow to the heart. The pump inflates during the diastole process and boosts the coronary arteries’ blood flow through the retrograde blood flow. Together, these processes (systolic and diastole) reduce myocardial O2 need and increase myocardial O2 (oxygen) delivery.
In this pump, Helium uses to inflate a balloon because of its low density and low turbulence. Therefore, the balloon can inflate quickly and depress gradually. If the balloon breaks or leaks then the Helium can also dislodge rapidly.
An intra-aortic balloon pump has a flexible, thin tube known as a catheter. A long balloon is attached to the catheter tip. This is known as an IAB (intra-aortic balloon). While a computer console connects with the other side of the catheter. This console is an equipment that inflates and depresses the balloon according to the heartbeat.
Read also: Different types of Pumps
How does an Intra-aortic Balloon Pump work?
The heart delivers nutrients and oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body. The arteries use to discharge the blood from the heart and deliver the oxygen-rich blood into blood vessels. The heart gets nutrients and O2 from these vessels according to its need. There are also arteries in the heart’s outer wall that are known as the coronary arteries.
As the heart deflates, it pumps blood to the body. When it relaxes, blood moves inside the coronary arteries and carries O2 to the heart. IABP facilitates blood to move quickly to the coronary arteries. This pump also helps the heart to supply more blood with each contraction. However, it only increases the functionality of the left ventricle. This is because the left ventricle is the chamber that supplies blood to the aorta.
Here is the working of an intra-aortic balloon pump:
- First of all, insert the balloon into the aorta. The aorta is a lengthy artery that begins from the heart. Sometimes, this process also performs through a small incision on the inner side of the upper leg. Next, you or your doctor will require to insert a balloon pump catheter into the leg artery. After this, you need to bring it to your aorta.
- After this, the IABP will start working. As the heart relaxes, the balloon inflates. It forces the blood back into the coronary arteries. These arteries can’t get adequate blood without a pump. When the heart shrinks, the balloon also shrinks. This shrinkage generates additional room in the aorta, which allows the heart to pump more blood. This process will reduce the stress on your heart. The pump will continue to expand and contract until it eliminates.
For a better understanding the working of IABP, watch the following video:
What are the risks for intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
Treatment with IABP is beneficial. Sometimes it even saves lives. But it also has some risks that are given below:
- Infection due to insufficient blood supply to the limb (ischemia)
- Arterial injury
- Due to the low platelet count, the blood does not clot and may cause excessive bleeding.
- Balloon explosion
- Infections
- Sometimes, the balloon doesn’t locate at its correct position or may change position inside the body; due to that patient may face kidney damage or other issues.
- Treatment with IABP is uncomfortable. Therefore, if you install this device, you should calmly lie down on the hospital bed.
- Stroke
- The intra-aortic balloon pump can produce some side effects. For example, long-term use of IABP can create bloodstream infections. It can also produce blood clots and lead to severe issues like stroke. Sometimes, the balloon can become over-inflated, due to which the aorta ruptured.
The risks by this device depend on the patient age and other medical situations that a patient has
Components of IABP
An intra-aortic balloon pump has the following components:
1) Balloon
The balloon uses to block the way of blood in the aorta at a specific point in time. That means it must be able to resist the pressure of the heart. It is made of a material that will not break or damage easily. This component of the intra-aortic balloon pump should be biocompatible.
2) IABP Console
A console is a monitoring machine. It is the source of gas for the IABP. This component requires for the balloon to deflate and inflate properly. It is also compulsory for the monitoring systems so that the monitoring system can also determine what stage the balloon is in so that it doesn’t expand at the wrong time and cause problems. This monitoring device utilizes an ECG (electrocardiogram) to regulate the stage of the heart. It uses helium to inflate the balloon as the aortic valve shuts and cardiac output and heart pressure increase.
3) Catheter
This component attaches the balloon with a transducer (outside the body) and a monitoring device (inside the aorta). It is a flexible tube that can insert into the body’s narrow opening. It uses to withdraw or introduce fluid.
4) Transducer
During the first test in 1962, the transducer was integrated into the IABP design. Its purpose was to transform signal or energy from one format to another and display it on a monitor for clarification. A transducer is compulsory for continuous blood pressure monitoring because the IABP uses a double notch in the aortic blood pressure curve to measure the time of expansion and contraction of the balloon.
How do I prepare for intra-aortic balloon pump treatment?
Before the treatment, you must talk with your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider will provide detailed directions about your treatment.
If you are pregnant or suspect you may be pregnant, be sure to tell your doctor. And also, tell him/her if are facing:
- Sedation problems
- New symptoms like an unexpected fever
- Any other diseases
Following are some instructions that you should follow for your intra-aortic pump treatment:
- If you are a smoker, then you must stop smoking before the treatment. This can decrease the likelihood of complications.
- You should also stop the use of medicine before the treatment. Sometimes, you may be needed to take medicine before and during therapy to stop blood clots.
- Don’t drink or eat after 12 AM before the day of surgery.
Some other tests may require to measure your health beforehand. These can include:
- Echocardiography (uses to check your heartbeat)
- Basic blood test (assessment of anemia and infectious diseases)
- Chest X-ray (uses to see the lungs and heart)
- Electrocardiogram (uses to check heart rate)
What happens during intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
In the intra-aortic balloon pump treatment, a balloon-tipped catheter inserts inside a vessel of the blood and advanced it to the heart. This process usually adopts during heart-related surgery. However, in emergencies, the medical team can put it at the bedside.
Your doctor can let you know exactly what will happen. In general, this treatment consists of the below-given steps:
- Firstly, you may get few shocks. If this is inserting during your operation, then you are already facing the shocks. In this condition, you will fall asleep without feeling anything. During other conditions, you will get relaxation medication that will be helpful for you.
- Heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs will also monitor throughout the surgery.
- A small incision will be generated through the artery in your inner thigh’s upper section. Insert a balloon catheter there.
- The surgeon advances the catheter up to part of the aorta in the chest. This movement may monitor through a continuous X-ray image.
- The balloon will start to inflate as the heart relaxes. When the heart contracts then it contracts
- The catheter’s end is a secure place; therefore, the balloon will place there.
Your chest may hurt a little after the operation. It may go away within a few minutes of starting the IABP. However, further treatment may be required if symptoms persist.
Your doctor will be there if you will face any problems. You may need to rest in bed for some time. Raise the head of the bed a little bit. Keep the leg into the catheter insertion and keep it straight. This will prevent the balloon from moving in place. A daily chest X-ray may require to make sure that the balloon is in its proper position. Pumps often make noise by expanding and contracting repeatedly.
What happens after intra-aortic balloon pump therapy?
You may need to keep the pump “ON” for many days. Your doctor will continuously observe this. Your healthcare provider can temporarily stop the balloon pump to see your reaction after turning it off. Alternatively, he/she can customize it up so that it only expands and contracts with every 3 or 5 heartbeats. If your heart starts to pump blood on its own without a balloon, you should stop the intra-aortic balloon pump treatment. Treatment can also be stopped if other interventions are accessible (e.g., heart donation).
If you need to remove the balloon, you may be given relaxation medication. Then the doctor will eliminate the catheter and the balloon connected to it. The doctor also closes the cut in your leg during the pump elimination.
He/she can hand you some more instructions about the expected result. If you will obey them gently, you will increase the likelihood of positive results.
How to use an intra-aortic balloon pump
An IABP (intra-aortic balloon pump) is a balloon pump that is designed for people who have severe heart problems (such as congestive heart failure and heart attack, etc.) or are expecting a heart transplant.
This procedure needs the settlement of a catheter with the intra-aortic balloon. This balloon inserts into the body’s artery, typically into the groin and then into the aorta (body’s largest artery). After this, connect the catheter to a computer that monitors the deflation and inflation, pressure, and time for the balloon to inflate as the heart muscle relaxes and contracts before the heart pumps blood again. This procedure is known as “counterpulsation”. This will help your mind in the following ways:
When the heart relaxes, a pump at your bedside inflates the aortic balloon so that oxygen-rich blood can easily reach the heart. The pump then deflates the balloon just before the heart is ready to pump this oxygen-rich blood. This reduces the pressure in the aorta and helps the heart to move blood around the body more easily.
As the heart is stable and able to work normally, remove the IABP and catheter and apply pressure to stop the bleeding.
Advantages of IABP
- An IABP permits blood to move more easily into the coronary arteries.
- It helps your heart pump more blood with each contraction.
- It boosts diastolic coronary
- This device also rises the systemic flow of the blood
- It reduces afterload and myocardial work
FAQ Section
What is the Purpose of Intra-aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) therapy?
An intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) therapy has the following major purposes:
- This treatment uses to boost myocardial oxygen delivery
- It uses to reduce the myocardial oxygen need
- It increases the pressure of coronary perfusion
- Improve the cardiac output (CO)
Who invented Intra-aortic Balloon Pump?
Numerous anecdotal tried to develop IABP from a long time but the first IABP was developed in the 1950s. In 1960, Kantrowitz clinically launched the first intra-aortic balloon pump. | https://mechanicalboost.com/intra-aortic-balloon-pump/ |
In grades K-4, children ought to have a variety of instructional experiences that involve science and know-how, typically in the identical exercise and different occasions individually. When the activities are informal and open, similar to building a stability and evaluating the load of objects on it, it’s troublesome to separate inquiry from technological design. At other occasions, the excellence could be clear to adults but not to kids. plans a year-long science exercise integral to the complete school science program. The students are to watch and record information about the daily weather. begins the activity by assessing what students know, but realizes that students would possibly use phrases with out understanding.
Such reports and discussions ought to be a frequent prevalence in science programs. Students in grades 5-eight ought to be offered opportunities to engage in full and in partial inquiries. In a full inquiry college students begin with a question, design an investigation, gather evidence, formulate an answer to the unique query, and talk the investigative process and results. In partial inquiries, they develop talents and understanding of selected aspects of the inquiry course of. Children in grades K-4 perceive and may perform design actions sooner than they can inquiry actions, but they can not simply inform the difference between the two, nor is it important whether they can.
helps them understand that there are alternative ways to keep data of occasions. The exercise requires mathematical data and abilitiesӴ The evaluation, developing a pendulum that swings at six swings per second, is embedded within the activity. In middle colleges, students produce oral or written reviews that current the outcomes of their inquiries.
If requested about widespread ecological ideas, corresponding to neighborhood and competition between organisms, teachers are prone to hear responses based on on a regular basis experiences rather than scientific explanations. Teachers should use the scholars’ understanding as a basis to develop the scientific understanding. She wants students to develop an understanding of variables in inquiry and how and why to alter one variable at a time. This inquiry process skill is imparted in the context of physical science subject material. The activity is purposeful, deliberate, and requires teacher steerage. does not inform college students that the number of swings is determined by the length of the pendulum, but creates an exercise that awakens college students’ interest and encourages them to ask questions and search solutions. encourages college students to search for functions of the science information beyond the classroom.
Students design devices for measuring climate which might be within the range of their expertise and a father or mother supplies experience. They make measurements using their mathematical data and expertise; they manage data in a meaningful method and communicate the info to other students. There is an ebb and flow of teacher-directed, whole-class discussions and small-group work periods. USE DATA TO CONSTRUCT A REASONABLE EXPLANATION. This side of the standard emphasizes the scholars’ thinking as they use information to formulate explanations. Even on the earliest grade ranges, college students should study what constitutes proof and judge the deserves or strength of the information and information that will be used to make explanations. After students suggest an explanation, they will attraction to the knowledge and evidence they obtained to help their explanations. Students should examine their explanations in opposition to scientific information, experiences, and observations of others. | https://www.educationcorner.xyz/6-science-content-requirements.html |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a system and method for routing notification messages to a subscriber and, more particularly, to a system and method for determining where a user may access a message and ensuring a subscriber receives a message in a timely manner.
Notification services are becoming more popular as persons are becoming more mobile. Timely receipt of notices can be vitally important in some circumstances. For example, timeliness is important to the subscriber who buys and sells stocks on the stock market. The subscriber will want to be notified at the time a particular stock of interest either reaches a predetermined high or low value such that the subscriber can sell or buy the stock. If this information does not reach the subscriber in a timely manner, the subscriber misses the opportunity to make a gain.
Various services exist by which teleservice subscribers may have messages forwarded to them. These services require that the subscriber indicate the various devices at which they may receive messages, and also a schedule of the times they will be within access of each device. When the service receives a message to be forwarded to the subscriber, the service accesses the device and time data stored in a database, and forwards the message to the device where the subscriber is scheduled to be. Thus, the message delivery system forwards only one message to the subscriber at the location they are to be in accordance with a previously entered schedule. A drawback of this system is the subscriber's schedule may unexpectedly change and the message will be delivered to a device that the subscriber cannot access. These changes in the schedule are often unforeseen and the subscriber does not have the opportunity to change the schedule with the service.
One existing message forwarding system delivers messages to each of the devices registered to the subscriber. A drawback of this method is the number of repetitive messages received by the subscriber that must be reviewed and deleted. By way of example, a subscriber may register a home computer, work computer, and wireless communication device. Each of these devices will be sent the message. Once received by the subscriber at one device, the subscriber must then review and delete the same messages on the other devices. This process is time consuming and frustrating for a busy subscriber. Additionally, the subscriber may inadvertently delete a message before acting on it believing it is a repeat of a previously accessed message.
The present invention is directed to a message system that forwards messages to the subscriber such that they may receive the message in a timely manner. The system directs messages through a host server to one or more devices at which the subscriber may be located. Once delivered, the system monitors whether the subscriber has received the message. The system also deletes repetitive messages from the multiple devices once the message is accessed such that the subscriber does not receive redundant messages.
In one embodiment, a multi-cast approach is used for delivering the message. Registered devices used by the subscriber are listed in a subscriber device list. When a server receives a message that is to be directed to the subscriber, the server sends the message to each of the devices registered for the particular subscriber. Message agents within each subscriber device monitor whether the subscriber has accessed the message. Once the subscriber has accessed the message, the message agent on the device signals the server of the subscriber receipt. In response, the server signals the message agent on each of the remaining devices in the subscriber's device list to indicate that the subscriber has already reviewed the message. The remaining devices can then delete the message so that repetitive messages are eliminated.
In another embodiment, a probabilistic approach is used for determining the where the subscriber is located and delivering the message a device at that location. The server receives a message that is to be forwarded to the subscriber. The server assigns a probability to each device indicating the likelihood of it being used and ranks each of the listed devices based on the probability. Probabilities can be based on a variety of factors including whether a device is active, status via a global positioning network, most recent device access, previously entered schedule, or other. The server sends a message to the device with the highest ranking. If the subscriber accesses the message at that device, a message is sent back to the server indicating receipt and the process is complete. If the subscriber does not access the message within a predetermined time period, the message is deleted from the highest ranking device, and the message is sent to the next ranked device. Again, the server monitors whether the message is received by the subscriber. If no receipt is indicated, the message is deleted and another message is sent to the next highest ranked device. This process continues until the subscriber receives the message.
Hybrid systems of the multi-cast and probabilistic approach are also contemplated and included within the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a schematic diagram of a host server in communication with a number of different subscriber devices;
FIG. 2
is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for delivering a message to the subscriber and using a multi-cast approach;
FIG. 3
is a flowchart illustrating a second exemplary method for delivering a message to the subscriber in a probabilistic approach; and
FIG. 4
is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a communications network through which a sender may send a message addressed to a subscriber.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a message forwarding system and method for delivering messages from a sender to a subscriber over a communications network. Messages are sent to locations where they will be received by the subscriber. Additionally, redundant messages are deleted such that the subscriber receives each message only once.
FIG. 1
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illustrates one embodiment of the message delivery system used in the present invention. Subscriber registers with a host server each of a plurality of subscriber devices that may receive messages. The subscriber devices are generally referred to as , and illustrated within the example of as , , which correspond to a wireless communication device served by a wireless communications network ; an office computer ; and a home computer . It is to be understood that subscriber may have additional devices that are registered with the host server . Additionally, any number of different subscribers each having various subscriber devices may be operatively connected to the host server .
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Host server is operatively connected to the subscriber devices and a communications network . Host server processes the message requests received from a sender through the network and forwards them to the subscriber devices such that subscriber will receive the message in a timely manner and at a convenient device, and will not receive redundant messages. Host server may include memory for storing the subscriber information and processing the sending and receipt of messages.
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Software applications are contained within both the host server and each of the individual devices for monitoring the delivery of messages to the subscriber. In one embodiment, agents are positioned within each component and referred to as a master agent stored within the host server , and subscriber agents stored within each device . Subscriber agents monitor the message status of each subscriber message including receipt, storage, and access of messages within each of their respective devices . Subscriber agent further signals the information to the master agent . Master agent monitors the status of each of the messages on each device and ensures redundant messages are not accessed. Agents , are active and persistent software components that perceive, reason, act, and communicate. Agents are disclosed in the book “Readings in Agents”, edited by Michael N. Huhns and Munindar P. Singh, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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Host server may further maintain a record of each message sent to a subscriber and the access time and date. The record may include the time the message was received by the host server from the sender, the subscriber devices to which the message was forwarded, the time the message was forwarded, the amount of time the message was pending at the various devices before being accessed or deleted, and the time the message was accessed by the subscriber.
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When a subscriber subscribes to the service of the present invention, subscriber provides a listing of each subscriber device at which they may be contacted and address information for each device . This information is stored within memory and is accessed by host server at the time of an incoming message. The list of subscriber devices may be contained, for example, within a subscriber database. In one embodiment, subscriber may also provide a tentative schedule of the times they will be using each device . This increases the likelihood that the host server will be able to contact the subscriber at the time a message is received. By way of example, subscriber may input a schedule of devices at which they can be reached such as weekdays at the wireless communication device between 8:00 am-9:00 am, and 5:00 pm-6:00 pm which corresponds to a drive to and from work, at the office computer between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, and at the home computer between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
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In one embodiment, host server also maintains the current status of each subscriber device . An active device is one which the subscriber is currently logged on to and using such that it may receive messages. Conversely, a non-active device is one which the subscriber has not activated and cannot currently receive messages. Each subscriber may have any number of active and non-active devices at a given instant in time. A subscriber device may change from active to non-active status if the host server receives a signal indicating the subscriber has turned off the power to the device , or if the device has not be used within a predetermined period of time.
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Host server may also prioritize messages that are addressed to a subscriber. In one embodiment, the sender may indicate the priority level within the message. In another embodiment, subscriber provides a list of potential senders to the host server and the priority level that is to be attached to each message originating from the sender. This information is accessed by the host server at the time a message is received from the sender and the appropriate priority level is placed on the message.
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Network is a communications network through which messages and information may be passed between remote users. One example of a network is the Internet. More specific descriptions and embodiments of the components of the present invention are contained and discussed below.
FIG. 2
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illustrates the steps of one a multi-cast forwarding scheme in which the message is forward to a plurality of devices at one instant in time. After receipt by the user at one of the devices , the message is deleted from the remaining devices such that the subscriber does not receive redundant messages. At the time of subscription, subscriber provides information including a listing and address of each device at which they may receive messages. After the subscriber has subscribed to the system, the host server receives a message addressed to the subscriber (block ). Host server accesses the subscriber information from memory indicating which subscriber devices the subscriber receives messages and sends the message to each of the addresses (block ). Host server , and in particular the master agent , may send the message to each of the indicated addresses, or may send the message to each device that is currently active.
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At the device level, the message is received and subscriber agent prioritizes the message relative to the other pending messages (block ). Priority may be based on the time of message receipt, the priority level placed on the message by the host server , or other. Therefore, when subscriber reviews the pending messages, the messages are listed in a priority level which is more convenient for the subscriber to determine which messages require a response and which messages may not be as important and may be reviewed at a later time. Once the subscriber has accessed the message at one of the devices , the subscriber agent signals the master agent (block ).
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Upon receipt of the message received signal from one of the subscriber agents , master agent signals each of the other subscriber agents to delete the now redundant message (block ). These messages are then deleted such that the subscriber does not see the same message more than once (block ).
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Illustrating this method using the elements of , host server receives a message addressed to the subscriber. Host server accesses the subscriber information from memory and invokes master agent to send the message to each of the listed subscriber devices , , . Each of the subscriber agents at each device prioritizes the message with other currently pending messages. The subscriber accesses the message at one of the devices , by way of example wireless communication device . The subscriber agent at the wireless communication device signals receipt of the message access to the master agent . Master agent then signals the remaining subscriber agents at the office computer and the home computer to delete the message. In this manner, subscriber receives the message in a timely manner, and only sees the message once. Host server may also keep a log of each message delivered to the subscriber and include information such as when the message was delivered, when accessed by the subscriber, etc. In another embodiment, the subscriber agents may communicate amongst themselves in addition to communicating with the master agent . Therefore, upon message receipt, subscriber agent at the wireless communication device may signal the subscriber agents at the office and home computers , to delete the message.
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illustrates a probabilistic approach for message delivery that determines the most probable location of the subscriber and sends the message to a device at the location. Host server receives a message addressed to the subscriber (block ). At the time of message receipt, host server ranks each of the devices registered by the subscriber to determine which has the highest probability that the subscriber will receive the message (block ).
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Various methodologies are used for determining the location of the subscriber. In one embodiment, subscriber provides a schedule of the times at which they will be working on each device . Host server delivers the message to the device indicated at the time of message receipt. Another embodiment includes the host server tracking the receipt of each message by the subscriber. When a message is accessed at a particular subscriber device , the host server will direct the next message to the same device . Closely related, if messages are often accessed from a particular device within a particular time frame, the host server will deliver the message to that device first. By way of example, if messages are often received by the subscriber at their home computer after 10 pm, the host server will send the message to that address first before sending the message to other devices .
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Another ranking method is to prioritize each of the active subscriber devices at the time the message is received. By way of example, host server and master agent may assign the wireless communication device with the highest likelihood that the message will be received because many subscribers carry the device with them when it is activated. Office computer may have the second highest priority because although it is active, many subscribers often do not constantly use the device and a message may languish there without being accessed.
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Host server may also rely on a global positioning system for determining a priority for each device . Wireless communication network is able to determine the geographic position of a device as it moves between base stations within the network. Host server may access the geographic positioning information from the wireless communication network to infer whether the subscriber is currently at the device location. When the device is activated and moving throughout the network , host server infers that the user is at the device location and assigns a higher priority to the device . For example, a subscriber with a wireless communication device as they drive about their hometown. This prioritization scheme may not be applicable to static devices, such as the office computer and home computer
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The subscriber may also determine at which of the devices messages are to be received. Subscriber may instruct host server to deliver messages having at least a certain priority to specific devices. If a message does not have the priority level, the host server and master agent sends the message to another device. By way of example, the subscriber may take the wireless communication device into a meeting. Prior to the meeting, subscriber instructs the host server to only send messages with a high priority level to the device , and to send the remainder of the messages to another device.
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After ranking each of the devices , master agent delivers the message to the highest ranked device (block ). The message will remain pending at the device for a predetermined period of time waiting to be accessed by the subscriber (block ). If the subscriber accesses the message, the subscriber agent at the device signals the master agent and the process is terminated (block ). If the message is not accessed within the time period, subscriber agent signals the non-accessed message status to the master agent and the message is deleted from the device (block ). Master agent then sends the message to the next ranked device (block ). If the message is accessed, the process is terminated (block ). If the message is not accessed, the process continues until the subscriber receives the message.
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Hybrid variations combining attributes of the multi-cast and focused approach may also be used. By way of example, each device may be ranked and the top two devices are sent messages with the redundant message being deleted upon receipt by one of the devices . Another example includes sending the message to the highest ranked device and waiting the predetermined time period. If no answer occurs, leave the message pending at that device , and send a redundant message to the next ranked device . This continues until the subscriber accesses the message, at which time redundant messages are deleted.
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Messages addressed to the subscriber may have a variety of forms including but not limited to electronic mail (email) messages, instant messages, and short message service (SMS) messages. Email messages arrive at the host server and are forwarded via email programs such as Microsoft Outlook, stored within each of the subscriber devices . Subscriber devices periodically poll the host server to pick up messages directed to them. Instant messaging allows users to create affinity groups and check the status of and send messages to other group members. Instant messaging software loaded onto the subscriber devices may include iPulse created by Oz.com, or Yahoo Pager. SMS gives subscribers audible and written messaging capabilities for receiving information. The present invention may use one or more of these delivery systems to send and receive messages. These message formats and system support are discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/514,657, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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illustrates one embodiment of the communications network . In this embodiment, host server is directly connected to the Internet . Messages are input by a sender through various devices and directed through the Internet to the host server . In an alternative embodiment not illustrated, a sender server may provide access for the host server to the Internet . Sender server may be an Internet Service Provider, such as BELLSOUTH.NET™, GTE.NET™, or the like. In this alternative, host server serves as a “local” gateway through which the subscriber accesses the sender server and from there accesses the Internet . One skilled in the art will understand that a variety of different architectures may be used in the present invention.
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Individuals or entities wishing to communicate to the subscriber may originate messages at any number of locations. What follows is a discussion of accessing the Internet which in turn passes the communication on to the host server . It should be appreciated that the same connections may be made in embodiments with a sender server. Internet may be accessed directly by an individual through a conventional input/output interface such as remote computer having a keyboard, monitor, and mouse with access being obtained over a dedicated communications link. An individual may instruct the remote computer to access the Internet and provide appropriate log in information or other desired access information. This connection may be a wire-based or wireless connection as needed or desired.
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Alternatively, the remote computer may indirectly access the Internet through a modem (not shown) and network. As noted, appropriate login information may be required. Again, this access may be wire-based or wireless. If wire-based, this connection may occur over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) . If wireless, the connection may be made with a wireless modem over the mobile network .
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While modems are considered, some computers may be able to connect to remote locations without the need for a modem. Ethernet connections or similar arrangements may be made. In such instances, the remote computer may be connected to the Internet , perhaps through an Internet Service Provider, or perhaps through their own Internet domain.
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Another manner of accessing the Internet is via telephone or wireless communication device . Telephones may access the Internet through the PSTN , and the wireless communication device may access the Internet through the mobile network . As yet another embodiment, Internet capable wireless communication devices are presently being marketed by most of the major cellular phone manufacturers such as ERICSSON, assignee of the present invention. These wireless communication devices and the conventional technology associated therewith allow voice and data messages to be routed through the Internet as well as allowing use of the wireless communication devices to view Internet based material. Other existing technology allows Internet voice communication, effectively turning the Internet into a phone system for subscribers. Further, currently existing technologies allow email to be audibly communicated over phone lines and the like. All of these forms of communication are possible and contemplated as being used to facilitate the present invention.
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While the Internet is contemplated as the primary network by which communication between remote computer and the Internet is accomplished, other networks, proprietary or public could equivalently be substituted. Additionally, there are numerous networks, both satellite-based and terrestrial that may be combined to create such a network. Such subsidiary networks could comprise the mobile network , the PSTN , a cable network, or the like. The physical network connection for sender server and the remote computers could be wired connections, such as telephone lines, digital subscriber lines, TV cables, fiber-optic links, and the like, and/or wireless connections, such as microwave, cellular, radio, satellite links, and the like. In short, while described as a discrete network, a remote computer may communicate dynamically over any and all of these subnetworks, potentially without the individual being aware of the exact nature of the communication.
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It is contemplated that the remote computers will be personal computers with the appropriate communications software, although as WEB-TV and other existing services attempt to shift the need from client processing power to server provided processing power, the present invention accommodates such alternate devices as well.
As used herein, the term “wireless communication device” may include a cellular radiotelephone; a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal that may combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communications capabilities; a PDA that can include a radiotelephone, pager, Internet/intranet access, Web browser, organizer, calendar and/or a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; a conventional laptop; palmtop receiver; or other appliance that includes a radiotelephone transceiver. Wireless communication devices may also be referred to as “pervasive computing” devices.
The term “computer” is defined herein as any data processing device including devices having microprocessors, conventional personal computers, personal digital assistants, and the like. The term is meant to be construed broadly.
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Host server may be a personal computer with a microprocessor therein, may be a dedicated network server, or the like as needed or desired, and includes memory . Memory may be a hard drive, flash memory, EEPROM, CD-ROM, optical CD, floppy disk, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, or other form of computer memory as is well understood in the field of computers. Software includes applications programmed to have the functionality of the present invention and may be written in any appropriate code as needed or desired.
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Host server may have a variety of embodiments depending upon the requirements of the system. It should be appreciated that the structure of the host server is provided as an example, and is not intended to be limiting. In one embodiment, host server is a centralized computer at one physical location. In another embodiment, the host server could be a distributed system with multiple computer systems, each located at one physical location, linked together through a local area network (LAN). Each of the computer systems performs part of the tasks accomplished by a centralized host server system.
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In yet another embodiment, the host server could be a distributed system with multiple computer systems scattered across a number of physical locations, but linked together through a wide area network (WAN). Each of the computer systems may also perform only one part of the tasks of a centralized host computer system.
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In a third embodiment, the host server could in fact be redundant servers, each capable of supporting the present invention. Such arrangements are common for game servers like EVERQUEST, ASHERON'S CALL, and the like. In these configurations, the subscriber must log onto the appropriate server to access their account. However such architectures are well known, and a further discussion will be omitted.
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It is specifically contemplated that the host server may be connected to the Internet or other networks at all times and therefore should be adapted to having fail safe and hot-swappable drives. This will allow continued operation even in the event of isolated failures within the system. Additionally, the software may be backed-up regularly, as is well known in the industry, to recover in the event of a catastrophic failure.
The present invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein. | |
# Adversarial stylometry
Adversarial stylometry is the practice of altering writing style to reduce the potential for stylometry to discover the author's identity or their characteristics. This task is also known as authorship obfuscation or authorship anonymisation. Stylometry poses a significant privacy challenge in its ability to unmask anonymous authors or to link pseudonyms to an author's other identities, which, for example, creates difficulties for whistleblowers, activists, and hoaxers and fraudsters. The privacy risk is expected to grow as machine learning techniques and text corpora develop.
All adversarial stylometry shares the core idea of faithfully paraphrasing the source text so that the meaning is unchanged but the stylistic signals are obscured. Such a faithful paraphrase is an adversarial example for a stylometric classifier. Several broad approaches to this exist, with some overlap: imitation, substituting the author's own style for another's; translation, applying machine translation with the hope that this eliminates characteristic style in the source text; and obfuscation, deliberately modifying the a text's style to make it not resemble the author's own.
Manually obscuring style is possible, but laborious; in some circumstances, it is preferable or necessary. Automated tooling, either semi- or fully-automatic, could assist an author. How best to perform the task and the design of such tools is an open research question. While some approaches have been shown to be able to defeat particular stylometric analyses, particularly those that do not account for the potential of adversariality, establishing safety in the face of unknown analyses is an issue. Ensuring the faithfulness of the paraphrase is a critical challenge for automated tools.
It is uncertain if the practice of adversarial stylometry is detectable in itself. Some studies have found that particular methods produced signals in the output text, but a stylometrist who is uncertain of what methods may have been used may not be able to reliably detect them.
## History
Rao & Rohatgi (2000), an early work in adversarial stylometry, identified machine translation as a possibility, but noted that the quality of translators available at the time presented severe challenges. Kacmarcik & Gamon (2006) is another early work. Brennan, Afroz & Greenstadt (2012) performed the first evaluation of adversarial stylometric methods on actual texts.
Brennan & Greenstadt (2009) introduced the first corpus of adversarially authored texts specifically for evaluating stylometric methods; other corpora include the International Imitation Hemingway Competition, the Faux Faulkner contest, and the hoax blog A Gay Girl in Damascus.
## Motivations
Rao & Rohatgi (2000) suggest that short, unattributed documents (i.e., anonymous posts) are not at risk of stylometric identification, but pseudonymous authors who have not practiced adversarial stylometry in producing corpuses of thousands of words may be vulnerable. Narayanan et al. (2012) attempted large-scale deanonymisation of 100,000 blog authors with mixed results: the identifications were significantly better than chance, but only accurately matched the blog and author a fifth of the time; identification improved with the number of posts written by the author in the corpus. Even if an author is not identified, some of their characteristics may still be deduced stylometrically, or stylometry may narrow the anonymity set of potential authors sufficiently for other information to complete the identification. Detecting author characteristics (e.g., gender or age) is often simpler than identifying an author from a large, possibly open, set of candidates.
Modern machine learning techniques offer powerful tools for identification; further development of corpora and computational stylometric techniques are likely to raise further privacy issues. Gröndahl & Asokan (2020a) say that the general validity of the hypothesis underlying stylometry—that authors have invariant, content-independent 'style fingerprints'—is uncertain, but "the deanonymisation attack is a real privacy concern."
Those interested in practicing adversarial stylometry and stylistic deception include whistleblowers avoiding retribution; journalists and activists; perpetrators of frauds and hoaxes; authors of fake reviews; literary forgers; criminals disguising their identity from investigators; and, generally, anyone with a desire for anonymity or pseydonymity. Authors, or agents acting on behalf of authors, may also attempt to remove stylistic clues to author characteristics (e.g., race or gender) so that knowledge of those characteristics cannot be used for discrimination (e.g., through algorithmic bias). Another possible use for adversarial stylometry is in disguising automatically generated text as human-authored.
## Methods
With imitation, the author attempts to mislead stylometry by matching their style to another author's. An incomplete imitation, where some of the true author's unique characteristics appear alongside the imitated author's, can be a detectable signal for the use of adversarial stylometry. Imitation can be performed automatically with style transfer systems, though this typically requires a large corpus in the target style for the system to learn from.
Another approach is translation, which employs machine translation of a source text to eliminate characteristic style, often through multiple translators in sequence to produce a round-trip translation. Such chained translation can lead to texts being significantly altered, even to the point of incomprehensibility; improved translation tools reduce this risk. More simply-structured texts can be easier to machine translate without losing the original meaning. Machine translation blurs into direct stylistic imitation or obfuscation achieved through automated style transfer, which can be viewed as a 'translation' with the same language as input and output. With low-quality translation tools, an author can be required to manually correct major translation errors while avoiding the hazard of re-introducing stylistic characteristics. Wang, Juola & Riddell (2022) found that gross errors introduced by Google Translate were rare, but more common with several intermediate translations—however, occasional simple or short sentences and mispellings in the source text appeared verbatim in the output, potentially providing an identifying signal. Chain translation can leave characteristic traces of its application in a document, which may allow reconstruction of the intermediate languages used and the number of translation steps performed.
Obfuscation involves deliberately changing the style of a text to reduce its similarity to other texts by some metric; this may be performed at the time of writing by conscious modification, or as part of an revision process with feedback from the metric being targetted as an input to decide when the text has been sufficiently obfuscated. In contrast to translation, complex texts can offer more opportunities for effective obfuscation without altering meaning, and likewise genres with more permissible variation allow more obfuscation. However, longer text are harder to thoroughly obfuscate. Obfuscation can blend into imitation if the author develops a novel target style, distinct from their original style. With respect to obfuscating author characteristics, obfuscation may aim to achieve a union (adding signals for imitated characteristics) or an intersection (removing signals and normalising) of other authors' styles. Avoiding the author's own idiosyncracies to produce a 'normalised' text is a critical obfuscatory step: an author may have a unique tendency to misspell certain words, use particular variants, or to format a document in a characteristic way. Stylometric signals vary in how simply they can be adversarially masked; an author may easily change their vocabulary by conscious choice, but altering the pattern of grammar or the letter frequency in their text may be harder to achieve, though Juola & Vescovi (2011) report that imitation typically succeeds at masking more characteristics than obfuscation. Automated obfuscation may require large amounts of training data written by the author.
Concerning automated implementations of adversarial stylometry, two possible implementations are rule-based systems for paraphrasing; and encoder–decoder architectures, where the text passes through an intermediate format that is (intended to be) style-neutral. Another division in automated methods is whether there is feedback from an identification system or not. With such feedback, finding paraphrases for author masking has been characterised as a heuristic search problem, exploring textual variants until the result is stylistically sufficiently far (in the case of obfuscation) or near (in the case of imitation), which then consitutes an adversarial example for that identification system.
## Evaluation
How to best mask stylometric characteristics in practice, and what tasks to perform manually, what with tool assistance, and what fully automatically, is an open field of research, especially in short documents with limited potential variability. Manual adversarial stylometry can be preferred or even required if the author does not trust available computers with the task (as may be the case for a whistleblower, for example). Software tools require maintenance; Wang, Juola & Riddell (2022) report that there is no maintained obfuscatory software suitable for general use. Zhai et al. (2022) identify DS-PAN (Castro-Castro, Ortega Bueno & Muñoz 2017) and Mutant-X (Mahmood et al. 2019) as the 2022 state of the art in automated obfuscation. Manual stylistic modulation is a significant effort, with poor scalability properties; tool assistance can reduce the burden to varying degrees. Deterministic automated methods can lose effectiveness against a classifier trained adversarially, where output from the style transfer program is used in the classifier's training set.
Potthast, Hagen & Stein (2016) give three criteria for use in evaluation of adversarial stylometry methods: safety, meaning that stylistic characteristics are reliably eliminated; soundness, meaning that the semantic content of the text is not unacceptably altered; and sensible, meaning that the output is "well-formed and inconspicuous". Compromising any too deeply is typically an unacceptable result, and the three trade off against each other in practice. Potthast, Hagen & Stein (2016) find that automatically evaluating sensibility, and specifically whether output is acceptably grammatical and well-formed, is difficult; automated evaluation of soundness is somewhat more promising, but manual review is the best method.
Despite safety being an important property of an adversarial stylometry method, it can still be usefully traded away if the conceded stylometric identification potential is otherwise possible by non-stylometric analysis—for example, an author discussing their own upbringing in Britain is unlikely to care if stylometry can reveal that their text is typical of British English.
Evaluating the safety of different approaches is complicated by how identification-resistance fundamentally depends on the methods of identification under consideration. The property of being resilient to unknown analyses is called transferability. Gröndahl & Asokan (2020b) identify four different threat models for authors, varying with their knowledge of how their text will be analysed and what training data will be used: query access, with the weakest analyst and the strongest author who knows both the methods of analysis and the training data; architecture access, where the author knows the analysis methods but not the training data; data access, where the author knows the training data but not the analysis methods; and surrogate access, with the weakest author and the strongest analyst, where the author does not know the methods of analysis nor the training data. Further, when an author chooses a method, they must rely on their threat model and trust that it is valid, and that unknown analyses able to detect remaining stylistic signals cannot or will not be performed, or that the masking successfully transfers; a stylometrist with knowledge of how the author attempted to mask their style, however, may be able to exploit some weakness in the method and render it unsafe. Much of the research into automated methods has assumed that the author has query access, which may not generalise to other settings. Masking methods that internally use an ensemble of different analyses as a model for its adversary may transfer better against unseen analyses.
A thorough soundness loss defeats the purpose of communication, though some degree of meaning change may be tolerable if the core message is preserved; requiring only textual entailment or allowing automatic summarisation are other options to lose some meaning in a possibly-tolerable way. Rewriting an input text to defeat stylometry, as opposed to consciously removing stylistic characteristics during composition, poses challenges in retaining textual meaning. Gröndahl & Asokan (2020a) assess the problem of unsoundness as "the most important challenge" for research into fully automatic approaches.
For sensibility, if a text is so ungrammatical as to be incomprehensible or so ill-formed that it cannot fit in to its genre then the method has failed, but compromises short of that point may be useful. If inconspicuity is partially lost, then there is the possibility that more expensive and less scalable analyses will be performed (e.g., consulting a forensic linguist) to confirm suspicions or gather further evidence. The impact of a total inconspicuity failure varies depending on the motivation for performing adversarial stylometry: for someone simply attempting to stay anonymous (e.g., a whistleblower), detection may not be an issue; for a literary forger, however, detection would be disastrous. Adversarial stylometry can leave evidence of its practice, which is an inconspicuity failure. In the Brennan–Greenstadt corpus, the texts have been found to share a common 'style' of their own. However, Gröndahl & Asokan (2020a) assess existing evidence as insufficient to prove that adversarial stylometry is always detectable, with only limited methods having been studied. Improving the smoothness of the output text may reduce the detectability of automated tools. The overall detectability of adversarial authorship has not been thoroughly studied; if the methods available to be used by the author are unknown to the stylometrist, it may be impossible.
The problems of author identification and verification in an adversarial setting are greatly different from recognising naïve or cooperative authors. Deliberate attempts to mask authorship are described by Juola & Vescovi (2011) as a "problem for the current state of stylometric art", and Brennan, Afroz & Greenstadt (2012) state that, despite stylometry's high performance in identifying non-adversarial authors, manual application of adversarial methods render it unreliable.
Kacmarcik & Gamon (2006) observe that low-dimensional stylometric models which operate on small numbers of features are less resistant to adversarial stylometry. Research has found that authors vary in how well they are able to modulate their style, with some able to successfully perform the task even without training. Wang, Juola & Riddell (2022), a replication and reproduction of Brennan, Afroz & Greenstadt (2012), found that all three of imitation, translation and obfuscation meaningfully reduced the effectiveness of authorship attribution, with manual obfuscation being somewhat more effective than manual imitation or translation, which performed similarly to each other; the original study found that imitation was superior. Potthast, Hagen & Stein (2016) reported that even simple automated methods of adversarial stylometry caused major difficulties for state-of-the-art authorship identification systems, though at significant soundness and sensibility cost. Adversarially-aware identification systems can perform much better against adversarial stylometry provided that they know which potential obfuscation methods were used, even if the identifier makes mistakes in analysing which anonymisation method was used. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adversarial_stylometry |
Symptoms of near blur, difficulties with reading, and headaches may be due to Accommodative Dysfunction. Fortunately, our doctor, Dr. David Antonyan, has been trained and specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients suffering from Accommodative Dysfunction.
🔴 What is Accommodation? What is Accommodative Dysfunction?
Accommodation is the ability of the eyes to focus on near targets. Accommodation occurs by movement of the lens inside the eye. This movement is controlled by muscles that generally relax to see far away and contract to see clearly at near. This mechanism is separate from “refractive error” or the need for glasses at distance; however, uncorrected refractive error can influence this system.
Accommodative ability is generally well developed by 4 months of age and should continue to work efficiently until around age 40, when the lens begins to become less flexible and therefore harder to move. This is why the majority of older adults require reading glasses or bifocals as they get older.
Accommodative Dysfunction is the inability of the eyes’ focusing system to work properly.
🔴 What are the different types of Accommodative Dysfunction?
The different types of Accommodative Dysfunction are Accommodative Insufficiency, Accommodative Infacility, Ill-Sustained Accommodation, Accommodative Paralysis, and
ACCOMMODATIVE INSUFFICIENCY
Accommodative Insufficiency causes a difficulty with efficiently sustaining focus at near. This is the most common type of accommodative dysfunction. The increased effort required to maintain clear vision at near can decrease performance on near tasks.
ILL-SUSTAINED ACCOMMODATION
Ill-Sustained Accommodation occurs when accommodation is normal but fatigue happens over time with repeated accommodative stimulus.
ACCOMMODATIVE PARALYSIS
Accommodative Paralysis occurs when the accommodative system fails to respond to any stimulus. It can be caused by the use of cycloplegic drugs, or by trauma, ocular or systemic disease, toxicity, or poisoning.
ACCOMMODATIVE INFACILITY
Accommodative Infacility causes difficulty with efficiently switching focus between near and far and vice versa.
ACCOMMODATIVE SPASM
Accommodative Spasm causes a spasm of the focusing muscle which prevents the focusing muscles from fully relaxing. This generally causes blurry vision both near and far.
🔴How is Accommodative Dysfunction diagnosed?
Dr. David Antonyan, the chief optometrist of Vivid Visions Optometry, Inc uses the latest equipment to thoroughly evaluate and diagnose the exact type of Accommodative Dysfunction you may have.
In addition to Comprehensive Eye Examination, a Comprehensive Binocular Vision Evaluation is needed to accurately diagnose Accommodative Dysfunctions.
🔴 How is Accommodative Dysfunction treated?
Accommodative Dysfunctions are treated with special lenses and/or vision therapy.
After conducting a Comprehensive Binocular Vision Evaluation, special lenses may be prescribed to reduce your eye strain. You may also need personalized vision therapy.
At our clinic, treatment of accommodative dysfunctions with optometric vision therapy has a very high success rate (greater than 90%) and often requires between 12 to 24 sessions, when combined with home support activities. Patients with additional visual diagnoses, autism, developmental delay or a history of traumatic brain injury/concussion may require a longer treatment plan.
If you’re in need of quality eye care, Dr. David Antonyan can help.
Vivid Visions Optometry, Inc serves patients from Santa Clarita and all its surrounding cities. | https://www.vividvisionsoptometry.com/conditions/Accommodative-Dysfunction |
In, Benin, most serious epidemic diseases have been brought under control by mobile health units and other facilities. Yaws has been almost totally eradicated in the northern part of the country. Sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) has also been greatly reduced in the north and yellow fever has all but disappeared. Meningitis, once endemic in the north, now appears only sporadically and measures against tuberculosis have been intensified. In 2002, 203 new cases of cholera were reported. Malnutrition was prevalent in an estimated 25% of children under five years old. Access to safe water had improved to 63% by 2000 (between 1990 and 1995, only 20% had access to safe water), but only 23% of the population had adequate sanitation. Estimated average life expectancy in 2005 was 53 years.
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As of 2004, there were an estimated 6 physicians and 20 nurses per 100,000 people. Total health care expenditure was estimated at 3.3% of GDP. About 16% of married women (age 15 to 49) used contraception in 2000. The maternal mortality rate was estimated at 500 per 100,000 live births. The infant mortality rate in 2005 was 81 per 1,000 live births. The total fertility rate was 6.4 per woman in 1999. Nearly half of the women in Benin undergo female genital mutilation.
The HIV/AIDS in Benin prevalence was 1.90 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 68,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 5,800 deaths from AIDS in 2003.
The government of Benin has set goals of expanding its health care system, upgrading the quality of first referral care, promoting private sector care, and improving public sector care. | http://www.thefullwiki.org/Health_in_Benin |
Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Sir Alex Ferguson: Why Man Utd didn't get Mourinho, Klopp or Guardiola… but Moyes
MANCHESTER UNITED were interested in signing Jose Mourinho when Sir Alex Ferguson retired - but had to move for David Moyes instead.
That is according to Sir Alex himself, who claims it was not his sole decision to appoint his fellow Scot.
United endured a disappointing 10 months under Moyes - the club eventually sacking the former Everton boss in 2014 when his team crashed out of the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho (right) was considered as a man to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson
They finished seventh in the Premier League that season, with Manchester City winning the title and Mourinho a year into his second stint at Chelsea.
And Sir Alex, speaking in a new BBC documentary 'Sir Alex Ferguson: Secrets of Success', revealed Mourinho wasn't the only man Old Trafford officials were keen on appointing.
Manchester United were also keen on appointing Jurgen Klopp
Carlo Ancelotti was unavailable as he joined Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola never called Sir Alex Ferguson back after they had a meeting in New York
"We did the best under the circumstances we were in," Ferguson said of Moyes' appointment.
"When I announced my retirement, do you honestly believe that one man could decide the future of Manchester United?"
"That's absolute nonsense. There was a good process… Jose was going back to Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti was going to Real Madrid, Jurgen Klopp had signed a contract with (Borussia) Dortmund, Louis van Gaal was staying with Holland for the World Cup.
"The other thing was I took Pep Guardiola for dinner in New York in September and I had no idea I was ever going to retire and I said to him give me a call and tell me what you're going to do. No answer.
"I don't think we made a mistake at all… we picked the right man. Unfortunately it didn't work for David."
Van Gaal eventually took over at United after the 2014 World Cup, with caretaker manager Ryan Giggs becoming his assistant.
On Giggs' credibility as a possible future boss at Old Trafford, Sir Alex said: "If (he) had retired six, seven years ago… at, say, 35, quite likely I would have made him my assistant and quite likely he could have moved straight into the job with the experience of being an assistant manager to me as he is doing with Louis van Gaal at the moment." | https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/610123/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-Man-Utd-Mourinho-Klopp-Guardiola-Moyes |
Q:
jQuery - get pixel width of option in a select list?
With the following I can get the width of a select input in pixels. Is it possible to get the width of an option within the select list? Thanks
$('#mySelect').width();
UPDATE - heres the reason I want this. I need to center text in a select list. I cant do this cross device and browser with css text-align: center; My only option is to use text-indent. As my site has a liquid width and the options are of different lengths, I need to calculate this value dynamically.
So, if I could get the width of the select option text, and also get the width of the container (much easier), then I could calculate what the text-indent should be. Thanks
NimChimpsky's method seems to work fine. Code is here: jQuery - function runs fine when fired on div click, but not on page load
A:
you can get string length of selected option like so :
("#mySelect option:selected").text().length
and for a specific index element (2 here) do this :
$("#mySelect option[value='2']").text().length
Alternatively you could take the selected text, put it in an invisible div, then get the width of that div - using normal jquery width method.
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Thermophilic bacteria in hot spring along the Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
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YG35-7
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Yellowstone
Yellowstone N.P.
Yellowstone NP
Naitonal Park
National Parks
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Thermophillic Bacteria
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: Participants were informed of the study and all participants’ parents signed a consent form and participants signed an assent form for participation in the study. Participant information was coded to ensure removal of all identifying information for confidentiality and anonymity. Approval was obtained to conduct the research from each area’s Department of Education, and each school signed a consent form in order to participate in the study. The sub-study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of the Witwatersrand (Clearance number M160958).
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. | https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1186/s12889-019-6530-x |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
This application is a bypass continuation application of International Application No. PCT/KR2020/006665, filed May 21, 2020, which is based on and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/850,815, filed May 21, 2019, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
1. Field
2. Description of Related Art
The disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding an image by using various-shape coding units included in the image. When a method and apparatus according to an embodiment performs residual encoding/decoding according to a transform skip mode, the method and apparatus may efficiently arithmetically encode and arithmetically decode information about a coefficient included in a coding unit.
As hardware capable of reproducing and storing high-resolution or high-quality image content become widely popular, a codec for efficiently encoding or decoding the high-resolution or high-quality image content is in high demand. The encoded image content may be reproduced by decoding the encoded image content. Recently, methods of effectively compressing high-resolution or high-quality image content are used. For example, an efficient image compression method is implemented through a process of randomly processing an image to be encoded.
Various data units may be used to compress images, and an inclusion relation may exist between the data units. A data unit may be split by using various methods to determine a size of the data unit to be used in image compression, and an optimal data unit may be determined based on a characteristic of an image, such that the image may be encoded or decoded.
SUMMARY
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an image decoding method including: determining at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determining at least one transform unit in the at least one coding unit; determining whether to decode residual data of the at least one transform unit according to a transform skip mode; based on determining that the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, obtaining a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup in the at least one transform unit; based on the significant subgroup flag indicating that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient and scanning information about coefficients of the subgroup, obtaining at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position, the at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using a context model; obtaining the residual data including at least one coefficient in the subgroup, based on at least one of a base level of the coefficient of the scan position obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and a remainder of an absolute value excluding the base level; and obtaining a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the residual data, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes the at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position indicates whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position indicates whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position indicates whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
The image decoding method further includes: obtaining at least one third bin that is arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode and that indicates a coefficient absolute value, with respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup. The obtaining the residual data including the at least one coefficient included in the subgroup includes: obtaining a first coefficient in the subgroup, based on the at least one of the base level of the coefficient of the scan position obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level; obtaining at least one second coefficient by arithmetic decoding, in the bypass mode, the at least one third bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode and indicating the coefficient absolute value; and obtaining the residual data including the first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient, and wherein the obtaining the reconstruction block of the coding unit includes obtaining the reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the at least one first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient.
The obtaining the first bin about the at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag of the coefficient of the scan position includes, when a number of bins remaining in the predetermined number of bins after being arithmetic decoded by using the context model before the current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, obtaining a first bin about the at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag of the coefficient of the current scan position.
The determining whether the transform unit is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode includes, when a component in the transform unit is a luma component and, and the residual data is to be decoded according to a multiple transform selection scheme skip mode with respect to the transform unit, or the residual data is to be decoded according to a block-based delta pulse code modulation (BDPCM) mode, determining that the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode with respect to the transform unit.
The image decoding method further includes: based on the significant coefficient flag of the coefficient of the current scan position indicating that the coefficient of the current scan position is the significant coefficient, and when a number of bins remaining after a number of first bins and bins about a second flag obtained before the current scan position is scanned is deducted from the predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, obtaining a second bin about a second flag of the coefficient of the current scan position, the second bin being arithmetic encoded by using the context model, wherein the second flag indicates whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than a first value, and wherein the first value is an odd number greater than 1.
The image decoding method further includes: obtaining the base level of the coefficient of the scan position, based on the second bin about the second flag; and based on the obtained base level of the coefficient of the scan position being equal to or greater than a second value, obtaining a bin about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position, the bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode.
The image decoding method further includes: based on the residual data being determined not to be decoded according to the transform skip mode with respect to the transform unit, obtaining the residual data by inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient in the transform unit, wherein the obtaining the residual data by inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient in the transform unit includes: obtaining last significant coefficient position information indicating a position of a last significant coefficient of the transform unit; obtaining a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup in the transform unit, based on the obtained last significant coefficient position information; based on the significant subgroup flag indicating that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, obtaining, by scanning the information about the transform coefficients of the subgroup, a first bin including at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the first flag, the parity flag, and a second flag of the coefficient of the scan position, the first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode by using the context model; and obtaining the residual data by obtaining the at least one transform coefficient in the subgroup, based on the at least one of the base level of the coefficient of the scan position which is obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level of the coefficient of the scan position, and by inverse-quantizing and inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient in the subgroup, wherein the second flag indicates whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and wherein the first value is an odd number greater than 1.
The image decoding method further includes: obtaining at least one second bin that is arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode and that indicates an absolute value of the transform coefficient of the other scan position with respect to a transform coefficient of another scan position other than the transform coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the transform coefficients in the subgroup, wherein the obtaining the residual data by obtaining the at least one transform included in the subgroup by inverse-quantizing and inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient included in the subgroup includes: obtaining at least one first transform coefficient in the subgroup, based on at least one of the base level which is obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level, and obtaining at least one second transform coefficient by arithmetic decoding the at least one second bin in the bypass mode, the at least one second bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode and indicating the absolute value of the transform coefficient; and obtaining the residual data including the at least one first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient by inverse-quantizing and inverse-transforming the at least one first transform coefficient and the second transform coefficient included in the subgroup, and obtaining a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the at least one first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient.
The obtaining the residual data including the first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient includes: obtaining the coefficient absolute value by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin generated by arithmetic decoding the at least one third bin in the bypass mode, and obtaining the at least one second coefficient, based on the coefficient absolute value.
The image decoding method further includes: obtaining at least one second bin at a scan position of the second flag based on a value of the second flag, the at least one second bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode and indicating a remainder of an absolute value of the transform coefficient, wherein the obtaining the residual data by obtaining the at least one transform coefficient in the subgroup by inverse-quantizing and inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient in the subgroup includes: obtaining a base level of at least one transform coefficient of a scan position of the second flag by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context mode, obtaining the remainder of the absolute value of the at least one transform coefficient at the scan position of the second flag by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin generated by arithmetic decoding the second bin in the bypass mode, and obtaining the at least one transform coefficient at the scan position of the second flag, based on the base level of the at least one transform coefficient at the scan position of the second flag and the remainder of the absolute value of the at least one transform coefficient at the scan position of the second flag; and obtaining the residual data by inverse-quantizing and inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient at the scan position of the second flag, and wherein the second flag indicates whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a second value, and wherein the second value is an odd number greater than 1.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an image decoding apparatus including: at least one processor configured to: determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determine at least one transform unit in the at least one coding unit; determine whether to decode residual data of the at least one transform unit according to a transform skip mode; based on determining that the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, obtain a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup in the at least one transform unit; based on the significant subgroup flag indicating that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient and scan information about coefficients of the subgroup, obtain at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position, the at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using a context model, obtain the residual data including at least one coefficient in the subgroup, based on at least one of a base level of the coefficient of the scan position obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and a remainder of an absolute value excluding the base level, and obtain a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the residual data, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes the at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position indicates whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position indicates whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position indicates whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an image encoding method including: determining at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determining at least one transform unit included in the coding unit; determining whether to encode residual data of the at least one transform unit according to a transform skip mode; based on determining that the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, generating a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup in the at least one transform unit; based on the subgroup including at least one non-zero significant coefficient and scanning information about coefficients of the subgroup, generating at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins; and generating a bitstream including the residual data that includes the significant subgroup flag and the first bin, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position indicates whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position indicates whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position indicates whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
The image encoding method further includes: generating at least one third bin by arithmetic encoding a coefficient absolute value in a bypass mode with respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, and wherein the generating the bitstream including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin further includes generating the bitstream including the significant subgroup flag, the first bin, and the third bin.
The generating the first bin by arithmetic encoding the at least one includes, when a number of bins remaining from the predetermined number of bins after being arithmetic encoded by using the context model before the current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, generating the first bin by arithmetic encoding the at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag of the coefficient of the current scan position by using the context model, wherein the image encoding method further includes, when the coefficient of the current scan position is a significant coefficient, and a number of bins remaining after a number of first bins and bins about a second flag obtained before the current scan position is scanned are deducted from the predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, generating a bin about the second flag by arithmetic encoding the second flag of the coefficient of the current scan position by using the context model, and wherein the second flag indicates whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than a first value, and wherein the first value is an odd number greater than 1.
The image encoding method further includes: based on determining that the residual data is not to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, generating the residual data by transforming at least one coefficient in the at least one transform unit, wherein the generating the residual data by transforming the at least one coefficient included in the at least one transform unit further includes: generating at least one transform coefficient by transforming the at least one coefficient included in the transform unit; generating last significant coefficient position information indicating a position of a last significant coefficient of the at least one transform unit; generating a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the at least one transform unit; and when the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, generating, by scanning information about transform coefficients of the subgroup, a first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, a parity flag, and a second flag of a transform coefficient of the scan position, the first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using the context model, and wherein the second flag indicates whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and wherein the first value is an odd number greater than 1.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1A
is a block diagram of an image decoding apparatus, according to various embodiments;
FIG. 1B
illustrates a flowchart of an image decoding method according to various embodiments;
FIG. 1C
is a block diagram of an image decoder according to various embodiments;
FIG. 2A
is a block diagram of an image encoding apparatus, according to various embodiments;
FIG. 2B
illustrates a flowchart of an image encoding method according to various embodiments;
FIG. 2C
is a block diagram of an image encoder according to various embodiments;
FIG. 3A
is a diagram for describing a context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) technique according to an embodiment;
FIG. 3B
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of normal coefficient coding according to an embodiment;
FIG. 3C
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of coefficient coding in a transform skip mode according to an embodiment;
FIG. 3D
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of coefficient coding in a transform skip mode according to an embodiment;
FIGS. 4A to 4C
are diagrams for describing a dependent quantization process according to an embodiment;
FIG. 5A
is a diagram for describing a method by which an image decoding apparatus performs residual coding according to an embodiment;
FIG. 5B
illustrates a diagram for describing a method by which the image decoding apparatus performs transform skip residual coding according to an embodiment;
FIG. 6
illustrates a process, performed by an image decoding apparatus, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 7
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a non-square coding unit, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 8
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of splitting a coding unit based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 9
illustrates a method, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of determining a predetermined coding unit from among an odd number of coding units, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 10
illustrates an order of processing a plurality of coding units when the image decoding apparatus determines a plurality of coding units by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 11
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of determining that a current coding unit is to be split into an odd number of coding units when the coding units are not processable in a predetermined order, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 12
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a first coding unit, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 13
illustrates that a shape into which a second coding unit is splittable is restricted when the second coding unit having a non-square shape, which is determined as the image decoding apparatus splits a first coding unit, satisfies a predetermined condition, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 14
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus, of splitting a square coding unit when split shape mode information indicates that the square coding unit is to not be split into four square coding units, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 15
illustrates that a processing order between a plurality of coding units may be changed depending on a process of splitting a coding unit, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 16
illustrates a process of determining a depth of a coding unit as a shape and size of the coding unit change, when the coding unit is recursively split such that a plurality of coding units are determined, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 17
illustrates depths that are determinable based on shapes and sizes of coding units, and part indexes (PIDs) that are for distinguishing the coding units, according to an embodiment;
FIG. 18
illustrates that a plurality of coding units are determined based on a plurality of predetermined data units included in a picture, according to an embodiment; and
FIG. 19
illustrates a processing block serving as a criterion for determining a determination order of reference coding units included in a picture, according to an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
An image decoding method according to an embodiment of the disclosure includes: determining at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determining at least one transform unit included in the coding unit; determining whether residual data is to be decoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit; when the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, obtaining a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit; and when the significant subgroup flag indicates that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, scanning information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus, obtaining at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position, the at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using a context model; obtaining residual data including at least one coefficient included in the subgroup, based on at least one of a base level of the coefficient of the scan position which is obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and a remainder of an absolute value excluding the base level and obtaining a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the residual data, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position is a flag indicating whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
An image decoding apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include: at least one processor configured to determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image, determine at least one transform unit included in the coding unit, determine whether residual data is to be decoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, when the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, obtain a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit, when the significant subgroup flag indicates that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, scan information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus, obtain at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position, the at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using a context model, obtain residual data including at least one coefficient included in the subgroup, based on at least one of a base level of the coefficient of the scan position which is obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and a remainder of an absolute value excluding the base level, and obtain a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the residual data, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position is a flag indicating whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
An image encoding method according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include: determining at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determining at least one transform unit included in the coding unit; determining whether residual data is to be encoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit; when the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, generating a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit; when the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, scanning information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus generating at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins; and generating a bitstream including residual data including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position is a flag indicating whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
The image encoding method may further include: with respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, generating at least one third bin by arithmetic encoding a coefficient absolute value in a bypass mode, and wherein the generating of the bitstream including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin may include generating a bitstream including the significant subgroup flag, the first bin, and the third bin.
An image encoding method according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include: determining at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image; determining at least one transform unit included in the coding unit; determining whether residual data is to be encoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit; when the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, generating a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit; when the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, scanning information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus generating at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins; and generating a bitstream including residual data including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin, wherein a significant subgroup flag of a current subgroup indicates whether the current subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position is a flag indicating whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient, a first flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1, and a parity flag of the current scan position is a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number of an even number.
The image encoding method may further include: with respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, generating at least one third bin by arithmetic encoding a coefficient absolute value in a bypass mode, and wherein the generating of the bitstream including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin may include generating a bitstream including the significant subgroup flag, the first bin, and the third bin.
A computer program of an image decoding method according to an embodiment of the disclosure may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.
Various aspects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this regard, the disclosure may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the inventive concept of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.
The terms used in the disclosure will be briefly defined, and the embodiments will be described in detail.
All terms including descriptive or technical terms which are used in the disclosure should be construed as having meanings that are generally known to one of ordinary skill in the art. However, the terms may have different meanings according to the intention of one of ordinary skill in the art, precedential cases, or the appearance of new technologies. Also, some terms may be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and the meaning of the selected terms will be described in detail in the disclosure. Therefore, the terms used in the disclosure should not be interpreted only based on their names, but should be interpreted based on the meaning of the terms in context of the present disclosure.
In the following description, singular forms may include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
When a part “includes” or “comprises” an element, unless there is a particular description contrary thereto, the part may further include other elements, not excluding the other elements.
In the following description, terms such as “unit” may indicate software or a hardware component, and the “unit” performs certain functions. However, the “unit” is not limited to software or hardware. The “unit” may be formed so as to be in an addressable storage medium, or may be formed so as to operate one or more processors. Thus, for example, the term “unit” may refer to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, and may include processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, micro codes, circuits, data, a database, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables. A function provided by the components and “units” may be associated with the smaller number of components and “units”, or may be divided into additional components and “units”.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, “unit” may be implemented as a processor and a memory. The term “processor” should be interpreted broadly to include a general purpose processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, and the like. In some environments, the “processor” may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like. The term “processor” may refer to a combination of processing devices such as, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or a combination of any other such configurations.
The term “memory” should be interpreted broadly to include any electronic component capable of storing electronic information. The term “memory” may refer to various types of processor-readable media, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erase-programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memory, a magnetic or optical data storage device, registers, and the like. When the processor can read information from a memory and/or write information to the memory, the memory is stated to be in an electronic communication state with the processor. The memory integrated in the processor is in an electronic communication state with the processor.
Hereinafter, an “image” may be a static image such as a still image of a video or may be a dynamic image such as a moving image, such as a video.
Hereinafter, a “sample” denotes data assigned to a sampling position of an image, e.g., data to be processed. For example, pixel values of an image in a spatial domain and transform coefficients on a transform domain may be samples. A unit including at least one such sample may be defined as a block. Hereinafter, the disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings for one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to perform the embodiments without any difficulty. In addition, portions irrelevant to the description will be omitted in the drawings for a clear description of the disclosure.
FIGS. 1 to 19
Hereinafter, an image encoding apparatus and an image decoding apparatus, and an image encoding method and an image decoding method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to .
FIGS. 6 to 19
FIGS. 1A to 5B
With reference to , a method of determining a data unit of an image according to an embodiment will be described, and with reference to , an image encoding or decoding method and apparatus that efficiently arithmetic encode/arithmetic decode information about a coefficient included in a coding unit when performing residual encoding/decoding (hereinafter, ‘residual encoding/decoding’ will be also referred to as ‘residual coding’) according to a transform skip mode will be described.
Here, the transform skip mode refers to a mode in which an image encoding apparatus performs encoding on a coefficient by not performing a transformation operation on residual data (e.g., by skipping the transformation operation) and by performing quantization and arithmetic encoding, and an image decoding apparatus does not perform an inverse-transformation operation on the residual data and performs arithmetic decoding and inverse-quantization. Here, the residual data refers to data indicating a difference between data of an original image and data of a prediction image, and includes data of at least one coefficient. According to the transform skip mode, the transformation (inverse-transformation) operation is not performed, such that a coefficient included in the residual data may be a value of a spatial domain.
FIGS. 1A to 5B
Hereinafter, with reference to , an image encoding or decoding method and apparatus that efficiently arithmetic encode/arithmetic decode information about a coefficient included in a coding unit when performing residual encoding/decoding according to the transform skip mode will be described.
FIG. 1A
is a block diagram of an image decoding apparatus, according to various embodiments.
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An image decoding apparatus according to various embodiments may include an obtainer and an image decoder . The obtainer and the image decoder may each include at least one processor. Also, the obtainer and the image decoder may each include at least one memory storing one or more instructions to be executed by the at least one processor.
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The image decoder and the obtainer may be implemented as separate hardware components, or the image decoder may include the obtainer . The image decoder may include an arithmetic decoder, and the arithmetic decoder may perform arithmetic decoding on at least one bin of various parameter information related to residual data or an image. The image decoder may obtain the residual data of the image, based on the arithmetic decoded bin obtained by the arithmetic decoder, or may obtain information (e.g., syntax element) of various parameters related to the image.
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In this regard, the at least one bin of the various parameter information related to the residual data or the image may be parsed from a bitstream through the obtainer . Here, a bin may mean one bit indicating 0 or 1. In this regard, the arithmetic decoder may perform binary arithmetic decoding on the bin by using a context model (binary arithmetic decoding on the bin according to a regular mode) or may perform binary arithmetic decoding on the bin according to a bypass mode. Here, the context model may be information about an occurrence probability of the bin. The information about the occurrence probability of the bin may include information indicating one symbol of a least probable symbol (LPS) that is a symbol for which occurrence probability is relatively low from among two symbols of 0 and 1, and a most probable symbol (MPS) is a symbol for which occurrence probability is high, and information about an occurrence probability of one symbol. As information about an occurrence probability of remaining symbol is information about a probability obtained by subtracting the occurrence probability of one symbol from a total probability of 1, when the occurrence probability of one symbol is determined, the arithmetic decoder may determine the occurrence probability of remaining symbol. Here, the occurrence probability of one symbol which is first determined may be an occurrence probability of an LPS. Occurrence probabilities of a symbol corresponding to index values may be predetermined in a table, and occurrence probability information about the symbol may be information indicating an index indicating the occurrence probabilities of the symbol which are determined in the table. The context model may be determined based on a bin index indicating a position of a bin, an occurrence probability of a bin included in a neighboring block, and various elements of a current block or the neighboring block. A bypass mode may be a mode in which the context model is not used, and binary arithmetic decoding is performed with each of symbol occurrence probabilities fixed at 0.5 (or another predetermined probability).
FIG. 3A
According to a type of target information or a position of a bin, the arithmetic decoder may selectively perform binary arithmetic decoding on at least one bin of the target information by using the context model, or perform binary arithmetic decoding on the at least one bin of the target information, according to the bypass mode. That is, the arithmetic decoder may perform binary arithmetic decoding, according to a context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) technique. Hereinafter, with reference to , the CABAC technique will now be described in detail.
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Hereinafter, in the CABAC technique, a mode in which binary arithmetic decoding is performed by using a context model is referred to as a regular mode. The image decoder may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image. For example, the image decoder may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting the current image, based on a split shape mode of the current image. Here, the split shape mode may indicate at least one of whether splitting is to be performed, a split direction, and a split type. The split type may indicate one of binary split, tri split, and quad split. The obtainer may obtain information about the split shape mode of the current image, and the image decoder may determine the at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting the current image, based on the obtained information about the split shape mode of the current image.
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The image decoder may determine at least one transform unit included in a coding unit. For example, the image decoder may determine a transform unit to have a same size as a coding unit, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and when a size of the coding unit is greater than a predetermined size, the image decoder may determine a plurality of transform units by splitting the coding unit.
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The image decoder may determine whether residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit. For example, when a component of the transform unit is a luma component and if residual data for the transform unit is to be decoded according to a multiple transform selection scheme skip mode or decoded according to a block-based delta pulse code modulation (BDPCM) mode, the image decoder may determine that the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit. In this regard, a multiple transform selection scheme (MTS) technique refers to a scheme of performing a (inverse) transformation operation by selecting transform kernels in horizontal direction/vertical direction from among various transform kernels, and for example, the various transform kernels may include, but not limited to, DCT-2, DST-7, and DCT-8. An MTS technique skip mode may indicate a mode in which the (inverse) transformation operation according to the MTS technique is skipped.
The BDPCM mode may indicate a mode in which a residual signal of a block is determined by performing intra prediction by using a reference sample of a neighboring block in a predetermined prediction direction (e.g., a vertical direction or a horizontal direction), the residual signal is quantized, and a difference between a current sample in the block and the quantized residual signal of a previously-encoded sample is encoded (DPCM) in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. Even in the BDPCM mode, the (inverse) transformation operation may not be performed.
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However, the disclosure is not limited to a case in which the component of the transform unit is the luma component, and when the transform unit is a chroma component, the image decoder may determine that the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit.
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When the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, the obtainer may obtain a significant subgroup flag (or a significant subblock flag or a significant coefficient group flag) about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit. Here, the subgroup includes a subblock but is not limited thereto, and thus may include a predetermined number (e.g., 16) of coefficients to be scanned according to a scan order. The subblock may be a block having a predetermined size which may be 4×4, but is not limited thereto, and thus, may have various sizes (e.g., its height and width are multiples of 4).
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The significant subgroup flag may be a flag indicating whether a corresponding subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient. Here, the obtainer may obtain a bin of the significant subgroup flag which is binary arithmetic encoded by using a context model.
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When the significant subgroup flag indicates that the corresponding subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the obtainer may scan information about coefficients of the subgroup according a predetermined scan order (e.g., an order includes, but not limited to, a predetermined scan pattern in a forward direction (diagonal scan, horizontal scan, vertical scan, etc.)), and thus, may obtain at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position. The at least one first bin may be equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and may be arithmetic encoded by using the context model. The predetermined number of bins may be equal to 28 but is not limited thereto, and thus, may be determined based on a height and a width of the subgroup (in this case, the subblock). Also, the predetermined number of bins may be determined for each of subgroups. Alternatively, the predetermined number of bins may be determined for each of transform units according to sizes of the transform units. For example, the predetermined number of bins may be determined based on a width and a height of a transform unit. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and thus, the predetermined number of bins may be determined as various values.
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For example, the obtainer may set an initial number of remaining bins as the predetermined number of bins (e.g., 28 bins), and when at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient which is arithmetic encoded by using the context model is obtained, the obtainer may deduct its value, and only when the number of remaining bins is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a corresponding scan position which is arithmetic encoded by using the context model.
Here, scanning refers to an operation of obtaining data related to coefficients in a first-dimensional array and mapping the data to be positioned in a second-dimensional array (e.g., a block), and the data related to the coefficients of a first dimension may be mapped to coefficients of particular positions in a two-dimensional block.
A significant coefficient flag of a coefficient position being currently scanned may be a flag indicating whether a coefficient of a current scan position is a non-zero coefficient (e.g., whether the coefficient is a significant coefficient). A parity flag of the coefficient position being currently scanned may be a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number or an even number. A first flag of the coefficient position being currently scanned may be a Greater Than 1 (GT1) flag that indicates whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1.
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According to an embodiment, when the number of bins remaining from a predetermined number of bins after being decoded by using a context model before a current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain a first bin of at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of the current scan position. When all of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag are obtained with respect to the current scan position, 4 bins are may be used to the maximum degree, such that, when the number of remaining bins is smaller than 4, the obtainer may not obtain a bin about the aforementioned flags at a corresponding scan position.
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In a process of scanning the information about the coefficients of the subgroup according a predetermined scan order, the obtainer may obtain only a bin about at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag, the bin being arithmetic encoded by using the context model. Therefore, in this case, the obtainer may not obtain a bin which is about a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, and a parity flag and may perform arithmetic encoding in a bypass mode.
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According to an embodiment, in a process of scanning the information about the coefficients of the subgroup according a predetermined scan order in a first scan pass, the obtainer may not obtain a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode. Here, a scan pass may indicate a series of processes of obtaining information of coefficients included in a subgroup by overall scanning the information of the coefficients included in the subgroup. For example, the first scan pass may indicate a series of processes of scanning information of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag, a second scan pass may indicate a series of processes of scanning information of a second flag (e.g., a GTX flag described below), and a third scan pass may indicate a series of processes of scanning information of the remainder of an absolute value of a coefficient excluding the absolute value (e.g. a base level described below) of the coefficient expressed by the aforementioned flags. Here, a first bin may indicate at least one bin obtained from the first scan pass, and may be a bin about at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag.
However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the sign flag may be scanned according to a scan pass separate from the first scan pass.
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The obtainer may obtain (a bin about) a significant coefficient flag of a coefficient of a scan position, and when a value of the significant coefficient flag is 1 (e.g., when the value indicates that it is a significant coefficient), the obtainer may additionally obtain (a bin about) a sign flag or a GT1 flag with respect to the corresponding scan position. Also, when a value of the GT1 flag is 1, the obtainer may obtain (a bin about) a parity flag. The image decoder may determine an absolute value (or a level) of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on at least one value from among the aforementioned flags. For example, the image decoder may determine the absolute value of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on a value obtained by summing a value of the parity flag and the value of the GT1 flag, may determine a sign of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position based on a value of the sign flag, and may determine a value of the coefficient, based on the absolute value of the coefficient and the sign of the coefficient.
Here, the absolute value of the coefficient which is determined based on the aforementioned flags may be referred to as a base level. The base level indicates a level of a base and means an absolute value (or a level) determined based on a plurality of pieces of flag information about the coefficient. Here, when additional coefficient information is not obtained at the corresponding scan position, the base level may become a final absolute value, but, when the additional coefficient information is obtained, the base level is an intermediate value and may be updated based on additional coefficient flag information (e.g., a GTX flag). When the absolute value of the coefficient cannot be determined based on only flag information, a bin about the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level may be obtained.
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The image decoder may obtain residual data including at least one coefficient included in a subgroup, based on at least one of the base level of the coefficient of the scan position and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level which are obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using a context model. The image decoder may obtain, by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model, a syntax element about at least one of the significant coefficient flag, the sign flag, the first flag, and the parity flag of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position included in the subgroup, and may obtain the absolute value (the base level) of the coefficient of the scan position, based on a value of the syntax element. As described above, the base level may be updated based on the additional coefficient flag information, and when the absolute value of the coefficient cannot be determined based on only the base level, the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level may be additionally obtained.
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The image decoder may obtain a reconstruction block of a coding unit, based on the residual data. The image decoder may obtain a prediction block by performing inter prediction or intra prediction on the coding unit, may determine a reconstruction sample value of the reconstruction block of the coding unit by summing a value of a coefficient of a residual block (a residual sample value) included in the residual data and a prediction sample value of the prediction block, and may obtain the reconstruction block, based on the reconstruction sample value.
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With respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, the obtainer may obtain at least one third bin that is arithmetic encoded with a bypass and indicates an absolute value of the coefficient. Here, the third bin may be a bin obtained from the third scan pass. In this regard, as flag information about a coefficient of an obtained scan position of the third bin is not obtained, a base level may be 0, and thus, the third bin may indicate the entirety of an absolute value.
That is, with respect to a coefficient of a scan position from which the first bin is not obtained, a bin that is arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode and is about a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, and a parity flag may not be obtained but at least one third bin that is arithmetic encoded with a bypass and indicates the entirety of a coefficient absolute value may be obtained. Here, a sign flag of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position which is arithmetic encoded with a bypass may be obtained from a scan pass equal to a scan pass from which the third bin is obtained or from a scan pass thereafter.
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The image decoder may obtain a syntax element about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model, and may obtain at least one first coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on the obtained syntax element.
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That is, the image decoder may obtain a base level of a coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on the aforementioned flags. The image decoder may obtain the first coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on at least one of the base level and the remainder of an absolute value, the remainder excluding the base level. Here, because residual decoding is performed according to a transform skip mode, the first coefficient may be obtained by performing inverse-quantization without an inverse-transformation operation. That is, the first coefficient may be a value of a spatial domain.
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The image decoder may obtain a syntax element about the entirety of an absolute value of a coefficient of the corresponding scan position by arithmetic decoding at least one third bin in a bypass mode, and may obtain at least one second coefficient of the corresponding scan position, based on the syntax element about the entirety of the absolute value. That is, the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position from which the third bin is obtained may be determined without referring to a flag of the coefficient, and thus, a base level may be 0 and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level may be the entirety of the absolute value.
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In particular, the image decoder may obtain the entirety of a coefficient absolute value by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin generated by arithmetic decoding at least one third bin in a bypass mode, and may obtain the at least one second coefficient of the corresponding scan position by inverse-quantizing an absolute value of the obtained coefficient, based on the entirety of the absolute value.
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The image decoder may obtain a reconstruction block of a coding unit, based on the at least one first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient. The image decoder may obtain a residual block of the coding unit, based on the at least one first coefficient and the at least one second coefficient, and may obtain the construction block of the coding unit by summing a value of a coefficient of the residual block (a residual sample value) and a prediction sample value of a prediction block of the coding unit.
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When a significant coefficient flag of a coefficient of a scan position which is arithmetic encoded by using the context model indicates that the coefficient of the corresponding scan position is a significant coefficient, the obtainer may additionally scan flag information of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position, according to a predetermined scan order with respect to significant coefficients.
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For example, when the number of remaining bins excluding the first bin from a predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain a bin which is about a second flag of a coefficient of a scan position and is arithmetic encoded at a first scan position by using the context model. When the number of remaining bins is smaller than 4, the bin about the second flag may not be obtained, and a base level may be determined based on a value of a flag obtained in a first scan pass. In this case, a second scan pass may be skipped, and a third bin about the remainder of an absolute value of the coefficient, the remainder excluding the base level, may be obtained in a third scan pass.
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When the number of remaining bins is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain a bin which is about a second flag of a coefficient of a scan position and is arithmetic encoded in a second scan pass by using the context model.
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When the number of bins remaining after the second flag obtained before a current scan position is scanned is additionally excluded from a predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain the bin which is about the second flag of the coefficient of the scan position and is arithmetic encoded at the corresponding scan position by using the context model. Here, the second flag may be a Greater Than X (GTX; where X is an odd number greater than 1) flag. That is, the second flag may indicate whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and the first value may be an odd number greater than 1 and more preferably, may be, but is not limited to, one of 3, 5, 7, and 9.
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For example, when the number of remaining bins at the current scan position is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain at least one of GT3, GT5, GT7, and GT9 flags. In particular, the obtainer may first obtain a bin about the GT3 flag at the current scan position, when a value of the GT3 flag is 1, the obtainer may obtain a bin about the GT5 flag, and when the value is 0, the obtainer may not additionally obtain a bin at the corresponding scan position. Also, when a value of the GT5 flag is 1, a bin about the GT7 flag may be obtained, when the value is 0, the bin about the GT7 flag may not be obtained. Equally, a bin about the GT9 flag may be obtained or may not be obtained. Here, the reason why a GTX flag of a corresponding scan position is obtained in a case where the number of remaining bin is equal to or greater than 4 is because a maximum number of bins of the GTX flag which are obtained at the corresponding scan position is equal to 4, and thus, when the number of remaining bin is smaller than 4, a bin of the GTX flag may not be obtained with respect to the corresponding scan position. Therefore, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that a condition for the number of remaining bins may vary according to types of the GTX flag.
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For example, while the obtainer scans significant coefficients according to a predetermined scan order, the obtainer may obtain (a bin of) a GT3 flag with respect to the significant coefficients, and the image decoder may determine a value of the GT3 flag by arithmetic decoding the GT3 flag by using the context model.
Here, when the value of the GT3 flag is 0, additional information of a coefficient of a corresponding scan position may not be obtained, and an absolute value of a coefficient level may be determined as an absolute value of the coefficient which is determined immediately before with respect to the corresponding scan position (a base level determined at a first scan pass).
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When the value of the GT3 flag is 1, the obtainer may obtain (a bin of) the GT5 flag which is additional information of the coefficient of the corresponding scan position. Here, the absolute value of the coefficient level may be determined by adding 2 to the absolute value of the coefficient which is determined immediately before with respect to the corresponding scan position (the base level determined at the first scan pass). That is, the base level may be updated by the GT5 flag.
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When a value of the GT5 flag is 0, the image decoder may operate similar to a case where the value of the GT3 flag is 0. When the value of the GT5 flag of the corresponding scan position is 1, the image decoder may operate similar to a case where the value of the GT3 flag is 1. Here, (a bin of) the GT7 flag and (a bin of) the GT9 flag which are additional information may be obtained, and the base level may be updated or the absolute value of the coefficient may be determined as a base level that is determined immediately before.
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Here, the obtainer may deduct one from the number of remaining bins when the obtainer additionally obtains a bin, and when the number of remaining bins is equal to or smaller than 0, the obtainer may no longer obtain a bin arithmetic encoded by using the context model but may obtain a bin arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode, and the image decoder may obtain a GTX flag by arithmetic decoding the bin in the bypass mode, but the image decoder is not limited thereto, and thus, may obtain only a bin about a GTX flag, the bin being arithmetic encoded by using the context model, and may not obtain the bin about the GTX flag, the bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode.
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When an absolute value (base level) of a coefficient of a scan position which is updated through obtainment of a value of the GTX flag or an absolute value (base level) previously determined without obtaining the value of the GTX flag, is greater than or equal to predetermined second value, the obtainer may obtain a bin about the remainder of an absolute value of a coefficient of a corresponding scan position, the bin being arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode in a third scan pass. Here, the predetermined second value may be a minimum value from among available absolute values of a coefficient of a case where a value of a flag whose X value is maximal (a maximum GTX flag) from among types of the GTX flag is 1. For example, in a case where the maximum flag X value from among the GTX flag is 9, an available absolute value of a coefficient may be equal to or greater than 10, and the predetermined second value may be 9 that is the minimum thereof. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and when the value of the GTX flag is not obtained, the predetermined second value may indicate a maximum base level that can be determined by only a flag obtained from the first scan pass. That is, in this case, it may be 2.
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The image decoder may obtain the remainder of a coefficient absolute value by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin string generated by arithmetic decoding, in a bypass mode, a bin about the remainder of the absolute value of the at least one coefficient, and may determine the absolute value of the at least one coefficient, based on a base level and a value of the remainder of the coefficient absolute value. Here, the bin string indicates one or more bins.
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For example, the obtainer may obtain a bin about the remainder of an absolute value of a coefficient, the bin being arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode, and the image decoder may obtain a value of the remainder of the coefficient absolute value by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin string about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient, the bin string being generated by arithmetic decoding in a bypass mode, and may update the coefficient absolute value, based on a value obtained by multiplying 2 by the obtained value (preferably, a calculation of multiplication by 2 may be replaced by a calculation of left shifting by 1 bit).
In the above, an operation of decoding residual data according to a transform skip mode is described in detail. Hereinafter, an operation of not decoding residual data according to the transform skip mode (e.g., a normal case in which residual decoding is performed including an inverse-transformation operation) will now be described.
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When residual data is not to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to a transform unit, the image decoder may obtain the residual data by inverse-transforming at least one transform coefficient included in the transform unit. Here, the transform coefficient is a coefficient of a transform domain which is generated by performing a transformation operation on a coefficient of a spatial domain of a residual block, and in order to obtain the coefficient of the spatial domain, the image decoder may perform an inverse-transformation operation.
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The obtainer may obtain, from a bitstream, last significant coefficient position information indicating a position of a last significant coefficient of the transform unit. The obtainer may obtain a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit, based on the last significant coefficient position information.
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When the significant subgroup flag indicates that a corresponding subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the obtainer may obtain, by scanning information about transform coefficients of the subgroup, a first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, a parity flag, and a second flag of a transform coefficient of a scan position, the first bin being arithmetic encoded by using the context model. Here, the first bin may be obtained in a first scan pass, and at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins may be obtained.
The predetermined number of bins may be equal to that of the transform skip mode, but is not limited thereto, and thus may be separately determined. Here, a sign flag may be obtained in a scan pass separate from the first scan pass, but it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the sign flag may be obtained in the first scan pass, similar to the transform skip mode.
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In this case, the obtainer may obtain only a bin arithmetic encoded by using the context model, and may not obtain a bin arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode.
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According to an embodiment, when the number of bins remaining from the predetermined number of bins after being decoded by using the context model before a current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, the obtainer may obtain a first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, a parity flag, and a second flag of the current scan position. Here, the second flag may be a GT3 flag indicating whether an absolute value of a transform coefficient of a scan position is greater than 3, but is not limited thereto and may indicate whether the absolute value of the transform coefficient of the scan position is greater than an odd number greater than 1.
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When all of the significant coefficient flag, the first flag, the parity flag, and the second flag are obtained with respect to the current scan position, 4 bins are required to the maximum degree, such that, when the number of remaining bins is smaller than 4, the obtainer may not obtain a bin about the aforementioned flags at the corresponding scan position.
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The image decoder may obtain at least one transform coefficient included in the subgroup, by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model.
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For example, the image decoder may obtain a base level of a coefficient of a scan position by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model. The image decoder may obtain the at least one transform coefficient included in the subgroup, based on at least one of the base level and the remainder of an absolute value excluding the base level.
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The image decoder may obtain residual data by inverse-transforming the at least one transform coefficient included in the subgroup.
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Similar to residual decoding according to the transform skip mode, the obtainer may obtain a bin of the significant coefficient flag and the first flag. When a value of the first flag is 1, the obtainer may obtain a bin of a second flag along with the parity flag.
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The image decoder may determine the absolute value of the transform coefficient by adding a value of the second flag*2 to values of the first flag and the parity flag. Here, the absolute value of the transform coefficient may be the base level.
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When a value of the GT3 flag is 1, the obtainer may additionally obtain a bin indicating the remainder of the absolute value of the transform coefficient of the corresponding scan position. Here, the obtained bin may be a bin that is arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode.
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The image decoder may obtain the remainder of the absolute value of the transform coefficient by arithmetic decoding the bin indicating the remainder of the absolute value of the transform coefficient according to the bypass mode.
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In detail, the image decoder may obtain the remainder of the absolute value of the transform coefficient by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin string generated by arithmetic decoding the bin indicating the remainder of the absolute value of the transform coefficient according to the bypass mode. The image decoder may determine the absolute value of the transform coefficient as a value obtained by adding the base level to a value obtained by multiplying a value of the remainder of the absolute value by 2.
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With respect to a transform coefficient of another scan position other than the transform coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the transform coefficients included in the subgroup, the obtainer may obtain at least one second bin that is arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode and indicates the entirety of the absolute value of the transform coefficient.
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The image decoder may obtain a value indicating the entirety of the absolute value by arithmetic decoding the second bin in the bypass mode, and may obtain at least one second transform coefficient, based on the value indicating the entirety of the absolute value. In particular, the image decoder may obtain an absolute value of a transform coefficient by performing Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization on a bin generated by arithmetic decoding a bin indicating the entirety of an absolute value of a coefficient, according to the bypass mode.
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As described above, the image decoder may obtain the at least one transform coefficient (a first transform coefficient) by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model.
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The image decoder may obtain residual data including the at least one first transform coefficient and the at least one second transform coefficient by inverse-transforming and inverse-quantizing the at least one first transform coefficient and the at least one second transform coefficient included in the subgroup. Here, the first transform coefficient and the second transform coefficient may be values of a spatial domain.
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The image decoder may obtain a reconstruction block of a coding unit, based on the at least one first transform coefficient and the at least one second transform coefficient.
FIG. 1B
illustrates a flowchart of an image decoding method according to various embodiments.
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In operation S, the image decoding apparatus may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image.
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In operation S, the image decoding apparatus may determine at least one transform unit included in the coding unit.
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In operation S, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether residual data is to be decoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit.
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In operation S, when the residual data is to be decoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit. The significant subgroup flag may indicate whether the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient.
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In operation S, when the significant subgroup flag indicates that the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the image decoding apparatus may scan information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus, may obtain at least one first bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position, the at least one first bin being equal to or smaller than a predetermined number of bins and being arithmetic encoded by using a context model. Here, only a bin arithmetic encoded by using the context model may be obtained, and a bin arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode may not be obtained. Here, a maximum number of first bins to be obtained may be determined for each of subgroups or each of transform units.
Also, a significant coefficient flag of a current scan position may be a flag indicating whether a coefficient of the current scan position is a non-zero coefficient. The first flag may be a flag (GT1 flag) indicating whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1.
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With respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than a coefficient of a scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, the image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one third bin that is arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode and indicates a coefficient absolute value.
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When the number of bins remaining from a predetermined number of bins after being arithmetic decoded by using a context model before the current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of the current scan position.
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When the number of bins remaining after the number of first bins and bins about a second flag obtained before the current scan position is scanned is deducted from a predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a second bin about the second flag of the coefficient of the current scan position, the second bin being arithmetic encoded by using the context model.
Here, the second flag may indicate whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and the first value may be an odd number greater than 1.
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In operation S, the image decoding apparatus may obtain residual data including at least one coefficient included in the subgroup, based on at least one of a base level of the coefficient of the scan position which is obtained by arithmetic decoding the first bin by using the context model and the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level. The image decoding apparatus may determine the base level of the scan position by arithmetic encoding the first bin by using the context model, and when the remainder of the absolute value excluding the base level exists, the image decoding apparatus may obtain the remainder of the absolute value, and thus, may obtain at least one first coefficient, based on at least one of the base level and the remainder of the absolute value.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one second coefficient by arithmetic decoding in a bypass mode, and at least one third bin indicating the entirety of a coefficient absolute value by arithmetically encoding in the bypass mode.
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In operation S, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the residual data. The image decoding apparatus may obtain the reconstruction block of the coding unit, based on the obtained at least one first coefficient and second coefficient.
FIG. 10
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is a block diagram of an image decoder according to various embodiments.
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The image decoder according to various embodiments performs operations necessary for the obtainer and the image decoder of the image decoding apparatus to decode image data.
FIG. 10
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Referring to , an entropy decoder parses, from a bitstream , encoded image data to be decoded, and encoding information necessary for decoding. The encoded image data is a quantized transform coefficient, and an inverse-quantizer and an inverse-transformer reconstruct residual data from the quantized transform coefficient.
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An intra predictor performs intra prediction on each of blocks. An inter predictor performs inter prediction on each block by using a reference image obtained from a reconstructed picture buffer . Data of a spatial domain for a block of a current image may be reconstructed by adding residual data and prediction data of each block which are generated by the intra predictor or the inter predictor , and a deblocker and a sample adaptive offset (SAO) performer may perform loop filtering on the reconstructed data of the spatial domain, such that a filtered reconstructed image may be output. Reconstructed images stored in the reconstructed picture buffer may be output as a reference image.
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In order for the obtainer and the image decoder of the image decoding apparatus to encode the image data, the image decoder according to various embodiments may perform operations of each stage on each block.
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For example, an operation of the entropy decoder may correspond to operations of the obtainer and the arithmetic decoder included in the image decoder .
FIG. 2A
is a block diagram of an image encoding apparatus, according to various embodiments.
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An image encoding apparatus according to various embodiments may include an image encoder and a bitstream generator .
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The image encoder and a bitstream generator may each include at least one processor. Also, the image encoder and a bitstream generator may each include a memory storing one of more instructions to be executed by the at least one processor. The image encoder and the bitstream generator may be implemented as separate hardware components, or the image encoder may include the bitstream generator .
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The image encoder may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image. For example, the image encoder may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting the current image, based on a split shape mode of the current image. Here, the split shape mode may indicate at least one of whether splitting is to be performed, a split direction, and a split type. The split type may indicate one of binary split, tri split, and quad split.
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The image encoder may encode information about the split shape mode of the current image, and the bitstream generator may generate a bitstream including the encoded information about the split shape mode of the current image.
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The image encoder may include an arithmetic encoder, and the arithmetic encoder may generate a bin after performing binarization on a syntax element of various parameters related to residual data or an image, perform arithmetic encoding on the bin, and generate the arithmetic encoded bin. Here, the arithmetic encoder may perform binary arithmetic encoding on the binarized bin by using a context model, or may perform binary arithmetic encoding on the binarized bin according to a bypass mode.
FIG. 3A
According to a type of target information or a position of a bin, the arithmetic encoder may selectively perform binary arithmetic encoding by using the context model, or perform binary arithmetic encoding, according to the bypass mode. That is, the arithmetic encoder may perform arithmetic encoding, according to the CABAC technique. Hereinafter, with reference to , the CABAC technique will now be described in detail.
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The bitstream generator may generate a bitstream including an arithmetic encoded bin.
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The image encoder may determine at least one transform unit included in a coding unit. For example, the image encoder may determine a transform unit to have a same size as a coding unit, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and when a size of the coding unit is greater than a predetermined size, the image encoder may determine a plurality of transform units by splitting the coding unit.
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The image encoder may determine whether residual data is to be encoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit. For example, when a component of the transform unit is a luma component and, with respect to the transform unit, residual data is to be encoded according to a multiple transform selection scheme skip mode, or with respect to the transform unit, the residual data is to be encoded according to a BDPCM mode, the image encoder may determine that the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit.
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However, the disclosure is not limited to a case where the component of the transform unit is the luma component, and in a case of a chroma component, the image encoder may determine that the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit.
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When the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, the image encoder may generate a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit.
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When the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the image encoder may scan information about the subgroup, and thus may generate at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins. Here, scanning refers to an operation of generating data related to coefficients in a second-dimensional array and the generated data may be mapped to particular positions in a first-dimensional array. As the data of the first-dimensional array is requested for arithmetic encoding, the scan operation is performed first.
Here, a significant coefficient flag of a coefficient position being currently scanned may be a flag indicating whether a coefficient of a current scan position is a non-zero coefficient. Also, a first flag of the coefficient position being currently scanned may be a GT1 flag that indicates whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the current scan position is greater than 1.
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A parity flag may be a flag indicating whether the coefficient of the current scan position is an odd number or an even number. Here, the image encoder may arithmetic encode only a bin about a flag of the aforementioned coefficient by using a context model, and may not arithmetic encode the bin about the flag of the aforementioned coefficient in a bypass mode.
Before the arithmetic encoding, binarization may be performed on a syntax element, and a first bin may be generated by arithmetic encoding the binarized bin. Before the binarization, quantization may be performed on a residual of a coefficient value.
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The image encoder may arithmetic encode at least one of a second flag for determining a base level and the remainder of an absolute value, the remainder excluding the base level, based on a value of a coefficient of a scan position, and thus, may obtain a bin about at least one of the second flag and the remainder of the absolute value.
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When the number of bins remaining from a predetermined number of bins after being arithmetic encoded by using a context model before the current scan position is scanned is equal to or greater than 4, the image encoder may generate the first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of the coefficient of the current scan position by using the context model.
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In a case where the coefficient of the current scan position (where the first bin is generated) is a significant coefficient, when the number of bins remaining after the number of first bins and bins about a second flag obtained before the current scan position is scanned are deducted from a predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, the image encoder may generate a bin about the second flag by arithmetic encoding the second flag of the coefficient of the current scan position by using the context model. Here, the second flag may indicate whether the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and the first value may be an odd number greater than 1. For example, the first value may be, but is not limited to, one of 3, 5, 7, and 9.
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According to an embodiment, the image encoder may first generate a GT3 flag of the coefficient of the current scan position, and when a value of the GT3 flag is 1, the image encoder may additionally generate a GT5 flag. The image encoder may generate GT7 and GT9 flags in a manner similar to generation of the GT5 flag.
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The bitstream generator may generate a bitstream including residual data including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin. Here, a bitstream further including the second bin about at least one of the second flag and the remainder of the absolute value may be generated.
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With respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, the image encoder may generate at least one third bin by arithmetic encoding a coefficient absolute value in a bypass mode. Here, before the arithmetic encoding, a binarized bin may be generated by performing Golomb-Rice binarization on the absolute value of the coefficient, and the arithmetic encoding may be performed on the binarized bin in the bypass mode. Here, the bitstream generator may generate a bitstream including the significant subgroup flag, the first bin, and the third bin.
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In order to express the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position, the image encoder may arithmetic encode additional information (e.g., the remainder of the coefficient absolute value) in addition to the second flag. When the absolute value (or base level) of the coefficient of the scan position is equal to or greater than a minimum value from among absolute values of the coefficient of a case where a value of a maximum GTX flag is 1, the image encoder may arithmetic encode the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient in a bypass mode. Here, before the arithmetic encoding, a binarized bin may be generated by performing Golomb-Rice binarization on the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient, and the arithmetic encoding may be performed on the binarized bin in the bypass mode.
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However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and, when the number of bins remaining from a predetermined number of bins after obtainment of the first bin is less than 4, the image encoder may not perform arithmetic encoding on the second flag, and in this case, a maximum base level may be 2, and in this case, when the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is equal to or greater than 2 (maximum base level), the image encoder may arithmetic encode the remainder of the absolute value, the remainder excluding the maximum base level.
In the above, an operation of a case where residual data is encoded according to a transform skip mode is described in detail. Hereinafter, an operation of a case where residual data is not encoded according to the transform skip mode (e.g., a normal case in which encoding is performed including a transformation operation) will now be described.
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When residual data is not encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to a transform unit, the image encoder may generate the residual data by transforming at least one coefficient included in the transform unit. For example, the image encoder may generate at least one transform coefficient by transforming at least one coefficient included in the transform unit. The image encoder may generate last significant coefficient position information indicating a position of a last significant coefficient of the transform unit.
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The image encoder may generate a significant subgroup flag about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit. When the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the image encoder may scan information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus may generate at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, a parity flag, and a second flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins. Here, the second flag may indicate whether an absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than a first value, and the first value may be an odd number greater than 1, more preferably, 3, but is not limited thereto.
Here, at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a first flag, a parity flag, and a second flag of a transform coefficient of the scan position may be arithmetic encoded by using the context model, and the significant coefficient flag, the first flag, the parity flag, and the second flag may not be arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode.
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When the second flag indicates that the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position is greater than the first value, the image encoder may generate a bin about the remainder of the absolute value by arithmetic encoding the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient of the scan position in the bypass mode. Here, before the arithmetic encoding, a binarized bin may be generated by performing Golomb-Rice binarization on the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient, and the arithmetic encoding may be performed on the binarized bin in the bypass mode.
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The bitstream generator may generate a bitstream including position information of a last significant coefficient, the significant subgroup flag, and at least one of the generated various bins.
FIG. 2B
illustrates a flowchart of an image encoding method according to various embodiments.
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In operation S, the image encoding apparatus may determine at least one coding unit by hierarchically splitting a current image.
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In operation S, the image encoding apparatus may determine a transform unit included in the coding unit.
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In operation S, the image encoding apparatus may determine whether residual data is to be encoded according to a transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit.
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In operation S, when the residual data is to be encoded according to the transform skip mode, with respect to the transform unit, the image encoding apparatus may generate a significant subgroup flag (or a sub-block flag) about at least one subgroup included in the transform unit.
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In operation S, when the subgroup includes at least one non-zero significant coefficient, the image encoding apparatus may scan information about coefficients of the subgroup, and thus may generate at least one first bin by arithmetic encoding at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a first flag, and a parity flag of a coefficient of a scan position by using a context model, the at least one first bin being equal to or less than a predetermined number of bins.
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With respect to a coefficient of another scan position other than the coefficient of the scan position related to the first bin from among the coefficients included in the subgroup, the image encoding apparatus may generate at least one second bin by arithmetic encoding a coefficient absolute value in a bypass mode.
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In a case where the coefficient of the current scan position related to the first bin is a significant coefficient, when the number of bins remaining after the number of first bins and bins about a second flag obtained before the current scan position is scanned is deducted from a predetermined number of bins is equal to or greater than 4, the image encoding apparatus may generate a second bin about the second flag by arithmetic encoding the second flag of the coefficient of the scan position by using the context model.
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In operation S, the image encoding apparatus may generate a bitstream including residual data including the significant subgroup flag and the first bin. For example, the image encoding apparatus may generate a bitstream including residual data including at least one of the significant subgroup flag, the first bin, the second bin, and a third bin.
FIG. 2C
is a block diagram of an image encoder according to various embodiments.
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An image encoder according to various embodiments performs operations necessary for the image encoder and the bitstream generator of the image encoding apparatus to encode image data.
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That is, an intra predictor performs intra prediction on each of the blocks of a current image , and an inter predictor performs inter prediction on each of the blocks by using the current image and a reference image obtained from a reconstructed picture buffer .
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Prediction data is subtracted from data of a block to be encoded in the current image , wherein the prediction data is related to each block and is output from the intra predictor or the inter predictor , and the transformer and the quantizer may output a quantized transform coefficient of each block by performing transformation and quantization on the residual data. An inverse-quantizer and an inverse-transformer may reconstruct residual data of a spatial domain by performing inverse-quantization and perform inverse-transformation on the quantized transform coefficient. The reconstructed residual data of the spatial domain may be added to the prediction data that is related to each block and is output from the intra predictor or the inter predictor , and thus may be reconstructed as data of a spatial domain with respect to a block of the current image . A deblocker and a SAO performer generate a filtered reconstructed image by performing in-loop filtering on the reconstructed data of the spatial domain. The generated reconstructed image is stored in the reconstructed picture buffer . Reconstructed images stored in the reconstructed picture buffer may be used as a reference image for inter prediction with respect to another image. An entropy encoder may entropy encode the quantized transform coefficient, and the entropy encoded coefficient may be output as a bitstream .
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In order for the image encoder according to various embodiments to be applied to the image encoding apparatus , the image encoder according to various embodiments may perform operations of each stage on each block. For example, an operation of the entropy encoder may correspond to operations of the arithmetic encoder included in the image encoder and the bitstream generator .
FIG. 3A
is a diagram for describing the CABAC technique according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
FIG. 3A
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Referring to , a binary arithmetic decoder included in an entropy decoder of the image decoding apparatus may selectively perform binary arithmetic decoding on a bin (referred to as the regular encoded bin) through a regular coding engine by using a context model, the bin being obtained from a bitstream according to a regular mode, and may obtain the binary arithmetic decoded bin (or, referred to as the regular decoded bin or the context decoded bin). A context modeler may update the context model, based on a previously regular decoded bin. An initial context model or a predetermined context model may be determined based on a bin index indicating a position of a bin, an occurrence probability of a bin included in an adjacent block, and various elements of a current block or the adjacent block.
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The binary arithmetic decoder included in the entropy decoder of the image decoding apparatus may selectively perform binary arithmetic decoding on a bin (referred to as the bypass encoded bin) through a bypass coding engine , the bin being obtained from a bitstream according to a bypass mode, and may obtain the binary arithmetic decoded bin (or, referred to as the bypass decoded bin).
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An inverse-binarizer of the image decoding apparatus may obtain a value of a predetermined syntax element by performing inverse-binarization on a bin string including at least one binary arithmetic decoded bin. Here, a predetermined inverse-binarization method may be used. For example, a Golomb-Rice inverse-binarization may be performed, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, the image decoding apparatus may selectively obtain the value of the predetermined syntax element, based on at least one binary arithmetic decoded bin, without passing through the inverse-binarizer .
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In the above, descriptions in which the image decoding apparatus entropy decodes information of a bitstream based on the CABAC technique are provided, and it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that it is possible to generate a bitstream including a binary arithmetic encoded bin by entropy encoding a value of a syntax element by inversely performing the aforementioned process based on the CABAC technique.
FIG. 3B
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of normal coefficient coding according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3B
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Referring to the pseudo-code of , the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from a bitstream, position information (Last_pos) of a last significant coefficient from among coefficients included in a current transform unit. Here, the last significant coefficient indicates a significant coefficient positioned at the end of the transform unit, based on a scan order in a forward direction (a direction from the upper-left to the lower-right), and actually, coefficient information may be scanned starting from the last significant coefficient in a scan order in an inverse direction.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain, from the bitstream, a significant flag (sigCGflag) about at least one coefficient group (CG), based on the position information of the last significant coefficient. A coefficient group may be referred to as a subblock in that the coefficient group is at least one block included in the transform unit, but is not limited thereto, and thus, may be referred to as a subgroup.
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about a coefficient k included in a significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a first scan pass, and thus, may obtain, from a bitstream, a bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag[k]), a GT1 flag (gt1_flag[k]), a parity flag (par_flag[k]), and a GT3 flag (gt3_flag[k]) about the coefficient k included in the significant coefficient group. Here, the bin may be a bin binary arithmetic encoded by using a context model, and a maximum number of bins (Max_CtxBin) binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model may be limited in each of coefficient group. For example, Max_CtxBin may be 32 bins in each coefficient group, but is not limited thereto. When one bin among the coefficient flag (sig_flag[k]), the GT1 flag (gt1_flag[k]), the parity flag (par_flag[k]), and the GT3 flag (gt3_flag[k]) is obtained, the number of bins may be deducted by 1 from the maximum number of bins, and only when the number of bins is equal to or greater than 4 that is the number of remaining bins (rem Bin), a bin of flags of the coefficient k of a corresponding scan position may be obtained.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain an absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of a current scan position, based on a parity flag (par_flag), a GT1 flag (gt1_flag), and a GT3 flag (gt3_flag).
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about a coefficient k (where, k . . . k1) for which a bin of a significant coefficient flag is obtained from among coefficients included in a significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a second scan pass, and thus, may obtain equal probability (EP) bins (i.e., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the remainder of an absolute value of the coefficient, based on a value of a GT3 flag (gt3_flag[k]).
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain an absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of a current scan position, based on the EP bins (rem[k]) about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient.
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about a coefficient k (where, k1 . . . ) for which a bin of a significant coefficient flag is not obtained from among coefficients included in a significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a third scan pass, and thus, may obtain EP bins (e.g., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the entirety of an absolute value of the coefficient. In the above, descriptions in which the EP bins about the coefficient absolute value (the entirety or the remainder) are obtained in the second and third scan passes are provided, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the EP bins about the coefficient absolute value (the entirety or the remainder) may be obtained in an integrated scan pass (i.e., the second scan pass) according to a predetermined condition.
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FIGS. 4A to 4C
The image decoding apparatus may obtain the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position, based on the EP bins (rem[k]) about the entirety of the absolute value of the coefficient and pos0. Here, pos0 may be determined based on a Golomb-Rice parameter used in binarization and a quantization state (Qstate) of a dependent quantization process. The dependent quantization process and its quantization state (Qstate) will be described below with reference to . For example, when the entirety (level) of the absolute value is binarized by using the Golomb-Rice parameter, the level may be remapped by using pos0 that is a threshold value, and then finally, binarization may be performed. That is, a level greater than pos0 may be binarized in a normal scheme, 0 may be remapped by pos0, and a level equal to or less than pos0 may be remapped by −1 and then may be binarized. For example, when pos0 is 2 and a value of a level is 3 and 4, the level is binarized as it is, but, when the value of the level is 0, 1, and 2, the level may be remapped to 2, 0, and 1 and then may be binarized.
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about the coefficient k included in the significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order, and thus, may obtain a sign flag (sign[k]) from a bitstream.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain a value of the coefficient k, based on the absolute value (coeff[k]) and the sign flag (sign[k]) of the coefficient k.
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The image decoding apparatus may inverse-quantize and then inverse-transform the coefficient k, and thus, may generate a coefficient (the coefficient of a spatial domain) of a residual block.
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In the above, the pseudo-code realized in the image decoding apparatus is described, and it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the pseudo-code may be realized in a similar manner (obtainment of information from a bitstream by the image decoding apparatus corresponds to generation of information of a coefficient in an encoding apparatus) in the image encoding apparatus .
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As described above, when the image decoding apparatus performs an inverse-transformation operation according to a normal transformation mode (a mode in which the inverse-transformation operation is performed), not a transform skip mode, the image decoding apparatus may decrease complexity of entropy decoding according to the CABAC technique by limiting the number of bins of a significant coefficient flag, a GT1 flag, a GT3 flag, and a parity flag, the bins being decoded using a context model, in a case of a coefficient of a scan position from which a significant coefficient flag and the like are not obtained, may not binary arithmetic decode a bin of a significant coefficient flag, a GT1 flag, a GT3 flag, and a parity flag according to a bypass mode, but may binary arithmetic decode only the entirety of a coefficient absolute value, and thus, may effectively decode the coefficient absolute value without a delay that occurs in a process of parsing an unnecessary bin of a significant coefficient flag, a GT1 flag, a GT3 flag, and a parity flag. In particular, coefficients from which a significant coefficient flag and the like are not obtained are generally coefficients of a low frequency domain (coefficients positioned adjacent to a last coefficient in a scan direction of an inverse-direction), and their absolute values are generally large, such that a parsing delay may be effectively decreased without much difference in a decoding efficiency, compared to a case where a bin of a significant coefficient flag, a GT1 flag, a GT3 flag, and a parity flag is binary arithmetic decoded.
FIG. 3C
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of coefficient coding in a transform skip mode according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3C
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Referring to the pseudo-code of , the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from a bitstream, a significant flag (sigCGflag) about at least one coefficient group (CG). Here, a maximum number of bins (Max_CtxBin) arithmetic decoded by using a context model may not be determined for each of coefficient groups but may be determined for each of transform units, and a value thereof may be determined as 2*TU_height*TU_width. However, the value is not limited thereto, and thus, may be determined to be proportional to TU_height and TU_width, as in 1.75*TU_height*TU_width. Here, TU_height and TU_width indicate a height and a width of a transform unit.
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The image decoding apparatus may decrease the maximum number of bins (Max_CtxBin) by 1 whenever the image decoding apparatus obtains a bin binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model, and when the number of remaining bins (rem Bin) is greater than 0, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a bin binary arithmetic encoded by using a context model (ctxModel). Alternatively, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a bin binary arithmetic encoded according to a bypass mode.
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about a coefficient k included in a significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a first scan pass, and thus, may obtain, from a bitstream, a bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag[k]), a sign flag (sig_flag[k]), a GT1 flag (gt1_flag[k]), and a parity flag (par_flag[k]) about the coefficient k included in the significant coefficient group. Here, the image decoding apparatus may obtain the bin binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model only when remBin is greater than 0, and otherwise, may obtain the bin binary arithmetic encoded according to the bypass mode.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain an absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of a current scan position, based on a parity flag (par_flag) and a GT1 flag (gt1_flag) of the coefficient k of the current scan position.
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about the coefficient k according to a predetermined scan order in a second scan pass, and thus, may obtain a GTX flag (gtX_flag[k]). Here, X may be 3, 5, 7, and 9. Here, the image decoding apparatus may obtain the bin binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model only when remBin is greater than 0, and otherwise, may obtain the bin binary arithmetic encoded according to the bypass mode.
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The image decoding apparatus may obtain the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position, based on a GTX flag (gtX_flag[k]).
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The image decoding apparatus may scan information about the coefficient k according to a predetermined scan order in a third scan pass, and thus, may obtain EP bins (e.g., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient.
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In the above, the pseudo-code realized in the image decoding apparatus is described, and it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the pseudo-code may be realized in a similar manner in the image encoding apparatus .
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FIG. 3A
As described above, when the image decoding apparatus obtains a bin of a syntax element about a coefficient, according to a transform skip mode, the image decoding apparatus obtains a bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag, a sign flag, a GT1 flag, and a parity flag at all scan positions of a first scan pass, such that complexity may be significantly increased. That is, unlike , a great number of bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode are obtained, such that a parsing delay may occur, and complexity due to binary arithmetic decoding in the bypass mode may be increased. Also, the image decoding apparatus obtains a bin about a GTX flag without a limit in the number of bins in a second scan pass, such that complexity may be significantly increased. Therefore, when the number is limited in the second scan pass, complexity may be decreased.
FIG. 3A
That is, unlike , because a great number of bins (a bin arithmetic encoded by using a context model and a bin binary arithmetic encoded according to a bypass mode) are obtained, a parsing delay may occur and complexity due to binary arithmetic decoding may be increased.
FIG. 3D
is a diagram illustrating pseudo-code of coefficient coding in a transform skip mode according to an embodiment.
FIG. 3D
100
Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from a bitstream, a significant flag (sigCGflag) about at least one coefficient group (CG). Here, a bin of the significant flag (sigCGflag) may be a bin that is binary arithmetic encoded by using a context model.
100
The image decoding apparatus may scan information about a coefficient k included in a significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a first scan pass, and thus, may obtain, from a bitstream, a bin about at least one of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag[k]), a sign flag (sig_flag[k]), a GT1 flag (gt1_flag[k]), and a parity flag (par_flag[k]) about the coefficient k included in the significant coefficient group. Here, the bin may be a bin binary arithmetic encoded by using a context model, and a maximum number of bins (Max_CtxBin) binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model may be limited in each of coefficient group. For example, Max_CtxBin may be 32 bins in each coefficient group, but is not limited thereto. When one bin among the significant coefficient flag (sig_flag[k]), the sign flag (sig_flag[k]), the GT1 flag (gt1_flag[k]), and the parity flag (par_flag[k]) is obtained, the number of bins may be deducted by 1 from the maximum number of bins, and only when the number of bins is equal to or greater than 4 that is the number of remaining bins (rem Bin), a bin of the flags may be obtained with respect to the coefficient k of a current scan position.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain an absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position, based on a parity flag (par_flag) and a GT1 flag (gt1_flag).
100
The image decoding apparatus may scan information about the coefficient k for which a bin of a significant coefficient flag is obtained from among coefficients included in the significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a second scan pass, and thus, when the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the current coefficient is equal to or greater than X−1 (where, X is 3, 5, 7, and 9), may obtain a bin of a GTX flag (gtX_flag[k]).
Here, a bin binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model may be obtained as the GTX flag (gtX_flag[k]) when the number of remaining bins (remBin) binary arithmetic encoded by using the context model is greater than 0, and otherwise, a bin binary arithmetic encoded according to a bypass mode may be obtained as the GTX flag (gtX_flag[k]). However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the bin binary arithmetic encoded according to the bypass mode may be no longer obtained. In this case, the number of bins arithmetic decoded according to the bypass mode is decreased such that a parsing delay therefrom may be decreased and complexity of binary arithmetic decoding for processing the bins may be decreased.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position, based on a value of a GTX flag (gtX_flag) of the coefficient k of the current scan position.
100
100
FIG. 3C
The image decoding apparatus may obtain EP bins (i.e., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient, based on the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position in a third scan pass. Referring to , when the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the current coefficient is equal to or greater than 10, the image decoding apparatus may obtain EP bins (i.e., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient.
However, due to the limit in the number as described above, the GTX flag may not be obtained, and in this case, when the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the current coefficient is equal to or greater than 2, the EP bins (i.e., the bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the remainder of the absolute value of the coefficient may be obtained.
100
The image decoding apparatus may scan information about the coefficient k for which a bin of a significant coefficient flag is not obtained from among the coefficients included in the significant coefficient group according to a predetermined scan order in a fourth scan pass, and thus, may obtain EP bins (i.e., bins that are binary arithmetic encoded in a bypass mode) (rem[k]) about the entirety of an absolute value of the coefficient. Here, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the third scan pass and the fourth scan pass may be integrated into one scan pass, and in the integrated scan pass (e.g., the third scan pass), the EP bins about the coefficient absolute value (the entirety or the remainder) may be generated according to a predetermined condition.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k of the current scan position, based on the EP bins (rem[k]) about the entirety of the absolute value of the coefficient and pos0.
100
100
When the image decoding apparatus scans the information about the coefficient k for which the bin of the significant coefficient flag is not obtained from among the coefficients included in the significant coefficient group, the image decoding apparatus may additionally obtain a sign flag (sign[k]) from the bitstream.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain a value of the coefficient k, based on the absolute value (coeff[k]) of the coefficient k and the sign flag (sign[k]).
100
The image decoding apparatus may inverse-quantize the coefficient k, and then may skip an inverse-transformation operation and may generate a coefficient (the coefficient of a spatial domain) of a residual block.
100
150
In the above, the pseudo-code realized in the image decoding apparatus is described, and it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the pseudo-code may be realized in a similar manner in the image encoding apparatus .
100
100
FIG. 3A
As described above, when the image decoding apparatus performs coefficient coding according to a transform skip mode, the image decoding apparatus may limit the number of bins arithmetic encoded by using a context model for each of coefficient groups in the first scan pass in a similar manner to , and may not obtain a bin arithmetic encoded according to a bypass mode in the first scan pass, such that complexity of binary arithmetic decoding may be decreased and a parsing delay due to the bin arithmetic encoded according to the bypass mode may be decreased.
Also, even in the second scan pass, the number of bins arithmetic encoded by using the context model is limited for each of the coefficient groups, such that complexity of binary arithmetic decoding using the context model may be decreased. In this case, a bin arithmetic encoded according to a bypass mode is also not obtained, such that complexity of binary arithmetic decoding may be decreased and a parsing delay due to the bin arithmetic encoded according to the bypass mode may be decreased.
Also, with respect to a coefficient of a scan position from which a significant coefficient flag and the like are not obtained, a bin of a significant coefficient flag, a GT1 flag, a parity flag, and a GTX flag is not binary arithmetic decoded according to the bypass mode and only the entirety of a coefficient absolute value is binary arithmetic decoded according to the bypass mode, such that the coefficient absolute value may be effectively decoded without a parsing delay that occurs in a process of parsing an unnecessary bin of the significant coefficient flag, the GT1 flag, the parity flag, and the GTX flag. In particular, in a case of coefficient coding according to the transform skip mode, values of a coefficient are not biased to one side and their absolute values are generally large, such that a parsing delay may be effectively decreased without much difference in a decoding efficiency, compared to a case where a bin, which is arithmetic encoded in the bypass mode, of the significant coefficient flag, the GT1 flag, the parity flag, and the GTX flag is binary arithmetic decoded.
FIG. 4A
is a diagram for describing a process of quantizing a current transform coefficient, based on a dependent quantization process according to an embodiment.
FIG. 4A
150
2010
0
2020
1
2000
Referring to , the image encoding apparatus may determine candidates A and B with respect to a quantizer Q and candidates C and D with respect to a quantizer Q, based on a value of an original transform coefficient generated through a transformation process.
150
2010
2020
150
FIGS. 4B and 4C
The image encoding apparatus may calculate RD COST, based on a state based on parity of transform coefficients and the candidates and , and may determine a quantizer to be used for the current transform coefficient and a value of a quantization coefficient of the current transform coefficient. The image encoding apparatus may modify a value of parity of a current original transform coefficient or a value of parity of a previous original transform coefficient, based on the RD COST, may determine a quantizer to be used for a modified coefficient, and may perform quantization on a value of a modified current transform coefficient. The state (Qstate) based on the parity of the transform coefficients will be described below with reference to .
0
A reconstruction level t′ corresponding to the quantizer Q may be determined based on Equation 1 below.
[Equation 1]
t′=
k*Δ
2* (1)
Here, k refers to a related transform coefficient level and may be a coefficient absolute value obtained through coefficient coding (coefficient). Δ may refer to a quantization step size.
1
A reconstruction level t′ corresponding to the quantizer Q may be determined based on Equation 2 below.
[Equation 2]
t
k
k
′=(2*−sgn())*Δ (2)
Here, sgn(k) may be determined based on Equation 3 below.
[Equation 3]
k
k==
k<
sgn(=(0?0:(0?−1:1)) (3)
FIGS. 4B and 4C
are diagrams illustrating a state machine diagram of a parity-based state machine and a state table of a coefficient used to perform a dependent quantization process.
FIGS. 4B and 4C
150
150
Referring to , the image encoding apparatus may determine an initial state as 0, and when parity of a level k of a coefficient to be currently encoded is 0 ((k&1)==0), a next state may be determined to be state 0. When parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 1 ((k&1)==1), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 2.
150
When a current state is state 2 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 0 ((k&1)==0), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 1.
150
When the current state is state 2 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 1 ((k&1)==1), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 3.
150
When the current state is state 1 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 0 ((k&1)==0), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 2.
150
When the current state is state 1 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 1 ((k&1)==1), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 0.
150
When the current state is state 3 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 0 ((k&1)==0), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 3.
150
When the current state is state 3 and parity of the level k of the coefficient to be currently encoded is 1 ((k&1)==1), the image encoding apparatus may determine a next state to be state 1.
150
0
1
150
0
150
1
Also, the image encoding apparatus may determine one of the quantizers Q and Q, based on the state. When the state is state 0 or 1, the image encoding apparatus may determine the quantizer Q as a quantizer for the current transform coefficient. When the state is state 2 or 3, the image encoding apparatus may determine the quantizer Q as a quantizer for the current transform coefficient.
FIG. 5A
100
is a diagram for describing a method by which the image decoding apparatus performs residual coding according to an embodiment.
FIG. 5A
100
Referring to , in transform residual coding, the image decoding apparatus may obtain context-encoded bins of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag), a GT1 flag (gt1), a GT3 flag (gt3), and a parity flag (parity) from a first scan position until the number of context bins obtained from a bitstream does not exceed a maximum limit in a first scan pass (pass 1), and may obtain a bypass-mode encoded bin of the remainder (abs_remainder) of a coefficient absolute value in a second scan pass (pass 2).
100
When the number of context bins obtained from the bitstream in the second scan pass (pass 2) exceeds the maximum limit, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a bypass-mode encoded bin (dec_abs_level) with respect to the entirety of a coefficient absolute value of a next scan position.
100
100
In transform skip residual coding, the image decoding apparatus may obtain context-encoded bins of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag), a sign flag (sign), a GT1 flag (gt1), and a parity flag (parity) until the number of context bins obtained from a bitstream does not exceed a maximum limit in a first scan pass (pass 1), and when the number of context bins obtained from the bitstream exceeds the maximum limit, the image decoding apparatus may obtain a bypass-mode encoded bin with respect to a coefficient of a next scan position.
100
Afterward, when a value of a previous GTX flag (a GT1 flag when a GTX flag to be currently obtained is a GT3 flag) is 1 in a second scan pass (pass 2), the image decoding apparatus may obtain a value of a current GTX flag (e.g., the GT3 flag), and until the number of context-encoded bins obtained from a bitstream does not exceed a maximum limit, the GTX flag (where, X is 3, 5, 7, and 9) may be obtained as a context-encoded bin, and remaining flags may be obtained as a bypass-mode encoded bin.
100
When a value of a GT9 flag of a coefficient of a current scan position is 1 in a third scan pass (pass 3), the image decoding apparatus may obtain a bypass-mode encoded bin with respect to the remainder (abs_remainder) of a coefficient absolute value of the current scan position.
100
100
As described above, the image decoding apparatus passes through a scan pass (pass 2) that is highly inconvenient, in transform skip coding, such that a considerable parsing delay may occur and an operation for binary arithmetic decoding a corresponding bin may become more complex. Therefore, in order to decrease the parsing delay, the image decoding apparatus may be configured to decrease a scan pass and decrease bins from being unnecessarily obtained according to a bypass mode.
100
FIG. 5A
FIGS. 3B and 3C
It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that descriptions of operations of the image decoding apparatus provided with reference to correspond to descriptions of the pseudo-code described above with reference to .
FIG. 5B
100
illustrates a diagram for describing a method by which the image decoding apparatus performs transform skip residual coding according to an embodiment.
FIG. 5B
100
Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may obtain context-encoded bins of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag), a sign flag (sign), a GT1 flag (gt1), and a parity flag (parity) until the number of context bins obtained from a bitstream does not exceed a maximum limit in a first scan pass (pass 1).
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain a context-encoded bin of a GTX flag (gtX_flag) with respect to coefficients of which value of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag) is 1, according to a scan order, in a second scan pass (pass 2). Here, the number of context bins with respect to the second scan pass may be limited, and afterward, a bin of the GTX flag (gtX_flag) may not be obtained.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain, according to a scan order in a third scan pass (pass 3), bins of abs_remainder at a scan position where a value of gtX_flag (e.g., gt9_flag) being finally obtained in a previous second scan pass is 1 (or a scan position where gt1_flag is 1 when the second scan pass is not performed). Here, the bins may be all bypass-mode encoded bins.
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain, according to a scan order in the third scan pass (pass 3), bins of the entirety of an absolute value (dec_abs_level) and a sign flag (sign) with respect to coefficients of a scan position from which a value of a significant coefficient flag (sig_flag) is not obtained in the first scan pass. Here, the bins may be all bypass-mode encoded bins.
FIG. 5A
100
Unlike residual encoding in a transform skip mode of , the image decoding apparatus may obtain context-encoded bins of the significant flag sig_flag), the sign flag (sign), the GT1 flag (gt1), and the parity flag (parity) by only a limited number in the first scan pass, and may not obtain bypass-encoded bins (the significant flag sig_flag), the sign flag (sign), the GT1 flag (gt1), and the parity flag (parity)) from remaining scan positions, such that an unnecessary parsing delay may be decreased and complexity of arithmetic decoding for processing bins may be decreased.
100
FIG. 5B
FIG. 3D
It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that descriptions of operations of the image decoding apparatus provided with reference to correspond to descriptions of the pseudo-code described above with reference to .
FIGS. 1A to 5B
In the above, with reference to , the image encoding or decoding method and apparatus that efficiently arithmetic encode/arithmetic decode information about a coefficient included in a coding unit when performing residual encoding/decoding according to the transform skip mode are described.
Hereinafter, splitting of a coding unit will be described in detail according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
An image may be split into largest coding units. A size of each largest coding unit may be determined based on information obtained from a bitstream. A shape of each largest coding unit may be a square shape of the same size. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Also, a largest coding unit may be hierarchically split into coding units based on split shape mode information obtained from the bitstream. The split shape mode information may include at least one of information indicating whether splitting is to be performed, split direction information, and split type information. The information indicating whether splitting is to be performed indicates whether a coding unit is to be split. The split direction information indicates that splitting is to be performed in one of a horizontal direction or a vertical direction. The split type information indicates that a coding unit is to be split by using one of binary split, tri split, or quad split.
100
100
For convenience of description, in the disclosure, it is assumed that the split shape mode information includes the information indicating whether splitting is to be performed, the split direction information, and the split type information, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The image decoding apparatus may obtain, from a bitstream, the split shape mode information as one bin string. The image decoding apparatus may determine whether to split a coding unit, a split direction, and a split type, based on the one bin string.
FIGS. 6 to 19
The coding unit may be equal to or smaller than a largest coding unit. For example, when the split shape mode information indicates that splitting is not to be performed, the coding unit has a same size as the largest coding unit. When the split shape mode information indicates that splitting is to be performed, the largest coding unit may be split into lower-depth coding units. When split shape mode information about the lower-depth coding units indicates splitting, the lower-depth coding units may be split into smaller coding units. However, the splitting of the image is not limited thereto, and the largest coding unit and the coding unit may not be distinguished. The splitting of the coding unit will be described in detail with reference to .
FIGS. 6 to 19
Also, the coding unit may be split into prediction units for prediction of the image. The prediction units may each be equal to or smaller than the coding unit. Also, the coding unit may be split into transform units for transformation of the image. The transform units may each be equal to or smaller than the coding unit. Shapes and sizes of the transform unit and the prediction unit may not be related to each other. The coding unit may be distinguished from the prediction unit and the transform unit, or the coding unit, the prediction unit, and the transform unit may be equal to each other. Splitting of the prediction unit and the transform unit may be performed in a same manner as splitting of the coding unit. The splitting of the coding unit will be described in detail with reference to . A current block and a neighboring block of the disclosure may indicate one of the largest coding unit, the coding unit, the prediction unit, and the transform unit. Also, the current block of the current coding unit is a block that is currently being decoded or encoded or a block that is currently being split. The neighboring block may be a block reconstructed prior to the current block. The neighboring block may be spatially or temporally adjacent to the current block. The neighboring block may be located at one of the lower-left, left, upper-left, top, upper-right, right, lower-right from the current block.
FIG. 6
100
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment.
A block shape may include 4N×4N, 4N×2N, 2N×4N, 4N×N, or N×4N. Here, N may be a positive integer. Block shape information is information indicating at least one of a shape, direction, a ratio of a width and height, or sizes.
100
100
The shape of the coding unit may include a square and a non-square. When the lengths of the width and height of the coding unit are equal (e.g., when the block shape of the coding unit is 4N×4N), the image decoding apparatus may determine the block shape information of the coding unit as a square. The image decoding apparatus may determine the shape of the coding unit to be a non-square.
100
100
100
100
When the width and the height of the coding unit are different from each other (e.g., when the block shape of the coding unit is 4N×2N, 2N×4N, 4N×N, or N×4N), the image decoding apparatus may determine the block shape information of the coding unit as a non-square shape. When the shape of the coding unit is non-square, the image decoding apparatus may determine the ratio of the width and height in the block shape information of the coding unit to be at least one of 1:2, 2:1, 1:4, 4:1, 1:8, or 8:1. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether the coding unit is in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction, based on the length of the width and the length of the height of the coding unit. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of the coding unit, based on at least one of the length of the width, the length of the height, or the area of the coding unit.
100
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the shape of the coding unit by using the block shape information, and may determine a splitting method of the coding unit by using the split shape mode information. That is, a coding unit splitting method indicated by the split shape mode information may be determined based on a block shape indicated by the block shape information used by the image decoding apparatus .
100
100
150
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
The image decoding apparatus may obtain the split shape mode information from a bitstream. However, an embodiment is not limited thereto, and the image decoding apparatus and the image encoding apparatus may obtain pre-agreed split shape mode information, based on the block shape information. The image decoding apparatus may obtain the pre-agreed split shape mode information with respect to a largest coding unit or a smallest coding unit. For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine split shape mode information with respect to the largest coding unit to be a quad split. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine split shape mode information regarding the smallest coding unit to be “not to perform splitting”. In particular, the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of the largest coding unit to be 256×256. The image decoding apparatus may determine the pre-agreed split shape mode information to be a quad split. The quad split is a split shape mode in which both the width and the height of the coding unit are bisected. The image decoding apparatus may obtain a coding unit of a 128×128 size from the largest coding unit of a 256×256 size, based on the split shape mode information. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of the smallest coding unit to be 4×4. The image decoding apparatus may obtain split shape mode information indicating “not to perform splitting” with respect to the smallest coding unit.
100
100
300
110
310
300
310
310
310
FIG. 6
a
b
c
d
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use the block shape information indicating that the current coding unit has a square shape. For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether to split a square coding unit, whether to vertically split the square coding unit, whether to horizontally split the square coding unit, or whether to split the square coding unit into four coding units, based on the split shape mode information. Referring to , when the block shape information of a current coding unit indicates a square shape, the image decoder may not split a coding unit having the same size as the current coding unit , based on the split shape mode information indicating not to perform splitting, or may determine coding units , , or split based on the split shape mode information indicating a predetermined splitting method.
FIG. 6
100
310
300
100
310
300
100
310
300
b
c
d
Referring to , according to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine two coding units obtained by splitting the current coding unit in a vertical direction, based on the split shape mode information indicating to perform splitting in a vertical direction. The image decoding apparatus may determine two coding units obtained by splitting the current coding unit in a horizontal direction, based on the split shape mode information indicating to perform splitting in a horizontal direction. The image decoding apparatus may determine four coding units obtained by splitting the current coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions, based on the split shape mode information indicating to perform splitting in vertical and horizontal directions. However, splitting methods of the square coding unit are not limited to the aforementioned methods, and may include various methods that may be indicated by the split shape mode information. Predetermined splitting methods of splitting the square coding unit will be described in detail below in relation to various embodiments.
FIG. 7
100
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a non-square coding unit, according to an embodiment.
100
100
400
450
100
410
460
400
450
420
420
430
430
430
470
470
480
480
480
FIG. 7
a
b
a
b
c
a
b
a
b
c
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use block shape information indicating that a current coding unit has a non-square shape. The image decoding apparatus may determine whether not to split the non-square current coding unit or whether to split the non-square current coding unit by using a predetermined splitting method, based on split shape mode information. Referring to , when the block shape information of a current coding unit or indicates a non-square shape, the image decoding apparatus may determine that a coding unit or having the same size as the current coding unit or , based on the split shape mode information indicating not to perform splitting, or may determine coding units and , , , and , and , or , , and which are split based on the split shape mode information indicating a predetermined splitting method. Predetermined splitting methods of splitting a non-square coding unit will be described in detail below in relation to various embodiments.
100
400
450
100
420
420
470
470
400
450
400
450
FIG. 7
a
b
a
b
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a splitting method of a coding unit by using the split shape mode information and, in this case, the split shape mode information may indicate the number of one or more coding units generated by splitting a coding unit. Referring to , when the split shape mode information indicates to split the current coding unit or into two coding units, the image decoding apparatus may determine two coding units and , or and included in the current coding unit or , by splitting the current coding unit or based on the split shape mode information.
100
400
450
100
400
450
100
400
450
400
450
400
450
According to an embodiment, when the image decoding apparatus splits the non-square current coding unit or based on the split shape mode information, the image decoding apparatus may split a current coding unit, in consideration of the location of a long side of the non-square current coding unit or . For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine a plurality of coding units by splitting the current coding unit or by splitting a long side of the current coding unit or , in consideration of the shape of the current coding unit or .
100
400
450
400
450
100
400
450
430
430
430
480
480
480
a
b
c
a
b
c.
According to an embodiment, when the split shape mode information indicates to split (tri-split) a coding unit into an odd number of blocks, the image decoding apparatus may determine an odd number of coding units included in the current coding unit or . For example, when the split shape mode information indicates to split the current coding unit or into three coding units, the image decoding apparatus may split the current coding unit or into three coding units , , and , or , , and
400
450
100
100
400
450
400
450
400
100
430
430
430
400
450
100
480
480
480
450
a
b
c
a
b
c
According to an embodiment, a ratio of the width and height of the current coding unit or may be 4:1 or 1:4. When the ratio of the width and height is 4:1, the block shape information may indicate a horizontal direction because the length of the width is longer than the length of the height. When the ratio of the width and height is 1:4, the block shape information may indicate a vertical direction because the length of the width is shorter than the length of the height. The image decoding apparatus may determine to split a current coding unit into the odd number of blocks, based on the split shape mode information. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine a split direction of the current coding unit or , based on the block shape information of the current coding unit or . For example, when the current coding unit is in the vertical direction, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding units , , and by splitting the current coding unit in the horizontal direction. Also, when the current coding unit is in the horizontal direction, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding units , , and by splitting the current coding unit in the vertical direction.
100
400
450
430
480
430
430
430
480
480
480
430
430
480
480
400
450
430
430
430
480
480
480
b
b
a
b
c
a
b
c
a
c
a
c
a
b
c
a
b
c
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the odd number of coding units included in the current coding unit or , and not all the determined coding units may have the same size. For example, a predetermined coding unit or from among the determined odd number of coding units , , and , or , , and may have a size different from the size of the other coding units and , or and . That is, coding units which may be determined by splitting the current coding unit or may have multiple sizes and, in some cases, all of the odd number of coding units , , and , or , , and may have different sizes.
100
400
450
400
450
100
430
480
430
430
480
480
430
480
430
430
430
480
480
480
400
450
100
430
480
430
430
480
480
FIG. 7
b
b
a
c
a
c
b
b
a
b
c
a
b
c
b
b
a
c
a
c.
According to an embodiment, when the split shape mode information indicates to split a coding unit into the odd number of blocks, the image decoding apparatus may determine the odd number of coding units included in the current coding unit or , and in addition, may put a predetermined restriction on at least one coding unit from among the odd number of coding units generated by splitting the current coding unit or . Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may allow a decoding process of the coding unit or to be different from that of the other coding units and , or or , wherein coding unit or is at a center location from among the three coding units , , and or , , and generated by splitting the current coding unit or . For example, the image decoding apparatus may restrict the coding unit or at the center location to be no longer split or to be split only a predetermined number of times, unlike the other coding units and , or and
FIG. 8
100
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of splitting a coding unit based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, according to an embodiment.
100
500
500
100
510
500
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine to split or not to split a square first coding unit into coding units, based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information. According to an embodiment, when the split shape mode information indicates to split the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, the image decoding apparatus may determine a second coding unit by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction. A first coding unit, a second coding unit, and a third coding unit used according to an embodiment are terms used to understand a relation before and after splitting a coding unit. For example, the second coding unit may be determined by splitting the first coding unit, and the third coding unit may be determined by splitting the second coding unit. It will be understood that the structure of the first coding unit, the second coding unit, and the third coding unit follows the above descriptions.
100
510
510
100
510
500
520
520
520
520
510
100
510
500
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FIG. 8
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine to split the determined second coding unit into coding units, based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, or may determine to not split the determined second coding unit . Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may split the non-square second coding unit , which is determined by splitting the first coding unit , into one or more third coding units , or , , and at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, or may not split the non-square second coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, and may split a plurality of various-shaped second coding units (e.g., ) by splitting the first coding unit , based on at least one of the obtained block shape information and the obtained split shape mode information, and the second coding unit may be split by using a splitting method of the first coding unit based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information. According to an embodiment, when the first coding unit is split into the second coding units based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about the first coding unit , the second coding unit may also be split into the third coding units , or , , and based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about the second coding unit . That is, a coding unit may be recursively split based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about each coding unit. Therefore, a square coding unit may be determined by splitting a non-square coding unit, and a non-square coding unit may be determined by recursively splitting the square coding unit.
FIG. 8
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Referring to , a predetermined coding unit (e.g., a coding unit located at a center location or a square coding unit) from among the odd number of third coding units , , and determined by splitting the non-square second coding unit may be recursively split. According to an embodiment, the non-square third coding unit from among the odd number of third coding units , , and may be split in a horizontal direction into a plurality of fourth coding units. A non-square fourth coding unit or from among a plurality of fourth coding units , , , and may be re-split into a plurality of coding units again. For example, the non-square fourth coding unit or may be split into the odd number of coding units again. A method that may be used to recursively split a coding unit will be described below in relation to various embodiments.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split each of the third coding units , or , , and into coding units, based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information. Also, the image decoding apparatus may determine not to split the second coding unit based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the non-square second coding unit into the odd number of third coding units , , and . The image decoding apparatus may put a predetermined restriction on a predetermined third coding unit from among the odd number of third coding units , , and . For example, the image decoding apparatus may restrict the third coding unit at a center location from among the odd number of third coding units , , and to be no longer split or to be split according a preset number of times.
FIG. 8
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Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may restrict the third coding unit , which is at the center location from among the odd number of third coding units , , and included in the non-square second coding unit , to be no longer split, to be split by using a predetermined splitting method (e.g., split into only four coding units or split by using a splitting method of the second coding unit ), or to be split only a predetermined number of times (e.g., split only n times (where n>0)). However, the restrictions on the third coding unit at the center location are not limited to the aforementioned examples, and it should be understood that the restrictions may include various restrictions for decoding the third coding unit at the center location differently from the other third coding units and
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, which is used to split a current coding unit, from a predetermined location in the current coding unit.
FIG. 9
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illustrates a method, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining a predetermined coding unit from among an odd number of coding units, according to an embodiment.
FIG. 9
FIG. 9
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Referring to , at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about a current coding unit or may be obtained from a sample of a predetermined location (e.g., a sample or of a center location) from among a plurality of samples included in the current coding unit or . However, the predetermined location in the current coding unit , from which at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information may be obtained, is not limited to the center location in , and may include various locations included in the current coding unit (e.g., top, bottom, left, right, upper-left, lower-left, upper-right, and lower-right locations). The image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information from the predetermined location and may determine to split or not to split the current coding unit into various-shaped and various-sized coding units.
100
According to an embodiment, when the current coding unit is split into a predetermined number of coding units, the image decoding apparatus may select one of the coding units. Various methods may be used to select one of a plurality of coding units, as will be described below in relation to various embodiments.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the current coding unit into a plurality of coding units, and may determine a coding unit at a predetermined location.
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FIG. 9
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use information indicating locations of the odd number of coding units, so as to determine a coding unit at a center location from among the odd number of coding units. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the odd number of coding units , , and or the odd number of coding units , , and by splitting the current coding unit or the current coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine the middle coding unit or the middle coding unit by using information about the locations of the odd number of coding units , , and or the odd number of coding units , , and . For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the center location by determining the locations of the coding units , , and based on information indicating locations of predetermined samples included in the coding units , , and . Specifically, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the center location by determining the locations of the coding units , , and based on information indicating locations of top-left samples , , and of the coding units , , and
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According to an embodiment, the information indicating the locations of the top-left samples , , and , which are included in the coding units , , and , respectively, may include information about locations or coordinates of the coding units , , and in a picture. According to an embodiment, the information indicating the locations of the top-left samples , , and , which are included in the coding units , , and , respectively, may include information indicating widths or heights of the coding units , , and included in the current coding unit , and the widths or heights may correspond to information indicating differences between the coordinates of the coding units , , and in the picture. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the center location by directly using the information about the locations or coordinates of the coding units , , and in the picture, or by using the information about the widths or heights of the coding units, which correspond to the difference values between the coordinates.
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According to an embodiment, information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the upper coding unit may include coordinates (xa, ya), information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the middle coding unit may include coordinates (xb, yb), and information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the lower coding unit may include coordinates (xc, yc). The image decoding apparatus may determine the middle coding unit by using the coordinates of the top-left samples , , and which are included in the coding units , , and , respectively. For example, when the coordinates of the top-left samples , , and are sorted in an ascending or descending order, the coding unit including the coordinates (xb, yb) of the sample at a center location may be determined as a coding unit at a center location from among the coding units , , and determined by splitting the current coding unit . However, the coordinates indicating the locations of the top-left samples , , and may include coordinates indicating absolute locations in the picture, or may use coordinates (dxb, dyb) indicating a relative location of the top-left sample of the middle coding unit and coordinates (dxc, dyc) indicating a relative location of the top-left sample of the lower coding unit with reference to the location of the top-left sample of the upper coding unit . A method of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location by using coordinates of a sample included in the coding unit, as information indicating a location of the sample, is not limited to the aforementioned method, and may include various arithmetic methods capable of using the coordinates of the sample.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the current coding unit into a plurality of coding units , , and , and may select one of the coding units , , and based on a predetermined criterion. For example, the image decoding apparatus may select the coding unit , which has a size different from that of the others, from among the coding units , , and
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FIG. 9
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width or height of each of the coding units , , and by using the coordinates (xa, ya) that is the information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the upper coding unit , the coordinates (xb, yb) that is the information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the middle coding unit , and the coordinates (xc, yc) that is the information indicating the location of the top-left sample of the lower coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine the respective sizes of the coding units , , and by using the coordinates (xa, ya), (xb, yb), and (xc, yc) indicating the locations of the coding units , , and . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width of the upper coding unit to be the width of the current coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine the height of the upper coding unit to be yb-ya. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width of the middle coding unit to be the width of the current coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine the height of the middle coding unit to be yc-yb. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width or height of the lower coding unit by using the width or height of the current coding unit or the widths or heights of the upper and middle coding units and . The image decoding apparatus may determine a coding unit, which has a size different from that of the others, based on the determined widths and heights of the coding units , , and . Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the middle coding unit , which has a size different from the size of the upper and lower coding units and , as the coding unit of the predetermined location. However, the aforementioned method, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining a coding unit having a size different from the size of the other coding units merely corresponds to an example of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location by using the sizes of coding units, which are determined based on coordinates of samples, and thus various methods of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location by comparing the sizes of coding units, which are determined based on coordinates of predetermined samples, may be used.
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The image decoding apparatus may determine the width or height of each of the coding units , , and by using the coordinates (xd, yd) that is information indicating the location of a top-left sample of the left coding unit , the coordinates (xe, ye) that is information indicating the location of a top-left sample of the middle coding unit , and the coordinates (xf, yf) that is information indicating a location of the top-left sample of the right coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine the respective sizes of the coding units , , and by using the coordinates (xd, yd), (xe, ye), and (xf, yf) indicating the locations of the coding units , , and
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FIG. 9
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width of the left coding unit to be xe-xd. The image decoding apparatus may determine the height of the left coding unit to be the height of the current coding unit . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width of the middle coding unit to be xf-xe. The image decoding apparatus may determine the height of the middle coding unit to be the height of the current coding unit . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the width or height of the right coding unit by using the width or height of the current coding unit or the widths or heights of the left and middle coding units and . The image decoding apparatus may determine a coding unit, which has a size different from that of the others, based on the determined widths and heights of the coding units , , and . Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the middle coding unit , which has a size different from the sizes of the left and right coding units and , as the coding unit of the predetermined location. However, the aforementioned method, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining a coding unit having a size different from the size of the other coding units merely corresponds to an example of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location by using the sizes of coding units, which are determined based on coordinates of samples, and thus various methods of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location by comparing the sizes of coding units, which are determined based on coordinates of predetermined samples, may be used.
However, locations of samples considered to determine locations of coding units are not limited to the aforementioned top-left locations, and information about arbitrary locations of samples included in the coding units may be used.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may select a coding unit at a predetermined location from among an odd number of coding units determined by splitting the current coding unit, in consideration of the shape of the current coding unit. For example, when the current coding unit has a non-square shape, a width of which is longer than its height, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the predetermined location in a horizontal direction. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine one of the coding units at different locations in a horizontal direction and may put a restriction on the coding unit. For example, when the current coding unit has a non-square shape, a height of which is longer than its width, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the predetermined location in a vertical direction. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine one of coding units at different locations in a vertical direction and may put a restriction on the coding unit.
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FIG. 9
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use information indicating respective locations of an even number of coding units, so as to determine the coding unit at the predetermined location from among the even number of coding units. The image decoding apparatus may determine an even number of coding units by splitting (e.g., bi-split) the current coding unit, and may determine the coding unit at the predetermined location by using the information about the locations of the even number of coding units. An operation related thereto may correspond to the operation of determining a coding unit at a predetermined location (e.g., a center location) from among an odd number of coding units, which is described in detail above with reference to , and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided here.
100
According to an embodiment, when a non-square current coding unit is split into a plurality of coding units, predetermined information about a coding unit at a predetermined location may be used in a splitting process to determine the coding unit at the predetermined location from among the plurality of coding units. For example, the image decoding apparatus may use at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, which is stored in a sample included in a middle coding unit, in a splitting process to determine a coding unit at a center location from among the plurality of coding units determined by splitting the current coding unit.
FIG. 9
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Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may split the current coding unit into the plurality of coding units , , and based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, and may determine the coding unit at a center location from among the plurality of the coding units , , and . Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit at the center location, in consideration of a location from which based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information is obtained. That is, at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about the current coding unit may be obtained from the sample at a center location of the current coding unit and, when the current coding unit is split into the plurality of coding units , , and based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, the coding unit including the sample may be determined as the coding unit at the center location. However, information used to determine the coding unit at the center location is not limited to at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, and various types of information may be used to determine the coding unit at the center location.
FIG. 9
FIG. 9
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According to an embodiment, predetermined information for identifying the coding unit at the predetermined location may be obtained from a predetermined sample included in a coding unit to be determined. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may use at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, which is obtained from a sample at a predetermined location in the current coding unit (e.g., a sample at a center location of the current coding unit ), to determine a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the plurality of the coding units , , and determined by splitting the current coding unit (e.g., a coding unit at a center location from among a plurality of split coding units). That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the sample at the predetermined location by considering a block shape of the current coding unit , may determine the coding unit including a sample, from which predetermined information (e.g., at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information) is obtainable, from among the plurality of coding units , , and determined by splitting the current coding unit , and may put a predetermined restriction on the coding unit . Referring to , according to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the sample at the center location of the current coding unit as the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable, and may put a predetermined restriction on the coding unit including the sample , in a decoding operation. However, the location of the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable is not limited to the aforementioned location, and may include arbitrary locations of samples included in the coding unit to be determined for a restriction.
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According to an embodiment, the location of the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable may be determined based on the shape of the current coding unit . According to an embodiment, the block shape information may indicate whether the current coding unit has a square or non-square shape, and the location of the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable may be determined based on the shape. For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine a sample located on a boundary for splitting at least one of a width and height of the current coding unit in half, as the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable, by using at least one of information about the width of the current coding unit and information about the height of the current coding unit. As another example, when the block shape information of the current coding unit indicates a non-square shape, the image decoding apparatus may determine one of samples adjacent to a boundary for splitting a long side of the current coding unit in half, as the sample from which the predetermined information is obtainable.
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FIG. 8
According to an embodiment, when the current coding unit is split into a plurality of coding units, the image decoding apparatus may use at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information so as to determine a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the plurality of coding units. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information from a sample at a predetermined location in a coding unit, and may split the plurality of coding units, which are generated by splitting the current coding unit, by using at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, which is obtained from the sample of the predetermined location in each of the plurality of coding units. That is, a coding unit may be recursively split based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, which is obtained from the sample at the predetermined location in each coding unit. An operation of recursively splitting a coding unit is described above with reference to , and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided here.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine one or more coding units by splitting the current coding unit, and may determine an order of decoding the one or more coding units, based on a predetermined block (e.g., the current coding unit).
FIG. 10
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illustrates an order of processing a plurality of coding units when the image decoding apparatus determines the plurality of coding units by splitting a current coding unit, according to an embodiment.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine second coding units and by splitting a first coding unit in a vertical direction, may determine second coding units and by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, or may determine second coding units to by splitting the first coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions, based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information.
FIG. 10
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Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine to process the second coding units and in a horizontal direction order , the second coding units and being determined by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction. The image decoding apparatus may determine to process the second coding units and in a vertical direction order , the second coding units and being determined by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction. The image decoding apparatus may determine to process the second coding units , , , and , which are determined by splitting the first coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions, in a predetermined order for processing coding units in a row and then processing coding units in a next row (e.g., in a raster scan order or Z-scan order ).
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FIG. 10
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may recursively split coding units. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the plurality of coding units and , and , or , , , and by splitting the first coding unit , and may recursively split each of the determined plurality of coding units , and , or , , , and . A splitting method of the plurality of coding units and , and , or , , , and may correspond to a splitting method of the first coding unit . Accordingly, each of the plurality of coding units and , and , or , , , and may be independently split into a plurality of coding units. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the second coding units and by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction, and may determine to independently split each of the second coding units and or not to split the second coding units and
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine third coding units and by splitting the left second coding unit in a horizontal direction, and may not split the right second coding unit
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According to an embodiment, a processing order of coding units may be determined based on an operation of splitting a coding unit. In other words, a processing order of split coding units may be determined based on a processing order of coding units immediately before being split. The image decoding apparatus may determine a processing order of the third coding units and determined by splitting the left second coding unit , independently of the right second coding unit . Because the third coding units and are determined by splitting the left second coding unit in a horizontal direction, the third coding units and may be processed in a vertical direction order . Because the left and right second coding units and are processed in the horizontal direction order , the right second coding unit may be processed after the third coding units and included in the left second coding unit are processed in the vertical direction order . An operation of determining a processing order of coding units based on a coding unit before being split is not limited to the aforementioned example, and various methods may be used to independently process coding units, which are split and determined to various shapes, in a predetermined order.
FIG. 11
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illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining that a current coding unit is to be split into an odd number of coding units, when the coding units are not processable in a predetermined order, according to an embodiment.
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FIG. 11
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine that the current coding unit is to be split into an odd number of coding units, based on obtained block shape information and split shape mode information. Referring to , a square first coding unit may be split into non-square second coding units and , and the second coding units and may be independently split into third coding units and , and , , and . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the plurality of third coding units and by splitting the left second coding unit in a horizontal direction, and may split the right second coding unit into the odd number of third coding units , , and
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FIG. 11
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether there are an odd number of split coding units, by determining whether the third coding units and , and , , and are processable in a predetermined order. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding units and , and , , and by recursively splitting the first coding unit . The image decoding apparatus may determine whether any of the first coding unit , the second coding units and , or the third coding units and , and , , and is to be split into an odd number of coding units, based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information. For example, the second coding unit located in the right from among the second coding units and may be split into an odd number of third coding units , , and . A processing order of a plurality of coding units included in the first coding unit may be a predetermined order (e.g., a Z-scan order ), and the image decoding apparatus may determine whether the third coding units , , and , which are determined by splitting the right second coding unit into an odd number of coding units, satisfy a condition for processing in the predetermined order.
100
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800
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100
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100
a
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e
a
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e
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether the third coding units and , and , , and included in the first coding unit satisfy the condition for processing in the predetermined order, and the condition relates to whether at least one of a width and height of the second coding units and is to be split in half along a boundary of the third coding units and , and , , and . For example, the third coding units and determined when the height of the left second coding unit of the non-square shape is split in half may satisfy the condition. It may be determined that the third coding units , , and do not satisfy the condition because the boundaries of the third coding units , , and determined when the right second coding unit is split into three coding units are unable to split the width or height of the right second coding unit in half. When the condition is not satisfied as described above, the image decoding apparatus may determine disconnection of a scan order, and may determine that the right second coding unit is to be split into an odd number of coding units, based on a result of the determination. According to an embodiment, when a coding unit is split into an odd number of coding units, the image decoding apparatus may put a predetermined restriction on a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the split coding units. The restriction or the predetermined location is described above in relation to various embodiments, and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided herein.
FIG. 12
100
900
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of determining at least one coding unit by splitting a first coding unit , according to an embodiment.
100
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105
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FIG. 12
a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the first coding unit , based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information that is obtained through the obtainer . The square first coding unit may be split into four square coding units, or may be split into a plurality of non-square coding units. For example, referring to , when the block shape information indicates that the first coding unit is a square and the split shape mode information indicates to split the first coding unit into non-square coding units, the image decoding apparatus may split the first coding unit into a plurality of non-square coding units. Specifically, when the split shape mode information indicates to determine an odd number of coding units by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction, the image decoding apparatus may split the square first coding unit into an odd number of coding units, e.g., second coding units , , and determined by splitting the square first coding unit in a vertical direction or second coding units , , and determined by splitting the square first coding unit in a horizontal direction.
100
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FIG. 12
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether the second coding units , , , , , and included in the first coding unit satisfy a condition for processing in a predetermined order, and the condition relates to whether at least one of a width and height of the first coding unit is to be split in half along a boundary of the second coding units , , , , , and . Referring to , because boundaries of the second coding units , , and determined by splitting the square first coding unit in a vertical direction do not split the width of the first coding unit in half, it may be determined that the first coding unit does not satisfy the condition for processing in the predetermined order. In addition, because boundaries of the second coding units , , and determined by splitting the square first coding unit in a horizontal direction do not split the height of the first coding unit in half, it may be determined that the first coding unit does not satisfy the condition for processing in the predetermined order. When the condition is not satisfied as described above, the image decoding apparatus may determine disconnection of a scan order, and may determine that the first coding unit is to be split into an odd number of coding units, based on a result of the determination. According to an embodiment, when a coding unit is split into an odd number of coding units, the image decoding apparatus may put a predetermined restriction on a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the split coding units. The restriction or the predetermined location is described above in relation to various embodiments, and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided herein.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine various-shaped coding units by splitting a first coding unit.
FIG. 12
100
900
930
950
Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may split the square first coding unit or a non-square first coding unit or into various-shaped coding units.
FIG. 13
100
1000
illustrates that a shape into which a second coding unit is splittable is restricted when the second coding unit having a non-square shape, which is determined as the image decoding apparatus splits a first coding unit , satisfies a predetermined condition, according to an embodiment.
100
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a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine to split the square first coding unit into non-square second coding units and or and , based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information which is obtained by the obtainer . The second coding units and or and may be independently split. Accordingly, the image decoding apparatus may determine to split or not to split each of the second coding units and or and into a plurality of coding units, based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about each of the second coding units and or and . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine third coding units and by splitting the non-square left second coding unit , which is determined by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction, in a horizontal direction. However, when the left second coding unit is split in a horizontal direction, the image decoding apparatus may restrict the right second coding unit to not be split in a horizontal direction in which the left second coding unit is split. When third coding units and are determined by splitting the right second coding unit in a same direction, because the left second coding unit and the right second coding unit are independently split in a horizontal direction, the third coding units and or and may be determined. This example is similar to an example in which the image decoding apparatus splits the first coding unit into four square second coding units , , , and , based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information, and may be inefficient in terms of image decoding.
100
1022
1022
1024
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1020
100
1020
1020
a
b
a
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a
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine third coding units and or and by splitting the non-square second coding unit or , which is determined by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, in a vertical direction. However, when a second coding unit (e.g., the upper second coding unit ) is split in a vertical direction, for the aforementioned reason, the image decoding apparatus may restrict the other second coding unit (e.g., the lower second coding unit ) to not be split in a vertical direction in which the upper second coding unit is split.
FIG. 14
100
illustrates a process, performed by the image decoding apparatus , of splitting a square coding unit when split shape mode information indicates that the square coding unit is to not be split into four square coding units, according to an embodiment.
100
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1120
a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine second coding units and or and , etc. by splitting a first coding unit , based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information. The split shape mode information may include information about various methods of splitting a coding unit, but the information about various splitting methods may not include information for splitting a coding unit into four square coding units. Based on the split shape mode information, the image decoding apparatus does not split the square first coding unit into four square second coding units , , , and . The image decoding apparatus may determine the non-square second coding units and or and , etc., based on the split shape mode information.
100
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1100
a
b
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may independently split the non-square second coding units and or and , etc. Each of the second coding units and or and , etc. may be recursively split in a predetermined order, and this splitting method may correspond to a method of splitting the first coding unit , based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information.
100
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100
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a
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For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine square third coding units and by splitting the left second coding unit in a horizontal direction, and may determine square third coding units and by splitting the right second coding unit in a horizontal direction. Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus may determine square third coding units , , , and by splitting both the left second coding unit and the right second coding unit in a horizontal direction. In this case, coding units having the same shape as the four square second coding units , , , and split from the first coding unit may be determined.
100
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a
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As another example, the image decoding apparatus may determine square third coding units and by splitting the upper second coding unit in a vertical direction, and may determine square third coding units and by splitting the lower second coding unit in a vertical direction. Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus may determine square third coding units , , , and by splitting both the upper second coding unit and the lower second coding unit in a vertical direction. In this case, coding units having the same shape as the four square second coding units , , , and split from the first coding unit may be determined.
FIG. 15
illustrates that a processing order between a plurality of coding units may be changed depending on a process of splitting a coding unit, according to an embodiment.
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FIG. 15
FIG. 15
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split a first coding unit , based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information. When the block shape information indicates a square shape and the split shape mode information indicates to split the first coding unit in at least one of horizontal and vertical directions, the image decoding apparatus may determine second coding units and or and , etc. by splitting the first coding unit . Referring to , the non-square second coding units and or and determined by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction or vertical direction and may be independently split based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information about each coding unit. For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine third coding units , , , and by splitting the second coding units and , which are generated by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction, in a horizontal direction, and may determine third coding units , , , and by splitting the second coding units and , which are generated by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, in a vertical direction. An operation of splitting the second coding units and or and is described above with reference to , and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided herein.
100
100
1216
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100
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FIG. 10
FIG. 15
a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may process coding units in a predetermined order. An operation of processing coding units in a predetermined order is described above with reference to , and thus detailed descriptions thereof are not provided herein. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine four square third coding units , , , and , or four square third coding units , , , and by splitting the square first coding unit . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine processing orders of the third coding units , , , and , and , , , and based on a splitting method of the first coding unit .
100
1216
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a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding units , , , and by splitting the second coding units and in a horizontal direction, and may process the third coding units , , , and in a processing order for initially processing the third coding units and , which are included in the left second coding unit , in a vertical direction and then processing the third coding unit and , which are included in the right second coding unit , in a vertical direction.
100
1226
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1220
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1226
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1226
1226
1227
1226
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1220
a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding units , , , and by splitting the second coding units and in a vertical direction, and may process the third coding units , , , and in a processing order for initially processing the third coding units and , which are included in the upper second coding unit , in a horizontal direction and then processing the third coding unit and , which are included in the lower second coding unit , in a horizontal direction.
FIG. 15
1216
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100
a
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Referring to , the square third coding units , , , and , and , , , and may be determined by splitting the second coding units and , and and , respectively. Although the second coding units and are determined by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction differently from the second coding units and which are determined by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, the third coding units , , , and , and , , , and split therefrom eventually show same-shaped coding units split from the first coding unit . Accordingly, by recursively splitting a coding unit in different manners based on at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information, the image decoding apparatus may process a plurality of coding units in different orders even when the coding units are eventually determined to have the same shape.
FIG. 16
illustrates a process of determining a depth of a coding unit as a shape and size of the coding unit change when the coding unit is recursively split such that a plurality of coding units are determined, according to an embodiment.
100
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the depth of the coding unit, based on a predetermined criterion. For example, the predetermined criterion may be the length of a long side of the coding unit. When the length of a long side of a coding unit before being split is 2n times (n>0) the length of a long side of a split current coding unit, the image decoding apparatus may determine that a depth of the current coding unit is increased from a depth of the coding unit before being split, by n. In the following descriptions, a coding unit having an increased depth is expressed as a coding unit of a deeper depth.
FIG. 16
100
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Referring to , according to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a second coding unit and a third coding unit of deeper depths by splitting a square first coding unit based on block shape information indicating a square shape (for example, the block shape information may be expressed as ‘0: SQUARE’). Assuming that the size of the square first coding unit is 2N×2N, the second coding unit determined by splitting a width and height of the first coding unit in ½ may have a size of N×N. Furthermore, the third coding unit determined by splitting a width and height of the second coding unit in ½ may have a size of N/2×N/2. In this case, a width and height of the third coding unit are ¼ times those of the first coding unit . When a depth of the first coding unit is D, a depth of the second coding unit , the width and height of which are ½ times those of the first coding unit , may be D+1, and a depth of the third coding unit , the width and height of which are ¼ times those of the first coding unit , may be D+2.
100
1312
1322
1314
1324
1310
1320
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a second coding unit or and a third coding unit or of deeper depths by splitting a non-square first coding unit or based on block shape information indicating a non-square shape (for example, the block shape information may be expressed as ‘1: NS_VER’ indicating a non-square shape, a height of which is longer than its width, or as ‘2: NS_HOR’ indicating a non-square shape, a width of which is longer than a height).
100
1302
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100
1302
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The image decoding apparatus may determine a second coding unit , , or by splitting at least one of a width and height of the first coding unit having a size of N×2N. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the second coding unit having a size of N×N or the second coding unit having a size of N×N/2 by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction, or may determine the second coding unit having a size of N/2×N by splitting the first coding unit in horizontal and vertical directions.
100
1302
1312
1322
1320
100
1302
1312
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1320
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the second coding unit , , or by splitting at least one of a width and height of the first coding unit having a size of 2N×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the second coding unit having a size of N×N or the second coding unit having a size of N/2×N by splitting the first coding unit in a vertical direction, or may determine the second coding unit having a size of N×N/2 by splitting the first coding unit in horizontal and vertical directions.
100
1304
1314
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1302
100
1304
1314
1324
1302
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a third coding unit , , or by splitting at least one of a width and height of the second coding unit having a size of N×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/2, the third coding unit having a size of N/4×N/2, or the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions.
100
1304
1314
1324
1312
100
1304
1324
1312
1314
1312
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding unit , , or by splitting at least one of a width and height of the second coding unit having a size of N/2×N. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/2 or the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit in a horizontal direction, or may determine the third coding unit having a size of N/4×N/2 by splitting the second coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions.
100
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1322
100
1304
1314
1322
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1322
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding unit , , or by splitting at least one of a width and height of the second coding unit having a size of N×N/2. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/2 or the third coding unit having a size of N/4×N/2 by splitting the second coding unit in a vertical direction, or may determine the third coding unit having a size of N/2×N/4 by splitting the second coding unit in vertical and horizontal directions.
100
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1304
100
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1300
1300
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the square coding unit , , or in a horizontal or vertical direction. For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine the first coding unit having a size of N×2N by splitting the first coding unit having a size of 2N×2N in a vertical direction, or may determine the first coding unit having a size of 2N×N by splitting the first coding unit in a horizontal direction. According to an embodiment, when a depth is determined based on the length of the longest side of a coding unit, a depth of a coding unit determined by splitting the first coding unit having a size of 2N×2N in a horizontal or vertical direction may be the same as the depth of the first coding unit .
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According to an embodiment, a width and height of the third coding unit or may be ¼ times of those of the first coding unit or . When a depth of the first coding unit or is D, a depth of the second coding unit or , the width and height of which are ½ times of those of the first coding unit or , may be D+1, and a depth of the third coding unit or , the width and height of which are ¼ times of those of the first coding unit or , may be D+2.
FIG. 17
illustrates depths that are determinable based on shapes and sizes of coding units, and part indexes (PIDs) that are for distinguishing the coding units, according to an embodiment.
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FIG. 17
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine various-shape second coding units by splitting a square first coding unit . Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine second coding units and , and , and , , , and by splitting the first coding unit in at least one of vertical and horizontal directions based on split shape mode information. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the second coding units and , and , and , , , and , based on the split shape mode information of the first coding unit .
1402
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According to an embodiment, depths of the second coding units and , and , and , , , and that are determined based on the split shape mode information of the square first coding unit may be determined based on the length of a long side thereof. For example, because the length of a side of the square first coding unit is equal to the length of a long side of the non-square second coding units and , and and , the first coding unit and the non-square second coding units and , and and may have the same depth, e.g., D. On the contrary, when the image decoding apparatus splits the first coding unit into the four square second coding units , , , and based on the split shape mode information, because the length of a side of the square second coding units , , , and is ½ times the length of a side of the first coding unit , a depth of the second coding units , , , and may be D+1 which is deeper than the depth D of the first coding unit by 1.
100
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100
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a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a plurality of second coding units and , and , , and by splitting a first coding unit , a height of which is longer than its width, in a horizontal direction based on the split shape mode information. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a plurality of second coding units and , and , , and by splitting a first coding unit , a width of which is longer than its height, in a vertical direction based on the split shape mode information.
1412
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According to an embodiment, a depth of the second coding units and , and , , and , or and , and , , and , which are determined based on the split shape mode information of the non-square first coding unit or , may be determined based on the length of a long side thereof. For example, because the length of a side of the square second coding units and is ½ times the length of a long side of the first coding unit having a non-square shape, a height of which is longer than its width, a depth of the square second coding units and is D+1 which is deeper than the depth D of the non-square first coding unit by 1.
100
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100
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a
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Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus may split the non-square first coding unit into an odd number of second coding units , , and based on the split shape mode information. The odd number of second coding units , , and may include the non-square second coding units and and the square second coding unit . In this case, because the length of a long side of the non-square second coding units and and the length of a side of the square second coding unit are ½ times the length of a long side of the first coding unit , a depth of the second coding units , , and may be D+1 which is deeper than the depth D of the non-square first coding unit by 1. The image decoding apparatus may determine depths of coding units split from the first coding unit having a non-square shape, a width of which is longer than its height, by using the aforementioned method of determining depths of coding units split from the first coding unit .
100
1414
1414
1414
1414
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FIG. 17
b
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine PIDs for identifying split coding units, based on a size ratio between the coding units when an odd number of split coding units do not have equal sizes. Referring to , a coding unit of a center location among an odd number of split coding units , , and may have a width being equal to that of the other coding units and and a height being twice that of the other coding units and . That is, in this case, the coding unit at the center location may include two of the other coding unit or . Therefore, when a PID of the coding unit at the center location is 1 based on a scan order, a PID of the coding unit located next to the coding unit may be increased by 2 and thus may be 3. That is, discontinuity in PID values may be present. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether an odd number of split coding units do not have equal sizes, based on whether discontinuity is present in PIDs for identifying the split coding units.
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FIG. 17
a
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine whether to use a particular splitting method, based on PID values for identifying a plurality of coding units determined by splitting a current coding unit. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine an even number of coding units and or an odd number of coding units , , and by splitting the first coding unit having a rectangular shape, a height of which is longer than its width. The image decoding apparatus may use PIDs indicating respective coding units so as to identify the respective coding units. According to an embodiment, the PID may be obtained from a sample at a predetermined location of each coding unit (e.g., an upper left sample).
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FIG. 17
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a coding unit at a predetermined location from among the split coding units, by using the PIDs for distinguishing the coding units. According to an embodiment, when the split shape mode information of the first coding unit having a rectangular shape, a height of which is longer than its width, indicates to split a coding unit into three coding units, the image decoding apparatus may split the first coding unit into three coding units , , and . The image decoding apparatus may assign a PID to each of the three coding units , , and . The image decoding apparatus may compare PIDs of an odd number of split coding units so as to determine a coding unit at a center location from among the coding units. The image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit having a PID corresponding to a middle value among the PIDs of the coding units, as the coding unit at the center location from among the coding units determined by splitting the first coding unit . According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine PIDs for distinguishing split coding units, based on a size ratio between the coding units when the split coding units do not have equal sizes. Referring to , the coding unit generated by splitting the first coding unit may have a width being equal to that of the other coding units and and a height being twice that of the other coding units and . In this case, when the PID of the coding unit at the center location is 1, the PID of the coding unit located next to the coding unit may be increased by 2 and thus may be 3. When the PID is not uniformly increased as described above, the image decoding apparatus may determine that a coding unit is split into a plurality of coding units including a coding unit having a size different from that of the other coding units. According to an embodiment, when the split shape mode information indicates to split a coding unit into an odd number of coding units, the image decoding apparatus may split a current coding unit in such a manner that a coding unit of a predetermined location among an odd number of coding units (e.g., a coding unit of a center location) has a size different from that of the other coding units. In this case, the image decoding apparatus may determine the coding unit of the center location, which has a different size, by using PIDs of the coding units. However, the PIDs and the size or location of the coding unit of the predetermined location are not limited to the aforementioned examples, and various PIDs and various locations and sizes of coding units may be used.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use a predetermined data unit where a coding unit starts to be recursively split.
FIG. 18
illustrates that a plurality of coding units are determined based on a plurality of predetermined data units included in a picture, according to an embodiment.
According to an embodiment, a predetermined data unit may be defined as a data unit where a coding unit starts to be recursively split by using at least one of block shape information and split shape mode information. That is, the predetermined data unit may correspond to a coding unit of an uppermost depth, which is used to determine a plurality of coding units split from a current picture. In the following descriptions, for convenience of explanation, the predetermined data unit is referred to as a reference data unit.
According to an embodiment, the reference data unit may have a predetermined size and a predetermined shape. According to an embodiment, the reference data unit may include M×N samples. Herein, M and N may be equal to each other, and may be integers expressed as powers of 2. That is, the reference data unit may have a square or non-square shape, and then may be split into an integer number of coding units.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the current picture into a plurality of reference data units. According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may split the plurality of reference data units, which are split from the current picture, by using the split shape mode information of each reference data unit. The operation of splitting the reference data unit may correspond to a splitting operation using a quadtree structure.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may previously determine the minimum size allowed for the reference data units included in the current picture. Accordingly, the image decoding apparatus may determine various reference data units having sizes equal to or greater than the minimum size, and may determine one or more coding units by using the block shape information and the split shape mode information with reference to the determined reference data unit.
FIG. 18
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Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may use a square reference coding unit or a non-square reference coding unit . According to an embodiment, the shape and size of reference coding units may be determined based on various data units that may include one or more reference coding units (e.g., sequences, pictures, slices, slice segments, largest coding units, or the like).
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FIG. 6
FIG. 7
According to an embodiment, the obtainer of the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from a bitstream, at least one of reference coding unit shape information and reference coding unit size information with respect to each of the various data units. An operation of splitting the square reference coding unit into one or more coding units has been described above in relation to the operation of splitting the current coding unit of , and an operation of splitting the non-square reference coding unit into one or more coding units has been described above in relation to the operation of splitting the current coding unit or of . Thus, detailed descriptions thereof will not be provided herein.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use a PID for identifying the size and shape of reference coding units, to determine the size and shape of reference coding units according to some data units previously determined based on a predetermined condition. That is, the obtainer may obtain, from the bitstream, only the PID for identifying the size and shape of reference coding units with respect to each slice, each slice segment, or each largest coding unit which is a data unit satisfying a predetermined condition (e.g., a data unit having a size equal to or smaller than a slice) among the various data units (e.g., sequences, pictures, slices, slice segments, largest coding units, or the like). The image decoding apparatus may determine the sizes and shapes of reference data units with respect to each data unit, which satisfies the predetermined condition, by using the PID. When the reference coding unit shape information and the reference coding unit size information are obtained and used from the bitstream according to each data unit having a relatively small size, efficiency of using the bitstream may not be high, and therefore, only the PID may be obtained and used instead of directly obtaining the reference coding unit shape information and the reference coding unit size information. In this case, at least one of the size and shape of reference coding units corresponding to the PID for identifying the sizes and shapes of reference coding units may be previously determined. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine at least one of the sizes and shapes of reference coding units included in a data unit serving as a unit for obtaining the PID, by selecting the previously determined at least one of the size and shape of reference coding units based on the PID.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may use one or more reference coding units included in a largest coding unit. That is, a largest coding unit split from an image may include one or more reference coding units, and coding units may be determined by recursively splitting each reference coding unit. According to an embodiment, at least one of a width and height of the largest coding unit may be integer times at least one of the width and height of the reference coding units. According to an embodiment, the size of reference coding units may be obtained by splitting the largest coding unit n times based on a quadtree structure. That is, the image decoding apparatus may determine the reference coding units by splitting the largest coding unit n times based on a quadtree structure, and may split the reference coding unit based on at least one of the block shape information and the split shape mode information according to various embodiments.
FIG. 19
1600
illustrates a processing block serving as a criterion for determining a determination order of reference coding units included in a picture , according to an embodiment.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine one or more processing blocks split from a picture. The processing block is a data unit including one or more reference coding units split from a picture, and the one or more reference coding units included in the processing block may be determined according to a particular order. That is, a determination order of one or more reference coding units determined in each of processing blocks may correspond to one of various types of orders for determining reference coding units, and may vary depending on the processing block. The determination order of reference coding units, which is determined with respect to each processing block, may be one of various orders, e.g., raster scan order, Z-scan, N-scan, up-right diagonal scan, horizontal scan, and vertical scan, but is not limited to the aforementioned scan orders.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain processing block size information and may determine the size of one or more processing blocks included in the picture. The image decoding apparatus may obtain the processing block size information from a bitstream and may determine the size of one or more processing blocks included in the picture. The size of processing blocks may be a predetermined size of data units, which is indicated by the processing block size information.
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According to an embodiment, the obtainer of the image decoding apparatus may obtain the processing block size information from the bitstream according to each particular data unit. For example, the processing block size information may be obtained from the bitstream in a data unit such as an image, sequence, picture, slice, slice segment, or the like. That is, the obtainer may obtain the processing block size information from the bitstream according to each of the various data units, and the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of one or more processing blocks, which are split from the picture, by using the obtained processing block size information. The size of the processing blocks may be integer times that of the reference coding units.
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FIG. 19
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of processing blocks and included in the picture . For example, the image decoding apparatus may determine the size of processing blocks based on the processing block size information obtained from the bitstream. Referring to , according to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine a width of the processing blocks and to be four times the width of the reference coding units, and may determine a height of the processing blocks and to be four times the height of the reference coding units. The image decoding apparatus may determine a determination order of one or more reference coding units in one or more processing blocks.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine the processing blocks and , which are included in the picture , based on the size of processing blocks, and may determine a determination order of one or more reference coding units in the processing blocks and . According to an embodiment, determination of reference coding units may include determination of the size of the reference coding units.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from the bitstream, determination order information of one or more reference coding units included in one or more processing blocks, and may determine a determination order with respect to one or more reference coding units based on the obtained determination order information. The determination order information may be defined as an order or direction for determining the reference coding units in the processing block. That is, the determination order of reference coding units may be independently determined with respect to each processing block.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from the bitstream, the determination order information of reference coding units according to each particular data unit. For example, the obtainer may obtain the determination order information of reference coding units from the bitstream according to each data unit such as an image, sequence, picture, slice, slice segment, or processing block. Because the determination order information of reference coding units indicates an order for determining reference coding units in a processing block, the determination order information may be obtained with respect to each particular data unit including an integer number of processing blocks.
100
According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may determine one or more reference coding units based on the determined determination order.
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FIG. 19
According to an embodiment, the obtainer may obtain the determination order information of reference coding units from the bitstream as information related to the processing blocks and , and the image decoding apparatus may determine a determination order of one or more reference coding units included in the processing blocks and and may determine one or more reference coding units, which are included in the picture , based on the determination order. Referring to , the image decoding apparatus may determine determination orders and of one or more reference coding units in the processing blocks and , respectively. For example, when the determination order information of reference coding units is obtained with respect to each processing block, different types of the determination order information of reference coding units may be obtained for the processing blocks and . When the determination order of reference coding units in the processing block is a raster scan order, reference coding units included in the processing block may be determined according to a raster scan order. On the contrary, when the determination order of reference coding units in the other processing block is a backward raster scan order, reference coding units included in the processing block may be determined according to the backward raster scan order.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may decode the determined one or more reference coding units. The image decoding apparatus may decode an image, based on the reference coding units determined as described above. A method of decoding the reference coding units may include various image decoding methods.
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According to an embodiment, the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from the bitstream, block shape information indicating the shape of a current coding unit or split shape mode information indicating a splitting method of the current coding unit, and may use the obtained information. The block shape information or the split shape mode information may be included in the bitstream related to various data units. For example, the image decoding apparatus may use the block shape information or the split shape mode information which is included in a sequence parameter set, a picture parameter set, a video parameter set, a slice header, or a slice segment header. Furthermore, the image decoding apparatus may obtain, from the bitstream, a syntax element corresponding to the block shape information or the split shape mode information according to each largest coding unit, each reference coding unit, or each processing block, and may use the obtained syntax element.
The disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to embodiments thereof. In this regard, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the disclosure is defined not by the detailed descriptions of the disclosure but by the following claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the disclosure.
The embodiments of the disclosure can be written as a program executable on a computer, and can be implemented in general digital computers that execute the program by using a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), optical recording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs), or the like. | |
Comments: Hardcover. Cloth binding. In a cardboard slipcase. 280 x 220 mm. Limited edition of 600 numbered and hand-signed copies.
Occasions at which people ask me about my photographs have been increasing lately.
On the fundamental question, “Why landscapes?” I can’t offer more than a lighthearted answer referring to my desire to work outside, my hobby of traveling, and the fact that a landscape is for me the ideal environment for relaxed working without being disturbed.
Even the rather essential question, “Why infrastructure?” I casually answer by explaining that this is something that can be found anywhere and addressed at any time – a silent object that allows for one-sided interpretation.
Well I must have had some serious ideas back when I started working in photography. Ideas about the originality of my works; about indirect ways of expression (of human behavior); about the country I’m living in, etc. But now that I think about it, I know that the guy who was considering such things more than 30 years ago is still right here behind me.
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INVERSION（Arles Edition of 80 copies) last one! | https://www.placartphoto.com/book/234/concrete_abstraction-toshio_shibata |
Dr. Victor Anderson, MD, practices Orthopedics in Aliquippa, PA. Dr. Anderson received his medical degree from Univ Of Il Coll Of Med, Chicago Il 60680.
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What is Criminal Justice?
Are you interested in pursuing a criminal justice degree in Massachusetts? Choosing to major in criminal justice can lead to a wide variety of employment opportunities related to law enforcement and legal advocacy. There are, however, many career options available to graduates, who tend to develop a plethora of useful skills while enrolled. In fact, most academic programs in this field strive to help students establish and improve abilities that can be utilized in most individual and group safety settings.
Some of the most notable career paths in criminal justice include:
- Criminology
- Cyber Security
- Emergency Management
- Forensic Science
- Fire Science
- Homeland Security
It's important to realize that every state has and maintains its own criminal justice system. While state systems generally work in tandem with the United States government, prospective professionals need to become familiar with their local regulations prior to applying for employment. This does mean job descriptions are likely to vary significantly, even between counties. As a result, many colleges and universities strive to design criminal justice programs that instill students with easily transferrable skills such as communication, empathy, and leadership.
Successful criminal justice professionals tend to have good judgement and are highly perceptive. They are good problem solvers capable to addressing multiple issues quickly. Many professions in this field are rewarding, but those interested in pursuing these careers should be aware of the associated physical demands and potential dangers.
Search Programs
Online Criminal Justice Education in Massachusetts
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in protective service occupations is expected to increase by 8% from 2020 to 2030. This is about as fast as the average for all other professions and will likely result in approximately 286,400 new criminal justice jobs in the nation. This projected rise is due to a consistent demand for qualified professionals in the field. It’s worth noting that growth rates are more substantial for some professions than others. Fire inspectors, security guards, and private detectives are likely to see some of the most comparatively significant gains.
Protective service occupations accounted for local 73,490 Massachusetts jobs in 2020. The annual mean wage for these professionals was $61,980, which is higher than the national median. While protective services are not considered a large field in the state, professions within this sector are absolutely essential. Additionally, companies and organizations of all kinds often benefit from hiring employees who possess the knowledge and skills associated with this field.
While many colleges and universities around the country offer online criminal justice degree programs, those who intend to apply for employment in Massachusetts should strongly consider enrolling with schools in the state. Local institutions will be most familiar with the needs and expectations of potential employers in the region. Additionally, many schools develop relationships with nearby companies and organizations over time. This often allows them to funnel graduates into the best internships and professional opportunities available in the surrounding areas. Further, colleges and universities located in the state will be able to better prepare criminal justice majors to meet Massachusetts legal rules and regulations for obtaining any necessary licenses and certifications.
There are many different kinds of criminal justice professionals in Massachusetts. Graduates will have a wide variety of career opportunities to choose from, but most professions involve creating and upholding societal regulations and laws. Many professionals in this field also ensure that people are held accountable for their actions. Some of the most prominent career types include law enforcement, the court system, politics, advocacy, and corrections.
Depending on the profession, formal education is not always necessary to find employment related to criminal justice. Some jobs require candidates have only high school diplomas or GEDs. Those interested in this field may benefit from enrolling in academic programs, however. Graduates tend to have better job prospects and often make more money than those who lack college degrees.
Because there are many career options available, prospective students should research requirements carefully in order to determine which type of education is necessary or preferred. Massachusetts offers criminal justice degree programs at every level: associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate. Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks, making it essential to base enrollment on your preferences and ultimate aspirations.
Online Associate Degree in Criminal Justice (AS)
Associate degrees in criminal justice generally consist of 60 credit hours of coursework and take full-time students approximately two years to complete. Some colleges also offer accelerated programs that condense instruction down into as little at 18 months. Curriculums vary, but most are designed to provide instruction on topics related to American government, law enforcement, judicial processes, and critical thinking.
This level of education is typically sufficient to gain a basic introduction to the field. Graduates often qualify for entry-level employment opportunities in the field such as police officer, correctional officer, and others. Additional professional options include working as security guards, surveillance specialists, fire inspectors, paralegals, or legal assistants.
Instead of entering the workforce, some graduates choose to transfer the credits they earn toward bachelor’s degrees. Community colleges offering associate degrees typically charge lower tuition rates than traditional institutions. This means students can complete the first two years of a four-year education with less financial hardship.
Online Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice (BS)
Bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice online generally consist of 120 credit hours of coursework and take full-time students approximately four years to complete. Curriculums vary from school to school, but most programs are designed to focus on topics relevant to the field such as criminology, judicial administration, and legal history. It’s also common for students to receive extensive instruction related to research guidelines and writing.
Many criminal justice professions require candidates to have bachelor’s degrees. Additionally, it’s common for employers to give preference to applicants who possess more than the minimum education. As a result, graduates at this level do tend to find employment easier than those with high school diplomas, GEDs, and associate degrees. The most common career options available include guidance counselor, child safety advocate, social worker, crime scene investigator, and homeland security specialist. Graduates can also choose to apply for federal positions with the FBI and/or CIA.
Alternatively, graduates may prefer to pursue more advanced degrees in criminal justice. Those who plan to enroll in graduate programs will need to meet minimum admittance grade point average (GPA) and GRE standards.
Online Master's Degree in Criminal Justice (MS or MC)
Master’s degrees in criminal justice generally range from 30 to 60 credit hours of coursework that full-time students typically complete within two years. Part-time students are likely to need three to five years to meet graduation requirements, however. Programs at this level tend to place a greater focus on management, data analytics, organizational strategies, and decision-making. Students should anticipate participating in more career-related electives, internships, and research projects.
This level of education is most appropriate for those interested in obtaining leadership roles in the field. Current professionals can also use these degrees to further advance their careers and to qualify for employment in supervisory roles. Overall, graduates with master’s degrees usually have more employment opportunities, promote quicker, and earn higher salaries.
Online PhD Degree in Criminal Justice (PhD)
Online doctorate degrees in criminal justice are typically consist of between 50 and 75 credit hours and take full-time students about five years to complete. Class requirements may be met relatively early, but students must conduct independent studies and defend dissertations prior to graduating. While not required for many jobs in the field, this level of education is optimal for those who intend to pursue careers that involve research and postsecondary instruction related to criminal justice.
Prospective students may also want to consider earning doctorates in business administration (DBA). This degree is better are preparing professionals for leadership and supervisory roles. Instruction varies, but most curriculums include classes related to leadership theory, strategic thinking, consulting, and intervention practices.
A doctoral degree of any kind is likely to qualify graduates for some of the best criminal justice employment opportunities available. Some of the most common career options include postsecondary criminal justice professor, social service director, information systems manager, forensic scientist, and police chief.
Become a Criminal Justice Professional in Massachusetts
If you want to become criminal justice professional in Massachusetts, you should begin by determining which profession within the field is most appealing. As previously mentioned, there are numerous career options available to people who graduate with degrees in criminal justice. With so many options, it’s essential to narrow down your plans and identify specific goals.
Whatever your aspirations are, it’s important to realize that some level of formal education will likely be necessary. Identifying your ideal profession, however, will make it easier to select the most appropriate academic program.
Many colleges and universities also offer students opportunities to select concentrations, or specialties, within the criminal justice field. By doing this, you can further direct your learning to include content that aligns better with your specific interest. Courses often explore these topics in greater detail than the core curriculum.
Some of the most common options for criminal justice majors include:
- Crime Scene Investigation
- Homeland Security
- Legal Studies
It’s also common for criminal justice students working toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees to participate in internships. In most cases, these internships are unpaid and are meant to provide hands-on experience working in the field. These positions also make great additions to professional resumes and can result in paid opportunities in the future.
In addition to a degree, you may also need to obtain some sort of licensure. Private investigators, for example, must file an application with the Colonel of the State Police. Additional application requirements include certification from three reputable state citizens and proof of relevant employment or experience in the field.
Other professions, however, may not require a license. Prospective police officers in Massachusetts, for example, must pass the written Municipal Police Officer and MBTA Transit Police Officer Examination instead. Candidates who pass are added to an eligibility list. Those selected must then complete an extensive employment packet, thorough background check, interview, and medical exam.
There are also many opportunities for criminal justice professionals to pursue certifications from field-specific organizations. You will need to research your area of interest to find out which credentials are most useful. Generally, having one or more certifications will make you more competitive for jobs. They can also increase your chances of promotion and qualify you for additional or higher pay.
Ultimately, requirements vary based on your intended profession. Review expectations closely to ensure you have the education, experience, and credentials necessary.
In addition to academic programs, licenses, and certifications, individuals in this field can benefit from joining professional organizations. Every organization is different but most provide members with ample opportunities to network, access field-related resources, buy discounted tickets to conferences, and participate in continuing education classes.
Some of the most prominent criminal justice associations, societies, and organizations include:
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- American Correctional Association
- American Society of Criminology
- International Association of Law Enforcement Planners
- International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
- National Criminal Justice Association
Careers for Criminal Justice Graduates
Criminal justice degree graduates will be qualified for a wide variety of employment opportunities in Massachusetts. This may be particularly true for those who also acquire certifications.
While salaries and daily duties will vary, some of the most common career options in the state include:
- Emergency Management Coordinator
- Forensic Accountant
- Forensic Psychologist
- Paralegal
- Social Worker
- Conversation Officer
- K9 Officer
- Homeland Security Professional
- State Trooper
- Victim Advocate
- Substance Abuse Counselor
- Police Officer
- Police Supervisor
- Corrections Officer
- Corrections Manager
- Probation Officer
- Parole Officer
- Private Investigator
- Crime Scene Investigator
- Crime Scene / Forensic Science Technician
- Lab Scientist
- Crime Prevention Specialist
- Secret Service Agent
- Detective
- State Trooper / State Highway Patrol
- Criminal Justice Professor
- Social Worker
Social workers assist patients and their families with a wide variety of emotional and social problems. Their primary goal is to ensure that patients are adequately prepared to deal with issues in productive ways. This often necessitates making referrals to appropriate specialists and recommending potentially helpful resources. Social workers also function as advocates, often facilitating numerous education and support-related programs. According to PayScale, social workers make an average base salary of $48,900 per year.
- Paralegal
Paralegals work closely with lawyers, frequently performing various research that is relevant to assigned cases. When necessary, they also provide legal several support services such as meeting with clients, filing paperwork, and appearing in court. Other common tasks include conducting interviews, editing pleadings, and helping review legal documents related to assigned cases. According to PayScale, paralegals make an average base salary of $49,100 per year.
- Private Investigator or Detective
Private investigators find and analyze information based on independent employer needs. They may be hired to investigate financial dealings or to discover personal details about others. Duties generally consist of conducting surveillance, researching possible criminal activities, conducting background checks, and organizing important documentation. According to PayScale, private detectives and investigators make an average hourly wage of $23.71, which equates to an average of $58,500 per year.
- Crime Scene Investigator (CSI)
Crime scene investigators are responsible for securing and thoroughly examining areas after a crime has been committed. They generally search for relevant evidence after unattended natural deaths, accidents, suicides, and homicide. There professionals also determine which scenes require further investigation and which pieces of evidence should be more closely examined. CSIs may also supervise and monitor work performed by forensic investigators. According to PayScale, crime scene investigators make an average base salary of $48,300 per year.
- Probation Officer
Probation officers help and support prior criminal offenders to ensure they do not commit additional crimes or misconduct in the future. They often identify the safest and fairest outcomes for convicts by working with local law enforcement, the courts, and sentencing judges. These professionals are also instrumental in ensuring truly dangerous criminals remain in prison. According to PayScale, probation officers make an average base salary of $44,450 per year.
- Substance Abuse Counselor
Substance abuse counselors diagnose and treat people who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. This generally entails working with patients to develop individualized treatment plans, as well as identifying and eliminating possible substance abuse triggers. Depending on patient need, these professionals may offer one-on-one or group counseling session. According to PayScale, substance abuse counselors make an average base hourly rate of $17.72, or $40,250 per year.
- State Trooper
State troopers have many of the same responsibilities as police officers. This includes but is not limited to performing property searches and making formal arrests. While these professionals spend a lot of time patrolling assigned areas, working to obtain information about alleged crimes, and completing related paperwork, they are also capable of taking suspects into custody. According to PayScale, state troopers make an average base salary of $56,150 per year. | https://universityhq.org/best-colleges/massachusetts/online-criminal-justice-degrees/ |
A TALENTED North Wales chef has scooped an award in a top UK competition.
Bryn Williams from Denbigh picked up his prize for second place in the Roux Scholarship event on Monday at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London.
He had to cook up a culinary treat in front of leading chefs including Gary Rhodes, Rick Stein, Brian Turner, David Nicholls and the famous Roux family.
The 27-year-old, who attended Ysgol Glan Clwyd, St Asaph, and Llandrillo College, Rhos-on-Sea, works in London's award-winning Orrery restaurant.
Part of his prize is two weeks' work experience at a Roux brothers restaurant.
A total of six chefs, selected from two regional finals, competed in the national final. Earlier in the day they each had just two hours to prepare and present their version of a classic Escoffier recipe for lamb navarin, with carrots and turnips.
Also in the audience was Bryn's executive chef Andre Garrett, himself one of only 22 Roux Scholars.
The top prize was awarded to 29-year-old Matthew Tomkinson, of Ockenden Manor in West Sussex. | https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/young-chef-proves-worth-national-2912897 |
This is not The Raid 3
Gareth Evans (not to be confused with the also talented Gareth Edwards) is easily one of the best action directors working. The Raid and The Raid 2 are, to put it simply, action masterpieces. His use of space, innovative filming techniques, and commitment to real-world effects lets him deliver some of the most visceral and engaging action and fight sequences in modern history. He is nothing short of one of the most promising young action directors working.
Apostle is not an action movie. It's a cultist horror/thriller with aspirations of replicating the slow-burning fear of British horror in the 70s. It turns out this is not what Gareth Evans is good at directing.
Apostle
Director: Gareth Evans
Release Date: October 12, 2018
Rated: Unrated
Apostle opens with Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens) heading to a small island somewhere off the coast of the UK in a nebulous "time in the past." He's rescuing his sister from a cult who has kidnapped her for ransom. It's not really clear how he's going to do this, but he may or may not pay the ransom. Upon his arrival, we are introduced to the three founders of the island community: Prophet Malcom (Michael Sheen), Quinn (Mark Lewis Jones), and a third guy who is mostly there for exposition. The three believe they have stumbled upon some sort of island goddess, but her powers seem to be waning and so their grip on the community is as well. Something weird is definitely going on, and Thomas begins to stumble his way through finding his sister and unraveling the island's mysteries.
Evans wrote, directed, and produced the film, and that seems like a bit too much power for him, though that's basically what he did with The Raid films as well. The movie never gels into a cohesive whole. We're flung confusingly into the rescue mission, but that seems to fall by the wayside, almost instantly, making it difficult to care when the rescue plot point pops back up later. The movie can't keep still on a single focus, and much of Thomas' efforts to save his sister just seem random. The film wants to look into the psychology of cults through its characters, but it's not well constructed enough to deliver. A young couple that is having an illicit affair on the island is one example of this as their relationship plays a key role, but is never given the room it needs to be affective. The movie's themes get lost in the confusing structure and storyline.
What isn't lost is Evans sense of space and scene construction. There are some stunningly fantastic shots littered throughout this movie, and when the film is actually being horrific -- a claustrophobic escape from a half-submerged tunnel for instance -- the director's innate skill ratchets up the tension wonderfully. The rest of the time, the shots often feel like they're there simply to be pretty. At points, this leads to confusion in the editing and disrupts any sense of space on the island. The film jumps from one physical location to another with little coherence until it crashes into a gory mess of a conclusion that offers little satisfaction.
Part of the issue is that Evans is clearly attempting to create his own The Wicker Man (the original 'not THE BEEEEEEEES'). The plot is basically exactly the same, and the occult elements lend to the same mystical horror that The Wicker Man had. The difference is that The Wicker Man's slow movement built into a consistent feeling of fear and tension and not simply disparate parts strung together. Where a lot of 70s British horror teased at mystical forces, Apostle comes right out and shows you magic. It creates a tonal mess of a film that can't decide if it's a slasher, a thriller, a mystery, or something else. Evans clearly wants the movie to be a bit of a head scratcher, but unlike the films he's attempting to ape, his lack of focus means it's not interesting ambiguity, but an annoying vagueness.
None of this is helped by the fact that Dan Stevens' only emotion for the entire film is "GLOWER." If anything happens, good or bad, he simply glowers at it. People dying? Glower. People having fun? Glower. Finding his sister? Glower. Island goddess being fed blood by a gimp in a weird beehive helmet thing? Glower. He's supposed to be troubled by something in his past, and maybe that set his face to a permanent glower or something, but it's never explained. There's just nothing to him other than glowering and the occasional will to endure some serious pain.
Stevens is surrounded by some seriously strong performances from Sheen and Jones. The three cult leaders disintegrating relationship as their hold on power begins slipping from their grasp is easily the most enticing aspect of the movie and delivers its most interesting parts. Sheen and Jones play off each other wonderfully, with a slight insanity to both their performances that actually pulls the last third of the film, when things start actually happening, into a semblance of an interesting movie.
That's the thing: there are hints of an interesting movie here buried beneath the attempt at art-house horror, messy construction, and convoluted world-building. Had someone else stepped in and helped Evans guide his movie a bit we'd probably be talking about one of the most visually stunning horror films in years. Instead, we have a messy attempt at a bygone genre that is far harder to execute than Evans is able to handle. The parts that do shine still make me excited for Evans as a director, but lets hope his next movie involves a lot more action.
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Apostle reviewed by Matthew Razak
Has some high points, but they soon give way to glaring faults. Not the worst, but difficult to recommend. | https://www.destructoid.com/review-apostle-526692.phtml |
April 12, 2007 – St. Louis, Missouri USA – Elsevier, a world-leading nursing and medical publisher, today announced the release of Mosby’s Nursing Index, its new nursing and allied health journal abstracts and indexing database for the nurse and allied health professional.
Mosby's Nursing Index was created by Elsevier, publisher of Mosby and Saunders publications, and includes cover-to-cover indexing of more than 2,500 international source titles, including peer-reviewed journals, trade publications and electronic-only titles. It also includes over 200 unique titles that are not included in other commercial nursing databases. The coverage includes evidence-based healthcare; nursing specialties and professions; nursing education and training; nursing development and management.
"Nurses need access to the latest literature to base their practice on solid clinical evidence," says Louis Pilla, Product Director, Mosby’s Nursing Index, Elsevier. "Mosby's Nursing Index provides a powerful resource for accessing this current practice information."
Mosby’s Nursing Index is available now to healthcare providers as a subscription-based service as part of their Mosby’s Nursing Consult subscription or as a stand-alone service to serve the nursing organization.
"The demands placed on today's nurse are greater than ever and we are dedicated to supporting the nurse with the latest nursing literature to provide better patient care," says Brian K. Bussey, President, Mosby MCS, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences. "This supports our goal in assisting the nurse and other allied health professionals to make better informed decisions to improve patient care."
More information can be found at www.MosbysNursingIndex.com or at booth 109 at the Medical Library Association (MLA) annual conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, May 19 – 22, 2007.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we’re committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com
Media Contact: | https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/clinical-solutions/elsevier-releases-new-nursing-and-allied-health-journal-abstracts-and-indexing-database |
When facing a divorce, both spouses must balance the stress of finances on top of their emotional upset. No matter if the divorce is amicable or contested, there are a large number of factors to consider when trying to understand how money and other assets will be divided. While division of assets and child support are sometimes easier, determining the amount of alimony payments to a former spouse can be a challenge.
What is Alimony?
Divorce means that the money that was once shared for a married lifestyle is now split. This division can mean that one spouse will now face financial struggles that are different from the lifestyle he or she was used to when married. Alimony is the term given to payments from one spouse to another after a divorce to maintain the quality of life that was enjoyed prior to the split.
Perhaps one spouse stayed at home to raise the children, and has no income of his or her own. Or maybe the cost of living in a high-rent district is now difficult on only one income. Whatever the case, the courts step in to determine the amount of alimony payments one spouse must pay to the other in order to maintain a similar living arrangement.
Most alimony payments are calculated to be given in monthly payments for a specified amount of time. In some cases, a higher alimony payment is mandated for the first 6-12 months after the divorce to allow the spouse to get back on his or her feet, find work, get necessary certification, or simply to get used to the new living arrangements. After that period, the alimony payments may decrease or even cease altogether.
These details are usually decided by the court and will be clearly specified as part of the divorce judgements.
How to Calculate Alimony Payments?
Many states now use a formula to help determine the amount of alimony one spouse must pay to the other. Each state has different rules and each individual divorce case may affect the outcome. In North Carolina, family courts have not adopted one official formula or calculator, so results may vary on a case to case basis. The main change for North Carolina is in terminology. Postseparation Support, referred to as PSS, is the new term North Carolina courts use to refer to payments from a supporting spouse to a dependent spouse after divorce.
Rough Cut 1/3 Formula
Some states use a basic 1/3-1/3-1/3 rule of thumb for calculating alimony payments. This is sometimes referred to as the “Rough Cut” formula. For this scenario, you add the annual income of both spouses, then divide by three. The assumption is that one third goes to the payor, one third goes to the payee and one third goes to the government for taxes. Once the one-third dollar amount is determined, the court subtracts what the dependent spouse makes and requires the supporting spouse to pay the difference in PSS.
The equation looks something like this: (X + Y)/3 – Y = payment
For example, if Mr. Smith a web developer, makes $200,000 (X) and Mrs. Smith a Carpenter Ranelagh earns $40,000 (Y), their total combined income is $240,000. Using the rough cut formula, $240,000 divided by 3 equals $80,000.
(X) $200,000 + (Y) $40,000 = $240,000.
$240,000/3 = $80,000 – (Y) $40,000 = $40,000.
Since Mrs. Smith earns $40,000, that is subtracted from the $80,000, which means Mr. Smith’s PSS payments must be $40,000 annually.
Half Minus Taxes Formula
Another common approach in some states is to simply add the total of each spouse’s annual earnings and divide by two.
(X + Y)/2 = Payment – taxes
Using the same numbers in the previous example, that would look like the following:
Mr. Smith’s earnings (X): $200,000 + Mrs. Smith’s earnings (Y): $40,000 = $240,000 combined.
Divided by 2, that equals $120,000 each. When you subtract Mrs. Smith’s earnings from that result, she would be owed $80,000 annually, but would then need to pay taxes on that amount. Mr. Smith can deduct his PSS payments as non-taxable since he pays them out. However, Mrs. Smith must pay taxes on what she receives since PSS payments are considered income.
Each Case is Different
Keep in mind that North Carolina still has not adopted any of the above formulas for regular use in divorce cases. In each case, the judge still determines the amount of alimony or PSS, if any, to be paid.
Other factors that are considered when calculating alimony are length of marriage, children, and age of spouses. The longer the marriage, the higher a typical alimony payment will be. The same is true for age and children.
The one common factor in most states is that alimony or PSS payments will end once either spouse dies, gets married, or begins living with another partner. At that time, all alimony or PSS payments cease.
For more information on alimony payments, contact a reliable family law firm. Since each case is different, you need someone with experience to help you through your divorce proceedings. | http://alimonycalculator.us/north-carolina-alimony-calculator/ |
Cazenove Capital has made available to the adviser market six model portfolios with a £50,000 minimum investment threshold.
The portfolios, which will be run by Cazenove's discretionary fund management (DFM) team, have risk ratings from Distribution Technology that range between 'three' and 'seven'. Advisers will initially...
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I then went into the details of papermaking – how raw wood is first cut into small pieces, then boiled with chemicals to make a soft pulp. That pulp is then dried out and after completely drying, it’s turned into a roll of paper. I also showed her a YouTube video which shows the whole process in a kid-friendly way. She finally felt satisfied and turned back to her routine play.
Kids and their questions are endless. When the questions are easy, we adults give answers instantly, but sometimes, these questions cause severe brain exercise for us as well! To think about a suitable answer and explain it for the child to understand is not an easy thing.
I try to answer the question instantly as much as possible in the same moment as kids lose interest if we delay answering the questions. They live in the moment and their curiosity fades away if they don’t get a satisfactory answer as soon as the question is asked.
I have lots of books from the “I Wonder Why” Series. These are very informative books which give answers to some of the big questions in a kid friendly language. Titles include – I wonder why soap makes bubbles, I wonder why camels have humps, and lots others. There is another series – “Mickey Wonders Why” from Euro Kids where kids’ favorite character Mickey asks questions and gets answers. For Eg., In the dinosaur book, Mickey goes back in time through a time travelling machine,sees and meets dinosaurs and explains all the dinosaur related facts in a fun way.
Questions related to death of loved ones are most tough to answer. Especially for the one they are attached to the most like grandparents. For explaining this most difficult topic, I suggest a book – The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffer. It’s a beautiful story of a little girl who place her heart in a bottle and forgets how to take it out. It shows kids how they can find their lost happiness again with the new people in their lives.
Every new question brings an opportunity for parents to teach something new to their kids. We can make the best use of it by first answering their and then asking more questions about the same topic to broaden their perspective.
When kids are young they think every question has an answer and they have every right to know more about that topic till their inner curiosity is satisfied. Their knowledge about topics when they grow up depends on how well these questions are answered. If questions are suppressed, soon they will stop asking more questions and will accept the fact that it’s OK not to know all things. This can stunt their growth as obviously we all want our kids to grow into individuals who think smart.
Answering their questions in an earnest way will definitely help us to bring up smart kids.
← Kids’ Homework – Is There A Right Way? | https://www.parentous.com/kids-and-their-questions-rashmi-sehgal/ |
Minnie Driver and Frank Grillo in the film "The Crash." (Vertical Entertainment)
Michael Rechtshaffen
The theme of cyber terrorism plays a timely role in “The Crash,” an intriguing if flawed techno-thriller that gets an effective boost from a high-caliber cast.
Set in late 2017, the film stars Frank Grillo as Guy Clifton, a smug, federally indicted stock trader whose talents for market manipulation come in handy when a threatened cyber attack could prove disastrous for the U.S.’s vulnerable economy.
But as Clifton and his crack team of white-collar criminals, including a wheelchair-bound John Leguizamo, are recruited by the government and race against the clock to avert potential global catastrophe, closer to home he and his wife, Shannon (Minnie Driver), are grappling with a less than optimistic prognosis for their cancer-afflicted 18-year-old daughter, Creason (AnnaSophia Robb).
While writer-director-editor Aram Rappaport draws effectively weighted performances (especially from the always committed Driver) and maintains a crisp pace, he’s less adept at balancing those big picture thriller elements with Clifton’s personal journey, which ultimately serves to rob both aspects of greater potency.
More problematic, considering current events, the story line inadvertently serves as a cautionary tale for filmmakers, underscoring the inherent challenges of presupposing a ripped-from-the-headlines timeliness.
Given the number of scenes that anticipated a Hillary Clinton presidency, “The Crash” handily illustrates the perils of attempting to be “of the moment” in a political climate that has been known to change by the second. | |
Instructions:
- Sit in a chair and cross one leg over the other so both feet are near flat on the floor
- Place your hands behind your head, you can interlock your fingers but don’t have to
- Rotate your torso to the left as far as you can
- Once you are at the end range lean left, bending at the rib cage as much as possible
- Take 2 deep breaths into your chest
- Stay rotated but return to the upright position
- You should now be able to rotate left a bit further, repeat steps 3 – 6
- After performing 3 repetitions to the left return to the starting position and follow the same steps but to the right
Common Error
Leaning from the low back. Many people can’t move well from the ribcage so they lean using their low back. This drill opens up the ribcage so focus on trying to lean from that region, even if it isn’t a lot of movement.
Progressions / Regressions:
If this is too challenging:
- N/A
If you want more of a challenge: | https://missionmvmt.com/project/seated-rib-cage-opener/ |
- UCLA researchers have achieved widespread rejuvenation in old mice through blood plasma dilution, a relatively simple process.
(…) these results establish broad tissues rejuvenation by a single replacement of old blood plasma with physiologic fluid: muscle repair was improved, fibrosis was attenuated, and inhibition of myogenic proliferation was switched to enhancement; liver adiposity and fibrosis were reduced; and hippocampal neurogenesis was increased.(…) These findings are most consistent with the conclusion that the age-altered systemic milieu inhibits the health and repair of multiple tissues in the old mice, and also exerts a dominant progeric effect on the young partners in parabiosis or blood exchange.
They plan to conduct clinical trials in human beings “soon”.
- It used to be that universities would happily pay large sums to private publishers like Elsevier for access to the research articles. The prestigious MIT joins the ranks of the universities who are challenging Elsevier.
- Medical doctors follow clinical practice guidelines. In turn, the producers of these guidelines are often funded by the industry, and they fail to disclose it.
- The upcoming Sony PlayStation 5 will have a disk with a bandwidth of over 5 GB/s. For comparison, good Apple laptops typically achieve only about 2 GB/s, and older conventional disks are 10 to 20 times slower.Our already-low tolerance for slow and unresponsive applications and web sites will fall. Loading screens, loading bars, and similar “make the user wait” strategies will become more and more annoying. We will come to expect application updates to occur in the blink of an eye.
Programmers used to blame disk and network performance, but these excuses will not hold in the near future. More and more, poor performance will be due to poor software engineering. I gave a talk recently on the topic: data engineering at the speed of your disk (slides).
Update: Someone objected that disks with 6Gb/s bandwidth are already commonplace and have been inexpensive for many years. That is true, but 6Gb/s is 10 times slower than 5 GB/s. Notice that ‘b’ stands for bit whereas ‘B’ stands for byte. | https://lemire.me/blog/2020/06/20/science-and-technology-links-june-20th-2020/ |
US Pledges to End Anti-Satellite Missile Tests, Asks the World To Follow Suit
So far, only four countries have this ability – the United States, Russia, China, and India.
At Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 18 April, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States will no longer conduct destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile testing.
"Simply put, these tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them," she said, calling on other nations to follow suit and establish this as an international norm, since it would benefit all nations.
This announcement is part of a larger initiative of US agencies to develop proposals for norms that advance the nation's interests and preserve the security and sustainability of space.
Notably, the US hasn't conducted an ASAT test in fourteen years. So why has it made such a commitment at this stage?
This has something to do with the tests conducted by Russia and India in the last few years, the rapid commercialisation of space, and the massive threat ASATs pose to the future of global spaceflight.
The Big Four
ASATs, which were first developed during the cold war era, have never actually been used in warfare.
So far, only four countries have managed to successfully demonstrate this technology in tests – the United States, Russia, China, and India.
In 2007, China destroyed its defunct Fengyun-1C weather satellite with an anti satellite missile. It was the first such test since the cold war era.
A year later, presumably in response to China's test, the United States fired a RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 to destroy a new American reconnaissance satellite that had failed to function properly.
The US maintained that this was to safely destroy toxic hydrazine fuel which would have otherwise posed health risks to people near the crash site, CNN reported.
Over a decade later, in 2019, India conducted an ASAT test called Mission Shakti, and succeeded in destroying one of its own satellites in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Russia, which had been testing its Nudol missile system for years, successfully destroyed a Soviet era satellite with it in November 2021.
The Problem with ASATs
Blowing up a satellite in space creates space debris. Some of it burns up in the atmosphere, but some remains in orbit for years.
"This debris presents a risk to the safety of our astronauts, our satellites and our growing commercial presence," Kamala Harris said in her speech.
"A piece of space debris the size of a basketball, which travels at thousands of miles per hour, would destroy a satellite. Even a piece of debris as small as a grain of sand could cause serious damage," she added.
When China destroyed its weather satellite in 2007, it created thousands of fragments, some of which are still in orbit today. In fact, the International Space Station had to maneuver to avoid one of these fragments last year.
The Indian government said that its 2019 ASAT test was conducted at low altitude so that the resulting debris would decay and fall back onto the Earth within weeks.
The US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan initially raised concerns, but later said that he expected the debris to eventually burn up, avoiding a China-type scenario, according to Reuters.
Others weren't as optimistic.
“We already have 15-16 objects with apogees about 1,000km, and that alone is really bad. It also shows that the Indian government’s claim that the debris is not a problem is nonsense,” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Breaking Defense in April that year.
Commercialisation of Space
Thanks to more cost effective technology and low launch prices, private companies and governments are launching more satellites than ever before.
There were 146 orbital launch attempts in 2021 – the most since 1967, according to CosmoQuest.
While China was responsible for most of these launches, Elon Musk-run SpaceX accounted for 31, through which it launched a staggering 989 satellites. India accounted for two launches.
In all, there were 4,852 satellites in orbit at the start of 2022, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. This number is expected to increase exponentially in the next few years, mainly due to commercial satellites.
SpaceX alone hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in its Starlink constellation, which aims to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. It already has roughly 1,500 Starlink satellites in orbit.
As the space around Earth becomes increasingly crowded with spacecraft, the chances of one colliding with space debris increases significantly. Even small debris can destroy satellites since they move at over 11,000 kph.
This could theoretically cause a phenomenon called Kessler syndrome, in which one collision could cause a satellite to explode, creating more space debris which would collide with other satellites creating even more debris.
A cascading effect like that could ruin the space infrastructure that humankind has built so far.
(With inputs from CNN, Reuters, and Breaking Defense)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
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Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter And Get News Delivered Straight To Your Inbox. | https://www.thequint.com/tech-and-auto/tech-news/us-pledges-to-end-anti-satellite-missile-asat-tests-asks-the-world-to-follow-suit |
Come work with us in Lisbon @cE3cResearch (https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/.../bats-and-birds-in...) on the role of birds and bats as suppressors of rice insect pests in West Africa.
Project EcoPestSupression: Conserving biodiversity and enhancing food security: the role of birds and bats as suppressors of rice insect pests in West Africa” financed by national funds by the Foundation for Science and Technology / MCTES (PIDDAC) under the programme SR&TD Projects in all Scientific Domains is awarding a research fellowship for a PhD student (for 6 months, potentially renewed for 27 months). **Applications until 21 Feb 2022.**
See full announcements here:
https://www.euraxess.pt/jobs/739780
http://www.fc.ul.pt/pt/concursos (nr. 3834)
Project summary: Feeding a rapidly increasing human population in an environmentally sustainable way poses a major global challenge. Efforts to maximize crop yields fuel agricultural intensification, exacerbating the global biodiversity crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa shows the highest rates of population growth. Food security is a serious issue, often driven by the introduction of invasive pest species and shifts in land use patterns, as the expansion of cash crops at the expense of subsistence crops such as rice. One way to increase agricultural production is closing existing yield gaps through ecological intensification by including ecosystem services (ES) and using nature-based solutions in agricultural management. Natural pest suppression is a significant regulating ES contributing to crop productivity worldwide. Replacing bad practices such as pesticides with biological agents of pest suppression should be a key priority for supporting food production in developing countries. Insectivorous bats and birds have been demonstrated to directly reduce pest infestation rates and thus increase crop productivity in agroecosystems. Still, although recent studies have highlighted the economic value associated with pest suppression by bats in cotton crops in the USA, similar attempts at valuation are rare for tropical agroecosystems and seldom target essential food crops. Our main goal is to assess the relative contribution of bat- and bird-mediated suppression of rice insect pests and provide an economic valuation of their ES. The study will focus on Guinea-Bissau (GB). However, rice is an important staple crop also in West Africa, if not globally. | https://ce3c.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/outreach/press&events/ver.php?id=1387 |
Have you ever wondered how some magazine photos are created and why they look the way they look and how you can do the same? This course will introduce several lighting concepts and techniques from my experience in fashion, glamor and magazine photography. Each technique will be explained and demonstrated and diagrams will be provided. Discussion will include necessary equipment and gear suggestions, lighting position, intensity, quality and other factors. The objective of this course is to introduce attendees to various kinds of lighting used in fashion and editorial photography and how to successfully apply them to portraiture. Concepts covered will include single light and multiple light setups, combining flash with outdoor and ambient lighting, working with reflectors and gels. Tips on retouching and post production will also be discussed. By the end of the course attendees should be able to apply several new lighting concepts and techniques to their portraiture and wedding businesses.
Items to bring: Notebooks, pens/pencils, camera with normal and telephoto lenses or zoom lens. | https://www.ppa.com/events/supermonday_modal/12788 |
Risks are not new, but risk management is more recent. In 1654, during the Renaissance, French philosophers-mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat solved a puzzle proposed by Italian monk and mathematician Luca Paccioli and created as a result the Probability Theory, as well as the decision-making and prediction process based on numerical analysis. Previously, merchants, priests, aristocrats and peasants made daily decisions based on superstitions and prayers.
Several current risk management tools are still based on findings of the period between 1654 and 1760. We just use more advanced computational models.
In the 19th Century, statistician-mathematician Francis Galton postulated regression to the mean and greatly influenced all the future evolution in econometrics. Jules Henri Poincaré and Hendrik Antoon Lorentz devoted themselves to modeling chaotic deterministic systems. In the 20th Century, Harry Markowitz developed his risk calculation model for investment portfolios and revolutionized capital markets. | https://www.globalsquaremagazine.com/2018/05/02/perspectives-on-risk-management/ |
Professor-Physical Education and Sport Department, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania.
Cristiana Pop currently works as Professor PhD (Physical Education and Sport Department) at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, ROMANIA. She has a Bachelor degree in Physical Education, a MA in sport performance and a PhD in Physical Education. Her primarily academic focus is youth physical activity for a healthy life. She has authored 11 books in Physical Education Didactics, Educational Management, Health and well-being, and more than 50 articles in reputed scientific journals. She is member of Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, member of Romanian Athletic Federation (women commission) and has had research collaboration with Romanian Academy, Anthropological Institute Research Center. She has research projects aiming the decrease of overweight and obesity among youth and children.
Physical and health education, Physical activity as a component of a healthy life style and overall well-being. | http://www.imedpub.com/editor-profile/Cristiana_Lucretia_Pop/ |
Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. News and World Report. 1996 (March 25).
18:1, 52-72 Koch, Kathy. School Violence. CQ Researcher. 9 Oct. 1998: 881-904.Web. 8 Feb. Lenzenweger MF, Lane MC, Loranger AW, Ressler RC.
Stateline. Retrieved from http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=33244 Schleicher, A. (2009, May). Seeing the United States education system through the prism of International comparisons. Middle School Journal, 40(5), 11-17.
Misrepresentation amongst the minority group tends to produce a more compelling statistic. "Adult offenders often begin their criminal careers as children with little hope and little help" (Comey, 2005, p. 12) This research will try and find pre-indicators that will help solve the juvenile delinquency rate. Nature of the problem: Do education, economic status and social problems affect incarceration among Juveniles in America? Winters (1997) stated that, "Crime statistics indicate that levels of academic achievement, school attendance and graduation rates play an important r... ... middle of paper ... ...on Pipeline'; Poor Schools, Summer-Jobs Decline Lead to Drugs Crimes. (2009, June 10).
For my political science Senior Seminar research project, I wanted to look at what factors affected state delinquency rates. I was looking for what effects the reforming (or lack thereof) of these systems has had on the crime committed by juveniles in the states. Working for the Washington, D.C. Public Defender’s Office in the fall of 1995, I witnessed first hand the inadequacies of our legal system with respect to juvenile offenders. I believe that juvenile justice is a worthwhile topic because of its relevance to every member of American society. If we do not help children in trouble today, they will not have the capacity to be functi... ... middle of paper ... ...ick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1996.
THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE Schools inevitably must deal with disciplinary action when it comes to misconduct in students. However, at what point should the courts and law enforcement intervene? “Zero tolerance” policies started as a trend in the school setting during the 1990s in “response to the widespread perception that juvenile violence was increasing and school officials needed to take desperate measures to address the problem” (Aull 2012:182-183). However, national statistics indicated a decrease in juvenile’s share of crime during the influx of zero tolerance policies in schools (National Crime Justice Reference Service 2005). ‘Zero-tolerance’ policies criminalize minor infractions of school rules, while high-stakes testing programs encourage educators to push out low-performing students to improve their schools’ overall test scores.
Throughout their education, children sit through countless bullying and sex education programs, but suicide, the third leading cause of adolescent deaths (Caine 1), is practically ignored. Many schools only offer hot lines for suicidal students. While some schools have implemented suicide prevention programs and the government has recognized teenage suicide as a growing problem, effective solutions need to be discovered and funded to prevent these catastrophic deaths. The U.S. federal government should develop and fund suicide prevention programs in high schools, while focusing on strategies ranging from coping mechanisms to drug intervention and screening methods. As a growing cause of death for teenagers, suicide is a crucial issue in the United States.
Finally the cost may have become too much to bear with the explosion of juvenile crime and the increase in recidivism it gives the writer a valid case that expungment needs to be reconsidered. The writer provides convincing evidence for his views against expunging juvenile arrest records. He cites several FBI statistics showing the increase in violent crimes and recidivism. Funk also applies the "Strain Theory and the Chicago School of Criminology" effectively to his views. Additionally he cites several books by various authors relating to juvenile crimes and delinquency.
Bullying, family issues, financial difficulties, drug use, and lack of academic skills are only some of the potential causes of truancy within the United States (Reid, 2012). And while schools across the country continue desperately to try and mitigate truancy, it seems to be on the rise; in 2012, data indicated that up to 15 percent... ... middle of paper ... ...tiative. Crime & Delinquency, 214-234. National Institute of Mental Health . (2011).
Web. 21 Jan. 2010. http://712educators.about.com/cs/schoolviolence/a/uniforms.htm Mitchell, Allison. "Clinton Will Advise School Uniforms." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Feb. 1996. | https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Truancy-Todays-Dilemma-210925 |
“The take-home message is, regardless of your risk, we should be treating BP above 140,” Dr Bakris said.
Blood Pressure vs Cholesterol
In an accompanying editorial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, William C. Cushman, MD and David C. Goff, Jr, MD, PhD pointed out that while the lipid-lowering therapy arm of the HOPE-3 trial resulted in a 24% CV event risk reduction, the antihypertensive therapy did not show benefits in the overall study population.4
“The observed difference between the active treatment group and the placebo group in the decrease in BP over the course of the trial (6.0/3.0 mm Hg) was small, and the 95% confidence interval for the estimated hazard ratio did not exclude the benefit one might expect (on the basis of the results from the meta-analysis) from this degree of BP lowering,” they wrote.4
In fact, Drs Cushman and Goff noted that neither BP lowering agent used in the HOPE-3 trial has demonstrated the ability to reduce CV event risk at such low doses. They argued the investigators should have considered using chlorthalidone instead of hydrochlorothiazide, or at least a higher dose of the latter.4
However, as Dr Bakris, pointed out, “The problem with that statement is that it only makes sense if you’re dealing with people with a higher risk of CVD, but the HOPE-3 investigators were not.”
“If you have a normotensive patient, it’s illogical to use a diuretic because the patient could then become hypotensive and you also run the risk of acute kidney injury,” Dr Bakris cautioned. “The patients in the SPRINT trial were already hypertensive [a SBP of 130 to 180 mm Hg with an increased risk of CV events] and being treated when they were enrolled, which is very different from HOPE-3.”
In SPRINT, increased CV risk was defined by 1 or more of the following: “clinical or subclinical CVD other than stroke; chronic kidney disease, excluding polycystic kidney disease, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 20 to less than 60 ml per minute per 1.73m2 of body-surface area, calculated with the use of the 4-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation; a 10-year risk of CVD of 15% or greater on the basis of the Framingham risk score; or an age of 75 years or older.”1
“There is no proven benefit of use of any antihypertensive drugs in low risk patients with a BP <140,” Dr Bakris added. | https://www.thecardiologyadvisor.com/home/topics/hypertension/hope-3-hitting-pause-on-the-blood-pressure-gauge/2/ |
The presence of iris pigmented lesions in individuals <40 years of age increases the likelihood for development of cutaneous melanoma by approximately 1.8-fold, with that risk rising proportionately with the number of such lesions, according to results of a recent case-control study published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
A total of 1254 Australians of European background were assessed for sun exposure and melanoma. Of these,1117 had iris photographs of sufficient quality to be evaluated for the presence of pigmented lesions.
Most participants had fair skin, with a varying degree of sunburn propensity and tanning response. Mean patient age was 47 years; 51.5% of the participants were women.
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Based on digital photographic images, the most common eye color was blue/gray (66.4%), followed by green/hazel (23.4%) and brown (10.1%). The majority (76%) of participants’ eyes examined had ≥1 pigmented lesion. Iris pigmented lesions were detected more often in green/hazel eyes, but this did not differ significantly according to skin color after adjusting for iris color.
Participants >40 years had numbers of iris pigmented lesions similar to age-matched controls (mean 5.7 lesions vs 5.2 lesions, respectively; P =.02). However, younger participants and controls (≤40 years of age) had a significantly greater difference in the number of iris pigmented lesions (mean 3.96 lesions vs 2.19 lesions, respectively; P =.004). Moreover, the presence of ≥3 iris pigmented lesions increased the risk for melanoma 1.45-fold (95% CI, 1.07-1.95; P =.02).
The investigators concluded that iris pigmented lesion count provides predictive information for melanoma risk stratification beyond currently used factors such as skin type, hair color, eye color, and nevus count.
The study findings suggest that a detailed dermatologic examination for melanoma may be reasonable in individuals <40 years of age with iris pigmented lesions. Additional studies are warranted to further define this association, which includes identification of those genes that influence the formation of iris pigmented lesions. | https://www.dermatologyadvisor.com/home/topics/skin-cancer/risk-for-melanoma-linked-to-iris-pigmented-lesions/ |
Syrian Tourism Day in Madrid to Shed Light on Syria’s Archeological Treasures
DAMASCUS, (ST)-The Ministry of Tourism in cooperation with the Society of Maaloula Friends is due today to kick off the Third Syrian Tourism Day in the Spanish capital Madrid.
According to Bassam Barseek, Director of Tourism Promotion at the ministry, the event, which continues till the end of July, displays pictures of Syrian archeological sites, screens films promoting Syria’s tourism and cultural heritage and holds an exhibition titled “Syrian Archeological Treasures...Humanity Heritage”.
Barseek said the tourism day in Madrid came after the ministry had held two similar events in Toronto and Ottawa in Canada within the framework of the ministry’s plan to hold such tourist activities in many countries of the world aiming to convey Syria’s real cultural and civilization message to the West.
A number of intellectuals, writers, journalists and researches, who previously visited Syria, take part in this event.
The Syrian Tourism Day is organized within the framework of cooperation between the Tourism Ministry and the Syrian communities abroad to hold Syrian tourist, cultural and artistic activities around the world and to rebuild confidence in Syria as a tourist destination. | http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/culturt/13511-syrian-tourism-day-in-madrid-to-shed-light-on-syria-s-archeological-treasures |
Higher education, and more specifically continuing education, should be working with PK-12 school systems, including both students and teachers. For public institutions in particular, there is an obligation to expose PK-12 students to the world of higher education. People can’t want what they can’t see. It’s up to higher education to show students all of its wonders so they can make informed decisions about their futures. Benefits of these kinds of partnerships include breaking down silos within the institution, developing solid town-gown relationships and creating enrollment pathways.
To give you some background, James Madison University (JMU) Outreach & Engagement’s mission is to serve as a catalyst by using JMU resources to create mutually beneficial partnerships, advance educational opportunities and empower individuals and our extended communities. In order to accomplish this, we offer both credit and noncredit programming. For our unit, noncredit programs include workforce development and PK-12 engagement programs. As a community-engaged university, we work hard to develop mutually beneficial programs that are reciprocal in nature, with carefully chosen and curated partnerships. We very consciously choose our local school divisions as some of those partners. There are several reasons we reach out to this specific audience.
In partnering with our schools, we have been able to engage faculty from widely different departments to work together to meet the needs of PK-12 students. They may never have had the opportunity to work together before, but welcome the chance to collaborate, and the end result for the students is an incredible, enriching experience. The campus community, too, benefits from these cross-department partnerships.
The relationship between a higher education institution and the local community can sometimes be a tense one, depending on the size of the institution and the character of its students. PK-12 programs provide an opportunity to influence that relationship in a positive direction. As one parent wrote after a recent summer camp experience, “In addition to providing many local children with a valuable learning experience, this camp provides the community with a positive image of JMU. All too often, the only stories we hear about JMU are the negative ones splashed across the headlines or reported on the local news. You have students willing to take a week of their summer to teach and mentor young kids. … These things highlight the positive side of JMU. Additionally, they show middle and high school students that they don’t necessarily have to attend a bigger school to get a great education because they have a viable option right here at home.”
All of these programs have the potential of creating a pipeline for those students from elementary to middle to high school and eventually into higher education, and possibly to JMU. These partnerships work as a recruiting tool for the university and can even help increase the diversity on campus by reaching more lower-income and underserved students. Many of them may have never considered college or university without the exposure to programs that show them what is possible. Faculty on campus are often even more willing to engage in programs like this when they see it can help them eventually recruit high-quality students to their academic programs.
For these reasons, and many more, if you haven’t considered working with PK-12 school systems, I’d encourage you to think about it. These partnerships have created positive experiences for both our university and our community, and some really heartwarming stories to tell.
How using modern eCommerce principles drives revenue in Continuing Education
Author Perspective: Administrator
This type of initiative could be especially valuable for underserved communities. As MacDonald says, students need to know what opportunities await them so they can dream. It seems, however, that quite a few of these programs are reserved for honor students, which students from underserved communities are less likely to be. If that’s the case, it would be unfortunate, as they stand to benefit most from postsecondary exposure.
My community college began a program like this several years ago. It has turned out to be a great way to demonstrate our commitment to the community, and we’ve formed promising partnerships with local PK-12 schools and even industries because of it. | https://evolllution.com/opinions/higher-education-institutions-partner-pk-12-school-systems/ |
A party that doesn’t want to pay another needs to issue a withholding notice with a reason why it’s not paying – but does this reason need to be reasonable?
Most readers of this column will know the meaning of the term “withholding notice” and understand its significance. In fact, most readers will probably have given one, or received one, or both. Despite that, many people seem a little shaky about what has to go onto them. And there is a danger that a recent decision of the Technology and Construction Court will make matters worse.
To recap, the Construction Act 1996 had all sorts of things to say about payments under construction contracts. In particular, if a paying party wants to pay less than the sum due under the contract, it must give written notice to the payee of its intention. If it fails to do so, it must pay the full sum without the deduction.
There are rules about what has to go into the notice. Section 111(2) of the act says that to be effective the notice must specify the amount to be withheld and the ground for withholding. If there is more than one ground, each must be stated and the amount attributable to it. Nothing else is required.
This apparently simple requirement was discussed in Windglass Windows vs Capital Skyline Construction, a case heard before Mr Justice Coulson in July.
Windglass had a contract for the supply and installation of windows doors and suchlike at a project in London. It did what it said it would, and asked to be paid. In fact it made two applications for payment, totalling some £166,000.
Capital Skyline didn’t pay anything at all. It responded to each application with a letter explaining that its financial director had rejected it because it was not in the company’s standard format and had insufficient supporting information. Capital Skyline said that the letters were effectively withholding notices, and therefore it did not have to make the payments.
Windglass went off to adjudication. The adjudicator decided that the withholding notices were not effective as they did not set out the grounds for withholding. He also decided that there was no contractual obligation to make the applications for payment in any specific format. He said Capital Skyline should pay.
If money is being deducted because the subcontractor’s foreman wore pink socks, so be it. That is unlikely to be a good contractual argument, but it’s a valid notice of withholding
It didn’t, so Windglass went to court to enforce the decision. Capital Skyline tried to run the same argument, but failed – which is not terribly surprising. Whether or not the notices were effective was an issue put before the adjudicator and he had decided it. That was enough to mean that the defence was bound to fail – the adjudicator’s decision was binding.
But the judge went a little way further.
He said: “I do not accept the suggestion that section 111 of the 1966 act and the relevant part of the scheme do not require a withholding notice that sets out valid grounds for withholding money otherwise due.”
Those words might lead the reader to conclude that if the notice contains grounds, but the grounds are not valid, the notice isn’t valid either.
This is a problem that crops up quite often in adjudication. Typically, a main contractor has withheld a sum from an interim payment to a subcontractor. The notice of withholding states that the sum being withheld is, say, £10,000. The grounds for withholding are that the subcontractor has caused delay to progress on the main contract.
The subcontractor is absolutely sure that the delay was caused by someone else, and takes the matter to adjudication. It explains that the main contractor has not even attempted to demonstrate that the delay was caused by the subcontractor, nor provided any evidence of loss resulting from the delay. It says therefore that the notice is not valid and the sum deducted must be paid. It thinks that the argument is so strong that it does not bother making a case that it did not cause delay – it relies on the lack of detail in the withholding notice.
Adjudicators may have a good deal of sympathy for this argument, but cannot help. A notice that states the sum to be withheld and the ground for withholding is a valid notice. The “ground” can be manifestly wrong, but that does not stop it from being a ground and so satisfying the requirements of the act. If money is being deducted because the subcontractor’s foreman wore pink socks, so be it. That is unlikely to be a good contractual argument, but it’s a valid notice of withholding. To challenge it, the subcontractor must argue that pink socks have no contractual significance, that the foreman wasn’t wearing them, and if he was the main contractor hasn’t suffered any loss. | https://www.building.co.uk/comment/valid-doesnt-mean-true-withholding-payment/3147854.article |
The Australian Dollar received a significant boost heading into the weekend thanks to comments from Donald Trump, who criticised the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates. This left the US Dollar in a slump, encouraging investors to pile into higher-yielding currencies instead. Even though the threat of a further escalation of trade tensions between the US and China also emerged this failed to knock much of the wind out of AUD exchange rates.
Even so, worries over the prospect of a full-blown US-China trade war could still drag on the Australian Dollar today.
Sterling
The latest UK public sector net borrowing figures showed that government borrowing had fallen to an eleven-year low in the April-June period. This encouraged greater confidence in the outlook of the domestic economy, even as a significant degree of Brexit-based uncertainty continues to weigh on the minds of investors. However, comments from chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier helped to boost Sterling as he indicated that a deal could be reached in October or November.
With the UK parliament entering its summer recess this week GBP exchange rates could benefit from reduced political jitters.
Euro
May’s Eurozone current account showed a significant narrowing on the month, with the surplus easing from 27.3 billion to just 4.6 billion. Confidence in the underlying health of the Eurozone economy was naturally dented by the data, especially as trade tensions with the US remain heightened. As the threat of US tariffs on EU carmakers persists, with Trump having taken aim at the EU once again, there was little support for the Euro during Friday’s European session.
As forecasts point towards a further decline in the latest Eurozone consumer confidence index the single currency may come under further pressure tonight.
US Dollar
Demand for the US Dollar slumped dramatically on Friday as markets reacted to various comments from Donald Trump. Investors were spooked by his attacks on the Federal Reserve and threat to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports. This escalation in protectionist rhetoric left USD exchange rates under significant pressure, even though the administration’s preference for a weaker US Dollar is unlikely to sway the Fed from its more hawkish policy outlook.
A rebound in June’s existing home sales figure could give the US Dollar some cause for confidence in the short term.
Canadian Dollar
A stronger-than-expected Canadian consumer price index encouraged CAD exchange rates to recover ground ahead of the weekend. As inflationary pressure picked up from 2.2% to 2.5% in June confidence in the underlying health of the Canadian economy improved. The appeal of the risk-sensitive Canadian Dollar also strengthened on the back of US Dollar weakness, in spite of worries over the future of US-Canada trade relations.
If Canadian wholesale trade sales data proves similarly positive the Canadian Dollar could extend its gains further.
New Zealand Dollar
Investors were surprised to find that New Zealand credit card spending had risen sharply on the year in June, clocking in at 5.7%. This stronger showing suggests that domestic sentiment remains resilient in spite of other signs of economic sluggishness. The general increase in market risk appetite, driven by the softening US Dollar, also gave a boost to NZD exchange rates.
Any deterioration in investor sentiment leaves the New Zealand Dollar vulnerable to renewed losses, however. | https://www.fxcompare.com.au/articles/us-dollar-plunges-as-trump-criticises-fed-policy/ |
Our Founder, Betty LaMarr, has been selected by the Manhattan Beach Soroptimist Club as this year’s Ruby Award winner. She will be celebrated and awarded the honor on March 10th at the LunaFest Film Festival hosted at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.
The Soroptimist Ruby Award honors women who, through their professional or personal efforts, are making extraordinary differences in the lives of women or girls. Honorees are women who have worked to improve the lives of other women or girls. Their work has had a significant impact, and also inspires and encourages other women. | https://empowher.org/2013/02/18/empowher-institute-founder-receives-ruby-award/ |
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Jan 15, 2018.
Elderly: Dose selection should be cautious, generally starting at the low end of the dosing range.
Interactions with Drugs Affecting CYP450 Isoenzymes: The effects of concomitant use or discontinuation of CYP450 3A4 inducers/inhibitors or CYP450 2D6 inhibitors are complex; concomitant use requires careful consideration of the effects on the parent drug, codeine, and the active metabolite, morphine.
-Do not discontinue abruptly in the drug-dependent patient; use a gradual downward titration to prevent signs/symptoms of withdrawal.
-Addiction, Abuse, and Misuse: This drug exposes patients and other users to the risks of opioid addiction, abuse, and misuse, which can lead to overdose and death. Assess each patient's risk prior to prescribing and monitor all patients regularly for the development of these behaviors or conditions.
-Life-Threatening Respiratory Depression: Serious, life-threatening, or fatal respiratory depression may occur; monitor for respiratory depression, especially during initiation and following dose increases.
-Accidental Ingestion: Accidental ingestion of even 1 dose, especially by children, can result in a fatal overdose of codeine.
-Ultra-Rapid Metabolism of Codeine and Other Risk Factors for Life-Threatening Respiratory Depression in Children: Life-threatening respiratory depression and death have occurred in children who received codeine. Most of the reported cases occurred following tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy, and many of the children had evidence of being an ultra-rapid metabolizer of codeine due to a CYP450 2D6 polymorphism. This drug is contraindicated in children younger than 12 years of age and in children younger than 18 years of age following tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy. Avoid the use of this drug in adolescents 12 to 18 years of age who have other risk factors that may increase their sensitivity to the respiratory depressant effects of codeine.
-Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: Prolonged use during pregnancy can result in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, which may be life-threatening if not recognized and treated, and requires management according to protocols developed by neonatology experts. If prolonged opioid use is required in a pregnant woman, the patient should be advised of the risk of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome and ensure appropriate treatment will be available.
-Interactions with Drugs Affecting CYP450 Isoenzymes: The effects of concomitant use or discontinuation of CYP450 3A4 inducers/inhibitors or CYP450 2D6 inhibitors are complex; concomitant use requires careful consideration of the effects on the parent drug, codeine, and the active metabolite, morphine.
-Concomitant Use with Benzodiazepines or Other CNS Depressants, including alcohol, may result in profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma, and death. Concomitant use should be reserved for use in patients for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate. If needed, limit dose and duration to the minimum required and follow patients for signs and symptoms of respiratory depression and sedation.
-Dependence, withdrawal, and abuse have been reported; the risk of abuse should be assessed prior to prescribing.
-Treatment duration should not exceed up to 2 to 3 weeks; if musculoskeletal symptoms persist, patients should be re-evaluated.
-Patients should be instructed to read the US FDA-approved Medication Guide each time this drug is dispensed; they should understand the safe use, serious risks, and proper storage and disposal of this drug.
-Patients should understand that this product contains aspirin and that aspirin may cause a wide range of gastrointestinal adverse reactions including potentially fatal events; patients should be informed of signs or symptoms to watch for and which require prompt medical attention.
-Patients should be advised that this drug may cause drowsiness and dizziness and that there have been reports of motor vehicle accidents following use; patients should be advised to avoid hazardous activities such as driving while taking this drug.
-Patients should be advised to avoid concomitant use with alcohol and to check with their health care professional before taking other CNS depressants.
-Patients should understand that this drug has been associated with cases of dependence, withdrawal, and abuse; use should be limited to less than 3 weeks duration.
-Patients should understand the risks of life-threatening respiratory depression and when this risk is greatest; patients should be aware that a genetic mutation may result in greater toxicity in some patients.
-For women who are breastfeeding and have this genetic mutation, their infant will be at risk for morphine toxicity; nursing mothers should be instructed to seek immediate medical attention for infants experiencing increased sleepiness, difficulty breastfeeding, breathing difficulties, or limpness.
-Women of child bearing potential should understand that prolonged use during pregnancy can result in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome and that prompt recognition and treatment will be necessary. | https://www.drugs.com/dosage/aspirin-carisoprodol-codeine.html |
The For A Dad Foundation is a nonprofit organization that offers professional support to single Dads dealing with a major life event.
Our programs are dedicated specifically to help single Dads who have experienced major life events such as;
We have experienced the difficulties that are borne from these life-altering events. We have first-hand knowledge with how to navigate through difficult, and even tragic, life-altering circumstances. Our primary purpose is to offer hope where there is despair and help when one is helpless.
Our mission is to assist single Dads in their time of need
Our founder is a widower; his first-hand understanding of the trials that come with being there for his children in a one-Dad environment drives the Foundation’s vision to support other Dads and their kids in their time of need. Our people and resources are well-equipped to handle most situations that single Dads deal with before, during, and after these trying times. | https://foradad.org/about-us/ |
Recently I was asked to speak at a morning meeting of Hilton Head Island’s newly formed Economic Development Corporation (EDC). When was the last time your own breakfast conversation was specifically directed at improving the local economy? What might change if it actually BECAME more frequent breakfast conversation among us all?
The direct engagement of community foundations in economic development services and programs is not typical. Generally, direct loans or grants to private businesses are not considered charitable, and our mission and purpose focuses on charitable support. However, we can and have supported economic development activities in a variety of indirect ways. And it does, of course, depend on how one defines economic development: is it a traditional, narrow definition of strictly business attraction, retention and growth--or it is a broader definition that includes many areas within community development such has housing, arts and culture, education, public safety, environment, talent attraction, health and human services, regional amenities and tourism, workforce development and beyond? Many of the Community Foundation’s economic development activities would fall within this broader definition.
Many of our grants or initiatives have been related to creating or facilitating jobs or employability, training and workforce development, attracting residents to the area through improved low-income housing, education and services to the elderly or infirm, and attracting tourism and residents through arts, culture, and environment.
A few housing examples: Habitat for Humanity infrastructure, the Water Fund to eliminate the need for residential well water, and Project SAFE which has been used to bring sewer access to income-qualified homeowners. A few education examples: projects from pre-school through life-long learning—including investments at USCB and TCL; Boys and Girls Club facilities, and the new Children’s Center building. In each of these cases, education is a significant piece—but in some cases what is also provided is childcare support for working parents. And we must not forget our scholarship program and directory. And examples in art and culture: natural and cultural history efforts through the Coastal Discovery Museum, the Heritage Library Foundation, and the Mitchelville Preservation Project, and of course, our own Public Art Fund and Sculpture Exhibition, through which we have placed four pieces of sculpture on Hilton Head Island since 2010 with more on the horizon.
It could be argued that simply engaging more people in philanthropic endeavors, and thereby providing an increased flow of dollars from pockets and bank accounts to charitable efforts, and helping to build an increased volunteer workforce adding significantly to our GDP, could be shown to have a significant economic development impact.
I must confess to being hopeful about the potential impact of Hilton Head Island’s new Economic Development Corporation. I have long hoped for the possible formalization of a unified Island economic development strategy, which would draw on the knowledge and effort of all sectors including government, education, corporations and small business, nonprofits and philanthropy. I have envisioned a strategy that would lift all sectors and neighborhoods of our community, understanding that to leave out any group is to leave important assets, skills and abilities on the table—something none of us can afford. And as part of a Community Foundation whose “community” includes four counties, I have a strong desire to see this hoped for strategy to be eventually combined with our neighboring communities into a regional economic development plan. We have a responsibility to the region, which includes assuring jobs for local residents, but also transportation and services for those who may live elsewhere.
Consider how we might all help our economic development in ways heretofore unimagined. Who do you know who is connected to a company elsewhere that may be expanding—why should they not come here? To what regional or national or global organization do you belong, that might be convinced to have a conference or meeting here? What retiree—perhaps your neighbor or golf partner--has special skills or knowledge or a large circle of amazing friends who could expand our reach? How can YOU expand and grow economic development in our area, and in so doing, help all in the Lowcountry to live more generously? | https://cf-lowcountry.org/blog/prosperity-for-breakfast2 |
Perform design, project management, contract administration, and inspection duties for municipal transportation infrastructure projects.
KEY DUTIES
Design, produce, and review drawings for routine and complex projects, such as major construction, rehabilitation and repair programs for municipal transportation infrastructure; develop terms of reference for consultant contracts; prepare financial analysis of proposed projects; prepare budget proposals, projections and detailed estimates for projects and related activities; monitor job costs and verify expenditures; prepare, review and recommend approval for proposals; develop and maintain files and records for projects.
Apply the principles of Project Management and Contract Administration on large scale and complex construction projects; liaise with consultants, developers, other departments and outside agencies as required; provide advice and guidance to management and staff on pavement and sidewalk replacement and rehabilitation strategies; liaise with Finance Department on capital construction budgetary items; act as contract administrator for designs prepared by consultants.
Conduct inspections of construction sites to ensure design, specifications, and safety standards are met; liaise with and direct the work of consultants, contractors and engineers on project design, development and standards for construction or renovation projects; conduct field surveys and provide grade and alignment control using levels and associated equipment; make on-site design modifications; liaise with and provide information to community associations and outside agencies on project requirements, progress, and budgets; lead public open houses; respond to enquiries from other departments; work with Supply Management Services on project requisitions; prepare requests for proposals and related documents in accordance with purchasing policy and procedures; assess and make recommendations in the selection and termination of external consultants, contractors and engineers; develop specifications for projects.
Respond to enquiries and complaints from the public, staff and outside agencies regarding municipal projects, infrastructure, and environmental problems; coordinate and schedule projects with outside agencies and City departments; perform planning, research, system investigations and analysis for the maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of transportation infrastructure.
Review development, utility and construction permit applications and engineering drawings to ensure conformity to City standards and specifications; provide technical advice and interpretation to applicants, contractors and professional consultants on design submissions and required changes.
Co-ordinate and review the work of approximately 1 assistant; ensure schedules, procedures and established performance and safety standards are met; operate a vehicle to transport equipment and materials.
Perform related duties where qualified.
INDEPENDENCE
Work is performed according to Transportation infrastructure long term plans and annual construction schedules, or is assigned by supervisor.
Work is reviewed through statistical and progress reports and meetings with supervisor.
Issues such as specialized designs and major expenditures are discussed with supervisor.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Physical Effort:
Lift and move medium weight equipment and materials. (occasional)
Mental Effort:
Short periods of intense concentration while performing or reviewing design and infrastructure analysis. (often)
Visual/Auditory Effort:
Focus on a variety of source data, engineering drawings and computer for long periods of time. (often)
Work Environment:
Office.
Work on construction sites. (often)
Work outside in all weather conditions. (often)
Work in close proximity to moving traffic. (often)
KEY SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Organize and prioritize work.
Understand and apply the principles and techniques of civil engineering construction, design, project management, and contract administration.
Working level operation of current City word processing, spreadsheet, and related engineering software such as CAD and system modelling.
Use a variety of survey instruments.
Produce civil engineering technical drawings for municipal roads and utility construction using manual and computer aided drafting techniques.
Facilitate public consultation meetings.
Read and interpret engineering codes, standards, and drawings.
Maintain accurate records.
Establish and maintain effective working relationships.
Represent the City to the public and outside agencies.
Work safely on jobsites.
QUALIFICATIONS
Formal Education, Training and Occupational Certification:
Technical School Diploma in Civil Engineering Technology. (2 years)
Master Municipal Contract Documents Administrator’s Course. (16 hours)
Registration or eligibility to register as an Applied Science Technologist (A.Sc.T) with the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC (ASTTBC).
Current and valid Class 5 B.C. Driver's Licence.
Experience:
4 years of related experience.
or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
OTHER:
May be requested to substitute in a more senior position.
Work schedule: Monday - Friday, 35 hour work week
$43.20 per hour, Pay Grade 14
Job Code #4147
This is a CUPE Local 50 Position
To apply for this opportunity you will need to create an online profile or log back in to our career portal at www.victoria.ca/jobs - only online submission will be considered. All applications must be submitted online by 4:30 pm on the closing date noted on the posting. Please be prepared to provide proof of qualifications and supporting materials as outlined in your resume
City of Victoria is an equal opportunity employer committed to establishing an inclusive, equitable, and accessible environment for all. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status or any other basis protected by applicable law. | https://careersen-victoria.icims.com/jobs/2799/technologist-%E2%80%93-transportation-design/job |
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Perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and overall towards civil work....
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Sound knowledge of Indian Standards (IS) for civil & building construction, Software skills: MS Projects, Power point, Excel, STAAD, SolidWorks, Auto...
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2. Web Push notifications in Firefox – Mozilla Support
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In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and select Preferences. · Click Privacy & Security from the left pane. · Scroll to the Permissions section …
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TIP · Scroll to the ‘Permission’ block and click on ‘Settings’ opposite to a ‘Notifications’ item · You will find the list of websites with notification options.
6. How to Disable Web Notifications | PCMag
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-disable-web-notifications
Jul. 4, 2021 — Firefox knows that users hate pop-up notifications, … If you wish to change the notifications settings, uncheck “Use Default,” then choose …
7. How to Disable Annoying Notifications on Chrome, Firefox …
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/disable-notifications-chrome-firefox-safari/
Dec. 11, 2019 — Firefox doesn’t let you disable website notifications altogether from its regular Settings window. To change this setting, you’ll need to …
8. Not receiving push notifications in browser – Knowledge Base
https://knowledge.hubspot.com/settings/why-am-i-not-receiving-push-notifications-in-my-browser
If Notifications does not appear in the lock menu, select Site settings, then select Allow in the dropdown menu to the right of Notifications. Firefox. Click …
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You can get email notifications on Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari when you’re signed in to Gmail … In the top right, click Settings Settings and then …
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To receive notifications from Meet and Chat, your browser settings must … You can change this setting at any time. … On your computer, open Chrome. | https://www.geekyradar.com/how-to-setup-notification-settings-in-firefox-computer/ |
JOIN US!
If you are interested in helping Adoption First please fill out a volunteer application. There are many different ways to help from administrative tasks to walking the dogs to helping transport. Contact us for more details.
Staff
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Heidi McLaughlin
Adoption Coordinator
I started volunteering with Adoption First in 2014 after first adopting from the organization. Seeing dogs from Day 1 to adoption day success stories is a great reminder of why we do what we do day in and day out. Seeing this rescue grow by leaps and bounds over the years has been so rewarding and such a great thing to experience- so many wonderful people coming together to improve the lives of so many dogs (and now cats) that have found themselves alone and needing love and care. While the rescue work at times can be taxing- it is worth it to help those in need and I’m proud to be part of it!
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Medical Coordinator
Christina Steward
I started volunteering with Adoption First after we moved to Jacksonville in September of 2021. I previously worked at a large county shelter and when we moved here i needed to find a place to work with animals again. After a few months, I started working in the newly established clinic. I then transitioned into the role as the medical coordinator for the rescue. I ensure that all the dogs and cats are medically ready for adoption to their fur-ever home. I foster a lot of animals going through extra medical care, seniors and bottle kittens. We adopted a AFAR cat who had a leg amputation. The volunteers of Adoption First have become my second family.
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Foster Coordinator
Amanda Rowe
I’ve been fostering with Adoption First since 2017. I became the foster coordinator in October of 2021. I felt as though my years of fostering experience had equipped me to help place as many of the rescue’s animals into temporary homes while they wait for their forever homes as possible. I’ve loved getting to meet new faces as well as connect further with the existing volunteers, all while surrounded by dogs and cats... a dream! My goal is to make fostering as easy as possible for our volunteers to keep them coming back to help foster more. The more animals we have in foster, the more we can save from other shelters!
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Event Coordinator
Michele Pauls
I first started planning events for AFAR in January of 2020. I quickly realized how passionate I am about coordinating events and how much fun it is to raise money for this amazing organization. I enjoy working closely with our volunteers to brainstorm ideas, design concepts, and plan events from start to finish. I am amazed by the wonderful work we do, and truly enjoy creating relationships with our community. I love to get out in Onslow County and the surrounding areas to spread the word about Adoption First, and how to join our mission to lower the euthanasia rate while putting on fantastic fundraising events!
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Office Manager
Bre Corbitt
Hi, I'm Bre and I started with Adoption First in 2017 with fostering two pups, Lola & Harrison. Since then, I've had 40+ fosters, held a handful of leadership roles, and now I have the job of a lifetime! I love what we do here, and saving the lives of animals is tough, but worth it!
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Kennel Attendant
Michael Meriweather
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Kennel Attendant
Lola Naiman
I started working and volunteering at Adoption First in the fall of 2022, after relocating from Oregon to Jacksonville. In Oregon as a young child living on my family's farm and working with my parents for other larger ranches and farms, I learned the importance and dedication it takes to care for animals. From the start I developed a passion for animals of all shapes and sizes, and as I continued to grow my love for animals grew as well. Eventually I would spend all my summers working on a ranch training horses and dogs. This led to me getting a great job as a kennel tech at a vet clinic in Oregon. From then on I knew this was something I was truly going to dedicate my life to. Now I am currently working for AFAR and fulfilling my dream of going to school to become a vet tech. Although, helping animals may not be easy at times I know that the teamwork and dedication it takes to save the lives of those with no voice is more than worth it.
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Kennel Attendant
Jordan Johnson
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Kennel Attendant
Macie Eades
Volunteers
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Andrea Whatley
Volunteer Trainer/Lead
I began volunteering in the spring of 2019. I loved Adoption First Animals Rescue’s ideals, values, and mission to rescue dogs so I became more involved. My husband is retired military and I’m a veteran so we love being in a community that supports the military. . This organization aligns with my goals and demonstrates their commitment to helping dogs - so I’m all in!
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Michele Pauls
Event Coordinator
I have been a volunteer and foster for Adoption First since June 2019. This rescue is absolutely wonderful, and I am so honored to be a part of the team! I love being able to give second chances to the scared, broken, sick, and discarded. Showing them what love, compassion, and kindness truly is, and watching them transform into the dog they were meant to be. I am blessed to have found a group of people that are devoted to rescuing and saving lives! I have made so many amazing friends along the way, and I look forward to the future of saving many more lives.
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Amanda Rowe
Foster Coordinator
I've been fostering with Adoption First since 2017. My favorite thing about it is being able to meet many new dogs, bring them into our home, and show them the good life while helping them transition to a home of their own. My family and my 3 dogs all enjoy it! We've also made incredible friends along the way! Fostering isn't always easy, but with fosters we are one step closer to saving more animals.
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Norah Wimer
Administration
Our family started fostering with Adoption First July, 2020. In the first ten months with Adoption First we've opened our home to over 20 dogs and puppies. My favorite part of fostering is bringing a dog who is timid home from the facility, and seeing them getting to be a "real dog" once they feel safe in our home.
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Vicki Brown
Volunteer Coordinator
My journey with Adoption First started in November 2019. Our children were getting older, and I decided that I could use some of the extra time that I had to foster. After bringing home our first foster, our entire family became involved, to include extended family, and it has become something we all truly love. As the volunteer coordinator, I get the pleasure of welcoming our newest team members, helping them learn the ropes, as well as coordinating teams to support various fundraisers and events. We have continued to foster, and it is still a family affair, with my husband taking the lead.
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Kelly Kurz
New Volunteer Coordinator
I started volunteering with Adoption First in October of 2020. This shelter has felt like home since day one. I remember being welcomed by the volunteers and of course all the dogs on my first day. I am overjoyed to be a part of an organization that saves as many dogs and cats as we can. As a volunteer coordinator, I am thrilled that I get the pleasure of welcoming you to the team here at Adoption First. I look forward to meeting you soon!
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Kiera King
Tik Tok Manager
I started fostering/volunteering with adoption first in October 2021. Since joining the Adoption First Team, I have fostered 21 dogs. Being a part of the amazing work this rescue does has been incredible, and I knew I wanted to become more involved. Helping the rescue grow through this social media platform has been so rewarding and I have been overjoyed with the opportunities it has brought to the rescue. I can’t wait to see its growth in the future!
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Bethany Martin
Instagram Manager
I have been a foster with Adoption First since January 2020. It is such an amazing feeling being able to give dogs a safe and loving home until they find their fur-ever family. Being able to see your foster grow and gain confidence is a great experience. I have enjoyed every minute of being part of AFAR!
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Sabrina Lapointe
Fundraising Team
I started fostering and volunteering with Adoption First in July of 2020, just two months after moving to North Carolina from my home, New England. I have been a lifelong animal advocate and have been a vegetarian for 21 years! (I’m 26). I am especially passionate about pitbulls and making a better name for the breed. Fostering and volunteering is such a privilege to me. I love seeing my fosters transform into the happy and healthy dog they were always meant to be!
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Lannette Hanslip
Fundraising Team
I first heard about AFAR in 2014 and quickly started fostering! Saturdays at adoption events are the best, and I enjoy volunteering at them! I have watched the rescue grow tremendously, helping thousands of dogs over the years find their loving, forever homes. Proud to be a part of the team.
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Halie Cleveland
Fundraising Team
I have been a volunteer and foster for Adoption First Animal Rescue since September 2021. I have followed this rescue since the beginning and always knew I wanted to be apart of AFAR and I am so glad I finally had the opportunity. I love being able to give a second chance to all of the babies that come into our rescue. AFAR has the best group of volunteers and fosters that are devoted to saving lives and giving second chances. I look forward to many more fosters and many more amazing events!
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Keri & Kyrie Williams
We first became fosters in December of 2021. My son Kyrie wanted a cat and I wanted to show him how much responsibility it took to care for one of his own. Well, a short time later, I saw a post on Facebook from AFAR looking for fosters. What an amazing opportunity to not only teach my son, but also volunteer our time, our home, and our love for these animals until they find their forever homes. We quickly fell in love with the rescue life, the cats and dogs we have helped transition along the way, and the amazing staff, volunteers, and fosters who have become like family. Whether they are in our home for a day, or a month! We show them love, we teach them trust, and everyone we say goodbye to we know that opens our home to save another life!
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Jaime Duncan
Hi! I’m Jaime. My husband, Wally, and I fell in love with hounds when we moved to North Carolina. Their story, quirkiness, and sweetness had us hooked. We speak for those who can’t and we get to help transform these babies into awesome family dogs. Hounds are underrated....don’t knock it till you try it. You’ll fall in love 100% of the time.
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Lindsay Barber
I've been fostering since 2020 and volunteering since 2019. I started fostering consistently in 2020 when my husband deployed to Afghanistan and I needed something positive to get me through it. Over that period of time, I've fostered 33 dogs and puppies. My husband is home now and we enjoy helping dogs together. I am really proud that my husband, my three rescue dogs, and I have created a home that helps dogs feel safe until they find their forever home.
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Macey Andrews
My husband Brendan and I have been fostering with Adoption First since Feb 2020! Brendan and I and our 2 dogs, Sammy & Juni (an AF Alumni) love having furry friends stay in our home! My favorite thing about fostering is showing these dogs that life doesn’t have to be hard. They can be as lazy or as energetic as they want, and get spoiled along the way. We love opening our home to dogs of all kinds and can’t wait to continue fostering for many years to come!
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Nicholas Bingham
I started fostering and volunteering with Adoption First when I moved to my home in North Carolina July 2020. I have a strong love for dogs, especially the fluffy ones. I enjoy fostering the more difficult dogs that require a lot more attention or healing time because it allows me to create a bond with them and it feels even better when they find their forever home!
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Kimberly Burd
I’ve had the pleasure of fostering over 30 pups and it is the most rewarding experience. They have all just blossomed right before my eyes. I’m also an avid jewelry maker and love to share my craft with the rescue.
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Cori Labounty
I began volunteering with Adoption First in March of 2019. What started out as a way to fill time while my husband was stationed overseas and I was in nursing school has turned into permanent role in my life. I told myself (and my husband) I would only help out around the rescue and not foster. Well that flew out the window the very first day! I brought home a malnourished one year old hound and fell in love with fostering and showing the dogs what a good life is. I even "foster failed" 2 dogs when I already had 2 of my own. Late 2019 I transitioned to the medical team to help the rescue in other ways. I ensure that all the dogs are medically ready for adoption to their fur-ever home. I love my "job" and wouldn't have it any other way. The volunteers of Adoption First have become my second family.
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Board Members
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Staci Ventura
Staci is the founder of Adoption First Animal Rescue and the current President. She was raised in California and has lived in North Carolina for the last few years. She has a passion for dogs and wants to help the community, educate the public, and lower euthanasia rates in public shelters.
Breanna Perry
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My journey with adoption first started when we adopted "Sun" now Khaleesi December 3rd of 2016. My dog of 13 years passed away on our move across country on June 8th 2016 so I had been looking to fill the giant hole he left. She was the perfect fit and while fiesty she loved playing with dogs. I saw a post on the Facebook page asking for temporary fosters in March of 2017 and decided to take in my first foster. I LOVED it! It spiraled after that! I asked Staci what I could do to be more involved and started doing all the vetting around September 2017. It continues to spiral as I seem to get deeper and deeper daily but I can say I have truly found my passion. I have worked with animals all my life and this is the most rewarding "job" I've ever ha
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Val Burrola
I have been a foster with Adoption First since 2014. Caring for these incredible souls makes everything worth it. Some days are heartbreaking but watching a scared dog become confident and free from previous pain is the best thing anyone could experience. I love being part of this rescue family.
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Catalina Kesler
I am an active duty Marine and when I was stationed in Jacksonville, NC I was a volunteer at the local animal shelter. I became involved with AFAR when Staci helped me pull a dog from the local shelter that was at risk of being euthanized because he was so stressed at the rescue he could not pass his personality test. After AFAR saved my beautiful boy Tank, I became a regular volunteer and foster for them. Aside from the enjoyment of giving dogs an opportunity for a better life, I immensely enjoyed the human connections that AFAR enables its volunteers to forge. I made life long friends through AFAR and I know other volunteers have done as well. After volunteering for almost three years, I humbly accepted the opportunity to become a board member for AFAR so that I can help make a bigger impact in the lives of dogs that need our help and the families that choose Adoption First when growing their family with a four legged fur baby. | https://www.adoptionfirstanimalrescue.com/our-team.html |
Spin crossover molecules have recently emerged as a family of compounds potentially useful for implementing molecular spintronics devices. The calculations of the electronic properties of such molecules is a formidable theoretical challenge as one has to describe the spin ground state of a transition metal as the legand field changes. The problem is dominated by the interplay between strong electron correlation at the transition metal site and charge delocalization over the ligands, and thus it fits into a class of problems where density functional theory may be inadequate. Furthermore, the crossover activity is extremely sensitive to environmental conditions, which are difficult to fully characterize. Here we discuss the phase transition of a prototypical spin crossover molecule as obtained with diffusion Monte Carlo simulations. We demonstrate that the ground state changes depending on whether the molecule is in the gas or in the solid phase. As our calculation provides a solid benchmark for the theory we then assess the performances of density functional theory. We find that the low spin state is always over-stabilized, not only by the (semi-)local functionals, but even by the most commonly used hybrids (such as B3LYP and PBE0). We then propose that reliable results can be obtained by using hybrid functionals containing about 50% of exact-exchange.
In nature there is a vast class of molecules whose magnetic moment can be altered by an external stimulus. Typical examples of such molecules are the spin-crossover (SC) complexes (1); (2) , which, in their most abundant form, contain a Fe2+ ion in octahedral coordination (3) and exhibit a transition from the low spin (LS) (singlet) ground state to a high spin (HS) (quintet) metastable state. Other examples are the cobalt dioxolene molecules (4); (5); (6) . These undergo the so-called valence tautomeric interconversion (VTI), namely an interconversion between two redox isomers, which differ in charge distribution and spin configuration. Both the SC transition and the VTI are usually observed for molecules in a single crystal and can be triggered by variations in temperature and pressure or by optical irradiation (7) . Furthermore it was also recently suggested that the VTI (8) and the spin ground state of a two-center polar molecule (9) can be controlled by a static electric field .
SC complexes are promising materials candidates for molecular spintronics applications (10); (11) . Devices incorporating such molecules are predicted to display drastic changes in the current-voltage curve across the phase transition (12); (13) , and several transport experiments have recently achieved encouraging results. Alam et al. (14) were able to distinguish the spin state of a SC molecule placed on graphite by scanning tunnel microscopy, while Prins et al. (15) demonstrated that the temperature dependent conductance of a device incorporating a SC cluster correlates well with the phase transition. In other cases, however, the data are not easy to interpret (16) and the experimental investigations are combined with density functional theory (DFT) simulations. In principle DFT should allow the computation of quantities not easily accessible by experiments and should also provide parameters for effective transport models. However, unfortunately DFT results for SC molecules depend strongly (even qualitatively) on the choice of the exchange-correlation functional used (17); (22); (18); (19); (20); (21) and no standard has yet emerged. This essentially means that DFT is still not a predictive theory for this problem.
Since most of the local and semilocal functionals underestimate the exchange energy, they tend to favor the LS state against the HS one (17); (22) . This shortcome often leads to such large errors that even stable HS molecules are described as LS (18); (19) . In contrast, the most commonly used hybrid functionals are believed to over-stabilize the HS state (23); (24) . Besides, several authors (22); (18); (19); (25) have criticized the common practice, that consists in assessing the performances of the various functionals by direct comparison with the experimental data. In fact, while experiments are usually performed for molecules in the condensed phase, DFT results refer to molecules in the gas phase. Since the properties of SC complexes depend strongly on environmental conditions (counter-ions, interaction between molecules, “strain effects” etc…) (26); (27) their ground state may not be the same in these two phases. The question then becomes: can we produce a robust benchmark for DFT against the problem of predicting the Physics of SC compounds? In order to answer to this question ab-initio methods more accurate than DFT have to be considered.
In the past wave-function based methods were used for this problem (18); (19); (20); (21); (16) . However, as the authors themselves pointed out, the results were plagued by systematic errors ascribed to the limited basis set used for Fe2+ and by the fact that the methods themselves neglect dynamic correlation (although this can be partly accounted for through a perturbative treatment). Here we propose an alternative route and perform diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) (28) calculations for a prototypical Fe2+ spin crossover molecule. As DMC represents one of the most accurate electronic structure method currently available in order to compute ground state energies, our calculations provided a solid benchmark for assessing the performances of DFT.
Figure 1: (Color on line) The cationic unit [FeL2]2+ (L=2,6-dypirazol-1-yl-4-hydroxymethylpyridine) used in the DMC calculations. Color code: C=yellow, O=red (small sphere), Fe=red (large sphere), N=grey, H=blue.
In particular we consider the molecule [FeL2](BF4)2 (L=2,6-dypirazol-1-yl-4-hydroxymethylpyridine) (29) (see Fig. 1). We show that its ground state in the gas phase is HS but that a phase transition may exist in the solid state due to a number of crystal-related effects. We then show that the same result can be obtained by DFT hybrid functionals containing approximately 50% of exact exchange, thus confirming early calculations for model molecules (25) . This establishes a recipe for the use of DFT for this class of materials, and it opens the opportunity to investigate with confidence the spin crossover transition of molecules in different environments (for instance on surfaces).
DFT calculations are performed with the nwchem code (30) . We use several functionals belonging to different classes: 1) the Vosko-Wilk-Nussair local density approximation (LDA) (32) ; 2) the generalized gradient approximation BP86, which combines the Becke88 exchange functional (33) with the Predew86 correlation one (34) ; 3) the hybrid functionals B3LYP (35) , PBE0 (36); (37) and the Becke-HH (38) , which include respectively 20%, 25% and 50% of exact exchange. We also consider a re-parametrization of the B3LYP functional, called B3LYP∗, which includes only 15% of HF exchange. This was introduced by Reiher and co-workes specifically in order to describe Fe2+ complexes (23); (24) . The Ahlrichs triple-zeta polarized basis set (31) is used throughout. DMC calculations are performed by using the casino code (39) . The imaginary time evolution of the Schrödinger equation has been performed with the usual short time approximation and time-steps of 0.0125 and 0.005 a.u. are used. Dirac-Fock pseudopotentials (40); (41) with the “potential localization approximation” (42) have been used. The single-particle orbitals of the trial wave function are obtained through (LDA) DFT calculations performed with the plane-wave (PW) code quantum espresso (43) . The same pseudopotentials used for the DMC calculations are employed. The PW cutoff is fixed at 300 Ry and the PW are re-expanded in terms of B-splines (44) . The B-spline grid spacing is a=π/Gmax, where Gmax is the length of the largest vector employed in the PW calculations. Periodic boundary conditions are employed for the PW-DFT calculations and supercells as large as 40 Å are considered. In contrast, no periodic boundary conditions are imposed with DMC. Counter ions have been ignored and calculations are presented for the cation (Fig. 1) to which we will generally refer as the molecule.
Figure 2: Potential energy surface of the HS and LS state of a SC molecule. The collective coordinate r represents all of the nuclear coordinates of the molecule. The adiabatic energy gap, ΔEadia, and the vertical energy gaps, ΔEvertLS=ΔEvert(rLS) and ΔEvertHS=ΔEvert(rHS) are also indicated.
where EHS(rLS) [ELS(rHS)] is the energy of the quintet (singlet) state for the rLS (rHS) geometry (see Fig. 2).
Table 1: Experimental and calculated Fe-N bond-lengths for the [FeL2]2+ cation. The number of bonds of a given length are indicated inside the bracket. The average difference between HS and LS Fe-N bond-lengths is about 0.2Å, a typical value for SC molecules.
DMC calculations were first carried out by using the molecular geometries optimized with DFT for the molecule in the gas phase. The Fe-ligand bond lengths computed with the various functionals are listed in Tab. 1. As the DMC energy differences between the geometries calculated from BP86, B3LYP*, B3LYP and PBE0 are of the same order of magnitude as the Monte Carlo statistical error, we have not been able to firmly establish which functional produces the best structure. We have then decided to present results only for the structures relaxed with B3LYP, keeping in mind that the same are essentially valid also for BP86 and PBE0.
Table 2: Adiabatic and vertical energy gaps for the [FeL2]2+ cation calculated with DFT and DMC at the DFT-B3LYP relaxed geometry. The relative Monte Carlo statistical error is indicated in bracket.
The DMC adiabatic energy gap is reported in Tab. 2. Our result indicates that the molecule in the gas phase is in its high-spin state, in contrast to the common belief and to the experimental result for the single crystal. Such ground state is indeed quite robust as DMC gives us an adiabatic energy gap of -1.20 eV. Since DMC provides a unequivocal assignment of the molecule ground state, it essentially establishes that no spin crossover transition is expected for [FeL2]2+ in the gas phase. Hence, in order to account for the experimentally observed SC transition, one needs to understand how the embedding of the molecule in a crystal is able to reverse the relative order of the HS and the LS states at zero-temperature, i.e. to change the sign of ΔEadia.
Table 3: Adiabatic and vertical energy gaps for the [FeL2]2+ cation calculated with DMC at the single crystal experimental geometry. We report DMC results for two values of the imaginary time. The relative Monte Carlo statistical error is indicated in bracket. The experimental molecular structure used for the calculation is taken from the X-ray data of reference (29) .
The argument proceeds then as follows. Firstly, one has to repeat the calculations using the experimental geometries measured for the molecule in the crystal form (29) . These are less symmetric and present shorter metal-ligand bond-lengths than those optimized in the vacuum (see Tab. 1). The result is that the DMC-calculated ΔEadia gets smaller, although it maintains the negative sign (compare Tab. 3 with Tab. 2). Secondly, the electrostatic potential felt by the molecule in the crystal and due to both the counter-ions and the other molecules needs to be taken into account. This produces a relative shift of the HS and LS potential energy surfaces. The magnitude of this effect, which tends to stabilize the LS state, has been recently estimated (27) to be of the order of 0.5 eV. When the effect of the geometry and the electrostatic corrections are both included, DMC allows us to estimate a ΔEadia for the condensed phase of about 0.2 eV. This is now positive, i.e. the ground state is LS, and very close to the typical values of the adiabatic energy gap inferred from experimental data (45) .
We finally turn our attention to the assessment of the performaces of the various exchange-correlation functionals. Table 2 displays the vertical and adiabatic energy gaps calculated with DFT. We note that BP86 underestimates the exchange so significantly that the molecule is predicted to be stable in the LS state (ΔEadia>0). Furthermore the absolute value of ΔEvert(rLS) [ΔEvert(rHS)] is much larger than the corresponding one computed with DMC. This means that the standard local density approximation predicts a very stable low spin ground state. B3LYP and PBE0 improve only slightly the accuracy of the calculated gaps and the LS state still remains massively over-stabilized. In contrast, as in the case of small Fe2+ model complexes (25) , HH is found to be the functional that performs better, yielding a fair agreement with the DMC gaps.
Importantly our analysis demonstrates that the assessment of the performances of a given DFT functional can be completely erroneous, if one insists on comparing the total energies calculated for the gas phase directly to experiments. If this was done with our DFT data, we would have concluded, as other authors did (23); (24) , that B3LYP* was the best functional. Our analysis instead demonstrates that the correct assignment needs to be done against a reliable benchmark, with the result that the best suited functional must carry a fraction of exact exchange near to 50%.
In conclusion, we have shown that for a typical SC molecule in the gas-phase the ground state is high spin and discussed how the this becomes singlet in the condensed phase. We have also assessed the performaces of DFT against this problem, demonstrating that the HH hybrid functional, including 50% of exact exchange, is able to provide a quite accurate estimate of the energetic of the molecule. Our results then finally shed light on the long-standing issue of establishing the ground state of SC complexes.
acknowledgments: We thank N. Baadji for useful discussions. This work is sponsored by EU (Hints project). Computational resources have been provided by TCHPC and ICHEC.
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SC molecules incorporating Fe3+, Co2+ and Mn3+ have also been reported. However these are much less common then those containing Fe2+ ions.
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Every year Pastel Journal Magazine publishes the winners of the Top 100 Pastel Competition, and it is always such a thrill to have one of your paintings selected, recognized, and published. This year, my pastel, Winter’s Glow won an Honorable Mention (by judge Doug Dawson) in the landscape category (April ’15 issue).
This painting, done during Atlanta’s big snowstorm, is a scene from my backyard.
Here are the progression photos, painted on Kitty Wallis Belgium Mist sanded paper.
Starting my underpainting with some warm tones.
I am working from a printed reference photo, my notan or value study, and my iPad (not shown) just to my left.
Painted over everything with alcohol to set it. Lost much of the vibrant color but no worries, will add it back.
adding color, just a very light coat
establishing value range
It was the background sky that originally drew me to the scene. My intention was to play that up and show the interplay of the warmth of the sunlight against the coolness of the winter snow. Intentionally, I’m keeping everything else fairly simple to draw your eyes through the scene using the creek and shadow patterns to lead your eye up to the lit sky. | https://nancynowak.com/2015/03/29/winters-glow/ |
Voluntary collective agreements among fishermen can improve the environmental and economic performance of a fishery, particularly when local leadership, strong incentives, catch accountability, and operational support are in place. Rights-based fisheries, such as Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) systems, incentivize fishermen to act collectively to reduce fishing impacts, enhance stock health, and improve economic outcomes. However, developing cooperatives requires durable contracts, operational capacity, funding, and the ability to track, monitor, and enforce agreed-upon catches and fishing practices. This project focuses on the U.S. West Coast groundfish trawl IFQ fishery, and how the formation of a voluntary collective agreement, in the form of a bycatch risk pool (California Groundfish Collective), achieved improved fishery performance and other ancillary benefits. Up-front investment in the risk pool by a conservation non-governmental organization (NGO) provided both capacity and quota to cover transaction costs and incentivize transition to a cooperative model that was implemented across 5 ports and more than 48,000 km(2) of fishing grounds off California. The challenges encountered in developing and operating the risk pool offer insights into designing and implementing voluntary collective agreements. By using spatial fishing plans and technology for collecting and sharing catch information, risk pool members reduced bycatch of overfished species relative to the fleet at large. Risk pool members were also able to use their spatial fishing data to inform a seafood sustainability rating and propose areas for Essential Fish Habitat protection, their quota pounds to support collaborative research on overfished species, and their collective membership to advocate for policy. | https://scripps.ucsd.edu/biblio/reducing-bycatch-through-risk-pool-case-study-us-west-coast-groundfish-fishery |
Sneaker Saga: Georgetown Store Investigated by I-Team Ordered to Shut Down for Stiffing Sellers
The items sold, he said, but more than a year later, Vlad is still waiting to get paid. Sneaker Culture Facts Sneakers that have made their mark on the athletic footwear industry. Credit: Anisa Holmes ...
Article Tags:
sneaker, georgetown, store, investigated, ordered, stiffing, sellers, | http://www.sneakers-news.com/news/141330/sneaker-saga-georgetown-store-investigated-by-i-team-ordered-to-shut-down-for-stiffing-sellers |
Who is Kyra Sedgwick? She is an American actress and producer whose starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer series won her Golden Globe and Emmy Awards, while she has also starred in multiple successful films and TV series. She was born on Thursday August 19th 1965, in New York City, New York, United States.
Kyra Sedgwick possesses a great talent for creativity and self expression, typical of many accomplished writers, poets, actors and musicians. She is also witty, owns the gift for gab, and savors the limelight.
Sedgwick is optimistic and masters the resilience to overcome many setbacks. Thanks to her gift for self expression, she can be the life of the party, and the center of attention. When used constructively, Kyra's talent for self expression can be a great inspiration force in the world, uplifting others, and bringing much success and happiness to her. However, Kyra Sedgwick could easily squander her talent by becoming a social butterfly.
Her talent for the expressive arts is so abundant that Kyra may well have felt drawn to becoming an artist while still very young. However, these artistic abilities can only be enhanced through discipline and commitment to the true development of her talent. In other words, creativity is the gift that can give Kyra Sedgwick the comfort and luxury she desires, but not without continual focus and discipline.
Kyra Sedgwick is emotional and vulnerable. She can be generous to a fault, but when hurt, she withdraws into a cloud of silence, eventually emerging from her reticence with jokes and laughter that cover up her true feelings. More...
More flavors to Kyra's personality
Entrepreneurial and progressive, Kyra Sedgwick is ever-striving, heading for the top, and enjoying an enterprising, ambitious and determined personality to do things well, and an unyielding dedication to her plan until the goals are achieved.
She bounces back easily from setbacks and can overcome any adversities or obstacles thrown in her way.
There is danger, however that her trait of determination and dedication will shift to stubbornness, making Kyra cling to ideas and projects well past their fruitious season. It is a good idea for her to keep fresh pipeline of ideas to make it easier to replace outdated plans by new and better ones.
Patient as she is towards her goals, Kyra's flying, ravaging temper endangers her relationships with the very same people that will help her to accomplish those goals. She should use her strength of will to study and practice anger management.
Tour Kyra's menu and gain more insight into her personality traits, relationships, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, compatibility with you and with others, and much more.
We invite you to create your own free personality profile, in private and for your eyes only!.
December 5th 2021 presents Kyra Sedgwick with a possibility for major opportunity, along with the right energies to make it come true - strength, capability, and persistence.
Kyra should rely on what she knows, and not take someone else's word for it.
Today, Sedgwick needs to focus on work and planning, and avoid possible emotional Confrontations. | https://www.celebrities-galore.com/celebrities/kyra-sedgwick/home/ |
How does tourism help balance of payment?
International tourism directly affects the balance of payments as an invisible export entry. … Most developing countries, including Turkey, are exposed to crucial balance of payments and foreign trade deficits. At this point, tourism has a favourable effect in closing the gap in foreign trade and the balance of payments.
What is tourism deficit?
Tourism deficit refers to the ▶ travel balance situation in which expenditures arising from travels of residents abroad exceed the ▶ interna- tional tourism receipts from foreign tourists. In economic terms, international tourism receipts are classified as exports and international tourism expenditure as imports.
What is tourism in simple words?
Tourism means people traveling for fun. It includes activities such as sightseeing and camping. People who travel for fun are called “tourists”. Places where many tourists stay are called “resorts”. … Some people travel to do an activity which they cannot do at home.
What are 3 types of tourism?
Forms of tourism: There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.
What is balance and payment?
The balance of payments (BOP) is an accounting of a country’s international transactions for a particular time period. Any transaction that causes money to flow into a country is a credit to its BOP account, and any transaction that causes money to flow out is a debit.
What is balance of payment in financial management?
Balance Of Payment (BOP) is a statement which records all the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the world during any given period. … This means, all the transactions will have a debit entry and a corresponding credit entry.
What is the meaning of a surplus on the current account balance?
Key Takeaways. Current account surpluses refer to positive current account balances, meaning that a country has more exports than imports of goods and services.
What is deficit spending?
A deficit spending unit describes how an economy or economic unit within an economy has spent more than it has earned over a given measurement period. The opposite of a deficit spending unit is a surplus spending unit, which leaves money for the company to redistribute.
What is tourism definition and explanation?
Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year (12 months) for leisure, business or other purposes.
What is tourism definition PDF?
26) defined tourism as: A human intentional activity that serves as a mean of communication. and as a link of interaction. between the peoples, inside a country or. even beyond its geographical demarcations.
What is called tourism industry?
In its broadest sense, the tourism industry is the total of all businesses that directly provide goods or services to facilitate business, pleasure and leisure activities away from the home environment.
What are the 4 main types of tourism?
4 Most Important Types of Tourism
- Domestic Tourism: It is also known as internal as well as national tourism. …
- International Tourism: Today, tourism has been recognised as an industry worldwide. …
- Intra-Regional and Inter-Regional Tourism: …
- Mass Tourism:
What are 5 types of tourism?
Types of tourism:
- Recreational tourism: Tourism is an often activity for recreational purpose. …
- Environmental tourism: …
- Historical tourism: …
- Ethnic tourism: …
- Cultural tourism: …
- Adventure tourism: …
- Health tourism: …
- Religious tourism: | https://booking-accommodation.com/excursionist/what-is-meant-by-tourism-balance.html |
3 Tips to Crush Your New Year's Resolutions
There are very strong opinions for and against New Year’s resolutions. Some people hate the entire enterprise while others make resolutions every year, whether they succeed in achieving them or not. One thing is certain is that there is a very genuine attitude towards New Year’s resolutions. People are VERY excited to make a change. I think it’s a rude thing to do for people to shoot down people’s hopes at achieving their resolutions even if the overwhelming consensus is that most people don’t achieve the resolutions they set at the beginning of the year. I think people are very enthusiastic about wanting to make a change and crush their goals, but do not have the right system or approach to be successful in their endeavors.
Here are three tips that, in my opinion, will have a HUGE impact on whether or not you succeed in achieving your New Year’s resolutions.
1.) Start Small
The biggest reason people fail in achieving any type of goal is because they simply start too big. People get outcome focused and not approach focused. Meaning, they focus on the goal and not the path that is going to help them achieve that goal. If you haven’t gone to the gym in the past 10 years, it makes no sense to hold yourself accountable to all of the sudden going to the gym every day. Instead, try to go the gym once a week to start out. Or, just drive to the gym without making yourself even go in. Or, if you struggle making time for the gym, set your alarm an hour earlier and just wake up. Even if you don’t do anything when you wake up, at least you are starting to create a habit that will lead you in the direction of going to the gym. It is important to not get lost in the overall goal and get more focused on creating habits that will add to future success.
2.) Don’t Miss Twice
Okay, so I have sort of stole these first two from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, so go by his book if you want a deeper dive into habit formation. We are all human, which means we are inevitably going to screw up at some point in the process. The best thing to do when you miss a workout or fail to eat the right thing is to get right back on the path. Give yourself some grace and don’t let yourself fail at the next opportunity. Not letting yourself miss twice is a way of giving yourself some empathy for missing while also holding yourself accountable to get back on track at the next opportunity.
3.) Track Your Progress, or Un-progress
You will simply fail at what you don’t write down. Your brain is processing too much at any given time for a person to be able to track and keep everything sorted out in their own head. Tracking everything and writing everything down is a way to keep your goals in front of you. If you don’t do this, it is easy to get off track and unmotivated. Keeping a journal, a daily log, etc. will help you stay focused and committed to your goals. It is important to do this even if you are feeling a bit defeated. You may find that simply journaling and writing things out when you are failing will give you the motivation you need to get back on track. A lot of times are own minds are what get in the way of achieving our goals. Writing things out will help us declutter our minds and get us focused on what’s most important.
New Year’s resolutions can be hard to achieve because we like to pick big goals that we haven’t really spent the last portion of our life working towards. We want to make a change in that direction, but we haven’t yet built up good systems and habits to get us there. As the new year approaches set some reasonable goals, but don’t necessarily hold yourself accountable to the goal. Hold yourself accountable to the small, daily, actionable steps that are going to start creating the life you want to live. | https://www.liftlabco.com/post/3-tips-to-crush-your-new-year-s-resolutions |
New report from the Bridge Group in collaboration with eight global law firms seeks to set in motion informed change. Nicholas Miller, Chief Executive – Bridge Group.
The research includes the analysis of data relating to over 2,800 early career professionals and interviews with current and former employees from eight leading UK law firms: Allen & Overy, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Clifford Chance, Dentons, Hogan Lovells, Holman Fenwick Willan, Linklaters and Pinsent Masons. The report provides a compelling evidence base to drive a shift in mindset, and to boost firms’ efforts to increase socio-economic diversity and inclusion in the legal sector.
Key findings include: While there have been encouraging efforts to achieve increased diversity amongst entry hires in the legal profession, much less attention has been paid to how trainees may progress differentially by socio-economic background. To date, the focus has been primarily on who gets in, rather than who stays on, who gets ahead, and how.
The population of trainees and associates across the eight participating firms is deeply unrepresentative of the eligible candidate pool: for example, 46% of early career solicitors at the participating firms attended independent school (compared to ~18% of school pupils nationally at Sixth Form study level).
Those from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to be the highest performers in their firms, compared to their more advantaged peers. Amongst state school trainees, for example, 14% receive the highest review ratings compared to 8% of independently schooled trainees; similarly 14% of first generation university trainees receive high performance review ratings compared to 10% of their non-first generation university peers.
Despite this, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds appear on average less likely to progress in their early career, and those who attended state school are less likely to be retained compared to their peers from higher socio-economic backgrounds.
While many drivers of diversity such as access to higher education and unequal progress are societal, the report shows there are significant factors within leading law firms that contribute to unequal progression across different socio-economic backgrounds. This is primarily rooted in the way firms define talent, dominant cultures that make it easier for solicitors from higher socio-economic backgrounds to progress, client perceptions and mechanisms associated with how experience is gained and work allocated.
The study recommends actions law firms can take to reduce the effects of socio-economic-background on retention by actively engaging key audiences within the firm, and articulating more clearly the drivers and actions associated with diversity and inclusion at all levels.
Longer term recommendations include challenging perceptions across the sector that the legal profession is better suited to those from more privileged backgrounds, introducing greater transparency relating to decisions about progression, promotion and work allocation, and developing a strong narrative which clarifies how diversity targets will be set and managed. | https://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/law/attract-socio-economic-backgrounds-law/ |
The famous Hobbiton from The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films can be found on private property in Matamata New Zealand. You can’t just wander in and take a look, and you won’t see much from the main road, but for $75 per adult you can take a tour.
Alexander farm was discovered in an aerial search of farmland by Peter Jackson and his crew when they went looking for a site for Hobbiton for scenes in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It’s man-made lake, landscape and round tree (a perfect representation of the Party Tree) confirmed it as the setting.
The original set was constructed out of temporary materials and taken away when filming was completed. It was rebuilt in 2009 out of permanent materials for the filming of The Hobbit Trilogy and has been maintained as a tourist attraction since.
Most of the Hobbit holes are not deep enough to go inside but one is open to stand in and take photos. I loved how the occupation of each Hobbit is reflected in what’s outside their door – for example cheese, fish, woodwork or flowers.
Our tour bus was packed but in winter it’s likely to be quieter. I’m not a huge fan of the films but it was a very cool place to visit. Then tour concludes with a complementary drink at The Green Dragon Inn which is certainly one of the highlights. | https://sarahseestheworld.com/hobbiton/ |
Event information will be updated.
Event information will be updated.
Annual Discipline Conference - 2020. Information about the event and registration will be updated.
Information about the event and event registration will be updated soon.
We will present studies addressing influence operations in the Far East, geo-targeting in elections, deep fake technology, and the results from our experiment evaluating the efforts of social media platforms to tackle online disinformation. This event will conclude with an outlook on which regulations are needed in the digital space.
At this event we will focus on the latest trends in digital communication and will give an opportunity to bring back home a few new tricks that will improve your communication efforts. We know that more and more people are going online from their phones - what does it mean for communicators? We will look at the campaign measurement techniques and target audiences, as well as focus on the important aspect of audience insights and listening tools - how to get and analyse the data.
The Seminar will discuss the changing role of social media and the effect it has on the communication process:
1. Innovations in online information environment analysis.
2. Instant messaging apps: exploiting direct communication to spread disinformation.
3. Social media and elections: exploiting the online environment to influence election processes.
During this event we will present a series of studies, with a focus on new and existing social media vulnerabilities, repeatedly exploited by hostile actors. Please note that this event will take place in Washington, DC.
Club de Madrid discussion, “Global Governance for Information Integrity” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.
Information Integrity and the Future of Democracy – Overview of Trends and Challenges
- Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President, World Leadership Alliance – Club de Madrid
- Solveiga Silkalna, acting State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Introduction to the challenges of information integrity:
- Information integrity, truth and democracy: setting the stage – Stijn Hoorens, Associate Director, RAND Europe
Speakers:
- Challenges to information integrity: new ... | https://www.stratcomcoe.org/events |
Ruzhinska L.I.
The Cooling Process of the Polymeric Film on the Drum Partially Submerged in the Water Bath
In this paper, we develop the design procedure of the polymeric film cooling on the cooled drum partially submerged in a water bath. The process specificity of the process lies in the fact that after the films removal from a drum its surface hasn’t time to cool down to its initial temperature. We propose the mathematical model of cooling which allows calculating the film temperature field and the drum shell ring on their thickness depending on the angular coordinates cylindrical.
Mathematical Model of Pervaporation Separation of Binary Solutions
The paper develops the mathematical model of pervaporation of the organic component through a non-porous polymer membrane in the round crossing. We also present a system of equations describing the process of pervaporation separation of binary solutions.
The modeling research of thermoplastic materials processing using secondary raw material
This study provides important insights into the processing of secondary filled thermoplastic materials into sheet materials on the extrusion-roll equipment. The experimental results of the measurements of power and power force parameters of production, calibration and cooling of the sheet materials conform to the theoretical data gained. In this paper, we also give some recommendations on how to carry out the process of production of cellulose secondary polyolefines.
Calculation techniques of plastic and rubber mills continuous action
In this paper, we describe the technique of parametrical and thermal calculation of the mills continuous action for processing materials based on high-molecular substances. The technique can be applied for the analysis of continuous milling of power-law liquid under the condition of any friction in the inter-roll gap, as well as for deposition of the processed material on the front (slow-speed) and back (high-speed) rolls.
The model of anaerobic waste water treatment in a digester with the sheet inert supports of immobilized microflora
We address the issues of mathematical modeling of the process of wastewater treatment in an anaerobic biofilm digester with immobile carriers. We also consider the corpus of the previous research and point out the promising areas for further research. Taking into account the principal hydrodynamic, masstransfer, biological and biochemical factors, we propose the mathematical model of this process. | http://old.bulletin.kpi.ua/en/taxonomy/term/823 |
Pennsylvania may have regained its status as the fifth-largest state in the nation, but its small population gains are unlikely to prevent the loss of another congressional seat after the 2020 Census, an analysis of new population data shows.
The projection that Pennsylvania will drop from the current 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to 17 is on pace with other recent forecasts showing northeastern states losing congressional seats to states in the country’s southern and western regions that are growing more quickly.
A report this week from Virginia-based Election Data Services projects Ohio, New York, West Virginia, and Rhode Island to be among states that will see their congressional delegations shrink after the 2020 election, while Texas, Florida, Arizona and Colorado would add seats. The estimates are based on new Census Bureau population estimates for 2017.
The shift would continue a pattern in Pennsylvania that stretches to the 1930s, when the state’s congressional delegation began to dwindle from a high of 36 legislators. Since then, Pennsylvania has lost at least one seat each decade, and sometimes multiple seats.
The Constitution requires the 365 House seats be reallocated among states according to the results of each Census, which occurs every 10 years. Based on the population growth since the last Census, Pennsylvania is projected to gain 65,000 people by the 2020 tally.
That would put the state’s total population at nearly 12.9 million people. But other states are adding people more quickly than Pennsylvania, putting it at a disadvantage as the seats are distributed.
The loss of one seat may not make a dramatic difference in the state’s clout in Congress or the presidential race, in which a state’s total number of House and Senate seats determine how many electoral votes it gives to the presidential victor on its ballot.
But having more lawmakers in Congress can increase the odds that a state has representation in key legislative posts that influence which bills are on the agenda and how they’re drafted, said G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.
“It’s not always about sheer numbers, but the more [lawmakers] a state has, the more likely you’ll have chairmanships and individuals who may end up in a leadership role,” Madonna said. “If you can get united, a big delegation can mean you have a lot more negotiating and trading you can do.”
Perhaps more critical than the number of district boundaries is the process for how they are drawn, and by whom. Pennsylvania’s congressional districts are drawn by state legislators and approved by the governor.
The state’s 2011 congressional boundaries are the subject of several current lawsuits, alleging the boundaries unfairly favor Republicans. Madonna said even if the courts find Pennsylvania’s districts show signs of gerrymandering, he does not expect the courts to be overly specific in telling state officials how they must draw future congressional maps.
Republicans are likely to still control both chambers in Harrisburg when the next lines are drawn in 2021. But the governor could veto a congressional map, and that office is up for grabs next year for a term lasting through 2022.
Who wins congressional races next year and in 2020 could affect which district disappears. A district with an incumbent who’s unlikely to run again often makes a natural target for the map-makers.
The projections on each state’s congressional district still could change before the 2020 Census, cautioned Kim Brace, president of Election Data Services, noting events such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 recession affected previous population growth patterns. Future changes in the counting process and reduced federal financial support also could affect the Census and decisions based on its tallies.
“The change in administration and the lack of a Census director could have a profound impact on how well the 2020 Census is conducted, and therefore the counts that are available for apportionment,” Brace said in a statement. | https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/capitol-ideas/mc-nws-pennsylvania-losing-lawmaker-census-20171222-story.html |
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