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We’re used to being connected all the time. Yet, we’re uncomfortable with conversation – at least conversation that isn’t aided by technology; conversation that is open-ended and spontaneous. And it’s hurting our ability to empathize, cautions MIT Professor Sherry Turkle.
“Conversation is the most human and humanizing thing we do,” wrote Turkle in “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk,” an adaptation from her just-published book, “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age” (Penguin Press). Featured in Sunday’s New York Times, it was last week’s most-read article and has since gone viral.
Clearly, it’s a poignant topic that hits home for many of us. But the message isn’t simply to put down our phones. We need to put them away – when we’re at home, at school, in the car, at the ballpark, at the office. Studies of conversation in the laboratory and natural settings show that when two people are talking, the mere presence of a phone on the table between them or in the periphery of their vision changes both what they talk about and the degree of connection they feel. Even a silent phone disconnects us.
As highly regarded novelist and essayist Jonathan Franzen commented in his review of “Reclaiming Conversation,” Turkle’s book is “a call to arms: Our rapturous submission to digital technology has led to an atrophying of human capacities like empathy and self-reflection, and the time has come to reassert ourselves, behave like adults and put technology in its place.”
If we’re unable to do so – if we continue to sacrifice self-reflection and our ability to relate to others – we’ll continue to consume others in bits and pieces, “our relationships stamped with the assumption of divided attention,” explains Turkle, who has studied the psychology of online connectivity for more than 30 years; for the past five, she’s focused on what happens to face-to-face conversation in a world where so many of us say we’d rather text than talk.
According to a Washington Post review, “Turkle uses our experiences to shame us, showing how, phones in hand, we turn away from our children, friends and co-workers, even from ourselves.” But she also gives us the tools – and motivation – to reclaim conversation.
“It’s not about giving up our phones… [they] are facts of life and part of our creatives lives,” clarifies Turkle, who is not at all a Luddite. It’s “about using them with greater intention.”
You might also be interested in Turkle’s Q&A on “The Lost Art of Conversation,” as well as her recent appearance on “Good Morning America” during its “Learning to Let Go of Tech Gadgets” segment. | https://sternspeakers.com/news/sherry-turkle-isnt-anti-technology-shes-pro-conversation/ |
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Magnetic Circuit
Q- Find the current necessary to stablish a flux of ø = 3*10-4 Wb in the series magnetic circuit (shown in figure) consist of two parts of cast iron and steel cores. Length of each core is l = 0.3 m and the area of cross-section is A = 5*10-4 m2. Relative permittivity of cast iron is 5000 and that …
Vectors: Force
Sound Waves: Beats
Heat: Gas Laws
Ray Optics: Refraction
Q- The drawing shows a glass slab (n = 1.4) with a rectangular cross section. A ray of light strikes the slab at an incident angle of θ1 = 45°, enters the slab, and travels to point P. This slab is surrounded by a fluid with a refractive index n. What is the maximum value of n such that total int…
Electric Potential
Q- Ohmic heating raises the temperature of a tungsten filament to the point that electrons begin to "boil" off. A high voltage power supply establishes an accelerating potential difference of 900 V between the filament and a circular metal disk located 2.0cm away. The disk diameter is 1.0cm. Assumin…
Newton's Laws Of Motion
Q- A body (weight 3000N) is supported by a bracket through a vertical cable. The bracket is composed of a horizontal bar and an inclined bar, both are rigidly fastened to the wall. Neglecting the weight of the bars and the cable, determine the magnitude of the reaction R1 exerted by the lower fixtur…
Current Electricity: Superposition Method
Rotation: Rotor and Shaft
Q- A mirror is to be meant to oscillate at 10 cycles per minute and turns 30 degrees either side of the center line. The radius of the rotor is r and the length of the shaft L (considerably large). At what distance d from the center of the mirror the shaft is to be pinned and what is the distance of…
Heat: Vapor pressure
Poynting Vector: E and B Fields In EM Waves
Q- A radio transmitter on the Earth’s surface radiates a sinusoidal wave with an average total power of 50 kW. Assuming that the transmitter radiates equally in all directions above the ground calculate the amplitudes Emax and Bmax detected by a satellite positioned 100 km from the transmitter.
Gravitation
Center Of Mass
Q- Three particles, each with a mass of 0.25 kg, are located at ( - 4.0 m, 0), (2.0 m, 0), and (0, 3.0 m) and are acted on by forces F1 = 3 N along negative y-direction, F2 = 5 N along positive y-direction and F3 = 4 N along x direction respectively. Find position of center of mass of the system a…
DC Circuit With Capacitor and Inductor
Radioactivity
Fluids: Hydrodynamics
Q- A container full of air at atmospheric pressure is 3 feet below the surface in a large body of water; this container is 8 feet high by 3 feet square. A 16-inch ID valve is on the bottom of the container and a 2-inch valve is on the top. A 2-inch ID hose connects to this valve and extends 1 foot a…
Head-on Collision
Q- A 1000 kg car traveling east at 25 mph gets rear-ended hit by a truck weighing 1500 kg also moving east. After collision the vehicles lock bumpers and continue moving east at 40 mph. | http://physicshelpline.net/entries?page=1 |
The term apoptosis first appeared in the biomedical literature to delineate a structurally distinctive mode of cell death. The cardinal morphological features are cell shrinkage, accompanied by bubbling and blebbing from the surface, and culminating in separation of the cell into a cluster of membrane-bounded bodies. Organellar structure is usually preserved intact, but the nucleus undergoes a characteristic condensation of chromatin, initiated at sublamellar foci and often extending to generate toroidal or caplike, densely heterochromatic regions. Changes in several cell surface molecules also ensure that, in tissues, apoptotic cells are immediately recognized and phagocytosed by their neighbors. The result is that many cells can be deleted from tissues in a relatively short time with little to show for it in conventional microscopic sections.
This process is responsible for cell death in development, normal tissue turnover, atrophy induced by endocrine and other stimuli, negative selection in the immune system, and a substantial proportion of T-cell killing. It also accounts for many cell deaths following exposure to cytotoxic compounds, hypoxia or viral infection. It is a major factor in the cell kinetics of tumors, both growing and regressing. Many cancer therapeutic agents exert their effects through initiation of apoptosis, and even the process of carcinogenesis itself seems sometimes to depend upon a selective, critical failure of apoptosis that permits the survival of cells after mutagenic DNA damage. Apoptosis probably contributes to many chronic degenerative processes, including Alzheimer""s disease, Parkinson""s disease and heart failure.
Programmed cell death serves as a major mechanism for the precise regulation of cell numbers and as a defense mechanism to remove unwanted and potentially dangerous cells. Despite the heterogeneity of cell death induction pathways, the execution of the death program is often associated with characteristic morphological and biochemical changes, and this form of programmed cell death has been termed apoptosis. Key elements of the apoptotic pathway include:
Death receptors: Apoptosis has been found to be induced via the stimulation of several different cell surface receptors in association with caspase activation. For example, the CD95 (APO-1, Fas) receptor ligand system is a critical mediator of several physiological and pathophysiological processes, including homeostasis of the peripheral lymphoid compartment and CTL-mediated target cell killing. Upon cross-linking by ligand or agonist antibody, the Fas receptor initiates a signal transduction cascade which leads to caspase-dependent programmed cell death.
Membrane alterations: In the early stages of apoptosis, changes occur at the cell surface and plasma membrane. One of these plasma membrane alterations is the translocation of phosphatidylserine (PS) from the inner side of the plasma membrane to the outer layer, by which PS becomes exposed at the external surface of the cell.
Protease cascade: Signals leading to the activation of a family of intracellular cysteine proteases, the caspases, (Cysteinyl-aspartate-specific proteinases) play a pivotal role in the initiation and execution of apoptosis induced by various stimuli. At least 11 different members of caspases in mammalian cells have been identified. Among the best-characterized caspases is caspase-1 or ICE (Interleukin-1b-Converting Enzyme), which was originally identified as a cysteine protease responsible for processing of interleukin
Mitochondrial changes: Mitochondrial physiology is disrupted in cells undergoing either apoptosis or necrosis. During apoptosis mitochondrial permeability is altered and apoptosis specific protease activators are released from mitochondria. Specifically, the discontinuity of the outer mitochondrial membrane results in the redistribution of cytochrome C to the cytosol followed by subsequent depolarization of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Cytochrome C (Apaf-2) release further promotes caspase activation by binding to Apaf-1 and therefore activating Apaf-3 (caspase 9). AIF (apoptosis inducing factor), released in the cytoplasm, has proteolytic activity and is by itself sufficient to induce apoptosis.
DNA fragmentation: The biochemical hallmark of apoptosis is the fragmentation of the genomic DNA, an irreversible event that commits the cell to die and occurs before changes in plasma membrane permeability (prelytic DNA fragmentation). In many systems, this DNA fragmentation has been shown to result from activation of an endogenous Ca2+ and Mg2+-dependent nuclear endonuclease. This enzyme selectively cleaves DNA at sites located between nucleosomal units (linker DNA) generating mono- and oligonucleosomal DNA fragments.
Genetic studies in Caenorhabditis elegans had led to the identification of cell death genes (ced). The genes ced-3 and ced-4 are essential for cell death; ced-9 antagonizes the activities of ced-3 and ced-4, and thereby protects cells that should survive from any accidental activation of the death program. Caspases (cysteine aspartases) are the mammalian homologues of CED-3. CED-9 protein is homologous to a family of many members termed the Bcl-2 family (Bcl-2s) in reference to the first discovered mammalian cell death regulator. In both worm and mammalian cells, the anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family act upstream of the execution caspases somehow preventing their proteolytic processing into active killers.
Caspases appear to be present in most if not all cells in inactive proenzyme form, awaiting activation by cleavage. One of the killing mechanisms of cytotoxic T cells is a protease, granzyme B, that is delivered to the target cell by the T cell granules and triggers these latent proenzymes. There are endogenous triggers also, and the first to be discoveredxe2x80x94the C. elegans CED4 protein and its mammalian homologuexe2x80x94is particularly intriguing because of its mitochondrial origin. Thus CED4 could be the signal that initiates apoptosis under conditions of shutdown of cellular energy metabolism, or when there is a critical level of cell injury affecting mitochondrial respiration. In this way CED4 may act as the link between agents long known to be associated with mitochondrial injury, such as calcium and reactive oxygen species, and the initiation of apoptosis.
A second mitochondrial protein of enormous significance in apoptosis is BCL2, a mammalian homologue of the nematode CED9 protein. BCL2 has the tertiary structure of a bacterial pore-forming protein, and inserts into the outer membrane of mitochondria. Two main mechanisms of action have been proposed to connect Bcl-2s to caspases. In the first one, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2s would maintain cell survival by dragging caspases to intracellular membranes (probably the mitochondrial membrane) and by preventing their activation. The recently described mammalian protein Apaf-1 (apoptosis protease-activating factor 1) could be the mammalian equivalent of CED-4 and could be the physical link between Bcl-2s and caspases. In the second one, Bcl-2 would act by regulating the release from mitochondria of some caspases activators: cytochrome c and/or AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor). This crucial position of mitochondria in programmed cell death control is reinforced by the observation that mitochondria contribute to apoptosis signaling via the production of reactive oxygen species. Although for a long time the absence of mitochondrial changes was considered as a hallmark of apoptosis, mitochondria appear today as the central executioner of programmed cell death.
There are other sources of death transducers, e.g., which activate the caspase cascade because of injury to or signals arising in other parts of the cell than mitochondria. For instance, the onco-suppressor protein p53 is activated following some types of DNA damage and can trigger apoptosis. One wayxe2x80x94but only one of severalxe2x80x94whereby this happens is through transcriptional activation of BAX7. The second messenger ceramide, a product of membrane-linked acid sphingomyelinase activation, may act as a signal for plasma membrane damage. And a powerful caspase-activating system is mediated by cytokine receptors of the tumor necrosis factor family, notably fas/apo1/CD95, TNF receptor I, and others. These receptors, on receiving a death stimulus from binding their ligand, initiate a series of protein-protein interactions, building a complex (the death initiating signaling complex or DISC) which eventually recruits and activates caspase.
Apoptosis plays an important role in the homeostasis and development of all tissues within an organism. In contrast to necrosis (cell death by accident), apoptosis is a well regulated physiological process. Any disturbance of the balance between cell proliferation and cell death maintained by apoptosis can result in serious disease, in particular cancer.
There is a need in the art for methods for the identification and analysis of compounds and biological factors which modulate apoptosis, such as those which can increase the rate of apoptosis, as well as compounds and biological factors which interfere with the induction of apoptosis, e.g., in Th cells.
Here, we report that TID1 encodes two mitochondrial matrix localized splice variants of 43 and 40 kDa, which we have named hTid-1L and hTid-1S, respectively. Both hTid-1L and hTid-1S retain their respective J domains and coimmunoprecipitate with mitochondrial Hsp70(mtHsp70). Expression of these proteins does not induce apoptosis, but surprisingly, expression of each of the two splice variants has opposing effects on a cell""s ability to respond to an exogenous apoptotic stimulus. hTid-1L expression increases apoptosis triggered by both tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and the DNA-damaging agent mitomycin c (MMC). A J domain mutant of hTid-1L is able to suppress apoptosis to levels well below control cells. In sharp contrast, hTid-1S is able to suppress apoptosis, and a J domain mutant of hTid-1S increases apoptosis. Expression of hTid-1L and hTid-1S affect cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and caspase 3 activation, both of which are downstream of the mitochondria in TNF signaling. However, hTid-1L and hTid-1S do not affect the rate of caspase 8 activation, which is upstream of the mitochondria. Hence, hTid-1L and hTid-1S are two mitochondrial matrix-localized proteins that can regulate apoptotic signal transduction and may comprise a mechanism by which the mitochondria amplify or dampen apoptotic signals.
We have found that mTid-1S, the murine homolog of the anti-apoptotic human TID1 encoded splice variant, hTid-1S, is specifically upregulated in Th2 cells upon activation induced with either anti-CD3xcex5 antibodies, or with PMA/ionomycin treatment. No upregulation is observed in Th1 cells upon activation. When a dominant negative mutant of hTid-1S is introduced into Th2 cells, these cells grow normally, but lose much of their resistance to AICD, and exhibit dramatically increased caspase 3 activity in response to anti-CD3xcex5 stimulation. Thus, activation-induced accumulation of hTid-1S contributes to resistance to AICD of Th2 cells.
Accordingly, in certain embodiment, the present invention specifically contemplates the use of agents which alter the ratio of Tid-1L to Tid-1S and/or selectively inhibit the activity of one of the splicing isoforms in order to sensitize or desensitize a cell to an apoptotic signal. For instance, compounds which inhibit the formation or activity of the Tid-1L form may be useful in desensitizing cells to apoptotic signals. Such agents may be useful in promoting the survival of tissue subject to degeneration, e.g., such agents may be protective against neurodegenerative disorders. Conversely, agents which selectively inhibit formation or activity of the Tid-1S form may be useful in sensitizing cells to apoptotic signals. Such agents may be useful in conjunction with chemotherapeutics or to enhance the body""s own ability to kill, e.g., virally infected cells or cancer cells.
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What does a meteorologist do?
Meteorologists (also called atmospheric scientists) study the physical characteristics, processes, and motions of the world’s atmosphere. They study the ways these factors affect the rest of the world’s environment. Meteorologists forecast the weather and strive to recognize and understand trends in climate. They also try to understand past weather patterns and they examine the weather of today. Meteorological research and information on the weather are useful in agriculture, control of air pollution, air and sea transportation, forestry, defense, and the study of likely trends in the climate of the Earth such as ozone depletion, droughts, and global warming.
There are different types of meteorologists such as operational, physical, synoptic, and environmental meteorologists, and Climatologists. Operational meteorologists forecast the weather and are the biggest group of specialists. Physical meteorologists work in research. Synoptic meteorologists use complicated mathematical models of atmospheric activity and computers to create new tools for forecasting the weather. Environmental meteorologists study environmental problems and often assess and report quality of air. Climatologists study the variations in climate that has occurred over time.
What kind of training does a meteorologist need?
Meteorologists typically need a bachelor degree in meteorology or atmospheric science or other closely related field with supporting credits in meteorology. For some higher-level positions a master degree is required and for most basic research positions, a doctorate degree is necessary. In some cases a combination of education and sufficient experience may be substituted for a degree. It is also important to have a strong computer science, physics, and mathematics background in addition to completing meteorology classes.
What are the prospects for a career in meteorology?
Employment for meteorologists is projected to increase approximately as fast as average for all professions, increasing 11% from 2006 10 2016 (1).
The demand of meteorologists will be driven by the need for analyzing and monitoring of air pollutants and efforts to improving worldwide weather observations. Job opportunities will be the best in private industries.
Job prospects are expected to be favorable especially as people retire or leave the field for other reasons.
How much do meteorologists make?
As on July 2009, the middle 50% of meteorologists earned annual salaries between $70,422 and $108,935. The highest 10% earned more than $127,493 (2).
A career as a meteorologist is an excellent choice for individuals who have a genuine interest in the atmosphere and weather patterns. Meteorologists must have great communication skills and be able to work in a variety of environments. They must have flexible schedules and be able to work long hours. Being able to work effectively independently as well as part of a team is also essential. | https://www.degreefinders.com/education-article/how-to-become-a-meteorologist/ |
A 23-year-old white man presented to the emergency department with nonradiating epigastric abdominal pain accompanied by nausea and vomiting for 2 to 3 days.
inflammatory bowel disease
In this podcast, Parambir Dulai, MD, discusses his recent research on treating inflammatory bowel disease to achieve endoscopic remission, through the use of a treat-to-target approach using algorithmic treatment adjustments.
Case In Point
A 61-year-old man presented to a family medicine clinic with acute onset pruritus, 40-lb weight loss over the duration of 3 months, and progressively worsening lethargy and fatigue.
Diagnosis
Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) result from abnormal functioning of the GI tract rather than structural abnormalities such as tumors. Take our poll to voice your opinion about diagnosing FGIDs.
What's Your Diagnosis?
A 35-year-old woman presented to our clinic with chronic bilateral lower extremity ulcerations that had worsened over the past 2 weeks. The lesions had started as small, tender nodules that subsequently formed superficial bullae that broke down to ulcerations, which released serosanguinous fluid. | http://www.consultant360.com/specialty/consultant360/epi |
Result 1: Political leaders and decision-makers engaged directly in constructive cooperation and dialogue on issues central to Zanzibar in the 2015 election.
Activity 1.1. Forum for informal intra political party dialogue;
Activity 1.2 Conflict management, mediation, dialogue and leadership training for political party leaders;
Activity 1.3 Advisory support system in facilitating mediation, conflict management and interparty dialogue. A result of activity cluster one could be a TV aired debate where key messages are agreed on by the political parties.
Result 2: Civil society organisations with emphasis on faith-based organisations engage in dialogue facilitation and structured discussions concerning the political playing field with leaders from political parties as counter parts and eventual dialogue partners. Conflict mitigation activities are rolled out in a networked fashion creating spaces for conflict prevention.
Activity 2.1 Enhance the Joint Committee of Religious Leaders for Peace and Tranquillity in Zanzibar via strategic planning sessions;
Activity 2.2 Conflict management, mediation, dialogue and leadership training for Joint Committee members;
Activity 2.3 Community-level intra-Islamic dialogue led by the Islamic members of the Joint Committee and the Association of Imams;
Activity 2.4 As a result of the Religious Leaders Peace Building Team (drawn from the Joint Committee), community-lev meetings and the Intrafaith dialogues, a panel of Committee members will invite audience during a one-day open discussion forum that will be aired on TV. Potential participation in the 1.3 activity.
Activity 2.5 Advisory support system to the Religious Leaders Peace Building Team in facilitating interfaith meetings and intrafaith dialogue as well as media training.
Result 3: Increased capacities in conflict prevention, dialogue, and mediation in key institutions and actors with the potential for mass mobilization with particular involvement and ownership among youth wings and women’s organisations.
Activity 3.1 Conflict management, mediation, dialogue and leadership training for CSOs including youth wings and women’s organisations.
Activity 3.2 Planning sensitisation and information outreach campaign.
Activity 3.3 Mentor programme with women political leaders on conflict prevention.
Activity 3.4 Advisory support services are provided for the implementing team members of the Mobile Cinema outreach campaign, consisting of youth groups and CSO’s.
Result 4: Increased information and communication through a sensitisation and media outreach programme.
Activity 4.1 Develop a communications strategy together with and for CSO’s to disseminate information on peace initiatives.
Activity 4.2 Media-monitoring training, development of a code of conduct for journalists and media houses including their owners.
Activity 4.3 “Mobile Cinema Campaign: An African Adventure in Democracy Building”: An outreach campaign initiative developed and inspired by the award-winning film “An African Election” produced and directed by Jarreth Merz.
Activity 4.4 Establish links and forum for exchange in conflict mapping and establish an early warning mechanism, production of situation briefs.
Result 5: Establish a pool of local Conflict Management and Mediation trainers where participants are drawn from the three previous training occasions (those with most potential to tr
ain their peers during a replication scheme (cascade) covering participants drawn from all 11 districts in Zanzibar); and roll out an islands-wide training scheme, comprising eleven district offices in Zanzibar to bring new staff up to speed to ensure qualitative and homogenous knowledge and capacity base of conflict management and mediation among the central and district electoral offices as well as returning election officers.
Activity 5.1 Train the Trainer (ToT) in Leadership and Conflict Management: The training is meant to train master trainers where participants are drawn from several stakeholder groups.
Activity 5.2 Cascade Training in Leadership and Conflict Management in min 5 to max 11 (all) districts.
Result 6: Post-electoral evaluation of the performance of key stakeholders including the ZEC by regional peers, which is likely to be carried out by the regional forum ECF SADC.
Activity 6.1 Peer reviewing and post-election diagnostics exercise: In the spirit of cooperation and learning from each other, EMBs in the SADC region have developed a practice of attaching its staff to a member Commission, which is conducting an election, providing advisory services and deploying a peer review mission. In this instance sister commissions shall be supported to have their staff sent for attachment with ZEC, designate delegates to make up a Peer review and post-election diagnostic mission to Zanzibar some time after the general elections of 2015 (and possibly the Constitutional Referendum). | http://www.propel-zanzibar.eu/activity-clusters |
In short breaks off Running the Rat Race and the Work experience project, I found my stress release through improving my drawing ability. With the desire to combine two scripts I had written in second year, The Pitiful Fruit of the Maternal Banquet and The Johnson Family, into my debut diptych-narrative feature film, I felt that all of my drawing practice could be turned into a speculative project, taking a holistic approach to all aspects of design on both screenplays.
Two screenplays I wrote in my second year (Scroll Down to read PDF’s)
The idea of this project was to take a speculative approach to the pre-production, creating a ‘Pitch Package’ to present to Studio Executives / Producers for funding. The project enabled me to engage more with contemporary performance and practice, where I studied the output of TSG Entertainment and New Line Cinema studios. This project, although idealistic, enabled me to think in terms of creativity within budgetary restrictions, being resourceful and making choices about creative compromise.
STUDIO RESEARCH
I began this speculative project by researching the output of contemporary studios, in order to find out which studio would best suit my film to pitch to. The four main studios I narrowed it down to, were Canal+, A24, Sony Pictures Classics, TSG Entertainment and New Line Cinema. In my research, I found that the majority of contemporary performance and film practice produced by Independent cinema’s, like A24 were all social documentary pieces, such as Uncut Gems (Safdie, 2020) and Nomadland (Zhao, 2020), which had very little design aspects. These films capture a realism, where the stories are told from a literal perspective. Although I am aware that these films are what is currently popular, ‘in’, winning all the awards and being sold at the Film markets, I prefer to work on a more metaphorical level, incorporating influences from Surrealism and elaborate design, which effectively goes against the mould in contemporary performance and practice.
However, as my screenplays were highly designed, I felt the projects would best suit TSG Entertainment and New Line Cinema, who are responsible for producing many of the films that influenced my short film Running the Rat Race, including Tarsem Singh’s The Cell (2000), the works of Tony Kaye, John Waters, Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and possibly my all-time favourite film Storytelling (2001) by Todd Solondz and more highly designed contemporary classics The Shape of Water (Del Toro, 2017), Jojo Rabbit (Waititi, 2019) and It (Muschietti, 2017).
In order to calculate a budget tailored for my own project, I took a mean average of all the film’s listed above and found a total figure of £18.2 Million
To learn about New Line Cinema and TSG Entertainment, I researched into the documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau (Gregory, 2014) and had a telephone interview with Tarsem Singh, director of New Line Cinema’s The Cell.
Although the production of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr Moreau (Stanley, Frankenheimer, 1996), was a complete disaster, I was fascinated that a production company like New Line Cinema would take such a big leap of faith on a niche auteur director like Richard Stanley. It seemed that many of the films produced by New Line Studios were made out of a leap of faith.
Although Tony Kaye and Tarsem Singh had established themselves as Commercial’s directors, it was New Line Cinema that produced their debut feature films.
SYNOPSIS & MOODBOARDING
After research, I broke the scripts down into mood boards, Character profiles and created a brief synopsis of each story.
The John$on Family is ‘a day in the life of’ story, with Surrealist twist. The film satirises modern day consumerism, in which The Johnson family are immersed by technology. Through absurdist humour, the family speak in their own computerised dialect and are seen literally consuming technology that vaguely resembles real food, i.e. Egg shaped mini speakers, Television cable noodles and pre-sliced Floppy disk bread. The family have a pet television on wheels and a baby who is breast fed by her mother’s USB shaped nipple.
The second script, The Pitiful Fruit of the Maternal Banquet, delves into themes of trauma, analysing the how societal oppression against individuality may lead to radicalisation. Once every nine months, three women, who are in their final month of pregnancy, get together to have a tea party. Having attended school together, the three women reflect on their childhood, re-enacting scenes of past trauma in a masochistic manner. Spending the day performing strange activities, the women happen to give birth all together and prepare a three course dinner from questionable and grotesque ingredients. The film further reflects on the flaws of the British approach to early school education, in which the arts are being defunded by the government, figure headed by characters like Michael Gove.
Through these scripts and the medium of film, I aim to raise awareness of conformity, be it through the societal consumeristic values or, the rigid environment of early education that stifles the arts.
The societal impact of film is undeniable, with philosophers, such as Gilles Deleuze citing in Cinema 1: The Movement Image (Deleuze, 1983), that the combination of philosophy through film can create an atmosphere for thought and provoke social change.
In a transcription of a lecture Deleuze gave in May 1987, published in ‘Deleuze & Guattari: New Mappings in Politics, Philosophy, and Culture, (Kaufman and K.J. Heller, 1998), Deleuze states,
‘There is no work of art that does not appeal to a people who do not yet exist.’
Effectively, Deleuze comments that art opens ways in which future spectators may experience the world, works of art appeal to a people in the process of coming, works of art are always ahead of time.
Written in The Birth of Tragedy (Nietzsche, 1872), Nietzsche support’s Deleuze’s theory, stating
‘it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified’ He continues, ‘Art for art’s sake – a worm chasing its own tail….A psychologist, on the other hand, asks: what does all art do? does it not praise? glorify? choose? prefer?’
Analysing this quote, life is made human, worth living, only by art – that is to say, in the largest sense, by human’s power to create an order amongst disorder, finding meaning where nature itself does not supply one.
In order to reflect these themes, I created the following mood boards and character profiles:
Much of my research was informed by the films of New Line Cinema. To convey the themes of individuality and juxtapose conformity, I was inspired by contemporary classics, New Line Cinema’s Pan’s Labyrinth (Del Toro, 2006) and TSG Entertainment’s The Shape of Water (Del Toro, 2017), where Guillermo Del Toro uses intricate design with a rich colour palette to reflect both beauty and disgust. It places the audience into a discomforting position, as the set design uses familiar, warm, saturated autumnal tones of reds and browns, but juxtaposes it with the choice of disturbing props and unsettling prosthetic effects. Equally, both The John$on Family and The Pitiful Fruit of the Maternal Banquet, form the mid-ground between beauty and disgust. The characters all surround themselves in elaborate environments, yet are driven by disgust, deriving their pleasures by performing nauseating acts. Therefore, like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, I felt that a warm, autumnal colour palette would best suit the Set Design, working as an unsettling juxtaposition of the character’s motives.
For the costumes, I took design inspiration from Eiko Ishioka’s portfolio and work on New Line Cinema’s modern day masterpiece The Cell (Singh, 2000), which speaks for itself. To convey the themes of creative individuality in The Pitiful Fruit of the Maternal Banquet, I think there is no better point of reference than Eiko’s work, which challenges conventions through its choice of bold textures, colour and sculptural nature.
MY FINAL COSTUME & SET DESIGNS FOR THE JOHN$ON FAMIILY
With these references, I began my process of designing and adopted a multitude of drawing styles, in order to ‘find my voice’ and challenge my skills.
MY FINAL COSTUME & SET DESIGNS FOR THE PITIFUL FRUIT OF THE MATERNAL BANQUET
BUDGETING
As all aspects of design are considered ‘below the line’ production costs, meaning, they are all less than 10% costs.
In order to calculate a budget for the sets, I contacted out to the Construction manager, Callum Andrews who informed me that for a Set of my designs, it would cost approximately £2,500,000 which includes price of materials and labour.
Through my own experience working on commercials, I was able to calculate the price of props, which amounted to a total of £125,000, including Prop hire and purchases.
To calculate the Crew costs, I took the standard APA rates according to BECTU.
In order to calculate a budget for the Costumes, I contacted out to various Costume designers, including (a series of Zoom calls with) Eduardo Castro, Costume designer on Ugly Betty and Miami Vice, who informed me that my designs, it would cost approximately £375000, which includes price of materials, construction and crew.
With all of these figures totalled, I was able to calculate a final cost of £3,949,653 This of course is the price of the Design aspects alone, not including Production, Post Production and Marketing costs.
Using the same APA rates, I created an estimated overall budget.
FINAL REFLECTIONS
The Speculative Design project, has been a transformative experience, preparing myself to work as an industry professional, learning how to create a Pitch Package as an aspiring Director, Costume and Set Designer.
The project has given opportunity to experiment with my own Drawing style, through critically engaging with my research of large Independent studios. I have gained real industry contacts, who have provided extremely informative, personal advice and feedback on my designs and work. Many of these contacts have informed my understanding of budgeting, which will inevitably be a key part of my Design process on Professional projects after graduation.
Overall, I was proudest of my watercolour Costume designs for The Pitiful Fruit of the Maternal Banquet, where the costumes serve to build an idiosyncratic world, helping my voice as an auteur.
It would truly be an ultimate dream of mine to put this film into Production, especially if it was taken on by New Line Cinema. With this dream, I feel it is vital to continue stretching my skills, experimenting with a multitude of aesthetics and pushing myself to my limits as a director. | https://finianclarke.com/project-3/ |
ACMI worked with our partner RMIT University and their Bachelor of Communication (Media) program to help students produce a series of short explainer videos communicating concepts across film, TV, videogames and digital art.
The project was run as a studio subject with ACMI working with RMIT course leaders to provide guidance and critique to the students throughout the concept development and production of these pieces.
What is Mise-en-scène?
by So Young Oh
Mise-en-scène is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, and in narrative storytelling through direction. The term is also commonly used to refer to single scenes that are representative of a film. Mise-en-scène has been called film criticism‘s “grand undefined term”. This video explains what mise-en-scène is by defining it and using examples from films and directors.
Putting Australian Cinema to the Bechdel Test
by Ruby Amoore
The Bechdel Test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. This video discusses the test and Test, and examines how Australian cinema fares.
How framerates affect how we see moving images
by Cormack Pratt
This micro video essay tackles the debate between mediamakers over framerate by establishing the history of film framerates in Hollywood and its lasting effect through the 24fps standard. Videogames, VR and some digital artworks have progressed to hundreds of frames a second – will film and TV follow?
The Clapperboard: a Melbourne invention
by Jessica Robson
Delve into the history of the clapperboard and why they are still used today in the film industry.
Breaking the Angle of Axis
by Malachy Lewis
The 180 Degree Rule is important to follow when filming and editing a scene for a film, but, like all rules, what happens when it is broken, and how can it be broken for creative effect?
The Art of the Title Sequence
by Andrea Garcia
This video looks at the purpose of the title sequence and its artistic merit as well as how it’s able to convey certain narratives, tones and characters without explicitly telling the audience.
A Short Story of Film, Video and Digital Formats
by Luis Barra (narrated by Rhys Duggan)
The moving image has evolved; from films, videos and digital formats. Films can be more organic whereas other formats such as video can be more practical. Technology plays a key role in the development of new formats. This micro-video essay travels back in time to explore the evolution of the moving image.
Who is in a videogame development team?
by Haoran Shi
This video focuses on five different roles within a videogame development team: game designers, 2D/3D artists, Programmers, Level Designers, Sound Engineers and Testers.
What is a Foley Artist?
by Yining Tao (Jessica) and Ziyu Xue (Wanda)
Foley is an irreplaceable element in films, TV and radio – but what is it? And what does a foley artist do?
What is a MacGuffin?
by Rhonda Hodgson
A "MacGuffin" is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters. Learn more about how it's used in screen works.
Unpacking different shot types in cinema
by Jeremy Lawang
Shot types define the mood of a narrative and help convey a specific meaning of a scene or particular moment in a film. There are various shot types and all have a different meaning and purpose in dictating the emotions of the audience.
Pepper's Ghost
by Jude Islip, Jessie Mahina Caesar, Sarah Jackson -Harris and Sherly Lim
This immersive video essay explores how the historic cinematic technique of Pepper’s Ghost was used to transform the way in which people engage with the unreal. Displaying those passed or simply artificial, revolutionised the way people interact with the non-tangible elements of screen, cinema and theatre. In this video, we explain the origins of this technique and how it can be achieved, not only in the real world, but in your lounge-room too.
Breaking the 4th Wall
by Georgia Bertolino, Beatrice Madamba & Tiani Wiropuspito
This video essay aims to define what it means to ‘break’ the fourth wall, a technique aims to confuse and distort the audience’s viewing experience. | https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/screen-lab-educating-and-engaging-through-cinematic-experiments/ |
Last weekend, UAE theatres witnessed the release of the new animated comedy drama movie Inside Out which has been produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.
The movie tells a story of a young girl, Riley who has moved with her parents to San Francisco and has been struggling to adjust to her new life (new house, school and friends). Guided mainly by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness who live in the headquarter (the control center) in Riley’s mind and control her actions and memories via a control console, Riley tries to adjust to her new life while her emotions conflict on how best to adapt to the new environment.
Here are some main facts from the movie to give you a better idea about it (I still recommend to watch the movie!):
- Joy is the main emotion who makes sure Riley is always in a happy mood and tries her best to minimize Sadness's role and influence on Riley
- The emotions take care of 2 kind of memories, the new ones which are sent into storage after the end of each waking period and the core ones which make the most important past experiences in Riley’s life
- Before she turned 11, Riley had 5 personality islands which reflect the different aspects of her character and had shaped her personality. These are Family Island, Honesty Island, Hockey Island, Friendship Island and Goofball Island.
The movie gets really interesting after Sadness starts touching various core memories turning them into sad ones (shifting their colors from gold which means happy to blue which refers to sad memories), this would directly result in negative consequences on Riley’s feelings and behaviors and leads her to lose her core memories and her 5 main islands while engaging more deeply in her sadness. Here comes Joy’s role in trying to prevent this from happening to keep Riley happy. And while Joy was trying her best to keep Sadness away she later realizes the importance of this emotion and the great role it played earlier in creating happy core memories for Riley during her childhood. As an example: When Riley lost in her Hockey tournament and felt deeply sad, her family and friends offered her great support that led Riley to be happy again and created a core memory about this happy moment and also activated both the family and friendship islands in her mind.
Eventually at the end of the movie all emotions embrace each other and work as a team to help Riley become happy as she was before and adjust to her new life. Furthermore, the 5 main islands were restored again, some of them were further expanded like family and friendship and new islands of personality were created.
Now the main reason why I find the movie to be amazing, because it successfully spotted the light on a very important life aspect that we all whether kids or adults experience and are guided with “Our Precious Emotions”. The story adds a real value to both audiences’ by educating them on self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which I find as an extremely positive and healthy knowledge for kids to have at a young age. Moreover, the medium used (inventive animated movie translated to real life with beautiful collection of figures and plush toys) is a great way to raise kids’ awareness on various emotions which control their behaviors and give them the opportunity to better understand what’s going inside their minds through playing with the character and console control toys in real life.
And since our emotional well-being is part of the 7 main life aspects: Spiritual, Health, Personal, Family, Social, Career and Financial it will be great to see more toys which are non character based that teach kids and raise their awareness on this basic knowledge which they need in order to lead a happy, successful and balanced life. This knowledge can portray the main messages under each aspect like the importance of healthy eating, physical fitness, education about ethics, values, positive attitude, goals setting, importance of family and social relations and many other beneficial information.
Personally after watching the movie I managed to understand my emotions better and the reason why some people act in certain ways. I also got myself Joy Plush Toy to remind me keep the joy alive as much as possible, while still appreciating Sadness and some of its great benefits in making me feel grateful about the wonderful and supportive people in my life. | https://globaltoynews.com/2015/08/12/pixars-inside-out-review/ |
If you haven’t already, I urge you to watch Pixar’s newest animated film, Inside Out. Centering on an eleven-year- old girl, Riley’s, move from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents and the subsequent fallout, it’s an ode to childhood and growing up, family, the places we come from, and most of all, the roller coaster of emotions all these things engender.
Most of the action takes place inside Riley’s head, at a starship-like Headquarters, where Inside Out’s star characters, Riley’s emotions — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear — burst off the screen with color, personality, verve, and life. Sitting in the theatre watching these anthropomorphic emotions laugh, cry, blaze, dance their way across your view, you get the sense of the title — you’ve been privileged to peek at emotions from the outside-in.
Joy, a waifish pixie-esque character with scary-huge eyes that I think are meant to be comforting, nearly has a breakdown when Sadness, in my opinion the highlight of the movie, her bespectacled, sweater-clad, somewhat- awkward counterpoint, begins to interfere with Riley’s memories. Far from malicious, Sadness’ uncontrollable actions correspond with the challenges Riley faces in the outside world. Disappointment with her new house, crying in class on her first day of school, having an off day at hockey tryouts, and to top it off a blow-the-roof-off pre-teenage-angst argument with her parents. How is a girl supposed to cope?
Joy, in her cloyingly prescriptive way, thinks she has the answer. Stay happy. Pretend to be happy if need be. Poor Sadness doesn’t know why she keeps trying to touch Riley’s memories, only that it seems necessary. Not really caring to figure it out, Joy tries to distract Sadness with busywork and eventually tells her to stay inside a three-foot radius painted on the floor. Of course, the solution is hardly that easy, and when the two are accidentally sucked out of Headquarters, landing in the labyrinthine storage continent of Long-Term Memory, left to scurry back on their own, they have to find a way to work together. And to make room for each other.
The audacity of Inside Out lies in that message: that all emotions, even negative ones, are necessary and important. Each takes up space in our daily living. Some take the forefront at certain times, while others step back. It is very probably real that your sadness is a product of your ability to love, your compassion, your ability to form deep attachment. By allowing herself room to experience the sadness of moving from her childhood home, Riley is able to understand it and move through it, not around it.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) very much espouses the same principles. A fundamental technique in ACT is to identify a felt emotion during a body scan (when you imagine “scanning” your body from head to toe for sensations); then, to explore the contours of that emotion as an observer, not an opponent trying to eradicate the emotion. When we observe our own emotions, we create the chance to let them breathe instead of fiddling with a struggle switch that often makes things worse. The oft-used metaphor is to that of escaping from quicksand — the more you struggle, the more you sink.
The reason why this is a bold proposition is that it is completely counterintuitive to what most people want to do when faced with negative emotions. Naturally, when you get sad, you want to make it go away. You may tell yourself that sadness is silly, start to feel guilty about being sad — only to sink back into the quicksand after some distraction.
Instead, imagine experiencing an attack of anxiety in this way:
Getting up to give a speech to the full house, I can feel the fear grip into my body. It’s electric blue in that moment, flat, four-sided, spiky all over. Like 2D ravioli. It trembles where it sits on my diaphragm. It’s crawling up my back and rooting into my neck. I breathe. I accept this emotion of fear.
I can hear the thought that it’s telling me about myself. I am ridiculous. I am inadequate. But they are just words and pictures. They are not me. I take this moment to sit quietly with my fear in an open spirit of knowing.
The idea is that by approaching an emotion in a spirit of curiosity, you will be able to accept it for what it is. Nothing more and nothing less than what it feels like in the moment. After breathing deeply into the emotion, you expand it. And then take an action in a valued direction.
If this sounds like an interesting idea, I urge to read more about ACT. It is not a shortcut out of life’s challenges. Nor is it antithetical to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I believe that they can work together to help you achieve a balance of mental health — CBT when you have access to pen and paper and can work on your daily thought record, and ACT when things are more acute, when you think, “Screw the thought record! I’m so angry I want to rip my hair out!”
ACT, at it’s core is about honouring yourself. If you’re sad, angry, anxious as Riley is for the majority of Inside Out, it’s often for a good reason, because it is authentically how you feel right then. It doesn’t mean that emotion represents your essence, or that you are a bad person. It is just an emotion, thoughts and words and pictures and sensations that are coursing through your body.
Sadness, when Riley finally expresses it, telling her family how she feels about the move, honours the truth of growing up, the truth of change. Her parents then admit that they too feel difficult emotions about the move and are here for her to offer support and love. She is not alone. I will go further, however, to say that even if Riley didn’t have her parents, the skill of honouring her emotions is one of the first steps to feeling better.
Now your turn. The best part is that this skill is something readily available to each and every one of us every day. You already have the tools: your body and your breath. I challenge you to take a magnifying class to your own emotions today. What are you feeling? And for the moment, forget about why and just focus on the sensations. Visualize it. Describe it. Turn it inside out. | https://elizabethhan.com/turning-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-act-inside-out/ |
Technology is an umbrella term that refers to the application of knowledge. It can also refer to the products of such endeavors. Technology is used in many areas and is common in our daily lives. The main branches of technology include manufacturing, information technology, and computer science. Listed below are some examples of how technology affects us.
Information technology
Information technology is a broad category of systems that provide computer services to people and organizations. It includes computers, ancillary equipment, software and firmware, related resources, services and support, and networking. Information technology also includes telecommunications and wireless devices. Generally, computers are the core component of information technology.
The IT department oversees daily operations of the network, hardware, and software that is used to store and process information. Its role is to ensure that the systems are aligned with business goals. It also handles network maintenance and tech support.
Communication technology
Communication technology refers to the various equipment used for communication and information processing. Its main purpose is to facilitate the transfer of data and information. It includes computer hardware and software, cellular phones, satellite systems, and the internet. It also helps people stay in touch, make decisions, and solve problems. It can also be used in the production of various goods and services.
Today, communication technology has helped the developed world enter the digital economy. It has simplified the process of commercial transactions and business completion. Countries around the world have adopted e-government, which indicates an increase in efficiency in government services. Moreover, technology has also made it possible to engage in video conversations with friends and acquaintances from all over the world. This has helped these individuals stay connected with each other without leaving their homes.
Manufacturing technology
Manufacturing technology is the process of creating goods, such as cars, jewelry, and clothing. It can be used to improve productivity, reduce costs, and maximize quality. It can also be used to streamline relationships with suppliers and customers. In some industries, manufacturing technologies can even help increase the range of products that are available. For example, in wine production, technology can improve the quality of the final product and lower production costs.
Manufacturing technology includes a variety of processes and tools that create the products. It also covers chemistry, mechanical engineering, and biology. It prepares students for entry-level work in the production trades.
Computers
Computers are now an important part of society, enabling people to do a wide range of tasks. From simple special-purpose devices like microwave ovens and remote controls, to complex factory robots, and from general-purpose machines like personal computers and smartphones, computers now play a critical role in our lives. What’s more, computers help power the Internet, which links billions of devices worldwide.
General-purpose computers typically consist of four main components: arithmetic logic units (ALUs), a memory, and input/output devices. These parts are interconnected by a network of wiring known as a bus. Each computer part contains thousands to trillions of tiny electrical circuits that represent binary digits. These circuits are arranged in logic gates, allowing each circuit to control the state of the others.
GPS
GPS is a satellite-based navigation system. Its development dates back to the 1960s. The United States government owns GPS and is its steward. From 1996 to 2004, the Department of Defense administered GPS policy through the Interagency GPS Executive Board. In 2004, a presidential directive created the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Executive Committee, a group of representatives from the Departments of State and Commerce that advises federal departments and agencies on matters relating to GPS.
The accuracy of GPS measurements can be enhanced through various methods. The most common of these methods is the use of external information. For instance, some GPS systems transmit ephemeris data, information about ionospheric delays, and measurements of signal strength. | https://monroehistoricsociety.org/how-technology-affects-us/ |
When trying to calculate your solar power needs there are a variety of factors to consider. Panel type and location, electricity needs, number of panels needed etc. One key to figuring out the math is factoring in the average peak sunlight hours in a day. Unlike total sunlight hours, peak sunlight hours are only when the sun is strong enough to power your solar panel. Using this number can help determine your needs to power your home or business in Ballinger, Texas.
If you’re using a fixed axis and fixed tilt solar panel, the ideal angle of the panel mount should be set at an angle equal to or close to the latitude of the location of the panel. Latitude is a valuable measurement to use when figuring how many daylight hours and the angle of the sun in the sky for your location. Since at locations with a higher latitude the sun will find itself at more variable angles in the sky throughout the year it is important to set the angle of the panel correctly and efficiently capture more peak sun hours. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun will be at lower angles in the Southern sky in the winter, and higher angles during the summer months, so the angle of the panel is crucial when trying to maximize output.
The sun moves through the sky during the day, and changes positions in the sky throughout the year as the seasons change. A fixed solar panel remains fixed in position during this movement. So, although it is effective in capturing sunlight, a 1-axis or 2-axis panel can be more efficient. A 1-axis panel tracks the sun's movement throughout the day from sunrise to sunset. In addition to that, the 2-axis panel also accounts for the movement throughout the year.
There are more variables than latitude that can change average peak sun hours. Weather patterns and geography will influence solar insolation that reaches your system. Thick grey storm clouds for example will block out a lot of the sun to the point where there may be no peak sun hours in the middle of the day when the sun is usually very powerful. Trees and mountains can deflect the sunlight, so be sure your solar panel is selectively placed.
By taking the latitude of Ballinger one can get a close estimate of the amount of average peak sun hours per day for the geographical area. It varies with technology and the type of solar panel mount you use, but for a fixed mount solar panel in Ballinger one can expect close to 5.5 average peak sun hours per day. With a 1-axis tracking mount you would get 6.7 hours per day, and 7.4 hours per day with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky. | https://www.turbinegenerator.org/solar/texas/ballinger/ |
This tech paper shows how EB cadian Sync provides OEMs with a tool to meet the requirements of over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
Table of contents
- End customers expect OTA updates
- Update mechanisms as required
- Powerful backend functions
- Customized workflows possible when installing updates
- Clear benefits for OEMs
Introduction
For vehicle manufacturers, there is hardly any alternative to updating ECUs and systems over the air. To tackle cybercriminal threats to connected vehicles, currently identified threat vectors and new vulnerabilities, manufacturers must be able to take swift countermeasures. With EB cadian Sync these challenges can be tackeled. | https://www.elektrobit.com/tech-corner/eb-cadian-sync-software-updates-over-the-air/ |
The TIP skill is intended to change your body chemistry fast in order to reduce the intensity of emotion mind.
Tip the Temperature
Tip the temperature of your face with cold water* (to calm down fast) Holding your breath, put your face in a bowl of cold water, or hold a cold pack (or zip-lock bag of cold water) on your eyes and cheeks. Hold for 30 seconds. Keep water above 50°F.
Intense Exercise
Intense exercise (to calm down your body when it is revved up by emotion). Engage in intense exercise, if only for a short while. Expend your body’s stored up physical energy by running, walking fast, jumping, playing basketball, lifting weights, etc.
Paced Breathing
Paced breathing (pace your breathing by slowing it down) Breathe deeply into your belly. Slow your pace of inhaling and exhaling way down (on average, five to six breaths per minute). Breathe out more slowly than you breathe in (for example, 5 seconds in and 7 seconds out). | https://dbt.tools/distress_tolerance/tip.php |
Al-Ayn Social Care Foundation held it’s first fundraising dinner in support of the Hikayati project May 31st, 2018. We thank all those who attended and continue to support us for a successful evening.
Hikayati is a state-of-the-art child rehabilitation and development center currently under construction in Najaf, Iraq. Fundraising for this project began with an online campaign one month ago, the goal was to raise 5.8 million dollars to secure completion.
As of June 6th, this campaign was successful in raising over 2.4 million globally. The campaign will be ongoing throughout the Holy of Month of Ramadan.
There is still time to contribute and be a driving force of betterment in the lives of so many orphans.
Click HERE to donate. | https://www.al-ayn.org/2018/06/07/fundraising-dinner/ |
Gender Budgeting: A critical tool for women’s empowerment
The barriers to women’s equal participation in the economy and in public life need to be considered in policymaking and budgeting priorities
Subhalakshmi Nandi
January 29, 2021 / 02:40 PM IST
Representative image (PC- MoneyControl.Com)
Since 189 United Nations member states adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Women’s Conference in 1995, the language of ‘gender mainstreaming’ has been adopted by many countries for shaping their public policy and programme priorities. In India, gender budgeting was enforced in 2004 with the recommendations of the Ashok Lahiri Committee, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has been the principal unit that overlooks the strategic management and execution of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB).
This is perhaps the biggest example of gender mainstreaming anywhere in the world where the MWCD builds capacities, consolidates, and monitors gender investments across almost 60 ministries and government departments.
However, as we mark 15 years of GRB in India, we still find only around 5 percent of the public expenditure is reported for GRB. Also, most of the GRB expenditure is restricted to four ministries: rural development, education, health and MWCD. Even within the MWCD, more than 90 percent of the budget goes to the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) — less than 10 percent resources are directly allocated for women’s schemes. Hence, we continue to not only ask questions about how much funding is being provided to gender equality, but also how much of it is being utilised to bring on-ground change?
Gender Budgeting
Simply put, gender budgeting is looking at a budget from a gender lens. This does not mean having a separate budget for women. Rather, it means analysing the impact of a specific policy or programme from the differential impacts it may have on men and women, and then including these considerations into budgetary operations. For instance, it is not enough to just construct roads and highways and assume equitable access for all. A case in point is a recent study by Sakshamaa at C3 in Bihar which has pointed out the need to invest in urban policy solutions that integrate gendered mobility indicators to improve women’s public safety and encourage their participation in economic life.
We have seen how women frontline workers in health, child development, and sanitation services, as well as community institutions have played an important role in COVID-19 response. We have also seen the gendered nature of job loss, financial distress, food insecurity, precarity of informal jobs, women’s increased burden of unpaid care work, mental health concerns, and reports of gender-based violence (GBV). According to a government data, women’s share in new payroll additions fell below 20 percent in August, and the cases of domestic violence increased during the lockdown as per National Commission of Women’s records.
It is clear that gender-responsive investments in these areas can build a strong pathway to recovery and resilience. For instance, the government announced cash transfers, a total of $4.12 billion to Jan Dhan accounts of over 200 million women over three instalments. To help them tide through this important recovery phase, these benefits could be continued for another six months, and expanded to all Self-Help Group members.
The NREGA has been a saving grace for a large part of the rural population, and it must be ensured that women get a place and a voice in NREGA works. The law already mandates 100 days of guaranteed work on demand, and perhaps this could be extended to 200 days for the next two years at least. Women’s businesses — most of which are micro and nano-enterprises, run on their private capital, and have lost access to supply chains — will need their own ‘shot in the arm’ to help revive business, in the form of dedicated stimulus packages, expansion of current efforts (such as the SVaNidhi for street vendors), targeted public and private procurement quotas, and affirmative action in public employment.
Most importantly, the barriers to women’s equal participation in the economy and in public life need to be considered in policymaking and budgeting priorities, be it in the expansion of services for addressing gender-based violence (e.g. expansion of One Stop Crisis Centres) or ensuring infrastructure and services to ease their unpaid work (e.g. doorstep water supply, clean energy supply, etc.).
As the world gears up for the next crisis, women’s health and social wellbeing will also need to be give due attention — through strengthening more equitable health systems, ensuring easy access to essentials such as sanitary napkins and contraceptives, and ensuring that social norms do not regress.
As countries are gradually emerging out of the health and economic crises, putting women and girls at the heart of the social, economic and health recovery and resilience will be beneficial for all. As aptly put by former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Laureate, Late Kofi Annan, ‘Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.’
With the conversation around gender equality picking pace, we are eager to see how it is translated from intent, into concrete policies, budgets, and outcomes as we advance steadily towards the 2030 milestone.
Subhalakshmi Nandi is Senior Program Officer (Gender Equality) at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Views are personal. | |
Mid-Year Assessment Review Fractions Word Problems January 2014
#1 • Benjamin practices playing the guitar every afternoon. • He practiced 2/3 of an hour on Monday • He practiced ¼ of an hour on Tuesday. • He practiced ¾ of an hour on Wednesday. • What is the total amount of time Benjamin spent practicing the uitar?
#2 Philip started writing his paper on Monday. He wrote 1/15 of his paper on Monday, 1/3 of his paper on Tuesday, and 2/5 of his paper on Wednesday. How fraction of his paper is left to write?
#3 • Crystal had one big container of pencils. She divided the pencils into 4 small containers. Each container is a different color. She put 1/5 of them in a blue container, ½ of them in a red container, and ¼ in an orange container. The last container is green. What fraction of the pencils is left for the green container?
#4 • If there were a total of 40 pencils, how many pencils were in the blue container?
#5 • Cindy helped her father make scrambled eggs. There were a dozen eggs in the carton. They used ¾ of the carton of eggs. How many eggs were left in the carton?
#6 • Each of Mr. Faulkner’s students chose an activity for recess. One-third of the students chose to play soccer. One-sixth of the students chose to play on the swings. The rest ran the track. What fraction of the students ran the track?
#7 • If there were 24 students in Mr. Faulkner’s class, how many of them ran the track? (see #5)
#8 • Jessica earns $12 for babysitting for 3 hours a day. Last month she worked 15 hours. She spent $24.17 on school supplies. How much does she have left?
#9 • Sarah bought pencils. She notices that ¼ of each package of pencils are red pencils. She bought 12 packages of pencils. How many full packages of red pencils can she make?
#10 • Donald drives 16 ½ miles to work each day. Three-fourths of his total drive is on the interstate. How many miles does Donald drive on the interstate?
#11 • Kendal used a small bucket to fill her new fish tank. Her fish tank holds 10 gallons. Each small bucket contains ¼ of a gallon of water. How many small buckets will it take to fill the fish tank?
#12 • Three friends ate ½ of a pizza. Each friend ate the same amount of pizza. How much did each friend eat?
#13 • Jerry needs 4/5 of a cup of flour to make 15 cookies. How much flour would he need to make 45 cookies?
#14 • Hilda plants flowers in ¾ of her garden. In the flower section she plants ¼ in roses, ¼ in carnations. What fraction of the whole garden is planted in carnations? | https://www.slideserve.com/ina/mid-year-assessment-review-fractions-word-problems-powerpoint-ppt-presentation |
All unnecessary lighting in unoccupied areas will be turned off. Faculty should make certain that lights are turned off when leaving the instruction room or office when empty. Utilize natural lighting where appropriate.
All outside lighting shall be off during daylight hours.
Gym lights should not be left on unless the gym is being utilized.
All lights will be turned off when students and staff leave for the day. Custodial staff will turn on lights only in the areas in which they are working.
Refrain from turning lights on unless definitely needed. Remember that lights not only consume electricity but also give off heat that places an additional load on the air-conditioning equipment. | https://www.com.edu/energy/lighting.html |
Consent is a principle that empowers an individual to grant permission before they receive any form of medical examination or treatment. Ideally, consent is required from a patient regardless of the nursing intervention in question, right from physical examinations to complicated medical procedures (Department of Health, 2001). Patients are thus not bound to medical procedures merely based on the recommendations of a nursing practitioner. It is undeniable patients have the right and discretion to choose to take part in a medical process that can manipulate their bodies through therapy.
From a legal perspective, failure to gain consent before undertaking nursing interventions amounts to trespass against an individual. In the English Law, a nursing professional is liable for the crime of battery if he/she touches a patient without consent in any form of physical examination (Department of Health, 2001). Thus, nursing practitioners have a responsibility of ensuring that they obtain consent from their clients before proceeding with medical procedures.
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Notably, consent assumes two perspectives that include expressed and implied consent. Expressed consent occurs when a patient orally agree to a request by a nurse to undertake treatment or any other form of medical intervention (Department of Health, 2001). On the other hand, implied consent has a basis on the actions and behaviours of the client about a request from a nursing practitioner. For instance, if a patient extends his/her arm for the recording of blood pressure on the request of a practitioner, the gesture is assumed to imply consent from the client. In case a patient is unconscious, implied consent is assumed on the admission of a subject to the emergency department. However, nursing practitioners are bound to demonstrate that the interventions undertaken for such patients are clinically essential and not just convenient to the practitioner. Ideally, if an element of necessity cannot be proven, then the professional in question may be legally liable for his/her actions (Department of Health, 2001).
Clinical observation is an integral part of the nursing practice since it serves as the initial procedure for diagnosing clinical symptoms. Nursing practitioners employ observation to obtain clues and lead for further diagnostic procedures. However, often these activities are often assumed as casual processes with little clinical meaning. The fact that a significant portion of nursing observation methods is non-invasive makes them susceptible to abuse by the practitioners. Employing consent in nursing observation is important since it allows it facilitates professional conduct as well as ensures the patients are knowledgeable of the medical procedures they undertake (Barry and Edgman-Levitan, 2012). The law stipulates that valid consent is necessary before a nursing practitioner can proceed with any clinical procedure. Similarly, that consent ought to be informed in the sense that the client has the right to given sufficient information regarding the process and allowed to make a voluntary decision without any form of coercion (Hobbs, 2009). Thus, as a nursing professional it will be my responsibility to explain to my clients all information concerning the procedures I intend to perform and seek their approval before commencing.
As a nurse practitioner seeking informed consent will be part of my responsibility before undertaking nursing observation procedures as part of ensuring patient-centred care. It is worth noting that consent is not limited to just seeking approval since some patients tend to agree blindly to clinical procedures that they do not comprehend. Thus, I will emphasise the aspect of informed consent rather than just seeking mere approval from my clients. In that light, before any form of observation be it recording temperature or assessing a rash I ought to give a detailed explanation of the particulars of the procedure. In that light, I will explain to the patients the objective of the process and what he/she stands to gain or lose from the same. As well as outline the rights of patients in a clinical environment to ensure informed consent. That way, the clients will be equipped with relevant information that will facilitate informed decisions.
Ideally, a majority of the healthcare establishments undertake nursing observation as a pre-diagnostic procedure before the patient can see the physician. However, a majority of the patients do not understand the significance of this process since they assume it is a protocol procedure that requires compliance. In that regard, my intention will not be limited to seeking approval from the clients before I proceed with the process but also to enlighten them on the importance of these observatory procedures (Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt, 2011). For instance, before recording a patient’s blood pressure, I will make the patient understand the importance of maintaining a healthy blood pressure level and its implications on his/her overall well-being. Such an approach will empower the client with information that will help in formulating informed consent but also facilitate healthy living. It is worth noting that nursing is a holistic practice with the objective of general wellbeing of the patient. Thus, my nursing observation procedure will not be limited to recording particular parameter but ensure the clients accrue maximum benefits from the service (George, 2011).
Nursing practice has a foundation on relationship-centred care focused on the individual needs of the patients. Nursing observation processes are no exception since as a practitioner I will be obliged to create an enriched environment for my clients to ensure they feel secure with the manner in which I handle them as well as develop a sense of belonging to my model of care (Kozier, 2008). It is typical that the manner which I will handle the patients will determine whether I obtain consent or not to continue with the therapeutic procedures.
Some of the observational process may tend to be scary to the patients a factor that might create fright thus jeopardising informed consent. As a practitioner, I will employ autonomy and individuality in the mode I implement nursing observation procedures by ensuring the clients take control of the mode of treatment they desire while maintaining their personal identity (McCance, McCormack, and Dewing, 2011). For instance, before recording pulse rhythm, blood pressure or even temperature it is essential to inform the client that these procedures are not mere protocol processes but serve an important role in ensuring he/she obtains holistic care premised on individual needs (Dewar and Nolan, 2013).
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Manifestations of diseases tend to vary from one subject to another, and thus the treatment processes need to be customised to meet the immediate clinical needs of each patient. Thus, when handling my clients, the objective will be to the patient but not the disease itself (Wolf et al. 2008). Ideally, by focusing on the patient, I am likely to develop a relationship centred therapy that will meet the immediate needs before starting to treat the underlying condition (Barry and Edgman-Levitan, 2012). This way, the client will develop a sense of belonging since he/she will be integrated into the therapeutic process of choosing the preferred treatment. Ultimately, while implementing nursing observation, the principle of consent should not be used as a protocol procedure, but as an element that empowers the patients to be knowledgeable of their condition to enable them to take control of the therapeutic process.
- Barry, M.J. and Edgman-Levitan, S., 2012. Shared decision making—the pinnacle of patient-centered care. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(9), pp.780-781.
- Department of Health, London (United Kingdom);, 2001. Reference guide to consent for examination or treatment.
- Dewar, B. and Nolan, M., 2013. Caring about caring: Developing a model to implement compassionate relationship centred care in an older people care setting. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(9), pp.1247-1258.
- George, J.B., 2011. Nursing Theories: The Base for Professional Nursing Practice, 6/e. Pearson Education India.
- Hobbs, J.L., 2009. A dimensional analysis of patient-centered care. Nursing research, 58(1), pp.52-62.
- Kozier, B., 2008. Fundamentals of nursing: concepts, process and practice. Pearson Education.
- McCance, T., McCormack, B. and Dewing, J., 2011. An exploration of person-centredness in practice.
- Melnyk, B.M. and Fineout-Overholt, E. eds., 2011. Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
- Wolf, D.M., Lehman, L., Quinlin, R., Zullo, T. and Hoffman, L., 2008. Effect of Patient‐Centered Care on Patient Satisfaction and Quality of Care. Journal of nursing care quality, 23(4), pp.316-321. | https://essaywriter.org/examples/implementation-of-nursing-concept-while-undertaking-nursing-skills |
Users of every system expect it to get better. Providing feedback to the owners or management was difficult but with the advent of technology, it has become handy. Users can now post their comments through online blogs, android apps and websites. Due to the enormous data piling up every second causes a problem in analyzing it. In this paper, sentiment analysis is used for analyzing comments and reviews for hospital management system are demonstrated with real time data. The tools, algorithms and methodology that could fetch accurate results is described. Experimental results indicate 90% of accuracy in proposed system. The review report generated would help the hospital management to identify the positive and negative feedback which further assists them in improving their facilities that could not only create customer satisfaction but also enhanced business processes.
Keywords
Data Analytics; Sentiment analysis
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DOI: http://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v9i4.pp2585-2592
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SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
This chapter provides guidance on managing behaviour, which includes supporting positive behaviour, de-escalation of conflicts and discipline.
RELATED CHAPTER
Restraint and Physical Intervention (Light House Community Support Team) Procedure
AMENDMENT
This chapter was updated in September 2022.
Derby City Council uses a Strengths Based Approach for all work with children and families.
Contents
- Introduction
- Positive Behaviour Support
- Minimum House Rules
- Managing Challenging Behaviour and De-escalation of Conflicts
- Consequences
- Searching
- Serious Incidents and Use of Physical Intervention
- Further Information
1. Introduction
Whilst children bring their own values and behaviours to placements, foster carers and residential staff play a key role in influencing children.
There should be an holistic approach drawing on established theoretical bases, research, best practice and guidance in order to promote and develop positive behaviour, and a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding and supporting children and young people.
A robust assessment of need should determine the approach to be taken and the most effective matching of placements. The referral information, Placement Plan and reviews are central to the ongoing planning and evaluation of the support in relation to behaviour. Foster carers and residential staff should be given such information, which is kept up to date, as to enable them to provide appropriate care for the child, in particular the most recent version of the child's care plan. Foster carers and residential staff should be aware of all the necessary information about a child's circumstances, including any significant recent events, to help them understand and predict the child's needs and behaviours and support the child.
The approach to behaviour support should:
- Aim to create a safe, caring environment;
- Ensure that all children have opportunities to become confident and achieve their full potential;
- Encourage the child's consultation and participation in setting rules and consequences;
- Ensure that all children and young people live in placements where they have clear expectations in relation to their behaviour, are supported to understand and to develop alternative positive approaches to challenges within their lives;
- Ensure that all children and young people understand how positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded;
- Ensure that all children and young people are supported to understand the consequences of negative behaviour;
- Ensure that all foster carers and residential staff understand and share the principles of positive approaches to behaviour;
- Accept the individuality of children and young people and celebrate the diversity of their backgrounds;
- Recognise that placements are different, unique and represent many notions of family, yet they share a common value base.
2. Positive Behaviour Support
Foster carers and residential staff play an important part in the day-to-day life of a child, therefore good parenting, supported by training on behaviour management techniques and strategies, will enable them to achieve and develop a more positive relationship with the child and a more harmonious life and will enable the child to feel good about themselves.
The approach to positive behaviour support should ensure that:
Foster carers/residential staff provide an environment and culture that promotes, models and supports positive behaviour, and sets high expectations of all of the children in the placement.
Children are enabled to build trusted and secure relationships with their carers, who know them well, listen to them, spend time with them, protect them and promote their welfare.
The care and help from foster carers and residential staff assists children and young people to develop a positive self-view and to increase their ability to form and sustain attachments and build emotional resilience and a sense of their own identity. This care and help can also help them to overcome any previous experiences of neglect and trauma.
Foster carers and residential staff will be prepared and supported to manage the behaviour of children and young people placed with them and situations arising from and leading to this behaviour.
Foster carers and residential staff are expected to understand, manage and deal with children's behaviour including encouraging them to take responsibility for their behaviour and helping them to learn how to resolve conflict. Carers should have positive strategies for effectively supporting children where they encounter discrimination or bullying wherever this occurs.
Children should be able to develop and practice skills to build and maintain positive relationships, be assertive and to resolve conflicts positively. Children should be encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour in a way that is appropriate to their age and abilities. Foster carers and residential staff should respect the child's privacy and confidentiality, in a manner that is consistent with good parenting.
All foster carers and residential staff will receive training in positive care and control of children, including training in de-escalating problems and disputes.
All placements will have clear, consistent and fair boundaries, to enable children to feel safe, encouraged and appropriately rewarded, to help ensure that they will thrive and do well and to contribute to a feeling of well-being and security for children.
When caring for children, carers should at all times endeavour to:
- Listen to and empathise with children, respect their thoughts and feelings and take their wishes into consideration;
- Look for things that are going well, or any step in the right direction, and appropriately reward it;
- Use rewards in a creative and diverse way, specific to children's needs, capabilities and interests. This may mean that children are rewarded with activities or rewards that they enjoy. But all 'tangible' rewards should be accompanied by use of 'non tangible' encouragement and support – by carers demonstrating to children that they have done well. Such 'non tangible' rewards include smiling and praising children.
Children usually benefit, early on, from rewards which may appear to outweigh that which is expected. This is normal; over time rewards can be more relevant as children's self-esteem and skills improve.
For example:
- Children who have few social or life skills and whose self-esteem and confidence is low may require forms of encouragement and reward which are intensive, frequent or even excessive in order to help/remind them that they are doing well and appreciated;
- A child who has previously been unable to get up for school may be offered an incentive for getting up on time for a few days.
Over time, as children achieve what is expected, such rewards should be reduced or children should be expected to achieve more for the same or a similar reward.
The PACE model can help a carer work successfully with a child.
PACE stands for:
|Playfulness||Using a light-hearted, reassuring tone – similar to parent-infant interactions – to creating an atmosphere of safety and reassurance where no one feels judged and your child feels able to cope with positive feelings.|
|Acceptance||Acceptance is about actively communicating that you accept the feelings, thoughts and internal struggles that are underneath the child's outward behaviour. It is not about accepting the behaviour itself but helping to teach the child to not feel ashamed by their inner turmoil.|
|Curiosity||Curiosity, without judgement, is how we help children become aware of their inner life. It's about wondering out loud without necessarily expecting an answer in return. Phrases like "I wonder if…" will help the child to put a name to their emotions and thoughts.|
|Empathy||Feeling a child's sadness of distress with them, being emotionally available to them during times of difficulty shows the child that they are not alone and that the adult are strong enough to support them both through it.|
(Sometimes 'L' for Love is included, making PLACE).
3. Minimum House Rules
All placements should have house rules, setting out expectations for how things are managed within the home. This should be explained to children, with the reasons for the rules and they should also know that that there are rules for everyone. They should not feel that they are being treated with less regard than other members of the household. Ideally children should know these expectations before they are placed.
These house rules should be recorded on the placement plan and in the safe caring document.
4. Managing Challenging Behaviour and De-escalation of Conflicts
All foster carers and residential staff will receive training in positive care and support of children, including training in de-escalating problems and disputes.
Conflict management should be used by foster carers and residential staff and should include the appropriate use of restorative practices that improve relationships, increase children's sense of personal responsibility and reduce the need for formal police intervention. This approach to care is designed to minimise the need for police involvement to deal with challenging behaviour and avoid criminalising children unnecessarily. Proactive and effective working relationships with the police should help to support and protect children.
Children should be encouraged and helped to develop skills and strategies to manage their own conflicts and difficult feelings through developing positive relationships with carers. There should be clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries for children.
Children should receive help to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. Foster carers and residential staff should respond with clear boundaries about what is safe and acceptable and seek to understand the triggers for behaviour.
Positive behaviour must be promoted consistently, with carers using effective de-escalation techniques and creative alternative strategies that are specific to the needs of each child and planned in consultation with them where possible.
Foster carers and residential staff will receive support on how to manage their responses and feelings arising from caring for children, particularly where children display very challenging behaviour, and understand how children's previous experiences can manifest in challenging behaviour.
Difficult or challenging behaviour in children can occur for a number of reasons, for example:
- As a way of expressing emotions;
- As a result of developmental delays or learning disability;
- As a result of attachment/relationship difficulties with staff/carers;
- Learned behaviours in which challenging responses have become habit in the face of frustration or anxiety.
It is helpful if staff and carers can understand the causes of the child's behaviour and provide the child with help and support.
When working with, or caring for, children with challenging behaviour it is useful to bear in mind the following:
- The age and emotional maturity of the child;
- That the aim of any positive behaviour management is to help the child learn how to behave more appropriately and not to punish or to purely keep the child under control;
- Challenging or undesirable behaviour should not result in emotional distance between the child and the staff/carer;
- No matter how difficult or challenging a child's behaviour, staff/carers should never resort to similar behaviour;
- The more staff/carers are able to understand a child's behaviour and are able to meet their needs in a consistent manner, the less likely they are to encounter difficulties with control.
Children need clear boundaries and to know what is expected of them.
The key points of a positive behaviour approach are:
- The ground rules are discussed with the child so that their views can be taken into account;
- Staff and carers should be honest about any non-negotiable issues, such as smoking on the premises;
- Rules need to be realistic and ideally phrased as a "do" rather than a "do not";
- Children may need to be reminded from time to time of the expectations regarding their behaviour and of why we have rules.
It is important to consider that a child may have disabilities that affect their behaviour, social skills, communication and understanding so require extra help with behaviour management.
Staff/carers need to be aware that children under pressure can have strong feelings of frustration, distress or anger. For example, acknowledging that a child's feelings are legitimate may help them to understand that their behaviour e.g. hitting out or swearing is not OK.
It is important to work with the multi-disciplinary team to work out a positive approach to supporting the child or young person with their behaviours. This plan should be followed by all to ensure that the child or young person receives consistent messages around what is expected. Ongoing support around behaviours may be needed to keep the child or young person safe and healthy.
5. Consequences
5.1 Guidance on use of Consequences
Consequences can be very effective but, before imposing them, think about it. Staff in residential care will be expected to apply restorative parenting principles when dealing with challenging behaviour as part of the concordat arrangements in Derby.
Most Children in Care have come to view themselves, and are viewed, as failures. They may have experienced inconsistent application of consequences as a form of abuse.
Before imposing consequences, carers should do all they can to support and encourage children to do well. If children do not behave acceptably, strategies should be adopted that are encouraging and rewarding.
Rather than noticing and sanctioning misbehaviour it is always better to notice and reward good behaviour - or any step in the right direction. For example, it may be more effective to allow a child to have use of a games console or TV at bedtime for getting up on time; rather than taking the TV away for getting up late. Same deal, different meaning!
The former is discouraging and causes resentment; the latter is encouraging, can improve self esteem and relationships between children and carers.
Be creative, think outside the box!
If children continue to behave in unacceptable ways, they should be reminded about what is expected and given further encouragement to get it right. If misbehaviour persists or is serious, effective use of reprimands can act as a disincentive or firm reminder. If this does not work, or may not, consequences may be effective.
Where consequences are used they must be reasonable and the minimum necessary to achieve the objective. Also, there should be a belief that the consequence will have the desired outcome - increasing the possibility that acceptable behaviour will follow.
If consequences are imposed, carers should apply the following principles:
- Consequences must be the exception, not the rule. A Last Resort;
- Consequences must not be imposed as acts of revenge or retaliation;
- Think before imposing the consequences; don't apply it in the heat of the moment;
- Consequences may only be imposed upon children for persistent or serious misbehaviour; where reminders and reprimands have already failed or are likely to fail;
- Consequences should only be used if there is a reasonable chance they will have the desired effect of making the point and in reducing or preventing further unacceptable behaviour;
- Before applying any consequence, make sure the child is aware that their behaviour is unacceptable and, if possible, warn them that consequences will be applied if the unacceptable behaviour continues;
- It is the certainty not the severity of consequences that is important;
- Consequences should only last as long as they need to and allow the child the opportunity to make a fresh start as quickly as possible.
5.2 Approved Consequences
The following consequences may be imposed upon children:
- If not part of an agreed strategy in the child/young person's Placement Plan, confiscation or withdrawal of a telephone or mobile phone in order to protect a child or another person from harm, injury or to protect property from being damaged;
- Restriction on sending or receiving letters or other correspondence (including the use of electronic or internet correspondence) in order to protect a child or another person from harm, injury or to protect property from being damaged;
- Reparation, involving the child doing something to put right the wrong they have done; e.g. a letter of apology, repairing damage or returning stolen property;
- Early bedtimes, by up to half an hour or as agreed with the child's Social Worker;
- Short term removal of equipment from their bedroom, as a consequence of inappropriate use for example the use of a TV or games console (e.g. 24hours removal of equipment);
- Loss of privileges, for example the withdrawal of the privilege of staying up late.
5.3 Actions that are Non Approved
The following actions are Non Approved, which means they may never be imposed upon children:
- Any form of corporal punishment; i.e. any intentional application of force as punishment, including slapping, punching, rough handling and throwing missiles;
- Any action relating to the consumption or deprivation of food or drink (with the exception of 'treats' such as sweets, take-away);
- Any restriction on a child's contact with their parents, relatives or friends; visits to the child by his or her parents, relatives or friends; a child's communications with any of the persons listed below*; or their access to any telephone helpline providing counselling or advice for children (N.B. This does not prevent contact or communication being restricted in exceptional circumstances, where it is necessary to do so to protect the child or others - see Family Time with Parents, other Adults and Siblings Procedure);
- Any requirement that a child wear distinctive or inappropriate clothes;
- The use or withholding of medication or medical or dental treatment;
- The intentional deprivation of sleep;
- The modification of a child's behaviour through bribery or the use of threats;
- Any action used intentionally or unintentionally which may humiliate a child or could cause them to be ridiculed;
- The imposition of any fine or financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum by way of reparation;
- Any intimate physical examination of a child;
- The withholding of aids/equipment needed by a disabled child;
- Any measure which involves a child in the imposition of any measure against any other child; or the sanction of a group of children for the behaviour of an individual child;
- Swearing at or the use of foul, demeaning or humiliating language or measures;
*The persons with whom the child may have contact, in relation to c. above, are:
- Any officer of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service appointed for the child;
- Any social worker for the time being assigned to the child by their placing authority;
- Any person appointed in respect of any requirement of the procedure specified in the Representations Procedure (Children) Regulations 1991;
- An Independent Visitor;
- Any person authorised by the Regulatory Authority e.g. Ofsted.
5.4 Recording of Consequences
If a child receives a consequence it should be recorded by the foster carer on their daily recording log. In foster homes if Time Out or Withdrawal is used, this must be set out in the fostering risk assessment or in the Behaviour Management Plans (as part of the Placement Plan for an individual child).
6. Searching
Carers are not permitted to conduct body searches, pat down searches, searches of clothing worn by children or of their bedrooms.
Should carers suspect that a child is carrying or has concealed an item which may place the child or another person at risk, they should try to obtain the item by co-operation/negotiation.
If carers suspect that a child is concealing an item which may place themselves or another person at risk, they must notify the child’s social worker/local authority or, in an emergency, the Police.
7. Serious Incidents and Use of Physical Intervention
In the event of any serious incident (e.g. accident, violence or assault, damage to property), carers should take what actions they deem to be necessary to protect children/themselves from immediate harm or injury; and then notify the agency immediately. Foster carers are offered training on Attachment and Behaviour which addresses the effects of trauma, different attachment styles and behaviours associated with this. Further training using the secure base model provides further guidance on managing behaviour and supporting children to regulate feelings and build on developing trusting relationships with adults.
If there is a risk of serious injury/harm or damage to property, carers should not use any form or Physical Intervention except as a last resort to prevent themselves or others from being injured or to prevent serious damage to property. If any form of Physical Intervention is used, it must be the least intrusive necessary to protect the child, carer(s) or others.
At no time should carer(s) act unless they are confident of managing the situation safely, without escalation or further injury.
The carers should endeavour to deal with as many of the challenges that are involved in caring for children without recourse to the involvement of the Police, who should only be involved in two circumstances;
- An emergency necessitating their immediate involvement to protect the child or others;
- Following discussion with the child's social worker and/or relevant senior manager from the local authority.
If any serious incident occurs or the Police are called, the child's social worker must be notified without delay and will then notify the relevant senior manager within the local authority and arrange for a full report to be made of the incident and actions taken. The Regulatory Authority (Ofsted) must also be notified. | https://derbycsc.proceduresonline.com/p_behav_man.html |
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Instructions: Peer Responses
125 Word Minimum
RESEARCH (Label this section)
- Teach the topic to students. Responses must add new information not previously discussed. Consider new factual information tied with critical thinking. Share interesting and current research on the topic.
- Use APA citations in the post to clarify sources.
- Do not simply summarize another student’s post and agree/disagree.
- Consider starting out posts with, “A research article I found said,” “Did you know,” or “Three things I found interesting were… .”
CRITICAL THINKING (Label this section)
- Pose new possibilities or opinions not previously voiced.
Sheralee redona
#37 Hypothalamus and body temperature: factors that cause variations in body temperature
Top of Form
Research:
As we’ve learned, the hypothalamus controls different portions of our body and one of them is that it regulates our body temperature. Our body temperature depends on when, where, and in whom it is measured, and it fluctuates about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit in a 24 hour cycle. (Saldin 2021 pg.999) For instance, in the early mornings, our body temperature tends to be at it lowest, while in the late afternoon, our temperature is a little higher.
The most essential body temperature are core and the shell temperature. The core temerature are the organs in the cranial, thoracic, and abdominal cavities. The best estimate of core temperature is obtainable with ease is the rectal; this is usually between 99-99.7 degrees Fahrenheit, but it can reach as high as 101 degrees Fahrenheit in active children and some adults. (Saldin 2021 pg. 999) The shell temperature is closer to the surface, mainly on the skin and oral temperature. Shell temperature also fluctuates as a result of processes that serve to maintain a stable core temperature. For example, heat that is loss from the body, the temperature would be slightly lower than a rectal. Adult oral temperatue ranges between 97.9-98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but the highest could go to 104 degrees Fahrenheit during hard exercise.
Bood circulation is also crucial to thermoregulation in that we depend on blood flow to carry metabolic heat from the body core to the shell; this leads to where it can be dissipated into the environment. If this process did not happen, we would die of hyperthermia as metabolic heat raises the core temperature beyond survivable range. (Saldin 2021 pg. 999)
Critical thinking:
Since most of my family members are in the medical field, they have taught me that in situations when a person is running a high temperature or a fevor, this would indicate that our body is fighting an infection that weakens the virus, and at the same time stimulates the immune response. When the immune system detects a presence of a virus in our body, it signals the hypothalamus to turn up the heat, and as a result this leads to a person experiencing a fever. It is crucial in those moments to montior our body temperature that way it does not spread to others or the infection worsens.
W.C 384
Reference:
Saldin, Kenneth. Anatomy and Physiology:The Unit of Form and Function. 9th Edition. McGraw Hill. | https://answerstohomework.com/peer-discussion-week4-sheralee-anatomy-and-physiology2-please-read-all-instructions-instructions-peer-responses-125-word-minimum-research-label-this/ |
The world runs on strong and profound leadership. After his recovery from PTSD and book detailing his journey, police officer Brian Knowler began reflecting on the leadership lessons, both good and bad, which helped him come back. These reflections, supported by conversations with accomplished public safety leaders, led him to conclude that leaders who truly care about the health and wellness of their teams should strive for ‘Capital L’ leadership. Capital L is driven by people, not profit, and those who fail to acknowledge the increasing impact of mental health issues on their teams will inevitably lose the confidence of those they lead. Brian captured these lessons in his second book, which illustrates Capital L leadership using real-life examples from both sides of the leadership desk. During the accompanying presentation, Brian tackles topics including meaningful conversations, knowing and supporting your team, empathy, self-care, living out loud, and how committing “career suicide” can be a fantastic career and personal idea. Mental health issues in the workplace will continue growing in both scope and severity. Modern leaders who wish to truly succeed must be willing to learn and practice skills that will let them successfully champion mental health issues impacting their teams.
PRESENTERS: Brian Knowler | Knowler Consulting
PP2 – Enhancing Community Based Services: A Collaborative Harm Reduction Approach
Our poster presentation will provide a project overview of the Community Harm Reduction Response Team: This project is funded through Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program and is led by the Street Health Community Nursing Foundation. The model is a collaboration that promotes and enhances community-based capacity for low threshold harm reduction services. The model relies centrally on engaging people with lived experience in programming. Anchored in multiple and highly experienced community service agencies, services are delivered at sites frequented by the key population, and offer a range of harm reduction supports, services and referrals.
The initiative has created a hub of expertise: training resources, support for organizational planning and change, shared data collection and opportunities for collective learning and quality assurance. Significant project outcomes include:
PRESENTERS: Frank Coburn | Street Health
PP3 – Responding to Opioid related emergencies: Perspectives from CMHA Ontario & Sudbury Manitoulin
This session aims to provide information related to the current opioid crisis in Ontario, address the harms related to opioids through the development of an overdose protocol that includes administering naloxone in the event of an opioid related emergency. The Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division, has developed a comprehensive resource that aims to equip community service providers with current, accessible and relevant information, including infographics and templates. The resource can be used to inform and develop an opioid overdose protocol to meet the specific needs of their organization in order to respond to opioid related emergencies. The session will provide a brief discussion of the CMHA resource and highlight the direct experiences from CMHA Sudbury Manitoulin. While naloxone has become increasingly accessible in Ontario, barriers for implementing an overdose protocol still exist for many organizations both within and outside of the MH/A sector. As a result, this session will also facilitate a dialogue with participants to discuss best practices and current challenges in responding to the opioid crisis.
PRESENTERS: Jean Hopkins, Marion Quigley | CMHA Ontario, CMHA Sudbury/Manitoulin
PP4 – Exploring issues, risks and opportunities for better care associated with social networking sites
The use of social media to share mental health and addictions services information and connect individuals has started to rise within the health sector. CMHA Ontario has developed a project which explores opportunities, risks and other issues associated with social media. This project examines possible implications on mental health and addictions issues for both social media users and service providers. This presentation will provide an overview of the first two papers in this series. The first explores the issue of problematic internet use. This topic provides an overview of reasons and risk factors associated with excessive internet use, and possible tools for mitigating these risks for both youth and adults. The second paper in this series looks at the opportunities for service providers to leverage social media to improve services. The potential uses for social networking sites for improvement include: timely client feedback, ability to provide client-centered options for support, and the potential to share QI projects and experiences across the community mental health and addiction sector. A key feature of this series is the focus on promising practices which makes each paper practical and resource-rich for those interested in learning more.
PRESENTERS: Jenna Hitchcox, Jean Hopkins, Stephanie Jones and Tasha Rennie | CMHA Ontario
PP5 – Opening the Documentation DORR to Client Recovery
Documentation is more than recording what occurs at appointments. Documentation provides the framework for clients to meet their recovery goals. This poster introduces a documentation system: the Domain Oriented Recovery Record (DORR) with a focus on Recovery Plans. Quality Improvement was a critical component of integrating Recovery Plans into the documentation process, which involved collecting data from clients: 100% of clients surveyed found the Recovery Plans helpful in meeting their recovery goals. Come check out our poster.
PRESENTERS: | CMHA- Cochrane Timiskaming
PP6 – Building blocks of quality: Youth and family engagement quality standards
Now more than ever, there is a focus on accountability in mental health and addictions services. With considerable variation in processes and approaches, ensuring quality across the system via quality standards has become critical. Quality standards ensure consistent practices, processes, data and client outcomes.
This poster presentation will document our journey to create quality standards beginning with youth and family engagement at a system-level within the child and youth mental health sector. We focus on how stakeholders have been engaged and the development process of quality statements and indicators. We provide our framework for how a provincial organization can support the implementation of these quality standards.
The work for roll-out has only just begun, so by using integrated knowledge translation and appreciative inquiry approaches, this workshop will inspire constructive discussions, ultimately harvesting knowledge for use regarding what the sector might need in implementation. Topics include what structures, processes, and resources should be in place for community-based agencies to move these standards into action. Discussions will give rise to critical elements that governing and accrediting bodies can use to better support overall system cohesion. Participants will have opportunities to provide input on implementation supports and share leading practices relating to quality standards.
PRESENTERS: Kristina Rohde | Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health
PP7 – Creating Meaningful and Effective Personal Resilience, Wellness and Positive Influence
This poster presentation is designed to help participates to improve challenging areas in their life to achieve greater health and vitality. The workshop will uncover the common myths and mistakes that impedes wellness. Participants will learn how the four key areas: Our Personal Psychology, Physical Body, Physical Environment and People Environment, influence our mindset and behaviours. These areas are easily identifiable and modifiable so that positive change can happen.
The poster presentation will also discuss the six human needs that motivates people’s behaviors and thoughts. The participants will discover what their top two driving needs are and how to align their need structure to overcome negative influences, habits and thoughts which impedes genuine fulfillment and growth. Participants will also be able to understand how human need psychology influences other people’s behaviours and subsequently the conflicts that can arise from that. The workshop will help participants to understand the process of changing human behavior and review how human needs psychology plays a role, not only in their life but also in clinical and personal interactions. Participants consequently will also walk out with effective tools that they can implement personally and with others so that they can create greater wellness in their lives.
PRESENTERS: Dr. Lalit Kumar Chawla | Family Physician, Adjunct Professor in Family Medicine
PP8 – Ensuring Excellent Crisis Services: Developing Common Integrated Service Delivery Models
Police have become the default agency for responding to individuals in crisis in the community, as they operate 24/7/365 and are mandated to respond to all dispatched calls (Government of Canada, 2010). Twenty years ago, St. Joseph’s Hamilton Healthcare (SJHH) and police partnered together to created the Crisis Outreach Assessment and Support Team (COAST), a secondary crisis response service. In 2013, this partnership expanded to address “in-progress” crisis calls, creating the first response Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT). Overtime, these models have been adopted across our LHIN and have spread across the province. The HNHB LHIN and SJHH are working collaboratively to create Integrated Service Delivery Models, guided by an established working group. This process will harmonize the original and current program designs across the LHIN, as well as the existing guidelines/standards for, and most recent evidence on MHA crisis services, ensuring excellent client experience.
PRESENTERS: Jenn Green | St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton/HNHB LHIN
PP9 – Fostering the Spread of HEIA: A Community of Interest
A group of stakeholders have formed a community of interest (CoI) to support the implementation of the Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) in Ontario. The objective of this CoI is to foster the use of HEIA by equipping healthcare providers, including mental health and addiction providers, with the skills and knowledge necessary to apply this impact assessment and to effect change in the quality of care provided to clients.
The HEIA CoI is an open group intended for policy makers, planners, researchers, and service providers who have an interest in HEIA and health equity generally. To achieve its aims, the CoI has implemented a number of initiatives since its inception, including webinars, newsletters, a website, and a champions group.
PRESENTERS: Mercedes Sobers & Michael Weyman | Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
PP10 – Prioritizing Quality Improvement in community mental health and addiction agencies: Lessons in driving improvement efforts
Leading improvement initiatives and projects takes hard word, dedication, and a continuous drive to learn more and be better. However, we know that QI leaders within community mental health and addiction agencies often face challenges related to narrowing down a range of quality issues impacting clients, limited resources, and struggles in motivating and engaging staff.
In this presentation, learn from improvement leaders in the community-based mental health and addiction sector on how they prioritize and select quality issues of focus within their agencies. You will also hear discussions related to the resources required to do QI well in community settings, as well as the time commitments required to embark on a QI initiative. With respect to engaging staff in QI, the leaders will share strategies they have found helpful to ensure that staff at all levels of the organization are included and heard throughout the improvement process.
PRESENTERS: Michael Dunn, Rina Short, and Susan Farrell | CMHA Ontario (E-QIP Team), CMHA Durham, and The Royal
PP11 – Getting in the Weeds: How Ontario’s Post-secondary Institutions are Responding to Cannabis Use on Campus
Canada has one of the highest rates of youth cannabis consumption in the world — among 15 to 19 year olds, about 23% use cannabis daily — but Canadian youth use less of other substances than youth in other countries. Legalization presents an opportunity to develop a health-focused response that aims to reduce the potential harms to people and communities associated with the use of cannabis, including unique harms and risks which emerge in campus settings. Since October 17, many post-secondary institutions have chosen to go smoke free or to disallow cannabis use on campus as part of larger substance-use frameworks or harm reduction efforts.
This poster presentation will explore: | http://cmhaontarioconference.ca/posters/ |
Background: Food consumption is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures. Adoption of healthy diets is suggested to be an option for less environmentally intensive food habits and improved public health. In particular, changes in meat consumption are believed to bring potential benefits. Objective: To quantify the impact of changes in meat consumption on the dietary contribution of nutrients, GHG emissions and on land requirement. Design: Scenario analysis is performed for three scenarios representing different variants of meat consumption in Sweden. The reference scenario is based on average Swedish meat consumption while NUTR-1 and NUTR-2 are hypothetical scenarios in line with prevailing dietary guidelines. The results are evaluated in relation to the recommended daily intake of nutrients, international climate goals and global capacity for sustainable expansion of agricultural land. Uncertainties and variations in data are captured by using Monte Carlo simulation. Results: Meat consumption in line with nutritional guidelines, implying an approximate 25% reduction of Swedish average intake, reduces the contribution of total and saturated fat by 59-76%, energy, iron and zinc by about half and protein by one quarter. Restrictions in meat consumption are most critical for the intake of iron and zinc, whereas positive effects on public health are expected due to the reduced intake of saturated fat. Aligning meat consumption with dietary guidelines reduces GHG emissions from meat production from 40% to approximately 15-25% of the long-term (2050) per capita budget of sustainable GHG emissions and the share of per capita available cropland from 50% to 20-30%. Conclusions: This quantitative analysis suggests that beneficial synergies, in terms of public health, GHG emissions and land use pressure, can be provided by reducing current Swedish meat consumption. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. | https://portal.research.lu.se/en/publications/sustainable-meat-consumption-a-quantitative-analysis-of-nutrition |
Indirectness in the Age of Globalization: A Social Network Analysis
- Authors: Terkourafi M.
- Issue: Vol 23, No 4 (2019): Politeness and Impoliteness Research in Global Contexts
- Pages: 930-949
- Section: Articles
- URL: http://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/view/22525
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-2019-23-4-930-949
Abstract
Indirectness has traditionally been viewed as commensurate with politeness and attributed to the speaker’s wish to avoid imposition and/or otherwise strategically manipulate the addressee. Despite these theoretical predictions, a number of studies have documented the solidarity-building and identity-constituting functions of indirectness. Bringing these studies together, Terkourafi 2014 proposed an expanded view of the functions of indirect speech, which crucially emphasizes the role of the addressee and the importance of network ties. This article focuses on what happens when such network ties become loosened, as a result of processes of urbanization and globalization. Drawing on examples from African American English and Chinese, it is argued that these processes produce a need for increased explicitness, which drives speakers (and listeners) away from indirectness. This claim is further supported diachronically, by changes in British English politeness that coincide with the rise of the individual Self. These empirical findings have implications for im/politeness theorizing and theory-building more generally, calling attention to how the socio-historical context of our research necessarily influences the theories we end up building.
1. Introduction By several accounts, ours is the age of globalization. Google’s Ngram Viewer, an online search engine that charts the frequencies of words in printed sources from 1500 to 2008 using several text corpora, provides us with a first indication of this. As Figure 1 shows, starting in the 1980’s, use of the term sky-rocketed, reaching an all-time high in the early years of the 21st century. Figure 1. Frequency of use of terms for “globalization” in Google’s database of English books (s/z spellings shown separately; retrieved from https://books.google.com/ngrams/ on 23 September 2019) Despite its recent popularity, the term “globalization” is actually almost a century old, having been introduced in the 1930’s in the field of finance to describe “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets” (OED, s.v. globalization). This meaning is still found in economics textbooks, where globalization is defined as “[t]he phenomenon of growing economic linkages among countries” (Krugman & Wells 2013: 128). The recent expansion of the term beyond economics is not unrelated to these macroeconomic processes. In combination with technological advances such as satellite communications, the advent of the internet, and the availability of multiple means of cheap travel, which have in turn enhanced transnational mobility, and enabled mass-scale travel and tourism, these processes are jointly responsible for the unprecedented interconnectedness of our lives in the early 21st century. This expanded understanding of the term is reflected in definitions of globalization as “an ever-increasing abundance of global connections and our understanding of them” (Barker 2012: 156) and as “the extension, intensification, and acceleration of consequential worldwide interconnections” (Sparke 2013: 3). This increased interconnectedness has distinct cultural consequences. These consequences have been variably described as homogenization or even Americanization - when globalization is seen as a one-way influence from US American models to the rest of the world - but can also involve the creation of new cultural resources, artistic trends, and language varieties emerging from the dialogue of the global with the local (Terkourafi 2010a). In whatever way one thinks of globalization, one thing is certain: the average person in most parts of the world today connects with more people and with more diverse people than ever before - whether one is geographically mobile oneself or not, social media and the transnational movement of people and goods can be counted on for this. This exponential increase in the number and diversity of people with whom we interact can also affect the quality of our interactions with them. More contacts between people can also mean shallower contacts, especially if we subscribe to the idea known as “Dunbar’s number”, after the British anthropologist who proposed it. According to Dunbar (1992), there is a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom we can maintain stable social relationships, and this number is around 150. Most of us have more than this number of “friends” in our Facebook accounts! This raises the distinct possibility that the new connections enabled by globalization are qualitatively different from the dense and multiplex ties of the social networks of the past. The change in the structure of our social networks brought about by globalization plays a central role in the argument developed in this article. Briefly, the argument goes as follows. While we may as a result of globalization connect with more people, these people are scattered across communities and we tend to know each person in one capacity only. This means that our social network ties with them are distinctly weak. This weakening can result in a shrinking of the common ground necessary to support indirect modes of communication, resulting in a shift toward more explicitness in conversation. The article is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the idea that, further to its strategic uses, indirectness can function recognitionally among members of a group. This notion of indirectness “by accident” is central to the argument developed in this article. Section 3 then goes on to outline the principles of social network theory from the field of sociolinguistics, highlighting how globalization can be one way of bringing about a weakening of social network ties. Section 4 lays out in more detail the hypothesis to be explored, while sections 5, 6 and 7 explore this hypothesis with reference to three case-studies from the existing literature on indirectness. These case-studies are drawn from different cultural and historical contexts: African American women’s use of indirectness, Chinese responses to compliments, and the rise of conventionally indirect requests in British English in the 19th c. These three case studies were chosen because they each involve a weakening, in different ways, of social network ties and allow us to observe the impact of this weakening on conversational styles. Compared with using studies from a single lingua-culture, the fact that these case-studies come from different cultural, linguistic and historical contexts yet still exhibit similar trends toward increased directness motivates us to seek a unified explanation for the observed changes, and is thus an asset of this meta-analysis. Finally, section 8 draws some implications of this analysis for the study of variation and change in pragmatics more generally. 2. Indirectness Indirectness in pragmatics has generally been defined as meaning something more or something different from what we say. This typically involves generating an implicature by violating or flouting one of Grice’s conversational maxims (Grice 1975). Indirectness thus understood is thought to be effortful for the addressee and used strategically by the speaker to achieve certain ends, which can include politeness (Brown & Levinson 1987), deniability (Pinker et al. 2008), expressing formality (Lakoff 1973), or stylistic prowess (Leech 1983). Note that this definition of indirectness is a formal rather than psychological one: it includes all those instances where what the speaker means is different from what her words mean (the literal meaning of an expression or ‘what is said’), irrespective of whether what she means is immediately transparent to her listener(s) (e.g., because of convention or habit). The above definition of indirectness has been claimed to capture only a small part of the full range of functions of indirectness in discourse (Terkourafi 2014). An expanded view of indirectness would also include “accidental” as well as “enabling” uses, with the latter capturing instances where indirectness might be the only option for the speaker, such as need-statements which are found among children’s earliest directives yet are formally indirect, or metaphors used to describe physical or emotional pain, for which there is often no literal counterpart (Figure 2). Figure 2. Proposed nomenclature for indirect speech (from Terkourafi 2014: 66) Of particular interest to the hypothesis explored in this article is the notion of indirectness “by accident” (see Figure 2), which refers to an utterance that becomes indirect ‘in the ears of the listener,’ so to speak, irrespective of what the speaker intended by it or was trying to achieve. This kind of indirectness has more to do with community and situational norms than with the speaker’s intention and occurs when community members are attuned to reading more into each other’s words than what is literally there. Hall (1976) defines such cultures as “high context cultures”. In such cases, indirectness becomes an interpretative reflex, or the default, expected state in conversation. While rationally based indirectness, the type of indirectness calculated according to the Gricean maxims as explained at the start of this section, is an individual-level phenomenon, indirectness as default is a community-level phenomenon. It is not (always) intentional or agentive but rather an element of the habitus, which Bourdieu (1990) describes as follows: The genesis of a system of works or practices generated by the same habitus (or homologous habitus, such as those that underlie the unity of the life-style of a group or a class) [...] arises from the necessary yet unpredictable confrontation between the habitus and an event that can exercise a pertinent incitement on the habitus only if the latter snatches it from the contingency of the accidental and constitutes it as a problem by applying to it the very principles of its solution. (Bourdieu 1990: 55; emphasis added) In the three case studies analyzed below, the event that “exercise[s] a pertinent incitement on the habitus” is indirectness, which, to the extent that it is automatically read into speakers’ utterances by listeners, can produce amplified interpretations that are taken for granted by speakers as well as listeners and can, in their mundanity, serve as a ‘secret handshake’ ensuring mutual recognition between them as cultural insiders. It is this type of indirectness “by accident”, which presupposes socialization and functions as cultural credentials of community belonging, that is likely to be affected - or rather, has no opportunity to develop - when social network ties become weakened, as can be the case under globalization (see the next section). Although this type of indirectness as communicative style has often been talked about in national-ethnic terms (e.g., Tannen 1981 for Greek, Hall & Hall 1990 for Germans, the French and Americans), the relevant “communities” in today’s world may be best understood as Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger 1991) bound together by practices rather than pre-conceived attributes. As Terkourafi (2019) writes, As national cultures are [... being...] redefined on new grounds (Pew Research Center 2017), variables other than country of origin, such as generational cohort, political affiliation, or professional expertise are gaining momentum in generating shared understandings and like-mindedness among people. The importance of these other factors explains at least in part why it is difficult to extrapolate from group norms to individual behaviours since “any results found [by aggregating data at the nation-level] cannot be applied to individuals living within these nations” (Fischer 2011: 5). An enactment view of culture provides an answer to this problem. In the practice-based understanding of culture advocated here, group-belonging is not presumed based on external attributes (e.g., nationality) but rather built from the bottom up, through specific behaviours and their having been interpreted in particular ways. (Terkourafi 2019: 1203-1204, original emphasis) Indirectness “by accident” as defined above and exemplified in the case studies that follow can be one among many practices that bind a community of practice together, making a tightly knit social network part and parcel of this particular type of indirectness. 3. Social network theory In social network theory, as applied to sociolinguistics by Lesley Milroy (1987) and further developed by, among others, Fagyal et al. (2010), our patterns of interaction with people we know form our social network, whose strength can be measured along two dimensions. Social network ties are dense in case the people we know also know each other, and they are multiplex if we interact with the same person in several different capacities (e.g., the same person is our neighbour, our co-worker, someone we socialize with, and a member of our family). Figure 3 provides diagrammatic representations of these two different measures of network strength. Figure 3. Diagrammatic representation of an individual X’s social network ties Black lines indicate ties between individuals. Blue arrows on the left are used to show that the individuals that X knows also know each other, so X’s network ties on the left are dense. The red dotted lines on the right indicate that X’s tie with Z is multiplex (X and Z know each other in many capacities) As these definitions make clear, the sheer number of people we know and the frequency with which we interact with each of them are irrelevant to the density and multiplicity of our ties. Spending a lot of time with the same person in the same capacity does not make our tie with that person a multiplex one, nor does knowing a lot of people who do not know each other make our social network ties denser. And although if a tie is multiplex this can result in increased frequency of contact, the opposite is not necessarily true: increased frequency of contact between two people, if it is always in the same capacity, does not increase the multiplicity of their tie. Social Network theory maps speakers’ patterns of interaction at a certain moment in time from an external observer’s perspective rather than the participants’ own. Thus, the fact that traditional network ties such as those of family or locality may now be conducted online and facilitated by the internet and social media does not mean that these ties are strengthened by becoming denser or more multiplex. They have simply been transferred to a new medium but this does not necessarily affect their strength, as this is measured in social network theory through the constructs of density and multiplicity, because these require different things: they require that the people we know also know each other and that we know each one in several different capacities. On the other hand, the possibility to meet new and more diverse people through both transnational movement and the internet does have specific consequences for the strength of these new ties. To the extent that these new acquaintances do not also know each other and that interaction with each of them remains limited to one rather than multiple capacities, the ties forged are distinctly weak. Social network theory aims, centrally, to explain language change. It does this by using patterns of interaction between people to explain differences in the distribution of linguistic variants among groups which are otherwise hard to explain because the groups are indistinguishable in terms of the abstract macro-social categories to which they are assigned by the researcher (e.g. differences between groups of working-class people, or between groups of women). Clearly, not all working-class people speak in the same way, nor do all women. Early sociolinguistic work, however, could not do justice to this within-category variability. Social network theory claims, in this regard, that the stronger one’s social network, the more vernacular norms they will display in their speech. Conversely, individuals whose social network ties are weak will not display a high proportion of vernacular norms in their speech but will tend to gravitate outward, toward more standard speech norms. The hypothesis forwarded in this article is inspired by this claim and applies it to a pragmatic phenomenon, the use of indirectness “by accident”. 4. The interface of social network ties and indirectness This article explores the impact of globalization on conversational resources and styles of interaction and specifically the extent to which conversational styles may be shifting toward increased directness in response to the weakening of social network ties caused by globalization. The particular hypothesis I wish to explore is that, when social network ties become less multiplex and less dense, the common ground between interlocutors correspondingly shrinks and this can have an adverse effect on the use of indirect modes of communication. A shift can then be expected to occur toward more explicit modes of communication because the common ground necessary to support indirectness is now missing. The relevant notion of common ground is taken from Clark (1986), who uses this term to refer to all the beliefs we can reasonably expect to share with others; in other words, what both parties in conversation, rightly or wrongly, take it that the other also knows. Common ground is a necessary prerequisite for communication and includes both personal common ground, that is, information we share with a particular person because of our direct personal experience with that person (as between friends), but also communal common ground, that is, information we share with someone (whom we may have never met before) because we take them to be members of a cultural community, where cultural communities are identifiable by their shared expertise. Because shared expertise is graded, ranging from central (assumed to be shared among all insiders) to peripheral (assumed to be shared by only some insiders), the contents of communal common ground also range from information about human nature (which we all have) through communal lexicons and information about cultural facts, norms, procedures (which can still be explained to an outsider as knowledge ‘that’) to ineffable background information, which is knowledge ‘how’ that cannot (easily) be explained to an outsider but must be experienced directly many times. This is characterized by Clark (1996: 110) as the “ultimate inside information” and it is the ‘know-how’ that only community insiders can be expected to have. The type of indirectness “by accident” introduced in section 2 falls under this type of knowledge. The idea that a weakening in social network ties can lead to a decrease in this type of indirectness is theoretically interesting because it is diametrically opposed to what received views about indirectness would have us expect. According to such views, as encapsulated for instance in the first-wave of politeness studies (Lakoff 1973, Leech 1983, Brown & Levinson 1987), under circumstances of weakened social network ties (e.g., increased Distance between interlocutors), indirectness, as a face-saving strategy affording interlocutors a convenient ‘out,’ should be prized and expected to increase. Contrary to this, the hypothesis now put forward is that indirectness is disabled and less available as an option among interlocutors who do not know each other well. Nevertheless, these two predictions are not necessarily at odds. Clearly, what are concerned are two different types of indirectness - individual-level or “strategic” vs. community-level or “by accident” - and once the differences between them, as explained in section 2, are understood, both may capture different aspects of the same complex phenomenon. Thus, while this hypothesis is in contrast with the face-saving understanding of indirectness in first-wave politeness studies, which perceived indirectness as exclusively strategic, it is in line with more recent analyses that highlight the variability in interpretations of indirectness across cultures and emphasize that understanding it as the ‘safest’ strategy is valid only for a narrow socio-cultural bandwidth of primarily Anglo speech styles (Grainger and Mills 2016). A similar argument about the impact of social network structure has been made regarding not language use but language structure. In recent work, Raviv et al. (2019) investigated whether user group size affects the systematicity of a language, with linguistic structure being explicitly defined as encoding a meaning consistently via the same form rather than variably via different forms. It emerged that smaller groups could afford more complex, less transparent (one-to-many) mappings of meanings to forms because their members got to know each other better. As the number of people with whom one uses a language grows, that complexity is lost and the mapping from form to meaning in that language becomes more transparent (or systematic). In other words, the language gains in transparency of form-to-meaning mappings when it is spoken between more people, who correspondingly interact less frequently with each other. Considering that indirect speech reduces the transparency of form-to-meaning mapping, these findings are in line with the hypothesis presented here. Before proceeding to present the empirical evidence for this hypothesis, two caveats are in order. First, it should be made clear that the claimed weakening in social network ties does not concern all of our network ties (as noted in section 3, the strength of some ties may remain unaffected), nor is globalization the only way in which such a weakening can come about. Globalization is just one way in which a weakening of social network ties can come about; urbanization is another, and there may be others. As such, what we are concerned with in this article is what happens to conversational styles when network ties are weakened in general and not only as a result of globalization. Indeed, of the three case studies discussed below, only one (Chinese compliment responses) can be seen as related to globalization, while the other two relate rather to the weakening of social network ties in the face of urbanization in the recent and more distant past. My goal, then, is not to provide definitive evidence for the specific hypothesis that globalization can result in increased explicitness in conversation but merely to establish this as a plausible hypothesis by showing how a weakening of network ties in general has led to a similar loss in indirectness in other contexts. This is not the final but rather the first step in that process, while the specific hypothesis concerning globalization clearly remains to be further investigated by means of empirical studies designed specifically for this purpose. Furthermore, while it will be argued that, as a result of a weakening of social network ties, increased explicitness can be expected, it is not thereby also argued that this is incontrovertibly the result of either parallel but internally-motivated cultural responses to increased interconnectedness of people and ideas or of the spread of mainstream American models in a dichotomous fashion. In view of the fact that increased explicitness is also a feature of the more ‘inductive’ - as opposed to ‘deductive’ - conversational styles associated with the US (or a generalized ‘West’; Scollon & Scollon 1995), it is possible that the shifts toward increased explicitness documented below are, at least in some cases, a cultural borrowing from mainstream American-dominated discourses. As globalization has been used to refer to both processes - the spread of American ways of doing things and the creation of new cultural resources in response to the needs of life in an interconnected world - this possibility does not weaken the hypothesized relationship between globalization and increased explicitness in conversational styles. On the contrary, to the extent that the two processes are facets of globalization that operate in tandem, being aware that they can lead to similar effects only adds to our reasons to expect that these effects will occur. In other words, the present article is open to a multiple causality account of the relevant phenomena. 5. Younger and older African American women’s indirectness in 1970’s Chicago For close to a decade, between 1974 and 1982, Morgan (1991) studied the conversational styles of three generations of African American women aged 18-72 living in Chicago, focusing on two types of indirectness, both potentially confrontational, identified in previous studies of African American discourse. Baited indirectness occurred when a speaker said something general which was taken by the audience to be specific or addressed to a specific person because of contextual clues. Pointed indirectness, on the other hand, occurred when a speaker said something to someone which appeared opaque or irrelevant in the current context and involved a ‘sham receiver’ different from the intended target, who could in turn be identified based on contextual clues. An example of baited indirectness occurred between two friends, when one invited the other over for a meal saying: (1) “if you’re not going to be doing anything, come by. I’m going to cook some chit’lins. (rather jokingly) or are you one of those Negroes who don’t eat chitl’ins? (cited from Morgan 1991: 427-428) to which the other responded rather indignantly that she had had enough of this “soul food” in her life and was only going to eat better quality food from now on. As the speaker’s subsequent discourse after the recipient had left the room made clear, this indignant response was taken by her as evidence that the recipient had read the underlined part of her utterance as an indirect criticism, an interpretation she was prepared to own up to despite not having intended her utterance in this way. An example of pointed indirectness, on the other hand, is given in (2): (2) A woman chose to wear an overly bright shade of lipstick to a party. She overheard a[nother] woman say, “Oh, I thought your mouth was burst.” to a man whose lips were in perfect order. (cited from Morgan 1991: 429-430) In this case, the woman’s utterance was clearly not referencing her male addressee and it is this incongruency between her utterance and the physical reality of the addressee that led the overhearing woman to interpret the utterance as a criticism of herself. This is an example of what Morgan calls “if the shoe fits”: what matters is not so much whether the speaker intended her utterance as a criticism as the fact that it was so interpreted, suggesting that it touched a chord with the overhearing woman who took it that way. In both examples (1) and (2) interpretation prioritizes community norms: what the audience understands counts as the utterance’s meaning that stays on the conversational record, irrespective of what the speaker may have meant by her utterance. Such uses of indirectness, according to Morgan (1991; see also Morgan 2010), constitute a distinct African American identity; they are part of the oral tradition of signifying through which speakers construct - both by performing and by recognizing it - their belonging in this community. As such, the goal that these uses serve is not primarily informational but rather an identity-related one. Even more interesting for our purposes is the fact that these intuitions were not uniformly distributed across the three generations of African American women that Morgan studied. As part of her project, she showed adaptations of actual stories like the exchanges above containing baited and pointed indirectness to African American women of different ages and to white women and asked them questions about what the speaker meant and the target of her remarks. African American women in their 40’s or older recognized both types of indirectness and were open to ambiguity and communally attributed interpretations of the speaker’s utterance, similar to the interpretations of the participants in the examples above. By contrast, African American women younger than 25 rejected these communally attributed meanings, despite recognizing them. As one of these younger women put it, she didn’t like to be responsible for “...anybody who comes along accusing me of saying something I didn’t actually say” (Morgan 1991: 440). In this respect, these younger African American women behaved more like the white women in Morgan’s sample, who likewise prioritized what the speaker herself meant. However, as Morgan is quick to point out, a crucial difference exists between the younger African American women and the white women from the same community: the white women focused exclusively on what the speaker meant and were unable to locate any further implicated meanings; the younger African American women, on the other hand, perceived the indirectness but resisted it. According to Morgan, the difference between African American and white women’s systems of communication is that the latter give priority to what the speaker means and find it permissible to reconstruct speakers’ intentions. For African American women, however, speaker intentions are much less prominent and responsibility encompasses not just those meanings which a speaker wishes to be credited with but also those which her audience attributes to her words - whether she intended those meanings or not. Speakers must choose their words carefully because they carry responsibility for everything their words can be understood to mean - speakers can’t turn around and deny their words later. Younger African American women fall somewhere in between. Notably, their interpretations, like those of white women, prioritize the speaker’s intention and speaker intentionality as the ultimate arbitrator of what an utterance means. This case study of women’s speech in the 1970’s in an urban setting shows community-specific modes of indirectness being rejected by the younger generation and a rise in individualism going hand in hand with a preference for speaker-based interpretations. That these were community-specific modes of indirectness is shown by the fact that white women living in the same area did not recognize them. And that their demise was a result of a weakening of social network ties in the sense of a loss in density and multiplicity is suggested by the answer of the young woman, who, despite recognizing the indirectness, refused to be held accountable for it. Her emphatic defense of her individuality is typical of those less connected to the core of their communities, who have correspondingly less to lose by distancing themselves from community norms. Morgan allows for this possibility when she writes that “another explanation for the young women’s responses to the survey is that [they…are] opting for the non-African American system. They may perceive their role and relationship to society as one where “hidden” forms of discourse are unsuitable” (1991: 441). Morgan leaves it open whether contact with white women, which would imply a weakening in the younger women’s social network ties as they would now be interacting with members of different communities who did not mutually know each other (loss in density), and potentially only in some capacities (loss in multiplicity), was a factor in this development but her analysis certainly suggests so. 5. Chinese Compliment Responses A loss of more indirect ways of communicating can be incurred not only by urbanization but also by globalization. This is shown by our second case study, which involves Chinese responses to compliments. Compliment responses pose a well-known problem for politeness theorists, which can be formulated as follows within Leech’s maxim-based framework (Leech 2014). In this framework, politeness generally involves giving value to Other while withholding value from Self. To Agree, then, with the compliment is to elevate Other’s assessment (and hence be polite) but also to elevate Self (and hence be impolite); while to Reject the compliment is to lower Self (which is polite) but also to lower Other’s assessment (which is impolite). In other words, responding to a compliment creates a clash between the two components of politeness, raising Other and lowering Self, which cannot both be satisfied at the same time. Different cultures resolve this clash differently: Anglo-cultures tend to Agree, Chinese cultures tend to Reject. Of these two strategies, the Reject strategy is indirect, since the speaker who uses this strategy is trying to communicate not disagreement per se but rather, through this disagreement, modesty. In other words, the recipient of the compliment doesn’t reject it out of disagreement with the speaker (which would amount to lowering Other and hence be impolite) but in order to appear modest (which amounts to lowering Self and is polite). Only if the complimenter recognizes the disagreement as ‘fake’ and motivated by modesty can the Reject strategy be perceived as polite. The Agree strategy, on the other hand, simply accepts the compliment and does not communicate this additional layer of meaning. As a compliment response strategy, then, Agree is not indirect. Compliment responses are a widely studied phenomenon in Chinese that has attracted scholars’ attention for some time (see, e.g., Chen 1993, Wang & Tsai 2003, Chen & Yang 2010, He 2012, among others). These works have identified three response strategies to compliments in Chinese: (i) Acceptance, (ii) Rejection, and (iii) Amended acceptance, which amounts to reformulating the compliment before accepting it. Generally, up until 2000 studies of Chinese compliment responses find an equal split between the Accept and Reject strategies or alternatively a preference for the Reject strategy (for instance, this was 95% in Chen 1993). This preference, however, shifts from 2010 onwards, when the Accept strategy begins to overtake the other two. Figure 4 charts the results of three different studies (Yuan 2002, Chen & Yang 2010, and He 2012), showing, in the case of He using an apparent-time methodology that compares younger to older generations, a shift from the Reject strategy to the Agree strategy. Using a range of methodologies including Discourse Completion Tests (DCTs), corpora, spontaneous observation, and exit interviews, different researchers have argued for a shift from the Reject strategy in older generations (before 1980) to the Accept strategy in younger ones. Figure 4. Comparison of Compliment Response Strategies in three studies (from He 2012: 46; pre-OPCG and post-OPCG stand for pre-One-Child-Policy-Generation and post-One-Child-Policy-Generation respectively) The Reject strategy in Chinese compliment responses, which was analyzed above as indirect, has been attributed to the Chinese norm of modesty, reflecting Confucian ethical norms. On the other hand, Accept has been attributed to a rise in individualism by some researchers (He 2012), to which others add foreign (American) influence (Chen & Yang 2010). Lin, Woodfield & Ren (2012) found a similar increase in compliments overall (both implicit and explicit), as well as a predominance of compliments about appearance, and went on to associate both trends with Western influence. Still others urge caution in interpreting these findings pointing out that the presence of third parties seems to make a difference (the Agree strategy is hardly ever used in the presence of third parties) and that methodology also has an effect: specifically, DCTs may boost acceptance (Xia, Yin & Lan 2017). Clearly, a closer look at a greater range of data from both bipartite and multi-party exchanges and using different methodologies is needed to settle this. Meanwhile, several researchers have suggested that a rise in individualism and self-confidence in generations from 1980 onwards goes hand in hand with the abandonment of an indirect strategy (Reject), which was dictated by and interpretable within community norms, in favor of a more transparent one (Agree), possibly under Western influence and as a result of exposure to foreign norms. As He (2012) writes, The finding that the post-OCPG [one-child-policy-generation] are much more likely to accept a compliment is an indication that their norms of politeness have deviated from those observed by the older generation. And it seems to indicate that, perhaps due to the dual influence of Western cultural values (cf. Chen and Yang 2010) and China’s emphasis on individual aspirations and attainments under the reform policies, the younger generation have become more concerned about presenting a new self-image and identity by displaying self-confidence and individualism through accepting compliments. (He 2012: 47) Taking these comments about an increase in self-confidence and individualism to reflect a weakening of social network ties, as it is hard to see how these traits could have occurred in the context of Chinese society without such a weakening, we can link the observed loss of indirectness in the retreat of the Reject strategy to a change, specifically a weakening, in social network structure. While more should be known about the networks of the subjects in He’s (2012) and Chen & Yang’s (2010) studies to confirm this, this interpretation gains some traction from a comment about the subjects in Chen’s earlier study, namely that since the subjects in his 1993 study lived in a place that was relatively closed to the outside world, they “probably represented the traditional social values such as modesty” (Chen & Yang 2010: 1959). This comment links the indirect Reject strategy with the stronger social network ties that tend to exist in a place “relatively closed to the outside world”, leaving open the possibility that once a community opens itself up to the outside world, a loss in communal norms of indirectness can be expected to occur. 6. From discernment directives to conventionally indirect requests in English The opening sentence of Leslie Hartley’s 1953 novel ‘The Go-Between’ reads: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”. This sentence is an apt reminder that similar shifts in conversational styles to those noted above, which are attributable to contemporary processes of urbanization and globalization, have also occurred in previous historical periods that underwent a loosening of network ties. The transition from the medieval to the modern period in England offers an example of this. Medieval England was characterized by a fixed social hierarchy, geographical immobility and strong community belonging. As Jucker (2012: 177) notes, “belonging to the network of the society and having good relations in this network were central values.” By contrast, “the idea of an individual’s psychological wants [was] not relevant” in this socio-historical context (Culpeper & Demmen 2011: 52). This was then a period of strong social network ties. According to Jucker (2012: 424), three types of politeness systems can be distinguished universally, of which a language may instantiate only some at a particular place and time. The first type is discernment politeness, which is not concerned with face-threat mitigation but relates to socially appropriate behavior guided by socio-cultural conventions. The second type is deference politeness, which relates to the use of titles and honorifics and thus overlaps with the discernment type; while the third type is non-imposition politeness, which employs strategies that give the addressee a choice and explicitly express non-intrusion and non-coerciveness on the addressee’s wishes. Based on honorific use during this period, Jucker (2012: 184) argues that Medieval England is characterized by ‘discernment’ politeness. Researchers have identified four different forms of Old English directives that were used during this period: directive performatives such as “I ask you to...”; constructions with a second person pronoun plus scealt/sculon; constructions with uton (= let’s) plus infinitive; and impersonal constructions with (neod)þearf (= it is necessary for x) (Jucker 2012: 179). Of these, the first two were used by those in a position of authority over their addressees, while the last two were common among those not in a position of authority, for instance, in religious contexts where humility and obedience discouraged the display of authority. By indicating one’s place in the social hierarchy, discernment politeness (as also proposed by Hill et al. 1986 and Ide 1989) thus reinforces the social hierarchy that it reflects. Things began to change from the 16th century onwards. Initially, the rise of the bourgeoisie (and concomitant notions of courtly behavior or curteisie) and a loosening of the grip of religion and fatalistic acceptance of one’s place in the world led to social mobility (Terkourafi 2011). Then, as technological progress took hold, industrialization and urbanization accelerated geographical mobility. Both types of mobility led to a break-down of established social networks. During this period, the older speaker-based forms that foregrounded the speaker’s authority or sincerity as grounds for granting the request began to be displaced by addressee-based forms (if you please) that foreground the listener’s right to non-imposition (Jucker 2012: 188). Supporting this claim, Culpeper and Archer (2008) found that if you please requests were among the most frequent in a corpus of English texts from 1640-1760. By the 19th century, under the influence of Romanticism, political, and economic liberalism, individualism became a positive value and was actively pursued in Victorian England. According to Culpeper and Demmen (2011: 61), “as social ties became weakened, the notion of privacy became stronger, and acquired positive value in the Victorian period. Th[is] notion is … of course related to negative face”. It is during this period that the conventionally indirect request forms Can you/Could you …? prevalent in present-day English started gaining ground. In written records, these occurred first in trial contexts in the 19th century and spread from the 1900’s onwards (Culpeper & Demmen 2011). These requests are arguably less indirect than the Old English forms which foregrounded the speaker’s authority or sincerity as grounds for granting the request. This is especially true of requests by those not in a position of power, who in previous times would have used either inclusive (‘let’s’) or impersonal (‘it is necessary’) forms for their requests leaving implicit the identity of the person(s) responsible for bringing about the content of the request. Can you/Could you…? forms, on the other hand, specifically reference the addressee and make explicit that this responsibility lies with them. They are therefore more transparent in this regard. The rise of the Can you/Could you …? request forms signals a shift from deference politeness to non-imposition politeness in (British) English. Like requests using please during the previous period, these ability requests orient to people’s individual abilities and rights to non-imposition, reflecting the period’s emphasis on the individual, which was a distinct outcome of the socio-historical conditions in 19th century England. This third case study, then, provides a further example where an attested weakening in social network ties (always in the sense of a loss in density and multiplicity) is accompanied by a shift toward less indirect, more transparent ways of speaking, this time from a historical perspective. 7. Summary and theoretical implications The three case studies reviewed in the previous sections - African American women’s indirectness, Chinese responses to compliments, and the rise of can you/could you...? requests in Victorian England - show community-specific conversational norms reflecting discernment being displaced by more transparent forms reflecting (and respecting) interlocutors’ individualism. Researchers have explained these shifts as the outcome of forces of urbanization and globalization affecting the relevant communities at a specific time. In social network theory, urbanization and globalization can be accounted for in a unified way as a loosening of network ties, which, I hypothesized, promotes increased explicitness in conversational styles. The three case studies discussed in this article support this hypothesis. This social network explanation for the shifts in pragmatic strategies noted above aligns pragmatic change (change in conversational styles) with other types of language change, that have been shown to be affected by social network structure. Specifically, researchers have posited that peripheral members in a network (‘loners’) are needed to introduce new forms and central members (‘leaders’) to diffuse them and help stabilize the use of some forms over others (Fagyal et al. 2010). That in the case of the shifts in pragmatic strategies discussed above it is specifically indirect forms that are replaced by more explicit and transparent ones is an interesting addition to this framework from the perspective of pragmatic change. This suggestion seems reasonable if we consider that peripheral network members, that is, those with weak ties to their networks, are also those who have the least opportunity to develop common ground with other members of the network. As common ground is necessary to support default or “by accident” (rather than calculated, strategic) indirectness, our ability to read through others’ lines can become curtailed if our social network ties are weak, as can happen under the impetus of globalization. Although we are becoming members of an increasing number of networks, we remain peripheral members of those networks and thus do not get the chance to develop the common ground with other members of the network that would allow us to engage in default indirectness with them. Clearly, a lot more empirical work is needed to test and further elaborate this hypothesis with new empirical evidence specifically from the point of view of globalization. An interesting question in this regard is whether the hypothesis presented here can help explain prevailing modes of directness or indirectness found in digitally mediated communication. Contrary to the received view that digitally mediated communication (DMC) is characterized by anonymity and hence limited mutual availability of common ground between interlocutors, it is probably more accurate to acknowledge that common ground in DMC can be domain specific and is often interest-driven, as shared among, for instance, members of a fraternity, leisure or professional group: members of an online group of amateur car mechanics or baby-wearing moms can share a lot of common ground specifically about the activity that brings them together, while coming from different walks of life and being different in many other respects. How does that affect the emergence of default indirectness online and our capability for inference in online environments more generally? A reasonable prediction here is that the existence of domain-specific common ground will enhance chances of default indirectness and our ability for more accurate inference pertaining to that domain only, while if we shift to a new domain the interactional advantages afforded by this common ground are lost. This is a prediction that can be empirically tested in future research. The analysis presented here also has some implications for theory building which are worth highlighting. Commenting on their corpus findings from 19th c. British English, Culpeper and Demmen (2011: 51) argue that: “the individualistic emphasis of Brown and Levinson is not simply a synchronic cross-cultural peculiarity of English but a diachronic cross-cultural peculiarity within the history of English”. Their comment is reminiscent of an earlier remark by Goffman (1971), who noted that: If we examine what it is one participant is ready to see that other participants might read into a situation and what it is that will cause him to provide ritual remedies of various sorts [...], then we find ourselves directed back again to the core moral traditions of Western culture. And since remedial ritual is a constant feature of public life, occurring among all the citizenry in all the social situations, we must see that the historical center and the contemporary periphery are linked more closely than anyone these days seems to want to credit. (Goffman 1971: 184-5) The lesson to be learnt from all this is that the surrounding socio-historical context of our own research inevitably influences the theories we end up building: like language use itself, theory-building is also situated. Brown and Levinson’s theory, which has been criticized for its emphasis on face as an individual’s wants, was rooted in a Foucauldian way in the cultures of its proponents. This is not to deny that they also analyzed cultures other than their own but simply to highlight that in doing so they analyzed them through the lens of their own cultures rather than through the lenses of those cultures themselves. In our quest for theoretical generality, our best line of defense is to analyze empirical data from different parts of the world in close conjunction with their socio-historical contexts as a way of widening our theoretical toolkits and the frameworks we can use them to build. If our goal is to study human nature in all its possible expressions, emic explanatory analyses by analysts who are themselves practitioners of the practices they analyze are sorely needed.
Marina TerkourafiLeiden University Centre for Linguistics
Email: [email protected]
Van Wijkplaats 4, 2311 BX Leiden, The Netherlands professor and chair of sociolinguistics at Leiden University
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scope:
This International Standard specifies mechanical tests for milking machine installations in order to verify compliance of an installation or component with the requirements of ANSI/ASABE AD5707:2007. It also stipulates the accuracy requirements for the measuring instruments.
This International Standard is applicable for testing new installations and for periodic checking of installations for efficiency of operation. Alternative test methods may be applicable if they can be shown to achieve comparable results.
Test procedures described in Annex A are primarily for testing in the laboratory. An example of a field test procedure which can reduce the time and effort involved in testing is given in Annex C and a corresponding test report in Annex D. | https://standards.globalspec.com/std/14346197/asabe-ad6690 |
Publishers are seeing another big decline in reach on Facebook
The Facebook anguish continues. A Medium post investigating declining Facebook reach has set off the most recent alarm bells among publishers. Kurt Gessler, deputy editor for digital news at the Chicago Tribune, posted that since January, the Tribune has seen a significant drop in the reach of its posts on Facebook, despite having grown its fan base.
The post sparked a sigh of validation across publishers as others chimed in on social media that they’re seeing similar declines.
@kurtgessler This looks somewhat familiar to me as well. It's not just you.
— rob blatt (@robblatt) April 19, 2017
@whet @kurtgessler This is great @kurtgessler – I haven’t crunched the #s yet but our FB reach is definitely down. And we do have FBIA enabled.
— Bettina Chang (@bechang8) April 18, 2017
Facebook’s news feed algorithm changes have been part of publishing reality for many years. But to Matt Karolian, director of audience engagement at The Boston Globe, “last month was probably the worst we’ve had in reach in about a year. The fact everyone else is seeing it is a little bit troubling.”
Aysha Khan said Facebook reach has also been sliding at the Religion News Service, where she’s social media editor.
“Reach spiked in the summer, and we started hitting 15, 25K reach on bigger posts that were polarizing,” Khan said. “It wasn’t just political posts, but any kind of interviews. Anything that had potential to get a big reaction got a big reaction. But then we noticed that kind of stopped, and by January, it was just gone. Now we’re worse off than we were to start with.”
The change has happened even as RNS has been doing more video, including live video, and photos, things that Facebook has encouraged. Khan said RNS is still trying, though, with plans for more regularly scheduled live video and videos generally.
There are so many factors that go into how much reach a post gets, from the frequency of said posts to the subject matter to the levers Facebook is pushing, so theories about the declines abounded. One was that the decline was local to Chicago. Other publishers in other markets reported the same trend, though.
Brandon Doyle, CEO and founder of Wallaroo Media, a social media consulting firm, said he’s seen declining organic reach in the first quarter across about 20 publishers he tracks. He speculated that Facebook is suppressing publishers’ organic reach so publishers will spend more with Facebook to promote their posts. Facebook also could be in the middle of another algorithm tweak that it’s yet to announce publicly, he said.
Other popular theories were that Facebook’s preference for video over text posts and for publishers that are using its Instant Articles format over regular links is disadvantaging some. Facebook hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
Others wondered if reach is declining for some because people are getting tired of reading about politics (“I know people who have literally unliked all the news sources they used to follow pretty religiously — maybe Facebook is responding to that,” Khan said) or Trump is raising the bar for news.
@tylrfishr @kainazamaria @kurtgessler My guess on this: everything is spikier in Trumpworld. A broad pub is having more things squelched to focus on "hotter" stuff
— Alexis C. Madrigal (@alexismadrigal) April 18, 2017
Lifestyle sites offered some evidence of these theories. LittleThings has been pushing hard into video, and March was its second-highest traffic month of all time, which reflects continued strong Facebook referral traffic, said Joe Speiser, co-founder of LittleThings. (LittleThings also attributes some of its success to A/B testing on Facebook, a step he says many don’t do.) “Facebook’s made very clear video is a priority,” he said. “You can go through the feed yourself. Video is everywhere.”
Thrillist chief creative officer Ben Robinson said he thinks that Thrillist’s recent emphasis on video has helped lead to an all-time high in Facebook referrals, along with the adoption of Instant Articles. While a lack of political coverage hurt the site during the run-up to the election, he said it may be seeing the flip side of that now.
In a follow-up email, Gessler said he’s working with Facebook to try to figure out what’s going on, but that he didn’t think the decline was related to politics news burnout or the Cubs’ World Series win and post-series lull. The shift seems too big to just chalk up to stories’ subject matter, he said.
“Maybe it’s a little of everything,” he concluded in his post.
Whatever the reasons, the post brought a fresh round of soul-searching and hand-wringing over the hold Facebook has over publishers’ audience. “There’s a large segment of the population that gets most of its news from Facebook,” Karolian said. “If there’s been an overall decline in high-quality news that’s circulating on the platform, that is generally concerning from a philosophical standpoint.”
If it’s true that Facebook’s preference for video is a factor, few publishers are equipped make the switch to video, nor is it clear that they should try to make a hard shift to a medium they’re inexperienced in and which most publishers can’t monetize on Facebook anyway. And just doing more video perpetuates publishers’ dependence on Facebook, which can change its algorithm again at any time, as it’s done many times in the past.
To some, the issue points to the need for publishers to diversify their audience sources through search, direct traffic and newsletters, while others registered resignation.
“In my mind, we’re kind of at the mercy of the algorithm,” Khan said. “But there’s a lot of stories that are getting underwhelming responses that readers can’t even see. It is this constant thing, trying to figure out how to incorporate it into your workflow. At one point they were pushing images, and then they were pushing video, and live video. I don’t think it’ll ever stop.”
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Member ExclusiveDigiday+ Research: Where publishers see revenue growth in 2022
Publishers with diversified businesses are less optimistic about ads growth than those focused purely on advertising.
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Why media unions are demanding to participate in management’s return-to-office planning
Media unions demand management come to the bargaining table over RTO plans and are fighting back against office return mandates and dates. | https://digiday.com/media/publishers-seeing-another-big-decline-reach-facebook/ |
GMB London, the union for workers at London Airports, welcomed the commitment by the UK Aviation industry to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
Gary Pearce, GMB regional officer for airport workers, said:
“GMB London supports the UK meeting a target for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“GMB welcome this commitment by the UK aviation industry to meet a very challenging target for the industry to cut target emissions to net zero by 2050.
“The plan is to achieve this aim by a mix of new green technologies and new green fuels and in addition by the offsetting of carbon emissions by planting trees.
“GMB London will engage with the industry to discuss each of these proposals and examine the scope for job creation that they entail particularly in other regions of the UK.
“GMB welcome this focus on cutting carbon emissions by the industry rather than cutting the ability of passengers to travel by air. Air travel has played a fundamental role in creating our contemporary networked world.
“GMB does not support those who want to ration air travel by a general strategy of pricing of it out of reach of ordinary people and available only to those with way above average incomes as they are turning the clock back.
“On the alternative frequent flyer tax it is very difficult to see it could be operated without the introduction of a central government held data base containing the details of each and every flight taken by all citizens. This would be a very big ‘big brother’ step to take - particularly if there are viable other alternatives to avoid such a drastic step.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
PLEDGE TO CUT AVIATION CARBON EMISSIONS TO NET ZERO BY 2050
04 Feb 2020
By Neil Lancefield, PA Transport Correspondent.
The UK's aviation industry has pledged to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
More efficient aircraft and engines, sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsetting schemes are among the measures featured in a Decarbonisation Road-Map.
The plan also includes modernising airspace and streamlined ground operations.
It was published by Sustainable Aviation, an alliance of firms and operators such as Heathrow Airport, British Airways, easyJet, Airbus and Nats.
It states that the sector can accommodate a 70% growth in passenger numbers by 2050 while reducing net carbon emissions levels from 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year to zero.
The aviation industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon emissions due to environmental concerns.
Last week, US firm Wright Electric - which is collaborating with easyJet to manufacture an electric airliner - announced it has started engine development for a 186-seater plane, and hopes to begin test flights in 2023.
British Airways is investing in a scheme to generate sustainable jet fuel from household and commercial waste.
Sustainable Aviation chairman Neil Robinson acknowledged that climate change is a "clear and pressing issue" for people, businesses and governments around the world.
He went on: "We know aviation emissions will increase if decisive action is not taken, and that's why UK aviation today commits to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, through an international approach, working with governments around the world and through the UN.
"The UK is well positioned to become one of the leaders in the green technologies of the future."
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "The fight against climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the modern world, but the aviation sector's commitment today is a huge step forward in creating a greener future.
"Aviation has a crucial role to play in reducing carbon emissions, and with the help of new technologies, renewable fuels and our continued international co-operation through the UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, we'll be able to strike that balance, creating a greener and cleaner future." | https://www.gmblondon.org.uk/news/gmb-welcome-uk-aviation-aim-of-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050.html |
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Protecting children in humanitarian action
During violent conflicts, natural disasters and other emergencies, children are the first victims.
Children pay the highest price of humanitarian crisis. Armed conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies expose millions of girls and boys to unthinkable forms of violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect.
Many children are forced to flee their homes, some torn from their parents and caregivers along the way. In conflict, children may be injured or killed by explosive weapons and mines, including during attacks on schools and hospitals. They may be recruited by armed forces or armed groups.
Especially for girls and women, the threat of gender-based violence soars. And sexual exploitation and abuse at the hands of humanitarian workers, although rare, may also occur.
Through it all, children lose critical health, education and protection services. Their mental health and psychosocial needs are often neglected, with devastating long-term effects.
Today, the average humanitarian crisis lasts nearly a decade – robbing girls and boys of their childhood and their future.
Key facts
- In 2019, the number of countries experiencing conflict reached the highest it has been since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
- A three-fold rise in verified attacks against children occurred between 2010 and 2019 – an average of 45 violations a day.
- Children account for over half of those killed or injured by landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
- In 2019, 3.8 million children were displaced by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million were displaced by disasters linked mostly to weather-related events.
Explore topics
Explosive weapons and remnants of war
Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), landmines, bombs and other remnants of war kill and injure thousands of children each year.
Mental health and psychosocial support
Children exposed to conflict, natural disasters and other humanitarian crises can suffer severe psychological and social consequences.
Gender-based violence in emergencies
Gender-based violence reaches every corner of the globe. In emergency settings, threats soar.
Family separation during crisis
All children have the right to grow up safe with their parents, caregivers or loved ones.
Children recruited by armed forces
Thousands of boys and girls are used as soldiers, cooks, spies and more in armed conflicts around the world.
UNICEF’s response
UNICEF is a global leader for child protection in emergencies. We partner with governments, international organizations, and communities themselves to keep children from harm’s way, support girls and boys at risk, monitor grave violations, and provide care and protection for children who have experienced abuse or violence. We also develop evidence-based technical standards, guidance and advocacy strategies to support child protection workers on the ground.
Our efforts focus on:
- Providing leadership and coordination for all actors involved in child protection.
- Strengthening child protection systems to prevent and respond to abuse and exploitation in humanitarian situations. We strengthen the social service workforce, support families and equip community-based groups to help keep children protected.
- Monitoring and reporting grave violations of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. Through the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, UNICEF gathers data on grave violations against children. The documentation and verification of violations help UNICEF and other UN bodies to advocate for the protection of children and the delivery of emergency assistance, engaging with armed forces for children to be treated first and foremost as victims.
- Releasing and reintegrating children associated with armed forces and armed groups. We work with governments and other partners to prevent child recruitment, and to support the release and reintegration of all children who are used by armed forces. Girls and boys need holistic, community-based reintegration services tailored to their individual experiences.
- Preventing and responding to family separation, including by supporting family-based care for all unaccompanied and separated children, and reunifying separated children with their families quickly and safely, wherever possible.
- Addressing gender-based violence by ensuring that high-quality, holistic services are accessible to all survivors, and by promoting the safety and resilience of women and girls.
- Promoting mental health and psychosocial support by providing community-led services adapted to local contexts and implemented with the active participation of affected children, their caregivers and families.
- Preventing child injury and death from landmines and explosive remnants of war by leading technical guidance and programming on risk education, connecting victims to services, and advocating for ratification of and compliance with international humanitarian law.
- Protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers by scaling up safe reporting channels and accessible response services. | https://www.unicef.org/protection/protecting-children-in-humanitarian-action |
Observes and documents cardiac rhythms in all patients; differentiates irregular rhythms from regular rhythms, and premature beats from escape beats.
Notifies RN of rate and rhythmic changes following established criteria and guidelines.
Documents rhythm strips every 8 hours, or whenever rhythm changes occur. Calculates heart rate, measures cardiac cycle intervals (PR, QRS, QT), and interprets rhythm.
Identifies correct functioning of pacemakers and notifies RN whenever malfunctions occur, following established guidelines.
Maintains telemetry equipment and supplies. Changes telemetry batteries and telemetry pouches as needed.
Must successfully complete cardiac rhythm interpretation exam. | https://www.aamccareers.org/job/9458363/telemetry-technician-annapolis-md/ |
Thin Film Solar Cell
A thin-film solar cell (TFSC), also called a thin-film photovoltaic cell (TFPV), is a solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers (thin film) of photovoltaic material on a substrate. The thickness range of such a layer is wide and varies from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers.
Many different photovoltaic materials are deposited with various deposition methods on a variety of substrates. Thin-film solar cells are usually categorized according to the photovoltaic material used:
- Amorphous silicon (a-Si) and other thin-film silicon (TF-Si)
- Cadmium telluride (CdTe)
- Copper indium gallium selenide (CIS or CIGS)
- Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) and other organic solar cells
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Possible combinations of Group-(XI, XIII, XVI)
Read more about Thin Film Solar Cell: History, Thin-film Silicon, Organic Solar Cells, Efficiencies, Volumes and Prices, Production, Cost and Market, Installations, Time Award, See Also
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Story updated on Wednesday, April 5
Historic bricks piled by the side of Library Way, Uckfield, next to the Picture House cinema have finally found a new home.
They were removed from the lower High Street last summer during the roadworks with the hope they could be preserved.
Their future took some months to determine but Monday night’s full meeting of Uckfield Town Council heard the problems had been resolved.
Councillors were told bricks “were provided to the Rotary Club, New Town Action Group and two members of the public for re-use within the town”.
The report from council officers went on: “The remaining bricks were provided to the Millennium Green Trust.
“Now the bricks have been cleared, the area will be brought up to standard.”
• Town clerk contacted Uckfield News at lunchtime on Wednesday to say work wasn’t quite complete but hopefully in the next couple of weeks all would be removed to their new homes.
Read more below as the story has developed.
Story updated on Tuesday, February 21: One last effort will be made to use historic bricks removed from Uckfield High Street during the roadworks before they are possibly turned into rubble.
Cllr Chris Macve, Trust Independent, Uckfield North, said he would ask the town’s Rotary Club if it wished a wooden planter at the railway station to be replaced with one made from the “double-height” bricks that were near Carvills.
‘Throw them in the bin’
He told last night’s council meeting: “You will probably remember when this first cropped up I said ‘throw them in the bin’ because I thought it was a total waste of time, effort and money.
“But, we have got them and I think we should probably so something with them.”
Cllr Macve said he was willing to speak to Rotary. “I am quite happy to do it, if the council will buy the materials and use what can be used there. It would look quite nice in that location,” he said.
Cllr Helen Firth, Conservative, Central Ward, wondered whether the New Town Action Group would like the bricks to make a path at Selby Meadow.
Interest
The Millennium Green and WI have also expressed an interest.
Those groups will be given first “pick” but town clerk, Holly Goring, emphasised that the bricks needed to be removed from the side of Library Way.
“This is the difficulty. They have been there for some time now. They will need to be collected and stored somewhere while work is under way.
“We cannot leave them in their current location much longer,” she said.
If the community use option fails, members of the public would be invited at a specific date and time to remove any bricks they wanted in a supervised operation. Any left would be removed and destroyed.
Rubble
Our story on Monday, February 20: Options for the future of historic bricks removed as double-height kerbs from Uckfield High Street include turning them to rubble for use on the Millennium Green at Ridgewood.
Another possibility would be to clean up one or two of them up for display, offer some to members of the public, and put the rest into a skip for disposal.
Uckfield town clerk Holly Goring says in a report which is going to a full council meeting tonight that the council has received interest from a couple of local residents in the past few weeks who “wished to obtain a number of the bricks for projects on their property (ie within their gardens etc)”.
The town council asked for the bricks to be saved during works to improve Uckfield High Street and they have since been stacked in Library Way next to the Uckfield Picture House where they were described by one town councillor recently as “an eyesore”.
Substantial cleaning
The town clerk says Bluebell Railway successfully re-used granite kerbs from the High Street but were unable to use the bricks as they “needed substantial cleaning and attention, to bring them up to the required standard”.
Councillors had suggested they might be used for planters to be maintained by Brighter Uckfield in place of timber ones; be used as a surround on the base of the red telephone kiosk, bought by the council for a still-to-be-decided use in the town; or for re-coping raised sloping beds outside Hartfields.
Ms Goring says in her report to the council: “Unfortunately the bricks would need cleaning and close attention before they could be used within any local projects and it is still unknown if the bricks would survive substantial cleaning.”
She adds the relocation of the red telephone box is still unconfirmed and there is no suitable safe and secure location for the storage of the bricks in town council premises at the present time.
Rubble
The Millennium Green Trust has however, advised they would be happy to take the bricks to use as rubble for one of their future projects, and “this would enable the bricks to be returned to their alleged origins at the Uckfield brickworks”.
She says it is estimated there are in the region of 1,000 to 1,400 imperial size bricks on five pallets outside Uckfield Picture House.
There are a mixture of bricks covered with lime mortar and cement mortar and the council has been told it would be “very difficult” to remove the cement mortar and the process could result in a number of the bricks being broken.
Local salvage and reclamation yards have advised the bricks aren’t suitable for them.
Hardcore
The town clerk says in her report that a skip company has said that to remove the “hardcore” would cost £165, plus VAT.
She recommends:
- the town council retain at least one or two bricks for heritage purposes and display these within the glass cabinets of the council chamber;
- promote and advertise a set time in which local community groups and individuals can safely collect the bricks for their own re-use – with oversight from the town council’s grounds staff;
- if there are any bricks remaining, that they be disposed of safely using the accurate skip size and collection.
See also: | https://uckfieldnews.com/historic-uckfield-bricks-3/ |
We believe that learning is essential to DEIJ work.
So we have pulled together a working archive of some of our favorite readings, activities, media and tips & tools. As we learn about and gather more resources, we will upload them here. You can filter by subject and then resource type below (activities, media, readings, tips & tools).
Environmentalism’s Racist History
This article in the New Yorker discusses the how racist ideologies are intertwined with the creation of the conservation movement in the early 20th century. It also provides historical links to the present that show how the environmental movement has not focused on the needs of communities of color. For more read here.
The Environmental Movement Needs to Reckon with Its Racist History
This article calls for the contemporary environmental movement to address a deeply imbedded history of racism, which dates back to early conservationists, like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, who were also white supremacists. They also detail the history of the environmental justice movement and how contemporary environmental organizations and policy goals need to do more to address the tenants of environmental justice. For more read here.
‘Bees, not refugees’: the environmentalist roots of anti-immigrant bigotry
This article discusses a long history of “eco-xenophobia” in America by drawing connections between the motivations behind the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, anti-immigration sentiments in the Sierra Club and early conservationists. For more read here.
Redwoods and Hitler: the link between nature conservation and the eugenics movement
This article explores the often-overlooked links between early 20th century conservation and eugenics. They discuss how three prominent conservationists, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Madison Grant and John C. Merriam, who were responsible for the preservation of the redwoods in California, were also leading figures in eugenic thought. For example, Madison Grant wrote a book called “The Passing of the Great Race”, which Hitler later referred to as his “bible”. For more read here.
What Does It Mean to Decolonize Design?
This article defines decolonization and offers suggestions on how those in the design industry can engage in decolonization practices through their work. The author also provides a list of resources for further reading on the subject. For more read here.
Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History
This articles discusses the history of racism and exclusion in American National Parks, in particular at Shenandoah National Park, which had segregated facilities under Jim Crow Laws. The author provides examples of how the National Parks Service is beginning to reckon with this long history of exclusion in their efforts to make National Parks for inclusive. For more read here.
Younger, college-educated black Americans are most likely to feel need to ‘code-switch’
This article explores data on code-switching from the Pew Research Center, breaking it down by race and education level. For more read here.
“Now You Can’t Just Do Nothing”: Unsettling the Settler Self within Social Studies Education
This article shows how social science education often reinforces settler-colonial narratives and provides tools for how educators can work to “unsettle” this narrative in their teaching by challenging the way Indigenous history is taught and reckoning with their own personal connections to settler-colonialism. For more read here.
Color Brave Space – How To Run a Better Equity Focused Meeting
This resource from Equity Matters provides a framework for how to create a equitable community norms in a meeting space. They argue that standard “safe space” norms for meeting spaces end up maintaining existing norms making white participants too comfortable, rather than challenging them to create an equitable environment. For more read here.
Native Knowledge: What Ecologists Are Learning from Indigenous People
This article explores how scientists are increasingly learning from Traditional Ecological Knowledge to understand how climate change is effecting the natural world. They provide examples of collaborations between scientists and indigenous communities and show how ecological research could benefit from using a more holistic lens. For more read here. | https://theavarnagroup.com/resources/page/4/ |
DEBARRO ARQUITECTURA is an interdisciplinary study group in the field of bio architecture at the service of the human being.
Its main focus is the creation of architectural projects aiming the integration and respect for the environment, as well as economic and human sustainability. They use natural materials, with earth being the main material used.
Using passive solar architecture and natural materials, they create living spaces that adapt and regulate interior environment, while maintaining adequate comfort for the human being.
Bio architecture focuses on 4 levels:
- Environment: Architectural projects must contemplate its surroundings. Bioclimatic designs have a commitment to climate and implantation site; and include the analysis and understanding of the physical space, promoting identity, vitality and harmony.
- Form: Study of organic morphology adapted to the human being (their proportions, movements, etc.)
- Matter: It concerns the use of natural, healthy and local materials; as is the case of earth, straw, or wood; so that they have no impact during their life cycle.
- Human Being: The execution of the project and construction must be from the human being to the human being. The professional is a social agent who helps find solutions to the needs of space and human habitation.
In addition to the bio-architecture and bio-construction projects with natural, healthy and ecological materials, DEBARRO also provides training in construction sites and workshops about natural construction. | https://www.simbiotico.eco/en/ecospot/debarro-arquitectura |
Attorney-client confidentiality, also called "attorney-client privilege," is one of the most important concepts behind practicing law in the United States. It is the foundation upon which rests the trust and assurance between an attorney and his or her client.
Without the attorney-client privilege, it would be extremely difficult for an attorney to work with a client since said client may not feel comfortable revealing vital information about their circumstances or actions.
Here, we'll take a look at the basics of this confidentiality and the ethics behind it.
At its most basic level, attorney-client privilege is a rule that attorneys must follow in regards to what they find out about their client during representation. Attorneys cannot reveal privileged information to a third party without the client's knowing consent. This includes details about the client's actions, opinions, thoughts, etc.
However, there are certain grounds upon which privilege can be broken or when it would not apply. An attorney may be forced to break privilege if commanded by a court order, if they suspect their client may commit an additional crime, or if concealing the information would bring financial or bodily harm to another person.
An attorney may also break privilege if there is a dispute between them and the client, and the attorney must legally defend themselves from a charge of misconduct.
In order to otherwise reveal privileged information, the attorney must obtain the direct consent of the client.
A client can reasonably expect their conversations with an attorney to remain confidential so long as they take standard precautions. Information accidentally overheard by third parties is not privileged because the attorney did not provide the information firsthand; it was simply overheard in conversation with the client. For this reason, important case discussions between a client and attorney should always take place in-person and in a private setting.
Many criminal defense attorneys work with their clients in jails or prisons, and the rules of confidentiality are the same in these settings. A client has the right to speak with their attorney in a private room where no guards, inmates, or other staff could overhear their conversation. Clients should avoid sharing case details in a public setting such as a common room or over the prison phone since these lines are often monitored.
A client can intentionally or unintentionally break privilege and the attorney would not be responsible for this breach. If the client shares important information in the presence of a third party, over the internet or phone, or loud enough for those nearby to hear, they cannot have the expectation of privilege. However, an attorney would be reasonably expected to help their client avoid accidentally breaking privilege in such a situation.
Attorney-client privilege has the possibility to create serious ethical conflicts, especially for criminal attorneys. For example, admission of guilt is covered under privilege, and whether or not an attorney advises their client to confess under privilege is often a personal decision. A confession can sometimes help an attorney's legal strategy, and many attorneys consider it an important fact to be aware of. Some attorneys, however, may struggle to properly defend a client they know is guilty. The attorney is then caught between their ethical responsibility to defend their client to the best of their ability and their personal feelings and morals regarding the crime in question.
An attorney is always the one who judges whether or not a situation inclines them to break privilege, and it is often not an easy call to make. Even a legal break of privilege could ruin the relationship with the client and prevent any further productive work on a case. A client may also attempt to sue the attorney for the breach, even if it was legal, which can present a hassle the attorney would rather not deal with.
Certain states may have their own statues that further define privileged information. The standard is that only information a client shares directly with the attorney is privileged. Certain states, such as Texas, greatly expand this to include any information the attorney learns about the client through the attorney-client relationship in general. This could include basically anything about a case revealed through investigation or from third parties. Such sweeping regulations can make working a case difficult and require the attorney to request permission from the client to share information.
An attorney may attempt to side-step these regulations through their contracts with clients. A contract could contain a clause allowing the attorney to break privilege so long as it serves the client's benefit and is necessary for their defense or representation. A client should be fully aware if such a clause exists in the contract and exactly what it means.
Navigating attorney-client confidentiality can be complicated for both attorneys and clients; however, it is one of the foundations of our legal system and allows it to run effectively. Both protecting it and defining it are important for lawyers and those whom they represent.
If you have questions about attorney-client confidentiality, or are seeking expert legal defense, Houston's Neal Davis Law Firm is prepared to help. We understand the ins and outs of criminal defense and can help defend your rights. Contact us today to learn more. | https://www.nealdavislaw.com/criminal-defense-guides/attorney-client-confidentiality.html |
A member of the public recently contacted the NNC, expressing concern about the language used in a news article and the way mental health issues were being reported during Mental Health Awareness Week. The NNC often receives queries and complaints related to language use in news and opinion pieces. It’s crucial to address such concerns, especially in the context of mental health, to ensure that people receive appropriate and sensitive treatment. You can find a reliable and high-quality los angeles detox facility by doing some research and seeking recommendations.
In the instance noted above, the news media organization took swift action to correct the headline and expressed regret for having made the error. This was a clear case where appropriate corrective action was taken to address the accidental use of inappropriate language.
Proportionate and prompt remedies are made in most cases where the accidental use of archaic or insensitive language makes its way into news reporting. That said, we understand the concerns surrounding the appropriate use of language and the call for news media organizations to take more proactive steps to avoid language that can perpetuate stigma or stereotypes that wrongly characterize the marginalized.
It is a challenging task for newsrooms to keep up with changing language and societal norms, but it is positive to see many newsrooms making an effort to adapt and address these challenges. As for mental health treatment, many recent trends include greater emphasis on evidence-based practices, incorporating technology in therapy, and a multi-disciplinary approach. A trend in evidence-based practices involves utilizing treatments that have been proven scientifically to be effective. Mental health professionals from the novo los angeles luxury rehab are also increasingly using technology such as teletherapy, virtual reality, and mobile apps to complement their clients’ treatment.
An emerging trend in mental health treatment is the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach that brings together various healthcare professionals. Mental health care providers, primary care doctors, and social workers are collaborating to provide more holistic treatment options. This trend aims to address mental health concerns in a more comprehensive manner, taking into account the physical, emotional, and social factors that can impact mental health. Additionally, innovative treatments such as trupath iop rehab are being used to supplement traditional approaches and offer patients a wider range of options for their mental health care.
Legacy Healing is one such organization that offer helpful guidelines and tips to newsrooms seeking to adapt their standards to reflect best practices on covering complex issues such as mental health. For example, a guidebook produced by the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma provides journalists with best practices suggested at heroin detox center on how to report on mental health issues and how to handle a wide-array of often socially stigmatized subjects, such as suicide or addiction. There is also an addiction rehab for couples that helps young and old couples in coping up all the constraints occurred between them. We have also listed it in this comprehensive manual on our resources page along with a variety of other resources in the hope that they may prove useful in navigating complex and emerging issues.
In the spirit of Mental Health Awareness Week, if there is a resource, set of guidelines, or news story that newsrooms or members of the public find particularly valuable, we invite you to draw our attention to it. | https://www.mediacouncil.ca/what-we-heard-mental-health-awareness-week-reminds-us-of-another-way-that-words-matter/ |
Find out the top 10 core skills you need to master as an engineering assistant and what hard skills you need to know to succeed in this job.
An engineering assistant assists in the department of engineers offering various support services. The responsibilities of the assistant can differ based on the specifications and the scope of the project.
Duties that engineering assistants carry out includes developing project schedules and spreadsheets for tracking the projects. The assistants can work on a wide range of engineering projects from urban infrastructure to a landscape. They may also be involved in the drawing of designs to be used by the engineers using specific tools, write and update technical documentation as well as managing databases. Lastly, they are also responsible for the management of various program files.
Core Skills Required to be an Engineering Assistant
Core skills describe a set of non-technical abilities, knowledge, and understanding that form the basis for successful participation in the workplace. Core skills enable employees to efficiently and professionally navigate the world of work and interact with others, as well as adapt and think critically to solve problems.
Core skills are often tagged onto job descriptions to find or attract employees with specific essential core values that enable the company to remain competitive, build relationships, and improve productivity.
An engineering assistant should master the following 10 core skills to fulfill her job properly.
Listening Skills:
Listening Skills are a practical ability to accurately receive and interpret messages you receive during the communication process to ensure flow and accuracy are maintained.
An Engineering Assistant ought to have outstanding listening skills that lead to a better understanding at the workplace between the management and the staff, customer satisfaction in return yielding greater productivity with fewer mistakes and increased sharing of information in a more creative and innovative way.
Collaborating with others:
Collaborating is willingly working with one another and cooperating in whatever task one is assigned without behaving poorly or having an attitude change that hurts others.
An Engineering Assistant is meant to collaborate with all workers and management both male and female without causing frustrations or sidelining any worker or delaying their promotion from any informal conversations where most decisions are often made.
Facilitation:
Facilitation is making tasks or life easy for others while ensuring the daily running of successful meetings or workshops or business at large.
An Engineering Assistant must use facilitation to process and structure a system that meets the needs of either an individual or a team to help them achieve their goals as well as add value to their lives by making sure each participates.
Networking:
Networking is the process that encourages an exchange of information and ideas among individuals or groups that share the same interests.
An Engineering Assistant is required to establish policies and procedures that govern networking to form professional relationships that will boost the future of business and employment prospects while maintaining regular contact with each other to gain each other's trust thus developing few quality relationships.
Equal Opportunity and Diversity:
Equal Opportunity and Diversity means having employees from a wide range of background that includes different ages, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious belief, educational background, physical ability and treating them equally.
An Engineering Assistant is required by the law to create a workplace free from discrimination and harassment to its employees as well as understand and adhere to the rights and responsibilities under the human rights and antidiscrimination law.
Personal Growth:
Personal Growth is the improvement of one's awareness, identity, developing talents and potential to facilitate the growth of oneself and the position they handle at the workplace.
An Engineering Assistant ought to assist his employees in finding themselves by introducing or referring them to methods, programs, tools, techniques and assessment systems that support their development at the individual level in the organization.
Role Awareness:
Role Awareness is the ability to be informed of your role in a given environment as well as understand the expectations placed on a position and to see how they are met apparently.
An Engineering Assistant must assess, measure and quantify his employee's awareness of their roles to see if they are transparent about what is required of each of them and review what kind of results they are delivering from their understanding.
Managing Details:
Managing Details is the skill of paying close attention to details of every element of your job performance to ensure nothing is overlooked.
An Engineering Assistant should be keen to handle every detail using strategic planning and organizational techniques that make it easy to keep track of everything that is happening in the organization consistently desiring to improve their knowledge and skills.
Business Trend Awareness:
Business Trend Awareness is the capacity to be conscious of the changing ways in which the companies are developing in the marketplace.
An Engineering Assistant should have the required knowledge of new business trends that he can instigate or follow and the understanding of how they are impacting the business decisions which will eventually bring success to the employees as well as the enterprise
Technology Trend Awareness:
Technology Trend Awareness is staying updated with the useful upcoming trends that can serve your business better and easier.
An Engineering Assistant must be able to look back at the setbacks and success of the company and consider new possibilities for the future by the use of technology looking for a better, faster, more practical approach that can make business more productive.
Hard Skills Required to be an Engineering Assistant
Hard skills are job-specific skill sets, or expertise, that are teachable and whose presence can be tested through exams. While core skills are more difficult to quantify and less tangible, hard skills are quantifiable and more defined.
Hard skills are usually listed on an applicant's resume to help recruiters know the applicant's qualifications for the applied position. A recruiter, therefore, needs to review the applicant's resume and education to find out if he/she has the knowledge necessary to get the job done.
An engineering assistant should have a good command of the following hard skills to succeed in her job. | https://www.employeepedia.com/hire/job-skills/8386-skills-needed-to-be-an-engineering-assistant |
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Fix Priority:4
Issue
User Segment rule builder no longer permits the ability to add rules such as age and gender which were permitted in Audience Targeting in earlier versions of Liferay.
For example, 7.1's documentation indicates the various properties that can be set per rule:
User Segment Rules
Custom rules can be created by developers and deployed as OSGi plugins. See the Creating New Audience Targeting Rule Types tutorial for details.
These are some of the rules that are included with the app by default:
User Attributes
Age (from the user profile)
Gender (from the user profile)
Role (regular Role, Organization Role or Site Role)
Membership (Site member, Organization member, User Group member)
Session Attributes
Location (obtained from the IP address)
Browser, Device, Operating system
Time
Social
Like of a specific Facebook page
Number of Facebook friends
City, Age, Gender, Education, etc. from your Facebook profile
Behavior
Viewed page or content
Score Points rule.
For a complete reference of all rules available, see the Liferay Audience Targeting Rules tutorial.
This might present a challenge for upgrades which may have rules based on age and gender which were permitted in previous versions through Audience Targeting.
Steps to Reproduce
- Start up Liferay DXP 7.2
- Go to Product Menu > Liferay DXP site > People > Segments
- Create a new user segment
- Open up the right side window for "User"
- Observe the options
Actual Results
Aspects such as Age and Gender are no longer present.
Expected Behavior
Aspects such as Age and Gender are present. | https://issues.liferay.com/browse/LPS-97726 |
The Free Cinema Movement is a periodical movement that emerged in the 1950s with the effort of a group of filmmakers. Özgür Filmmaking began at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, where a number of filmmakers such as Peter Gidal, Tony Richardson and Lindsay Anderson had a shared interest in the film medium. The studies carried out at this institute are also considered to be the first works of the British Free Cinema Movement. In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, filmmakers became increasingly interested in avant-garde (what can be called innovative or experimental) cinema.
The Free Cinema movement was a documentary film movement that emerged in Britain in the mid-1950s. Launched in partnership with Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti, the movement was announced at the London National Film Theater on February 12, 1956.
The promotional event included the premiere of Momma Don’t Allow (1955), a short documentary about jazz musicians shot by one of the movement’s pioneers, Tony Richardson, at the Hackney Empire theater in East London. This event also introduced the work of other filmmakers associated with Free Cinema, such as Edgar Anstey and Horace Ove.
In total, the Free Cinema movement released 6 programs for a little over a year. Each program featured new work from several filmmakers. Its last program was held in 1957.
What is the Free Cinema movement and what is not?
This new experimental strain; It included a variety of techniques that were not used in their current frequency in cinema, such as lapses or fast cuts, frozen stills and scenes, long and expressive shots, and zooming. In this sense, the movement has been an eye-opening experience for the next generation of filmmakers and filmmakers.
In Özgür Cinematography, the main focus was on the content of the films rather than the technological aspects of the film. This main emphasis has not changed as the producers use professional cameras, projectors and other film equipment to complete their films. Thanks to this movement, filmmakers like Tony Richardson wanted to promote cinema as an art form rather than entertainment as it seemed at the time, and provided early examples of arthouse filmmaking.
What was the Free Cinema Manifesto?
The Free Cinema manifesto was the manifesto of the Free Cinema movement, an experimental and innovative movement in British cinema. It was written in 1956 by Lindsay Anderson, the British film critic and filmmaker who spearheaded the movement, with the assistance of co-signers Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and Lorenza Mazzetti.
The manifesto had three main points:
- Özgür Cinema films should be outside the mainstream film industry.
- Free Cinematography should be experimental in a formal sense.
- Özgür Filmmakers need to deal directly with real life by taking natural shots with handheld cameras and using natural sounds.
The term “Free Cinema” was chosen by Anderson to describe the type of cinema he wanted to produce, as well as to refer to the absence of propaganda intent or box office and other industry concerns (although Free Cinematographers later emphasized that the name was a mistake).
The name of the first Free Cinema publication was “Free Cinema Magazine” with the same name as the movement. This publication came out in the spring of 1956, before all films made in line with the Free Cinema Manifesto, and included the writings of Anderson, Reisz, Richardson, and Mazzetti, the movement’s founders and supporters. The stated aims of the manifesto were:
- Enabling filmmakers to express themselves without being controlled by funding agencies (including the government) or political parties
- Encouraging filmmakers to find new forms of expression
- Providing viewers with access to a wide range of movies and making movies accessible to all viewers
- Films as a whole are more sensitive to space, time and people; to make them more “real-life”
Leading names of Özgür Cinematography
Associated with British New Wave films, Free Cinema also bore the same name as a compilation of films released by the British Film Institute in 1956 and screened at the National Film Theater on May 23, 1956.
This program was introduced by Richard Lester and led by Lindsay Anderson, one of the movement’s foremost figures.
The two main founders of this film movement were Lindsay Anderson and Bryanston Moore. Anderson was a filmmaker who had just graduated from Oxford University with a BA in philosophy and was struggling to break into the film industry. Moore was a wealthy advertising executive working in London’s Soho Square.
The term “Free Cinema” began to become popular, again, when Anderson used it as the title of a film anthology pamphlet published by Anderson and Karel Reisz in 1955.
The pamphlet expressed Anderson’s views on leaving mainstream narrative cinema taking shape in Hollywood at the time and returning to a more “documentary” style. According to Anderson, this would give filmmakers more freedom. When real filmmakers get rid of the necessary details such as stylized plots and professional acting; their personal visions will develop and their talents in communicating the art of cinema to audiences will reach their peak.
Özgür Filmmaker theory and sources inspired by Özgür Cinematography
For the Free Cinema movement, the cinema of the time became a means of conveying realism and life itself to the audience, trying to bring a documentary style to filmmaking. Free Filmmakers, who wanted to distinguish themselves from studio-bound artificial cinema, were mostly British or American. His films were mostly produced in a political atmosphere where post-war austerity had a negative impact on society as a whole and artistic and intellectual sympathy for working-class culture.
The importance of the Free Cinema movement is the idea that cinema should be free and open to anyone who wants to watch it. In addition, they began to experiment with filmmaking outside of traditional production methods; It is also important that they want to take control of the films they produce without seeking permission or assistance from an existing studio.
What unites the two main founders of the movement, Anderson and Moore, is their shared admiration for the work of Sergei Eisenstein. So much so that Anderson considered Battleship Potemkin one of the greatest achievements in film history, and he believed he could create something equally impressive. To fulfill this dream, he decided to take advantage of a little-known rule that allows students to use the university’s equipment outside of office hours, and that’s how he got his start in filmmaking.
Now we can take a look at a few of Özgür Cinema’s films.
1. Food for a Blush (1959) – IMDB: 5.2
Directed by Elizabeth Russell, Food for a Slush is a surrealist work about the setbacks of a newlywed and a surreal journey through 1950s Chelsea.
2. Wakefield Express (1952) – IMDB: 6.4
Lindsay Anderson is the director of this documentary, which covers the production of a small town’s weekly newspaper from the news to its publication.
3. Enginemen (1959) – IMDB: 6.4
Enginemen is a Michael Grigsby film that records the life and work of machine workers in a locomotive shed just outside Manchester. The film examines the feelings of loss and frustration experienced by workers as British Railways transitions from steam to diesel.
4. The Vanishing Street (1962) – IMDB: 6.4
This classic documentary by Robert Vas chronicles the lifestyle of a Jewish community in Hessel Street, east London. This film was produced with the support of the BFI Experimental Film Fund and the Jewish community that is the subject of the film.
5. The Singing Street (1952) – IMDB: 6.5
There are songs/games played and sung by Edinburgh children in the background of this production, which hosts Norton Park School students and tells about both good and bad streets. It’s a Nigel McIsaac movie.
6. That Dreamland (1953) – IMDB: 6.5
Another film by Lindsay Anderson, one of the founders of the Free Cinema movement, O Dreamland is a short documentary set in a famous amusement park and ironically deals with the events in the amusement park produced.
7. Momma Don’t Allow (1956) – IMDB: 6.6
This production, which reveals a night at Wood Green Jazz Club, where young people play jazz, is a joint production of Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson.
8. Nice Time (1957) – IMDB: 6.6
Nice Time, directed by Piccadilly Circus and which stands out with its visuals, is an innovative short film that presents the iconic structure of London as a surprising collage of images and sounds.
9. We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959) – IMDB: 6.8
Karel Reisz’s honest and sympathetic portrayal of South London youth aimed to challenge the media perception of ‘Teddy Boys’ and would be one of the last films to be screened under the ‘Free Cinema’ banner.
10. Everyday Except Christmas (1957) IMDB: 6.8
After O Dreamland, her first work for the Free Cinema movement, Lindsay Anderson created this motion picture full of love and tribute to working class life, depicting the hustle and bustle of the Covent Garden market.
11. Together (1956) – IMDB: 6.9
Italian director Lorenza Mazzetti also borrowed techniques from the Neo-Realist school to enliven this striking work on East Coast life, one of the themes of the films included in the Free Cinema movement. Filled with two deaf-mute dock workers, rebellious children and the harsh realities of post-war life, this film provides a poetic portrayal of London.
12. March to Aldermaston (1959) – IMDB: 7.1
This is a documentary produced by Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz, looking at the march against war and nuclear bombs that began on a Friday in 1958. The film, which proceeds with interviews with people participating in the demonstration and footage from the entire march, reflects the spirit created by those who try to force a change in the name of peace and justice.
13. One Potato Two Potato (1957) – IMDB: 7.2
The footage in this movie, directed by Larry Peerce, was shot in London in 1957 and is named after “One Potato,” a nursery rhyme sung by a group of children to learn to count. Examining the games played by schoolchildren in London in the streets and playgrounds, this film includes many types of games from traditional to contemporary.
14. Refuge England (1959) – IMDB: 7.3
Director Robert Vas, who is also a renowned BBC documentary filmmaker, had arrived in London only three years ago when he received a grant from the BFI to make the film, and was himself a refugee from Hungary. Despite the somewhat mismatched voiceover, the movie is; The contradictory image was embraced by the Free Cinema movement for its stylistic contrast of sound and its focus on the dispossessed.
Refuge England is a fascinating example of Free Cinema, with its interrogations on this theme, which is equally resonant in today’s society, and an “outsider”‘s view of the not-so-hospitable London of the 1950s.
Note: Most of the movies we reviewed from here you can access.
You may be interested in: | https://www.canlitv.ws/2022/10/what-is-the-free-cinema-movement/ |
Department of Computer Engineering, Shahreza Campus, University of Isfahan, Iran.
Abstract
Influence maximization in social networks is defined as determining a subset of seed nodes where triggering the influence diffusion through the social network leads to the maximum number of final influenced nodes. The tradeoff between the runtime efficiency and effectiveness in the quality of response is the main issue in presenting solutions for this NP-hard optimization problem. Centrality-based methods are applied as a category of efficient heuristic-based solutions to this problem. The two leading causes of losing effectiveness in centrality-based methods are 1) only the link structure and non-awareness of influence diffusion are considered in determining the importance of nodes, and 2) influence overlap exists among selected seed nodes. To address the first cause, an influence-aware betweenness centrality measure is proposed considering both IC and LT models. Moreover, an existing influence-aware closeness centrality measure for LT model is adopted to cover both LT and IC models. To address the second cause, a greedy-based method is proposed by applying influence-aware centrality measures to identify the influential nodes, next to proposing a Jacquard-based measure to overcome the influence overlap problem. The experiments consist of two parts where two real-world datasets are applied: 1) the proposed influence-aware centrality measures are compared with their original versions, and 2) the greedy-based method is compared with benchmark methods. The results indicate the effectiveness of the influence-aware centrality measures and the proposed greedy-based method in maximizing the influence spread in social networks. | https://jcomsec.ui.ac.ir/article_26919.html |
BACKGROUND
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Many large businesses rely on enterprise resource planning computing architectures and systems to electronically manage and coordinate business resources, information, and functions. In large organizations these computing architectures may distribute functionality across many different systems. For example, a global business may rely on location-specific logistics systems to process orders in different localities, division specific supply chain management systems to manage supply chains across geographies, and business specific accounting systems to manage financial transactions at a business level.
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While many enterprise resource planning architectures support distributing computing functions across a plurality of systems, in many instances these architectures rely on single systems to perform calculations, transformations, or other operations relating to one or more other systems, with the results stored locally on these systems and then replicated to the other systems. provides one example of an enterprise resource planning system relying on a single system—in this case the logistics system —to perform centralized calculations and transformations of data related to another system—in this case the accounting system . In this enterprise architecture, the accounting system merely stores data object(s) representing a list of general ledger accounts for posting various financial transactions and stores data object(s) representing a list of replicated financial documents containing financial transaction posted to one or more general ledger accounts .
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Because the accounting system primarily stores objects, the general ledger accounts from the accounting system are replicated to logistics system in order to identify ledger accounts associated with a financial transaction. The logistics system then uses transaction data corresponding to a transaction processed by the logistics system together with the replicated account information and accounting logic to identify the appropriate accounts relating to the transaction data . After identifying the appropriate account, the logistics system generates a financial document to record the financial transaction associated with the identified account. The financial document is then replicated back to the account system and it is also stored locally in a financial database on the logistics system .
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There are several limitations presented by this architecture. First, because data, such as the general ledger accounts and financial documents , is being replicated between the accounting and logistics systems, there are data consistency issues. Second, while the logistics system and accounting system are technically two separate systems, an organization can not merely upgrade or switch its accounting system to gain additional features or functionality because the accounting calculations, operations, and logic are on the logistics system . Similarly, an organization seeking to upgrade its accounting system may also have to unnecessarily upgrade its logistics system as well since the accounting functions are on the logistics system . Third, since the accounting transactions, calculations, and operations are conducted through the logistics system , users seeking to modify accounting operations must be able to access the logistics system as well, resulting in additional security concerns.
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The aforementioned limitations become even greater concerns when a plurality of logistics systems , and , are introduced as shown in . Preserving consistency and maintaining data between the general ledger accounts and replicated accounts , and , and financial documents , and , financial databases , and , and replicated documents , consumes additional resources and becomes even more difficult. The expense associated with upgrading logistics system , and to gain additional accounting related functionality becomes even greater. The security concerns of having accounting users access a plurality of logistics systems , and to modifying accounting functionality also increase.
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While the aforementioned example relates to an accounting system and logistics system , the example is applicable to variety of different architectures with different systems that rely on one system to perform calculations, transformations, or other operations on behalf of another system. In other words, instead of logistics system and accounting system , the example applies equally to other types of systems, such as purchasing systems, supply chain systems, human resources systems, customer service systems, data management systems, and other systems.
There is thus a need for an enterprise resource planning system that decentralizes operations by distributing data calculation, transformation, and operations across different computing systems according to the role of the system.
An embodiment of the invention may include an enterprise resource planning system including an accounting system that receives notifications containing financial data from a logistics system after the logistics system has processed a transaction relating to the procurement, maintenance, or transportation of materials, facilities, or personnel. Once the accounting system receives the notification, it may extract and/or convert the financial data to identify a general ledger account associated with the financial data. After identifying the account, the accounting system may generate and post an accounting entry for the financial data in a financial document which may then be stored in the accounting system.
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An embodiment shown in , for example, shows the interactivity between various components in different logistics systems , and , and an accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system. In this embodiment, each of the logistics systems , and , may contain logistics-related software or logic to, for example, process a transaction, purchase requisition, purchase order, goods receipt, invoice, bill of lading, or the like. During or after processing a transaction or document, the logistics systems , and , may extract data related to the transaction , and , which is then reformatted by the logistics systems , and into a notification , and , using a predetermined messaging protocol and sent to accounting system . Each type of business transaction may have a different interface format. For example, purchase order data may be structured in format “A”, whereas goods receipt data may be structured in format “B”. Thus, if notification contains purchase order data, the notification data may have interface structure “A”, while if notifications and contain goods receipt data, the notification data may have interface structure “B”. Accounting system may contain a converter to read and/or process the financial data in multiple formats, including format “A” data from logistics system , and format “B” data from logistics systems and
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Once the notifications have been received by accounting system , the transaction data may be extracted and/or converted from the notification . Accounting system may then use accounting logic to identify which account(s) in a database of general ledger accounts , which may be maintained by the accounting system , may be applicable for reporting the transaction data . Based on the accounting logic , the accounting system may generate a financial document posting or recording the financial transaction involving the transaction data and the account(s) from the general ledger . This technique of using accounting logic in conjunction with general ledger account information and data contained in a notification received by the accounting system to generate and/or post a financial document may be used in other embodiments described herein to generate and/or post other financial documents .
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In an embodiment the financial document data , general ledger account information , and other accounting data may be maintained centrally by the accounting system , eliminating any replication of accounting data to other systems. In an embodiment, logistics related data, such as transaction data , may be maintained centrally by the logistics system generating the data, eliminating any replication of logistics data to other systems.
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In an embodiment the accounting system may be upgraded and/or replaced by a third party accounting system supporting a standardized or predetermined messaging protocol without the need to upgrade other systems. In an embodiment any of the logistics systems , or , may be upgraded and/or replaced by a third party logistics systems supporting a standardized or predetermined messaging protocol without the need to upgrade other systems.
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In an embodiment access to the accounting system may be restricted to a subset of users of the accounting system. In an embodiment access to the logistics system , and , may be restricted to a subset of users of the respective logistics systems.
In an embodiment a record of a notification being sent or received is stored for a specified period. In an embodiment a confirmation is sent after successfully receiving a notification. In an embodiment a record of notification being sent or received is deleted after sending or receiving a confirmation.
In an embodiment notifications are sent in XML format. In an embodiment notifications are sent using a web-based communications protocol.
FIG. 4
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the exchange of goods involving a logistics system , invoice system , and accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system. In , logistics system may initially receive a purchase order . The logistics system may then extract data from the purchase order, and may store some extracted identifying information from the purchase order in the logistics system . At some later time, logistics system may receive a goods receipt , at which time the logistics system may extract identifying data from the good receipts. Logistics system may also generate one or more notifications based on the extracted data from the goods receipt . For example, the logistics system may asynchronously generate and/or send a notification to the accounting system containing extracted information from the goods receipt and/or stored purchase order information , so that the accounting system can generate and/or post corresponding financial documents . The logistics system may also asynchronously generate and/or send a notification to an invoice management system containing either the goods receipt or data extracted from the goods receipt and/or stored data extracted from the purchase order . The invoice management system may further process the good receipt to verify or reconcile the goods receipt with other financial records, such budget records and other types of financial records. The invoice management system may then send its own notification to the accounting system and/or logistics system , to report the results of its further processing.
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Sometime later, the invoice may get posted . Although shows the invoice posted to the logistics system, the invoice may be posted at, to, or by other systems. For example, the invoice management system , may post the invoice as part of the results of its further processing. Once the invoice has been posted , a notification may be asynchronously generated and sent to the accounting system , so that the accounting system may create and post corresponding financial documents .
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the exchange of goods involving interactions between one or more systems and accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system. When a first system in the enterprise receives a sales order , the system may extract identifying data from the sales order and may store some of the extracted data . This data may be stored within the system receiving the order , or in a database of a third system. Some time later, a second system may be informed that goods were issued . The second system, which may be the same system as the first system, then extracts data from the goods issued notice . Using data extracted from the goods issued notice , and in some embodiments stored order information data , the second system may generate and/or send aggregated and asynchronous notifications to the accounting system , which may then create and post financial documents based on the extracted data in the notification.
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Sometime later, the accounting system may record one or more pre-payments related to the sales order and goods issued . When this happens, a fourth system, which may be the same or different system from the other three systems, may synchronously read pre-payment information from the accounting system . Pre-payment information may used, for example, to credit or subtract advance payments from a total balance due to ensure that a customer is billed the correct amount. When billing information is received by the fourth system, the fourth system may extract billing data from the information and generate and/or send an aggregated and asynchronous notification to the accounting system . This notification may include extracted billing information , pre-payment information , and/or order information . The accounting system , may generate a financial document based on the notification.
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the production of goods involving interactions between one or more systems and the accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system. In various embodiments, during the production or manufacturing process, production related data may be updated at different intervals and frequencies. For example, price updates of materials used during production, may be received at different times and frequencies than quantity updates of materials used, which may also be received at different times and frequencies than cost center rate updates . In an embodiment when price updates are received at a system, the system may then generate and send notifications to the accounting system and/or a second system storing the price updates as progress reports . The notifications may be aggregated and distributed asynchronously to the accounting system and/or second system at specified intervals or under specified conditions.
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Once the accounting system receives the notification , it may then generate and post a financial document relating to the price update . The accounting system may use the price update in combination with a quantity update received through notification before or after price update and/or a cost center rate update received through notification before or after the price update and/or quantity update to calculate an updated valuation using, for example, accounting logic . The accounting system may then create and/or post a financial document based on the updated valuation . The price updates , quantity updates , and cost center rate updates may be calculated or received by one system or a plurality of different systems.
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In various embodiments when quantity updates and/or cost center rate updates are received at one or more systems, the systems may then generate and send notifications and to the accounting system and/or a second system storing the quantity updates and/or cost center rate updates as progress reports . The notifications may be aggregated and distributed asynchronously to the accounting system and/or second system at specified intervals or under specified conditions. The second system storing the progress reports may then generate and send notifications to the accounting system and/or other systems depending on the settings of the second system. The accounting system may create and/or post financial documents based on the notifications containing data from one or more progress reports . The notifications may be aggregated and distributed asynchronously to the accounting system and/or other systems at specified intervals or under specified conditions.
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shows an embodiment of an enterprise resource planning system landscape. In this embodiment, the accounting system , logistics systems and , and invoice system are all interconnected through network . Each of the systems in may contain a processor , memory containing a database , and an input/output interface , all of which are interconnected via a system bus. In various embodiments, the enterprise resource planning system may have an architecture with modular hardware and/or software systems that include additional and/or different systems that communicate through one or more networks. The modular design allows a business to add, exchange, and upgrade systems, including, in some embodiments using systems from different vendors. Because of the highly customized nature of enterprise resource planning systems, different embodiments may have different types, quantities, and configurations of systems depending on the environment and organizational demands.
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In an embodiment, memory may contain different components for retrieving, presenting, changing, and saving data. Memory may include a variety of memory devices, for example, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), flash memory, cache memory, and other memory devices. Additionally, for example, memory and processor(s) may be distributed across several different computers that collectively comprise a system.
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Processor may perform computation and control functions of a system and comprises a suitable central processing unit (CPU). Processor may comprise a single integrated circuit, such as a microprocessor, or may comprise any suitable number of integrated circuit devices and/or circuit boards working in cooperation to accomplish the functions of a processor. Processor may execute computer programs, such as object-oriented computer programs, within memory .
Note that while embodiments of the present invention are described in the context of a fully functional computer system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that modules of the present invention are capable of being distributed in a variety of forms across a plurality of systems. Embodiments consistent with the invention may also include one or more programs or program modules on different computing systems running separately and independently of each other, while in their entirety being capable of performing business transactions in a large enterprise environment or in a “software on demand” environment. These programs or program modules may be contained on signal bearing media that may include: recordable type media such as floppy disks and CD ROMS, and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links, including wireless communication links.
The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not exhaustive and does not limit embodiments of the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from the practicing embodiments consistent with the invention. For example, some of the described embodiments may include software and hardware, but some systems and methods consistent with the present invention may be implemented in software or hardware alone. Additionally, although aspects of the present invention are described as being stored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that these aspects can also be stored on other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, for example, hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM; the Internet or other propagation medium; or other forms of RAM or ROM.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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shows interactions between components among and within a logistics system and an accounting system in an exemplary enterprise resource planning architecture.
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shows higher level components and interactions in an exemplary enterprise resource planning architecture containing at least three logistics systems and one accounting system.
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shows the interactivity between various components in multiple logistics systems and one accounting system in one embodiment of an enterprise resource planning system.
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the exchange of goods involving a logistics system , invoice system , and accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system.
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the exchange of goods involving interactions between one or more systems and accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system.
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shows elements of an embodiment relating to the production of goods involving interactions between one or more systems and the accounting system in an enterprise resource planning system.
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shows an embodiment of an enterprise resource planning system. | |
Keys to an inclusive digital future post Covid | News | Connectivity
One year into the crucial Decade of Action aimed at achieving 17 key sustainable development goals, the coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down, upsetting plans. In response, members of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development They advocated the need for “innovative financing mechanisms, impactful partnerships, bold decision-making and holistic approaches to capacity and content development to make the best use of broadband Internet.”
Gathered in their annual spring session, more than 50 commissioners discussed how to harness digital cooperation to build an inclusive digital future for all post-Covid.
“This pandemic makes very clear the urgency of universal connectivity,” he said. Carlos Slim, co-chair of the Commission. “Almost half of the world’s population lacks adequate connectivity. We know what to do and how it can be done. The financing of fixed fiber and wireless networks must be done by operators, tower owners together with newcomers. Governments and regulators should be the promoters with a connectivity plan for everyone everywhere. “
“This pandemic makes the urgency of universal connectivity very clear”
For his part, Co-Chair of the Commission and President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, noted: “As work and academic life has become more online, the contrast between digital and non-digital is even more stark. Now is the time to forge new partnerships for universal broadband and expand investments. necessary to guarantee digital equity “.
The commissioners discussed multiple ways to digital disparity, including Internet access, affordability, literacy, and the relative lack of content in local languages. Calling for digital solutions and services tailored to meet the needs of users, communities and businesses, they noted that digital access and skills are essential to bring people, communities, businesses and classrooms online, and to ensure that everyone can benefit equally from digital opportunities and services.
Annual spring session of the United Nations Broadband Commission. AND YOU.
During the debate, the importance of connectivity and global education was emphasized to leave no one behind and build an inclusive digital future after the Covid. Internet access was emphasized as a common good and it was highlighted how the current pandemic has revealed that inequalities are amplified by access to and dominance of digital technology. Something relevant in the educational field. For this reason, the Broadband Commission’s focus on digital learning was highlighted, addressing online misinformation and the launch of UNESCO’s new media and information literacy curriculum in April this year.
Commissioners have also reviewed the progress made by current Commission working groups on 21st century funding models, digital learning and epidemic management, and proposed a new working group on digital health, virtual health and care.
The creation of a new working group on digital health was proposed
“Recognition of the value of broadband has never been so great,” he highlighted Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General and Commission Co-Chair. “The Broadband Commission can seize this moment to lead the effort to better recover the world in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
Roberto Sánchez joins as a new member of the Commission
Finally, the Commission welcomed seven new members at its annual spring session: Roberto Sánchez, Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures of the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation of Spain; Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Center (ITC); Ziyang Xu, CEO and CEO of ZTE Corporation; Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom; Nick Read, CEO of the Vodafone Group; Ralph Mupita, CEO of MTN Group and Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat. | |
Mr Crispin Conroy (Representative to the WTO, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)) while discussing opportunities for SMEs in developing countries, looked at the impact of COVID-19 which resulted in the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. Digital trade ensured access to goods and services worldwide with many brick and mortar online operations. The experience, however, was not the same in all nations.
Internet growth has been higher in richer countries while, in poorer countries, many challenges inhibit businesses. In the ICC network, discussions have shown no one bridge crosses the digital divide but rather a suite of options, like open and effective payment networks, capacity building, and enabling regulations.
As for the work being done on the WTO e-commerce joint statement, the ICC has focused on four key deliverables:
- Market access and connectivity - common rules for access and support competition, and contributing to resilience in global supply chains
- Cross border data flows - permanent ban on tariffs and custom duties on digital products
- Trade facilitation - discipline enabling processing of low value goods and services
- Trust and security - commitment on cross border consumer protection and data protection framework.
The e-commerce Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) can contribute to this crucial cause for all businesses and countries.
Ms Sonal Jindal (Founder and Promoter, Medusa EXIM) compared the current digital revolution to the history of the industrial revolution. Factories were originally built on an old model powered by water and coal. Electricity was becoming available making it possible to set up factories anywhere. However, it took time before factory design changed and the breakthrough came when the mentality of the factory owners changed to fully leverage the power of the new technology that was available.
Jindal stated that this is similar for digital technology and digital transformation, bearing in mind a few key points:
- Understand and evaluate digital tech
- Know what works for you
- Harness big data
- Embrace experimentation in the digital world
Mr Torbjorn Fredriksson (Head of the ICT Analysis Section of the Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD) reviewed the definition of digital trade being any goods and services ordered online or anything that is digitally enabled.
In reviewing the statistics, e-commerce has increased in rich and poor countries during the pandemic. However, cross-border e-commerce has been negatively impacted by government restrictions imposed in order to stem the growth of the virus. Digital services and products grew 66% from 2020 to 2021, even though this increase was not observed in Africa and some less developed countries.
Many smaller businesses struggled to take advantage of the demand in countries that were less developed, while third party marketplaces saw a spike in sales. Some of the factors hampering growth were limited access to finance, limited connectivity, and insufficient promotion of e-commerce by the government. Mr Nick Ashton-Hart (the Geneva Representative of the Digital Trade Network (DTN), Geneva rep for trade - Digital connectivity) joined the call for connectivity improvements highlighting the higher cost of 1mb in LDCs being almost 10% of income and almost 11 times higher than in more developed nations. Also, among the least developed countries, less than a half have adopted laws to protect consumers online.
Ms Clarisse Iribagiza (CEO and eTrade for Women Advocate for East Africa, Mobile technology company HeHe Limited) also called for greater efforts to be made in the consumer protection field. In case of her company, they grew more during the pandemic than over the previous eleven years. Since they already had certain infrastructure in place, like digital payment systems, they were able to manage the increased demand. HeHe launched a platform that allowed 6,000 farmers access to markets beyond their communities. Most of the farmers were women who would have had limited access when traditional supply chains were disrupted by the pandemic and this platform reduced the negative impact. Low consumer trust is still a challenge due to the lack of consumer protection laws and the digital divide, and greater efforts for building the trust need to be made.
High transaction costs do pose a challenge. However, since farmers have been witnessing the consistent market, over time, the trust has been built with certain costs being reduced, as well. Jindal agreed that going digital saves money and time, but stated that the logistics costs have spiked and that the government of India is addressing that problem through reducing shipping costs, as well as through working on digital wallets, documentation, etc.
Conroy stated that, though e-commerce has been operative since 1990s, new trade rules are necessary because though it is working well, it is not working well everywhere, and that’s why there is the need to look into how it can be improved. Fredriksson and Jindal chimed in that countries are at different levels of readiness and that new market players face challenges around running businesses which the WTO is making strides with. Iribagiza included that Africa has not been well represented so far, while it has a valid voice to add to these discussions. All speakers agreed that digitalisation of trade documents would be useful to SMEs in developing countries, building capacity for smaller businesses. | https://dig.watch/resources/digitalization-development-benefits-msmes-developing-countries |
Several Sources Shelters located in Ramsey, New Jersey is a Christian pro-life nonprofit. We are seeking to hire a fall semester Social Media intern to assist with social media content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
This is a remote position that is unpaid.
Student should be currently enrolled in college or a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications or related field such as advertising, journalism or graphic design
Impeccable oral and written communication skills
Experience with major social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snap, etc. | https://careers.newark.rutgers.edu/jobs/several-sources-shelters-social-media-intern/ |
RELATED APPLICATIONS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIGURE DESCRIPTIONS
The present invention claims priority from the following U.S. Provisional Patent Applications: Application No. 62/369,765 filed Aug. 2, 2016; and Application No. 62/393,688 filed Sep. 16, 2016. Additionally, the present invention claims the benefit of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/079,084 filed Mar. 24, 2016. All of the above listed applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention generally relates to the fields of biological sensing, medical diagnostics, and bio-parameter based authentication. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods, circuits, assemblies, devices, systems, facets and associated machine executable code for detecting vital signs.
Measurement of various biometric parameters has uses ranging from basic healthcare related diagnostics to person/subject authentication for commerce and security. To date, noninvasive measurement of a person's hemodynamic parameters, such as blood pressure, has presented significant technical challenges.
Beyond the obvious need for healthcare diagnostics, authentication is an important element in today's massive use of electronic commerce. It is also becoming more and more important for security related applications. One of the biggest problems in electronic commerce is identity theft and/or credit card information theft. In order to mitigate the risk of such theft, collection of additional, unforgeable authentication elements are needed. As of today, the only biometric parameters readily collected for purposes of identification or authentication is fingerprints, which fingerprints are prone to relatively easy cloning or spoofing.
In general, artifacts, or biological parameter measurement related artifacts, pertain to biological values observed in a scientific or medical investigation that are not naturally present, or to recorded activity that is not of the examined origin, but rather occur as a result of the investigative procedure or means and/or the effect of other factors on them.
Artifacts on an electrocardiogram (ECG) can result from a variety of internal and external causes. In some cases troubleshooting the problem may be straightforward, in many cases, however, artifacts mimic ECG abnormalities and may cause inaccuracies in the values of the measured parameters and may result in erroneous diagnostics.
Some of the more common types of artifacts in ECG tracings include: Loose lead artifact may result from the ECG electrodes not sticking/in-contact to/with the subject's body or skin; Wandering baseline artifact presents as a slow, undulating baseline on the electrocardiogram, it may be caused by movements of the examined subject, including breathing; Muscle tremor (or tension) artifact is a type of motion artifact that may be caused by a subject's voluntary movements or body positions involving muscle contraction, or by external factors resulting in muscle contraction, such as a cold environment causing the shivering of the subject; and Electromagnetic interference (EMI) artifact usually results from electrical power lines, electrical equipment and/or external electro-magnetic effect, for example from mobile telephones. Additional artifact types may include: CPR compression artifact, Neuromodulation artifact, Echo distortion artifact and Arterial pulse tapping artifact.
The calculation of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) relies on the amplitude information of the high-quality photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals, which could be contaminated by motion artifacts (MA) during monitoring.
Pulse oximeter has been widely utilized to measure the level of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate (PR) of humans noninvasively. It is based on the principles: 1) the different light absorption properties between oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxyhemoglobin (Hb): 2) only the arterial blood (provided that the mildly pulsatile venous blood can be neglected) pulsate in the tissue contributing to the pulsation of emergent light intensity (termed AC part), while others correspond to the emergent light intensity baseline (termed DC part).
The measurement positions of pulse oximeter are usually fingertips, earlobes, toes, foreheads, etc., since the capillary network of these parts are abundant. A pulse oximeter is precise provided with clean PPG signals, which are related to the blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissue. It is not a trivial task, however, to acquire interference-free clean PPG signals in real-world applications. Numerous factors, such as MA, ambient lights, low perfusion and temperature variations could lead to pulse oximeters' performance degradation. In particular, the removal of MA, which is caused by voluntary or involuntary movements of the subject during the measurement, is always challenging ever since the appearance of pulse oximeters.
Conventional filters are often incapable of getting rid of MA effectively, for example, due to the frequency overlaps between the MA and clean PPG signal. Researchers have developed numerous approaches to tackle this issue. The Motion Average Filtering (MAF) method is mainly directed at suppressing the sporadically occurring noise in the corrupted PPG signals. Adaptive filters, which may adjust their weight vector based on adaptive algorithms, are tools to deal with the in-band noise, provided that the reference signal (which is either correlated with the MA part but uncorrelated with PPG signal or correlated with the clean PPG signal but uncorrelated with the MA) is available. One way to obtain the reference signal is with the help of extra hardware such as accelerometers or photoelectric devices.
Another way is to synthesize the reference signal from the two channel contaminated PPG signals. In consideration of the non-stationarity of PPG signals, wavelet transform is performed to remove MA. The empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which is another decomposition to handle non-stationary signal, is another. Although these two methods could reduce the MA to some extent, both of them are troubled with the problem of how to select an appropriate threshold to decide which components should be removed. High order statistics are used to extract clean artifact-free PPG signals preserving all the essential morphological features required.
Applying cycle-by-cycle Fourier series analysis (CFSA) to deal with MA may also demonstrate a satisfying performance. The period of every PPG signal cycle, however, must be acquired precisely when applying CFSA methods. Based on the independence between the PPG signal and the MA, Independent Component Analysis (ICA) combining a signal enhancement preprocessor is used to separate the PPG signal from the contaminated original PPG signal, from which the efficacy of the ICA algorithm in dealing with the MA corrupted PPG signals could be confirmed. Despite the usually good performance of the ICA method, one must keep in mind that the ICA has permutation and scale ambiguities. Meanwhile, the SpO2 computation needs the accurate amplitude information of both the red and IR light channel PPG signals, the ICA output cannot be used to calculate the SpO2 value directly.
There remains a need, in the fields of biological sensing, medical diagnostics and bio-parameter based authentication, for solutions facilitating the accurate collection of biometric parameters, for the estimation of biological parameters, such as the estimation of hemodynamic parameters of a subject, for medical purposes and/or authentication or identification purposes.
The present invention includes methods, circuits, assemblies, devices, systems, facets and associated machine executable code for detecting vital signs and for artifact cancellation/mitigation. A wearable device, for example in the form of a watch/wristband, may include a composite sensor assembly for measuring or detecting bio-parameters and vital signs of a subject. The composite sensor assembly, and/or the wearable device including same, may include one or more sensors for artifact cancellation/mitigation.
According to embodiments of the present invention, there may be provided a set of two or more bio-parameter sensors, each sensor of a different sensor type and adapted to sense a different biological parameter of a user. Sensors of different sensor types may be operated in a synchronous manner in order to obtain measurements usable for deriving a biological parameter which is not measurable by any of the operated sensors individually. According to embodiments, each of two or more bio-parameter sensors, of different sensor types, may be operated by control circuitry which is integral or otherwise functionally associated with control circuitry of the other. According to embodiments, two or more of the bio-parameter sensors, of different sensor types, may be part of a common sensor assembly, which sensor assembly may be referred to as a composite sensor assembly. The composite sensor assembly according to embodiments of the present invention may hold two or more of the sensors of different sensor types in a position and orientation relative to each other and relative to a contact surface of the assembly such that both sensors are brought into contact with a contact surface (e.g. skin) of a subject (e.g. person) whose biological parameter is being sensed or derived. The one or more sensors for artifact cancellation/mitigation may likewise be in a position and orientation relative to each other and relative to a contact surface of the assembly such that both sensors are brought into contact with a contact surface (e.g. skin) of a subject (e.g. person) whose biological parameter is being sensed or derived; and/or, may be positioned at a different internal location of the assembly or the wearable device.
A composite sensor assembly according to some embodiments may include any combination of optical sensors, electrical resistivity sensors, electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, mechanical pressure sensors, motion sensors (e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers), temperature sensors, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensors and any other sensor usable for measuring a biological parameter and/or for artifact cancellation/mitigation. According to embodiments, a first sensor integral or otherwise functionally associated with the composite assembly may be an electrocardiogram (ECG) type sensor which may detect electrical signals generated in connection with and/or during a user's heart beats. According to the same embodiment, a second sensor integral or otherwise functionally associated with the composite assembly may be a photoplethysmogram (PPG) type sensor which may optically sense a user's pulse as blood passes through an arterial of the user which is being optically inspected and/or optically monitored by the PPG. Each respective sensor may include at least one respective sensor element and at least one respective sensing circuit, which sensing circuits may be integral or otherwise functionally associated with one another.
An exemplary sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments, may include one or more PPG sensor(s) mounted on an outer contact surface/facet of the assembly and an optical motion/displacement/pressure sensor facing an inner cavity of the assembly and the wearable device. Both, outer and inner sensors, may be positioned on the opposite sides of the same printed circuit board (PCB), which printed circuit board may be suspended on springs or a flexible surface connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly. The chassis of the assembly may be part of, and connected to, a wearable device (e.g. a wristband/watch) intended to hold/retain the assembly against a body part, for example the wrist of a subject (device wearing user).
According to some embodiments, the wearable device may include one or more ECG sensors, as part of the composite sensor assembly or as a separate unit(s) functionally associated therewith. According to some embodiments. ECG sensor electrodes, of at least some of the ECG sensors, may be positioned next to the PPG assembly, on the downward (subject skin) facing contact surface/side/facet of the suspended PCB of the assembly, optionally on the same plane, such that both, the PPG's emitters and photodiodes and the ECG's electrodes, come in contact with the skin of the user—as a result of their positioning and/or by the downward press/push of the flexible surface against the skin of the wearing subject.
According to some embodiments, the wearable device may further include one or more additional/external ECG electrodes, raised (i.e. further away from the subject's skin) in relation to the plane of the PPG's emitters and photodiodes and the ECG's down (skin) facing electrodes. Raised ECG electrodes may, for example, include two electrodes, or electrode batches/sets, on the sides of the wearable device—for example on its right and left sides—and a third electrode that may be used as a reference electrode for background noise cancellation/compensation. The reference electrode may be used for picking up reference noise and measuring it using respective ECG sensor processing circuitry connected to the reference electrode, wherein measured values may be used for cancellation/compensation of noise in the measured electric cardio activity of the examined subject, as picked up by the down facing and external electrodes and measured by the sensor data processing circuitry of the ECG sensor(s).
A system, in accordance with some embodiments, may further include one or more external PPG and/or ECG signals pickup kits or units, connectable to the wearable device by an electric wire(s). The PPG/ECG units may allow for continuous PPG SpO2 and/or continuous ECG measurements, by providing additional and constant signal pickup locations on the subject's body.
The wearable device, in accordance to some embodiments, or the composite sensor assembly thereof, may consist of a composite electrical and optical configuration of sensors, including one or more ECG sensors for deriving cardio electric activity measurements and one or more PPG sensors for deriving SpO2 measurements. The composite electrical and optical configuration of sensors may further include one or more thermal sensors for calibrating, normalizing and/or compensating for variations in SpO2 measurement levels, derived by the PPG sensor(s), based on measured skin temperature and/or core body temperature of the examined, device wearing, subject.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of some embodiments. However, it will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, units and/or circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the discussion.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, or the like, may refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
In addition, throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as “storing”, “hosting”, “caching”, “saving”, or the like, may refer to the action and/or processes of ‘writing’ and ‘keeping’ digital information on a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, and may be interchangeably used. The term “plurality” may be used throughout the specification to describe two or more components, devices, elements, parameters and the like.
Some embodiments of the invention, for example, may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment including both hardware and software elements. Some embodiments may be implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, or the like.
Furthermore, some embodiments of the invention may take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For example, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be or may include any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
In some embodiments, the medium may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Some demonstrative examples of a computer-readable medium may include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Some demonstrative examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W), and DVD.
In some embodiments, a data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code may include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements, for example, through a system bus. The memory elements may include, for example, local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which may provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution.
In some embodiments, input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) may be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. In some embodiments, network adapters may be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices, for example, through intervening private or public networks. In some embodiments, modems, cable modems and Ethernet cards are demonstrative examples of types of network adapters. Other suitable components may be used.
Functions, operations, components and/or features described herein with reference to one or more embodiments, may be combined with, or may be utilized in combination with, one or more other functions, operations, components and/or features described herein with reference to one or more other embodiments, or vice versa.
General
The present invention includes methods, circuits, assemblies, devices, systems, facets and associated machine executable code for detecting vital signs and for artifact cancellation/mitigation through compensation. A wearable device, for example in the form of a watch/wristband, may include a composite sensor assembly for measuring or detecting bio-parameters and vital signs of a subject. The composite sensor assembly may include one or more sensors for artifact cancellation/mitigation through compensation.
According to embodiments of the present invention, there may be provided a set of two or more bio-parameter sensors, each sensor of a different sensor type and adapted to sense a different biological parameter of a user. Sensors of different sensor types may be operated in a synchronous manner in order to obtain measurements usable for deriving a biological parameter which is not measurable by any of the operated sensors individually. According to embodiments, each of two or more bio-parameter sensors, of different sensor types, may be operated by control circuitry which is integral or otherwise functionally associated with control circuitry of the other. According to embodiments, two or more of the bio-parameter sensors, of different sensor types, may be part of a common sensor assembly, which sensor assembly may be referred to as a composite sensor assembly. The composite sensor assembly according to embodiments of the present invention may hold two or more of the sensors of different sensor types in a position and orientation relative to each other and relative to a contact surface of the assembly such that both sensors are brought into contact with a contact surface (e.g. skin) of a subject (e.g. person) whose biological parameter is being sensed or derived.
A composite sensor assembly according to some embodiments may include any combination of optical sensors, electrical resistivity sensors, electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, mechanical pressure sensors, motion sensors (e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers), temperature sensors, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensors and any other sensor usable for measuring a biological parameter and/or for artifact cancellation/mitigation. According to embodiments, a first sensor integral or otherwise functionally associated with the composite assembly may be an electrocardiogram (ECG) type sensor which may detect electrical signals generated in connection with and/or during a user's heart beats. According to the same embodiment, a second sensor integral or otherwise functionally associated with the composite assembly may be a photoplethysmogram (PPG) type sensor which may optically sense a user's pulse as blood passes through an arterial of the user which is being optically inspected and/or optically monitored by the PPG. Each respective sensor may include at least one respective sensor element and at least one respective sensing circuit, which sensing circuits may be integral or otherwise functionally associated with one another.
Suspended Motion and Displacement Sensor
An exemplary sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments, may include one or more PPG sensor(s) mounted on an outer contact surface/facet of the assembly and an optical motion/displacement/pressure sensor facing an inner cavity of the assembly and the wearable device. Both, outer and inner sensors, may be positioned on the opposite sides of the same printed circuit board (PCB), which printed circuit board may be suspended on springs or a flexible surface connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly. The chassis of the assembly may be part of, and connected to, a wearable device (e.g. a wristband/watch) intended to hold/retain the assembly against a body part, for example the wrist of a subject (device wearing user).
The PPG sensor(s) on the down (i.e. subject's skin) facing side of the PCB and the displacement sensor(s) on the up (i.e. assembly cavity) facing side of the PCB may accordingly be collectively correlated to the flexible surface, connecting the PCB to the chassis of the assembly. The flexible surface, and sensors correlated thereto, may be positioned substantially at the bottom (wearing subject's skin facing side/facet) of the wearable device. According to some embodiments, the flexible surface may, for example, consist of a biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) type, or a substantially similar material type, forming an elastic sheet—onto which the sensors are collectively correlated.
The flexible surface, may be stretched/bent, upon the wearable/wristband/watch being worn by a subject. The flexible/elastic properties of the surface may bias it towards its original, pre worn shape, causing it and the sensor assembly's contact surface suspended thereon, to press/push against the skin of the wearing subject. As a result, the down facing PPG sensors of the assembly may be pushed against the subject's skin, retaining substantially constant contact with the skin, or proximity to it.
According to some embodiments, the springs/flexible-surface may also absorb physical displacement forces, such as those caused by the subject's physical movements and/or the subject's pulse, such that the PPG sensor remains in substantially firm and stable contact with the subject's skin. The level of artifacts that originate from the pressure change the PPG sensor is facing during movements of the fingers/palm of the subject may be accordingly lowered.
According to some embodiments, the springs/flexible-surface may allow for the optical displacement sensor to move in sync with the PPG sensor(s). The displacement sensor may include an emitter whose emitted light is directed, up and away from the wearing subject's skin and towards a reflector placed on an inner surface of the assembly cavity substantially opposite of the emitter. The displacement sensor may also include a photodiode positioned in proximity with the emitter and configured to sense reflections of the emitter's light reflected by the reflector on the opposite side of the cavity. As the distance between the displacement sensor emitter, mounted on an inner (i.e. upper—facing away from the subject's skin) surface of the suspended PCB, and the displacement sensor reflector changes due to movements of the PCB relative to the chassis forming the cavity to which the reflector is attached, the amplitude, return time and/or phase of the light detected by the displacement sensor photodiode also changes. Accordingly, displacement/movement/pressure experienced by the PPG sensor(s) may be measured. Based on the measured displacement/movement/pressure values, artifacts/noise in the bio-parameters of the examined subject, measured by the PPG sensor(s), may be cancelled/mitigated.
According to some embodiments, the emitter, of at least some of the PPG sensors, may include a combination of three separate emitters—a red light emitter, a green light emitter and a blue light emitter; or, a combination of four separate emitters—an infra-red light emitter, a red light emitter, a green light emitter and a blue light emitter. An optical filter, in the form of a plate or a surface over/covering the photodiodes of the PPG sensors, may be tuned to have different optical band passes. The tunable optical filter may be tuned to correspond (i.e. allow the passage of) to one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the red, green and/or blue emitters; or, may be tuned to correspond (i.e. allow the passage of) to one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the infra-red, red, green and/or blue emitters. According to some embodiments, the above set of emitters may operate with two or more sets of photodiodes such that each emitter is positioned at a corresponding matching/suitable, or optimal, distance from its respective photodiode or photodiode area/section.
Down Facing, External and Reference ECG Electrodes
According to some embodiments, the wearable device may include one or more ECG sensors, as part of the composite sensor assembly or as a separate unit(s) functionally associated therewith. According to some embodiments, ECG sensor electrodes, of at least some of the ECG sensors, may be positioned next to the PPG assembly, on the downward (subject skin) facing contact surface/side/facet of the suspended PCB of the assembly, optionally on the same plane, such that both, the PPG's emitters and photodiodes and the ECG's electrodes, come in contact with the skin of the user—as a result of their positioning and/or by the downward press/push of the flexible surface against the skin of the wearing subject.
According to some embodiments, the wearable device may further include one or more additional/external ECG electrodes, raised (i.e. further away from the subject's skin) in relation to the plane of the PPG's emitters and photodiodes and the ECG's down (skin) facing electrodes. Raised ECG electrodes may, for example, include two electrodes, or electrode batches/sets, on the sides of the wearable device—for example on its right and left sides—and a third electrode that may be used as a reference electrode for background noise cancellation/compensation. The reference electrode may be used for picking up reference noise and measuring it using respective ECG sensor processing circuitry connected to the reference electrode, wherein measured values may be used for cancellation/compensation of noise in the measured electric cardio activity of the examined subject, as picked up by the down facing and external electrodes and measured by the sensor data processing circuitry of the ECG sensor(s).
The one or more additional/external electrodes and the reference electrode may be located at accessible positions on the wearable device, allowing their engagement/interfacing by the subject wearing the device. The additional/reference electrodes may for example be located at external positions on the device, accessible by the hand/thumb of the subject, opposite to the hand/arm on which the wearable device (e.g. wristband, watch) is being worn. As the downward facing electrodes remain in substantial permanent contact with the skin of the subject wearing the device, upon the subject making contact with one or more of the external electrodes with his opposite arm, his cardio electric activity may be picked up by the electrodes and measured by the sensor data processing circuitry of the ECG sensors.
According to some embodiments, two electrodes may face down (towards the skin/body of the subject), wherein, one of the two is the reference electrode. According to some embodiments, there may be provided a facing down reference electrode and an external reference electrode, such that even if the user/subject only touches one of the external ECG pads, the system may work flawlessly.
The external electrodes (e.g. on the sides of the wearable device) may be positioned over a button/interface-element/thumb-press-button, for example in the form of a spring or a metal dome, that may sense the contact of an engaging subject and in response, signal a controller of the composite sensor assembly or the wearable device to trigger ECG measurements of the subject.
Continuous PPG/ECG Measurement
A system, in accordance with some embodiments, may further include one or more external PPG and/or ECG signals pickup kits or units, connectable to the wearable device by an electric wire(s). The PPG/ECG units may allow for continuous PPG SpO2 and/or continuous ECG measurements, by providing additional and constant signal pickup locations on the subject's body.
An external ECG signals pickup unit, in accordance with some embodiments, may include: an ECG pad and electrode(s) connectable/attachable to the chest of the examined, device wearing, subject; a connector/jack for connection to a complementary port/socket on the wearable device; and electric wire(s) for connecting there between and passing/relaying signals picked up at the ECG pad to a controller/processing-circuitry of the composite sensor assembly or the wearable device.
An external PPG signals pickup unit, in accordance with some embodiments, may include: a finger clip/connector—having one or more LED(s) and one or more photodiode(s)—connectable/attachable to the finger of the examined, device wearing, subject; a connector/jack for connection to a complementary port/socket on the wearable device; and electric wire(s) for connecting there between and passing/relaying electric signals picked up at the photodiode(s) to a controller/processing-circuitry of the composite sensor assembly or the wearable device.
According to some embodiments, the external ECG signals pickup unit and/or the external PPG signals pickup unit may take the form of passive units, adapted solely for the pickup and relaying of electric signal, wherein all processing and/or analysis of the signals is performed by a sensor data processing circuitry on the wearable device or the composite sensor assembly thereof.
The ECG pad of an external PPG signals pickup unit, in accordance with some embodiments, may consist of a combined/multi-sensor ECG and PPG pad, incorporating PPG sensor pickup components, including at least one or more emitters and one or more photodiodes, into the ECG pad. The combined pad, may be attached to a body part/organ, for example the chest, of the examined, device wearing, subject—allowing the, optionally continuous, measurement of both ECG, PPG and additional derived vital-signs/bio-parameters measurements based thereof. The additional measurements, based on PPG signals from the combined pad, may enable improved and/or more accurate vital-signs/bio-parameters measurements, for example, in cases where the examined, device wearing, subject suffers-from/has low blood perfusion in his limbs and/or fingers, hindering the PPG measurements derived based on the down facing PPG sensor(s) and/or the finger clip/connector PPG sensors of the wearable device.
Thermal Sensors
The wearable device, in accordance to some embodiments, or the composite sensor assembly thereof, may consist of a composite electrical and optical configuration of sensors, including one or more ECG sensors for deriving cardio electric activity measurements and one or more PPG sensors for deriving SpO2 measurements. The composite electrical and optical configuration of sensors may further include one or more thermal sensors for calibrating, normalizing and/or compensating for variations in SpO2, and/or other PPG applications, measurement levels, derived by the PPG sensor(s), based on measured skin temperature and/or core body temperature of the examined, device wearing, subject.
The one or more thermo-sensors may be of an optical thermal sensor type. The optical thermal sensor(s) may be located at an external/outer position of/on the wearable device and may be functionally connected with the other (e.g. PPG, ECG) sensors incorporated into the device and/or with processing/control circuitries thereof. The external/outer optical thermal sensor(s) may point outside and away of the device, such that at least a light emitter(s) and a photodiode(s) of the sensor(s) are externally directed, enabling the wearing/examined subject to direct them towards a body location or organ allowing core body temperature measurement, for example, the open mouth of the subject.
The optical thermal sensor(s) may be located at an external/outer position of/on the wearable device. The external/outer optical thermal sensor(s) may point outside and away of the device, such that at least a light emitter(s) and a photodiode(s) of the sensor(s) are externally directed and adapted for finger temperature measurement, by enabling the wearing/examined subject to engage/interface it/them by making contact with the sensor, using a finger of the hand opposite to the hand/arm on which the wearable device is being worn.
FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Turning to , there is shown an illustration of an exemplary wearable device including one or more composite sensor assemblies according to embodiments of the present invention. The device shown in includes an ECG sensor assembly, a PPG sensor assembly and a motion/displacement/pressure sensor integral or otherwise functionally associated with the PPG sensor assembly.
The exemplary wearable wristband device shown, further includes contacts for an ECG sensor assembly visible on the outer side of the watchband, wherein the location of a first ECG lead or contact of the ECG assembly is shown. The location of a second ECG lead or contact, placed on the inner or back surface of the watchband, is also pointed to. Also pointed to are the PPG assembly sensors which are located on the inner surface of the wristwatch band.
Upon a user/subject/wearer strapping the wristwatch band on their arm's wrist, the PPG sensors and ECG lead/electrode come in contact and touch the skin of wearer's wrist. The ECG lead/contact, which is located on an outer surface of the watchband, can be touched by a finger or palm of the wearer's other hand, such that both ECG lead/electrodes are simultaneously contacted upon a user/wearer placing his finger. An additional, outer, PPG assembly sensor is shown, for measuring SpO2 of the wearer (i.e. from his contacting finger).
Alternatively, an external ECG lead/contact/electrode can be placed in contact with the chest of the wearer and connected to the shown port/socket for jack/connector from external ECG/PPG units/pads. The shown configuration allows for the measurement of ECG and PPG signals at the same time, which in turn may allow for the estimation of the Pulse Transmit Time (PTT). The configuration shown also including the outer, wearer finger contactable, PPG sensor allowing for the measurement of SpO2.
Further shown is a thermal sensor for calibrating, normalizing and/or compensating for variations in SpO2 measurement levels, derived by the PPG sensor(s), based on measured skin temperature and/or core body temperature of the examined, device wearing, subject.
The ‘additional sensor type’ shown may be anyone of several different sensor types, including, but not limited to: an SpO2 sensor, a capacitance sensor, a galvanic sensor and/or others. The above sensors can be used as either main or supporting sensors that work together with a finger print sensor. According to additional embodiments the additional sensor may be a fingerprint sensor. Further shown is the display of the wristwatch for presenting sensors associated data, wearer bio-parameters derived therefrom, and/or associated notifications.
FIG. 2A
FIG. 2A
Turning now to , there is shown a functional block diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The assembly shown in includes an ECG sensor assembly including a first and a second electrode batch/lead/electrode and their respective signal amplification circuits. Further shown is a PPG assembly, including a photonic emitter with optical guiding elements and a photonic detector/receiver; a thermal sensor and a thermal sensor interface, connected to the shown sensor data processor; and displacement sensors.
FIG. 1
The sensors are connected to a sensor driver and interface circuits, and the ECG and PPG sensors are connected to respective signal processing circuits. PPG sensor processed signals are relayed to compensation circuits for adjusting PPG sensor artifacts based on signals from the displacement sensors and/or from the thermal sensor interface connected to the thermal sensor (shown in ).
Processed ECG signals and adjusted PPG signals are integrated by a mutual sensor data processor and relayed to a derived wearer/user parameter estimator for calculating bio-parameter estimations based on data from at least two of the sensors. Estimated parameters are then relayed to a hosting device interface for presentation, storage and/or further communication to a functionally associated and/or networked device/system/platform. Further shown are power supply circuits, such as a rechargeable battery, and a composite sensor assembly controller.
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2A
Turning now to , there is shown a flowchart diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly operation process, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including exemplary steps of operation of the sensor assembly of .
FIG. 2C
Turning now to , there is shown a bottom view (viewing from the subject skin side) diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly—subject/user skin contact surface/facet, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The ECG electrodes, of the composite sensor assembly surface/facet shown, are placed on an elevated plane of the PPG sensor such that both can come in good contact with the skin of the user/subject.
FIGS. 2D-2E
FIG. 2D
FIG. 2E
Turning now to , there are shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, an exemplary implementation of a PPG positioned in between two ECG pads, on one side of a PCB (); and an artifact sensor on the other side of the PCB (). One of the shown ECG pads may be used as a reference, as described herein.
FIGS. 2F-2G
FIG. 2F
FIG. 2G
Turning now to , there are shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, an exemplary wearable wristband device (shown without band/strap) having two electrodes positioned on its right side () and on its left side (). Shown electrodes are for the fingers of the subject's hand which is opposite to the hand wearing the device. One of the shown ECG electrodes may be used as a reference, as described herein.
FIG. 3A
Turning now to , there is shown an isometric view diagram of a first exemplary PPG sensor configuration/assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including a PPG sensor LED die positioned substantially at the center of the assembly. The shown PPG sensor assembly further includes: an isolation layer positioned under, or below, the LED die; and two isolation layer buffers positioned on opposite sides of the LED die, for preventing light emitted from the LED die to travel back (down) and/or sideways, and to directly (i.e. not as a reflection off the examined subject's skin/tissue) hit the photodiode area (shown in black) positioned at the bottom of the assembly, under, or below, the isolation layer. The top edges of the shown isolation layer buffers are slightly lower than the top edges of the rectangular frame of the PPG sensor assembly, thus allowing for a single transparent cover to extend over substantially the entire top of the assembly.
FIG. 3B
Turning now to , there is shown an isometric view diagram of a second exemplary PPG sensor configuration/assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, wherein the top edges of the shown isolation layer buffers are substantially aligned with, or higher than, the top edges of the rectangular frame of the PPG sensor assembly, thus allowing for multiple (Three in this example) separate transparent covers to extend over corresponding sections, formed between the edges of the rectangular frame of the assembly and the aligned, or higher, edges of the isolation layer buffers.
FIG. 3C
Turning now to , there is shown an isometric view diagram of a third exemplary PPG sensor configuration/assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, wherein three LED dies/emitters—red, green and blue; or alternatively, infrared, red, and green—are positioned substantially in the center of the assembly. Two photodiode areas are shown below the LED emitters, wherein the two photodiodes areas are part of a single photodiode stretching over substantially the entire are of the framed section of the assembly. The shown photodiode areas are covered by tunable optical filters, in the form of a plate or a surface, and can be tuned to have different optical band passes. The tunable optical filter can be tuned to correspond (i.e. allow the passage of) one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the red, green and/or blue emitters, or alternatively, the photon wavelengths of one or more of the infrared, red, and/or green emitters.
FIG. 3D
Turning now to , there is shown a bottom view (viewing from the subject skin side) diagram of a third exemplary PPG sensor configuration/assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, wherein three LED dies/emitters—infrared, red, and green—are positioned substantially in the center of the assembly. Two photodiode areas are shown below the LED emitters, wherein the two photodiodes areas are part of a single photodiode stretching over substantially the entire are of the framed section of the assembly. The shown photodiode areas are covered by tunable optical filters, in the form of a plate or a surface, and can be tuned to have different optical band passes. The tunable optical filter can be tuned to correspond (i.e. allow the passage of) one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the infrared, red and/or green emitters.
FIG. 4A
Turning now to , there is shown a cross sectional diagram of an exemplary sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including a PPG sensor mounted on a contact surface of the assembly and an optical motion/displacement/pressure/artifact sensor facing an inner cavity of the assembly. Both sensors are positioned on opposite sides of the same printed circuit board (PCB), which printed circuit board is suspended on springs connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly.
The PPG sensor shown, includes two photodiode sensing apertures/areas, which are part of the same photodiode sensing surface, on either side of the shown emitter(s) unit. The emitter(s) are optically isolated from the photo-diode sensing aperture by optical isolation structure/layers made of non-transparent material. Surfaces, of each of the emitters of the emitter(s) unit, may be connected to the same or to different photo-emitters and may be angled (as exemplified in the figure) towards the photo-diode so as to focus emitted light onto and into the coverage area(s) of the photo-diodes.
The shown springs allows for the optical displacement sensor to move in sync with the PPG sensor. According to the embodiment shown, the displacement sensor includes an emitter whose emitted light is directed towards a reflector placed on an inner surface of the assembly cavity opposite from the emitter. The displacement sensor also includes a photodiode positioned in proximity with the emitter and configured to sense reflections of the emitter's light reflected by the reflector on the opposite side of the cavity. As the distance between the displacement sensor emitter, mounted on the inner surface of the suspended PCB, and the displacement sensor reflector changes due to movements of the PCB relative to the chassis forming the cavity to which the reflector is attached, the amplitude and/or phase of the light detected by the displacement sensor photodiode also changes. Accordingly, displacement/movement/pressure experienced by the PPG sensor may be measured.
FIG. 4B
Turning now to , there is shown a cross sectional diagram of an exemplary sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, including a PPG sensor mounted on a contact surface of the assembly and an optical motion/displacement/pressure/artifact sensor facing an inner cavity of the assembly. Both sensors are positioned on opposite sides of the same printed circuit board (PCB), which printed circuit board is suspended on a flexible surface connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly.
The PPG sensor shown, includes two photodiode sensing apertures/areas, which are part of the same photodiode sensing surface, on either side of the shown emitter(s) unit. The emitter(s) are optically isolated from the photo-diode sensing aperture by optical isolation structure/layers made of non-transparent material. Surfaces, of each of the emitters of the emitter(s) unit, may be connected to the same or to different photo-emitters and may be angled (as exemplified in the figure) towards the photo-diode so as to focus emitted light onto and into the coverage area(s) of the photo-diodes.
The shown flexible surface allows for the optical displacement sensor to move in sync with the PPG sensor. According to the embodiment shown, the displacement sensor includes an emitter whose emitted light is directed towards a reflector placed on an inner surface of the assembly cavity opposite from the emitter. The displacement sensor also includes a photodiode positioned in proximity with the emitter and configured to sense reflections of the emitter's light reflected by the reflector on the opposite side of the cavity. As the distance between the displacement sensor emitter, mounted on the inner surface of the suspended PCB, and the displacement sensor reflector changes due to movements of the PCB relative to the chassis forming the cavity to which the reflector is attached, the amplitude and/or phase of the light detected by the displacement sensor photodiode also changes. Accordingly, displacement/movement/pressure experienced by the PPG sensor may be measured.
FIG. 5A
Turning now to , there is shown a cross-section view of a wearable wristband device with a PPG PCB flexible surface suspension, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, wherein the wearable wristband shown is intended to hold the sensor assembly on/against the wrist of a user/subject.
The shown wristband includes an exemplary PPG sensor assembly, wherein an isolation layer and isolation layer buffers prevent light from the shown LED from traveling directly towards to the photodiode area. Accordingly, light hitting the photodiode area is substantially limited to light reflecting of the body (e.g. skin) of the user/subject (wearer) of the wristband. Further shown in the figure are the band and buckle of the wristband, the user's/subject's (wearer's) arm within the band, and the PCB on which the sensor configuration is implemented.
The shown cavity of the sensor assembly/chassis/housing may allow for the PCB connected by, and suspended on, the flexible surface suspension, along with the sensor configuration implemented thereon, to travel upwards and into the cavity as the user moves and creates tension or pressure on it. The suspended PCB shown, may optionally be rigid/inflexible and may optionally have a thickness of approximately 0.5 millimeters.
FIG. 5B
FIG. 5A
Turning now to , there is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a cross-section view of the wearable wristband device of , wherein the wearable wristband device is shown prior to its wearing by the user/subject. As the wristband device is not being worn, the wristband buckle is shown to be open and the user's/subject's (wearer's) arm is not within/wrapped-by the band. The flexible surface suspension is shown to be substantially flat/straight as there is no tension or pressure applied onto the suspended PCB and/or sensor assembly/configuration implemented thereon (i.e. no user/subject motions).
FIG. 5C
FIG. 5A
FIG. 5B
Turning now to , there is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a cross-section view of the wearable wristband device of , wherein the wearable wristband device is shown during its wearing by the user/subject. As the wristband device is being worn, the wristband buckle is shown to be closed and the user's/subject's (wearer's) arm is within/wrapped-by the band. The flexible surface suspension is shown to be stretched upward—applying an opposite force downward and onto the skin of the wearing user/subject. The shown flexible surface suspension—stretched due to tension or pressure on the PCB and/or sensor assembly/configuration implemented thereon, being pushed upwards by the arm/wrist of the wearing user/subject and or his/her physical movements and/or physical motions—and is thus biased towards returning to its initial () bottom position, adjacent to the arm/wrist of the user/subject. As the tension or pressure is relieved the PCB may return to, or to the proximity of, its initial bottom position, and the flexible surface may become substantially flat/straight once again, or less stretched/bent.
FIG. 5D
Turning now to there is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, a flowchart of an exemplary artifact/displacement compensation process based on displacement sensor reflected light return time. The shown process includes the following exemplary steps: (1) PPG sensor(s) readouts/measurements/values of wearable device user/subject are intermittently performed; (2) In parallel and/or alternatively, artifact/displacement sensor reflected light return time readouts/measurements/values are intermittently performed; (3) Reflected light return time measurement values are monitored;
(4) Performed PPG sensor readouts/measurements/values of wearable device user/subject are relayed for output (for example through: a visual output component, an audio output component and/or a communication transmitter of the wearable device); and (5) Upon detection of a change in the monitored reflected light return time value: (a) PPG Sensor readouts/measurements/values of wearable device user/subject are corrected/compensated based on change/deltas in reflected light return time and (b) corrected PPG sensor readouts/measurements/values of wearable device user/subject are relayed for output.
FIG. 6
FIG. 1
Turning now to there is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, an illustration of the exemplary wearable device of , further including an exemplary external PPG sensor finger clip configuration for continuous SpO2 measurement. The shown external PPG sensor finger clip, includes at least an emitter(s) and a photodiode(s). Electric signals picked-up/sensed by the photodiode(s) are relayed to the wearable device over the external PPG sensor connection cable/wires, connected to the PPG sensor port/socket of the device by the external PPG connector/jack. The external PPG sensor finger clip may allow for continuous SpO2 monitoring, which readings are displayed over the display of the device and/or otherwise outputted or communicated for presentation, storage and/or further analysis/review.
FIG. 7
FIG. 1
Turning now to there is shown, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, an illustration of the exemplary wearable device of , further including an exemplary external combined ECG pad(s) with an integrated PPG sensor for continuous ECG and SpO2 measurement. The shown external ECG pad(s) with integrated PPG, includes at least ECG electrode(s)/lead(s) a PPG emitter(s) and a PPG photodiode(s). Electric signals picked-up/sensed by the ECG and PPG components are relayed to the wearable device over the external combined pad sensor connection cable/wires, connected to the PPG/ECG sensor port/socket of the device by the external sensors connector/jack. The external combined ECG pad(s) with an integrated PPG sensor may allow for both, continuous SpO2 monitoring and continuous ECG monitoring, which readings are displayed over the display of the device and/or otherwise outputted or communicated for presentation, storage and/or further analysis/review.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a composite bio-parameter sensor assembly for detecting vital signs of a subject person, may comprise: a printed circuit board (PCB); one or more first sensors, mounted on an outer contact surface of the assembly and having a sensing surface to optically detect one or more parameters of a pulse of the subject; and a second sensor, facing an inner cavity of the assembly, for optically detecting displacement of the one or more first sensors, wherein the one or more first sensors and the second sensor are positioned on the opposite sides of the PCB.
According to some embodiments, the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly may comprise a flexible surface suspendingly (i.e. in a suspended form/manner) connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly, such that both, the one or more first sensors and the second sensor positioned on the opposite sides of the PCB, are collectively correlated to the flexible surface, enabling them to move in sync with one another.
According to some embodiments, the second sensor of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly may include at least a light emitter and a photodiode; and, may further comprise a reflector, positioned on an inner surface of the cavity of the assembly, substantially opposite of the emitter.
According to some embodiments, the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly may further comprise a processing logic for intermittently calculating, based on electric signal outputs of the photodiode of the second sensor, the distance, or change in distance, between the emitter of the second sensor and the reflector and for estimating the movement of the second sensor corresponding to the movement of the one or more first sensors moving in sync therewith based thereof; and for accordingly assessing the displacement experienced by the one or more first sensors and compensating for it.
According to some embodiments, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, the one or more first sensors may be PPG sensors including one or more central light emitters and two or more photodiode areas that are part of a single photodiode surface, wherein the photodiode surface is positioned behind the emitter and at least partially sticks out from at least one of its sides.
According to some embodiments, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, the one or more central light emitters may include: a red light emitter, a green light emitter and an infrared light emitter; and may further comprise an optical filter, in the form of a surface covering the photodiode areas of the PPG sensors, tunable to allow the passage of one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the red, green and infrared light emitters.
According to some embodiments, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, the flexible surface may be made from boPET.
According to some embodiments, the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly may further comprise a third sensor, of an ECG type, having an ECG sensing surface substantially aligned with the sensing surface of the first one or more PPG sensors, such that a subject touching the assembly concurrently comes in contact with both the ECG sensing surface of the ECG type sensor and the sensing surface of the first one or more PPG sensors.
According to some embodiments of the present invention, a wearable wristband device may include a composite bio-parameter sensor assembly connected thereto for detecting vital signs of a subject person, wherein the assembly comprises: a printed circuit board (PCB); one or more first sensors, mounted on an outer contact surface of the assembly and having a sensing surface to optically detect one or more parameters of a pulse of the subject; a second sensor, facing an inner cavity of the assembly, for optically detecting displacement of the one or more first sensors, wherein the one or more first sensors and the second sensor are positioned on the opposite sides of the PCB; and a flexible surface suspendingly (i.e. in a suspended form/manner) connecting the PCB to a chassis of the assembly, such that both, the one or more first sensors and the second sensor positioned on the opposite sides of the PCB, are collectively correlated to the flexible surface, enabling them to move in sync with one another, wherein upon the wearable wristband device being worn by a subject, the flexible surface is stretched and biased towards its original, substantially flat, pre worn shape, causing it and the contact surface of the one or more first sensors suspended thereon, to retain contact, of approximately the same force, with the skin of the subject wearing the device.
According to some embodiments, the wearable wristband device may further comprise an external connection port for receiving a connector of an external sensor component.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the external sensor component may be a sensor pad, including sensor elements selected from the group consisting of: a PPG sensor light emitter and photodiode, ECG sensor electrodes and/or a combination of both a PPG sensor light emitter and photodiode and ECG sensor electrodes.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the external sensor component elements may facilitate the continuous measurement of SpO2 or ECG bio parameters of the subject.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device the external sensor component elements may facilitate the continuous measurement of both SpO2 and ECG bio parameters of the subject.
According to some embodiments, the wearable wristband device may further comprise an optical thermal sensor, located at an outer position of the wearable device and functionally connected with circuitries of at least a processing logic and a control logic of the first sensors and the second sensor incorporated into the assembly of the wearable device.
According to some embodiments, the wearable wristband device may further comprise outer ECG sensor electrodes located at an outer position of the wearable device and functionally connected with circuitries of at least a processing logic and a control logic of the first sensors and the second sensor incorporated into the composite bio-parameter.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the outer ECG sensor electrodes are positioned over a user interface element, allowing for the control logic to sense the contact of an engaging subject and in response, to trigger ECG measurements of the subject.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the second sensor, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, may include at least a light emitter and a photodiode; and, may further comprise a reflector, positioned on an inner surface of the cavity of the assembly, substantially opposite of the emitter.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the one or more first sensors, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, may be PPG sensors including one or more central light emitters and two or more photodiode areas that are part of a signal photodiode surface, wherein the photodiode surface is positioned behind the emitter and at least partially sticks out from at least one of its sides.
According to some embodiments, of the wearable wristband device, the one or more central light emitters may include: a red light emitter, a green light emitter and an infrared light emitter; wherein, the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly further comprises an optical filter, in the form of a surface covering the photodiode areas of the PPG sensors, tunable to allow the passage of one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the red, green and infrared light emitters.
According to some embodiments, of the composite bio-parameter sensor assembly, the one or more first sensors may be PPG sensors including one or more central light emitters and two or more separate photodiode surfaces wherein the photodiode surfaces are positioned behind the emitters and at least partially stick out from at least one of the sides of each of the emitters; wherein the one or more central light emitters include: an infrared light emitter, a red light emitter, a green light emitter and a blue light emitter; and further comprise an optical filter, in the form of one or more surfaces covering at least some of the photodiode surfaces of the PPG sensors, tunable to allow the passage of one or more of the photon wavelengths of one or more of the infrared, red, green and blue light emitters.
According to some embodiments, the wearable wristband device may further comprise a thermal sensor, wherein the thermal sensor is positioned in an outer location of the device, enabling the direction of the thermal sensor into an open mouth of a device wearing subject, in order to measure the subject's core body temperature.
The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be constructed as limiting. While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wearable device with a composite bio-sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 2A
, is a functional block diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 2B
, is a flowchart diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly operation process, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 2C
, is a diagram of an exemplary composite sensor assembly—subject/user skin contact facet, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 2D-2E
FIG. 2D
FIG. 2E
, are diagrams of an exemplary implementation, wherein a PPG positioned in between two ECG pads, on one side of a PCB () and an artifact sensor on the other side of the PCB (), in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIGS. 2F-2G
FIG. 2F
FIG. 2G
, are diagrams of an exemplary wearable wristband device (shown without band/strap) having two electrodes positioned on its right side () and on its left side (), in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3A
, is a diagram of a first exemplary PPG sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3B
, is a diagram of a second exemplary PPG sensor assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3C
, is a diagram of a third exemplary PPG sensor assembly, including red, green and blue light emitters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3D
, is a diagram of the third exemplary PPG sensor assembly, including infrared, red, and green light emitters, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 4A
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary PPG sensor assembly with a PCB spring suspension, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 4B
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary PPG sensor assembly with a PCB flexible surface suspension, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 5A
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wearable device with a PPG PCB flexible surface suspension, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 5B
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wearable device with a PPG PCB flexible surface suspension—prior to wearing, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 5C
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary wearable device with a PPG PCB flexible surface suspension—after/during wearing, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 5D
, is a flowchart diagram of an exemplary artifact/displacement compensation process based on displacement sensor reflected light return time, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 6
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary external PPG sensor finger clip configuration for continuous SpO2 measurement, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention; and
FIG. 7
, is a schematic diagram of an exemplary combined ECG and PPG chest pad unit configuration, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. | |
Value creation is happening in the buildings industry as OEMs, System Integrators, and End Users transition to an open, industry-standard methodology for meta-data tagging and data modeling. The BAS industry is re-working how data is leveraged across the entire design-construction-operations cycle; new applications that use tagged data are now being introduced and building owners are reaping financial rewards across familiar activities and through new services. Metcalfe’s Law is one way to predict how the value of technology is realized.
This observed rule of technology market behavior holds that the value of a network increases in proportion to the square of the number of connections. However, applying this to smart buildings and IoT devices, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Historically, it has required a large amount of manual configuration and integration effort to derive value from these
devices and their applications. Here’s my theory:
Muench’s Corollary to Metcalfe’s Law - Network value equals the square of the number of connections divided by the number of mouse clicks that it takes to connect the devices.
In other words, if traditional building automation systems require a large amount of effort to deploy, then that diminishes the value of the connected devices. If we can leverage the use of tagging and data modeling to drastically reduce the number of mouse clicks, the “real value” of a smart building can be realized. This is why the Project Haystack community and J2 Innovations are focused on smarter software and more efficient workflows.
Traditionally, System Integrators are responsible for defining automation system points; yet, few of these professionals have ever wrangled with data semantics, metadata tagging, and taxonomies.
Most have specialized in working on a single brand of building automation system (BAS) and have never encountered the issues that arise when you try to combine data from different sources and bring it into value-added applications.
For example, a large college campus with many different BAS systems installed over many years could have dozens of ways to describe something as simple as its zone temperature.
With Project Haystack methodology and the right tools for automating the tagging process, systematic tagging and data modeling can be a straightforward job, even for a very large data set. Will the payoffs be worth the effort? Yes, many times over.
Project Haystack is an established open source initiative whose mission is to provide the building automation industry and related IoT applications with a standardized way of defining the context and meaning of building and equipment related data. Project Haystack just released Haystack 4.0, which adds data-modeling features that support the implementation of both a taxonomy and the resulting ontologies that define the relationship of things and between things.
A popular implementation of open-source Project Haystack is nHaystack. This module enables Tridium Niagara stations JACE and WebSupervisor) to serve Haystack data via a RESTful protocol. Using nHaystack, applications receive data complete with essential metadata descriptors. With a Haystack-tagged system, you can define tags once and realize value over and over again. Haystack makes it easier for system integrators to add meaning to the Java-based Niagara component model.
There are numerous other implementations being worked on by the Project Haystack community too. For example, there are groups working in C++ and DART. All share the common goal of making it easier to unlock value from the vast quantity of data being generated by the smart devices that permeate our homes, buildings, factories, and cities. The way forward starts with defining tags for the most common types of points, devices, and their relationships. The resulting self-describing models will pay off at the device, equipment and building levels, as well as when they are shared by various applications for visualization, control, fault detection, analytics, maintenance ticketing, room scheduling, etc.
As we alluded to before, there are many payoffs of using the Haystack standard. The real-world value of using tagging and data modeling can be seen through these examples – or “Payoffs.”
■ Payoff #1: Device Data – VAV Point Graphics
■ Payoff #2: System Summaries – AHU Summary
■ Payoff #3: User Experience – Equipment Graphic
■ Payoff #4: Automatic Control Logic – Demand Response
■ Payoff #5: Automated Commissioning – System Check-out Report
■ Payoff #6: Analytic Applications – Analytic Results
■ Payoff #7: Enterprise Applications – Work Order Management
To illustrate, consider how a standard VAV for an air handler would be defined in Haystack. You would start with a device template that associates the points with all the standard attributes: air flow, supply air temperature, damper position, set point.
There is great value in just having this device-level information model at hand when diagnosing a problem. For example, when an occupant calls to report ‘It’s too cold in this room,’ the points graphic would display in a normalized way the live values, independent of how they were defined and named at the control system level. With this knowledge, such situations can be easily and quickly diagnosed and addressed, often without a costly truck roll.
Tags that reflect relationships are also useful, for instance how devices interrelate as part of a larger system. Relationship, or reference tags can also represent dependencies of equipment to floors, floors to buildings, buildings to enterprise, etc. For example, reference tags can be used to build the hierarchical relationships of all the VAV’s in a particular air handler system. This makes it possible to call up equipment summaries. Anomalies are particularly easy to spot when they are presented in the context of other similar devices.
Once you have built a set of self-describing models according to the standard Haystack methodology, you are in a good position to apply applications that take advantage of Haystack tags. These automatically plug the relevant operational data into the right place. The resulting app provides a user experience for navigation, point graphics, summary graphics, schedules, histories, alarms—in effect, all the information captured in the models delivered to any device anywhere. Clear, non-ambiguous information can go a long way toward simplifying the jobs of maintenance staff and facilities managers which is another way your investment in data modeling will pay back.
The return on investment increases when automatic control functions enabled by a tagged and modeled system come into play. For example, many building operators have the opportunity to save significant energy costs through participation in demand response programs. However, orchestrating whole-building control, given the various data silos and subsystems (HVAC, lighting, enterprise scheduling) has been difficult and costly to implement. By using the Haystack method, you can simply tag models for all of the equipment that needs to be controlled and tag the corresponding control sequence and it will ‘just work.’ This drastically reduces the traditional amount of time, labor and cost required to implement control strategies across the building.
One of the most important but time-consuming tasks for implementing an intelligent building is the initial checkout and on-going retro-commissioning. Tag based automated commissioning gives you the ability to create a set of tasks and apply them globally across an entire system of equipment. Each step is executed automatically and the results are summarized in a checkout/commissioning report. No more spending hours manually checking sensors, stroking dampers, and recording results.
When you apply analytics software to a well-designed and deployed tagging and data modeling strategy, you get automatic data analysis for building, energy and equipment data and thus derive more value from your investment. Data analytics creates value by detecting patterns that represent opportunities for improved performance and cost savings. Automated analytics software will identify issues, patterns, deviations, faults and opportunities at the device, equipment and whole-building levels.
Correcting problems quickly and optimizing the delivery of building services reduces energy bills and contributes to the type of well-run facility that keeps occupants productive and satisfied with their space.
When all building data is structured in a Haystack-compliant database, integration of building operations and other aspects of workplace management in an enterprise setting is easier. Tagging also helps service activities like issuing maintenance tickets by automatically linking relevant information to the corresponding application. Integrating building management within the larger IT infrastructure leads to additional cumulative benefits felt from the C-suite level to every member of the operations and maintenance staff.
Tags can be applied at the server level using software tools to convert legacy devices and points to Haystack compliant data records. As Project Haystack adoption has grown, and implementation have expanded beyond the server, tags now exist in network controllers as well. As more IoT devices enter the market that utilize Project Haystack, we will see more end devices that natively support Haystack tags.
The FIN Framework application suite incorporates a unified toolset that makes it easy to do Haystack tagging and data modeling utilizing libraries and templating. Users can easily convert the data from all their non-Haystack legacy global and field controllers to Haystack-able models. FIN enables automatic tagging and optimized workflows, drastically reducing the number of mouse clicks and helping realize the real value of the network.
With software that leverages tagging and data modeling, we are beginning to greatly reduce the number of mouse clicks required to implement a solution. Following Muench’s Corollary to Metcalfe’s Law, this streamlining of the user experience is unlocking the true value of a connected system. Participation in Project Haystack is giving property managers, building owners, and system integrators a big head start in the establishment of an in-house point taxonomy. They can then enforce vendor specifications that call for standardized tagging and data modeling across a portfolio and for all aspects of building operations. Project Haystack is supported by an active and growing open-source community of developers who are collaborating on improving its definitions and modeling methodology. For all these reasons, it is the most future-proof approach to monetizing your building data.
Scott is well known as an industry expert in smarthomes and smart buildings. He is a past president of ASHRAE, and is currently a board member for Project Haystack. He attended Clarkson University for Mechanical Engineering and graduated University of Phoenix with a BS/Business in Organizational Innovation. Scott joined J2 Innovations as a partner in 2011, and is now Vice President of Customer Experience. He has a wide range of responsibilities including evangelism, business development, training, and operational excellence. | https://www.j2inn.com/the-pay-offs-of-tagging |
My delegation welcomes the recent Report of the Secretary General on Globalization and Interdependence. The Report highlights both the lights and shadows of globalization on the world as a whole and on individual lives. While globalization has significantly contributed to lifting large numbers of people out of poverty, it has also provoked widening inequalities, both within and among countries. For this reason, the Holy See particularly welcomes the Report’s focus on specific policy and institutional steps needed to help ensure that the benefits of globalization are spread more evenly across all peoples and all nations.
Pope Francis has warned forcefully and repeatedly against a globalization of indifference that could result when our interrelationships are not inspired by a globalization of solidarity. Economic and social exclusion results when globalization is detached from fair and inclusive national and international policies. We see persistent poverty and ever widening inequalities when globalization reinforces the disadvantages that prevent the poorest populations and countries from benefitting from the globalizing world economy. My delegation is convinced that a globalization of solidarity is not only an ethical imperative; it also makes economic and political sense.
For this reason, at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July in Addis Ababa, the Holy See drew attention to the fact that while more and more countries benefit from greater participation in the global economy, large portions of their populations continue to be excluded from the benefits of such progress. At the same time, many countries are still facing enormous challenges in order fully to participate in the global economy. Indeed, some have fallen further behind and may continue to do so unless the international community help them find solutions for what is constraining them.
In this regard, special attention must be given to the particular needs of the least developed countries (LDCs). More effective ways to support them must be found as we move forward with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
Allow me to highlight one particular economic and social challenge identified in the Secretary General’s Report, namely, the critical need to create employment, especially for the youth, and the associated phenomenon of labor migration. The search for work and better economic opportunities is one of the main drivers of increasing migration flows, as millions of people from poor countries migrate to the developed world. The pressure will only increase, as over the next 15 years the number of young people from the least developed countries seeking employment opportunities abroad will continue to grow, and as conflicts will continue to fuel mass movements.
We, therefore, must address this critical need for generating new employment opportunities. This is something that governments cannot do alone. Economic policy instruments should encourage the private sector to invest in activities that generate employment.
The complex phenomenon of migration continues to expand and put strong pressures on borders and systems like rushing floods on dykes and dams, requiring a systematic and common response from States and international organizations. It has sadly provided cover for heinous crimes like the narcotics trade and trafficking in persons and modern forms of slavery, like sexual exploitation and the harvesting of organs.
My delegation is fully aware of the complexities of migration, in particular in its legal aspects, or in cases of massive forced migration or displacements due to conflicts or catastrophes. However, over and above all other considerations, it is necessary never to lose sight of the human face of migration, to regard the migrant as a fellow human being endowed with the same human dignity and rights as we are, and even as an economic resource instead of just one more hungry mouth to feed. It is only through keeping before us this human face that we can respond to the globalization of migration with a globalization of solidarity and cooperation.
For the international community to deal effectively with the multifaceted and complex phenomenon of globalization and interdependence, we need to revitalize global partnerships for development and the maintenance of peace and security. In this context, the United Nations should strengthen its role as a global forum where the voices of even the poorest countries and peoples can be heard on all matters affecting their wellbeing.
The ILO has estimated a need to create 600 million new jobs by 2030. | https://holyseemission.org/contents/statements/56201c1cb279f2.51532663.php |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress surely noise under an unloaded condition.
SOLUTION: When a workpiece detection means (a sensor 5)detects that the workpiece 10 is not positioned within a predetermined distance D with respect to a tip 3a of a saw blade 3, motor control means (a control part) controls a motor so that the motor rotates at a low speed. When the workpiece detection means (the sensor 5) detects that the workpiece 10 is positioned within the predetermined distance D with respect to the tip 3a of the saw blade 3, the motor control means controls the motor so that the motor rotates at a high speed.
COPYRIGHT: (C)2014,JPO&INPIT | |
In 1937 Pablo Picasso paints Guernica, probably what became his most well known painting, in order to express his opposition against the atrocities of Franco’s regime. In particular, Picasso’s work was a commentary on the destruction of the city of Guernica in the Basque country of Northern Spain. During the Spanish civil war in 1937, the city of Guernica was associated with the Republican resistance movement and was regarded as the epicentre of Basque culture. This is what made the city a significant and symbolic target for the Spanish Nationalist forces, which collaborated with Hitler’s Germany and bombed Guernica. Picasso’s oil painting on canvas is regarded as one of the most powerful anti-war artworks in the history of art and has since become a globally recognised symbol of the role and the power of artists in times of war, crimes, and atrocities.
In February 2003, United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell was presenting the evidence in favour of going to war against Iraq at the United Nations Security Council. After the meeting with the officials, a press conference was scheduled outside of the UN council room that informed the world of the reasons and justifications for the US-led attack on Iraq. Yet, a very large tapestry reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica is located on the wall outside of the council room. Powell asked for the tapestry reproduction of Guernica to be covered with a blue curtain during this press conference. Replying to the questions of the journalists, United Nations officials claimed that the cover-up was simply a matter of creating a more effective backdrop for the television cameras: when we do have large crowds we put the flags up and the UN logo in front of the tapestry’ (Walsh, 2003). Of course the presence of mutilated bodies, distorted faces, and chaos on the background would be an ineffective and unappealing backdrop for justifying to a global audience that the US was planning to start a war in Iraq. The covered Guernica was a symbolic statement that spoke volumes about the power of art to raise consciousness, the representations of the horrors of war and fascism, and the inconvenient ‘art’ of UN’s diplomacy.
In 2015, the cartoonist Jovcho Savov revisits Picasso’s Guernica in order to create a visual cry against the horrors of the ‘refugee crisis’. Savov uses the powerful nightmarish faces from Picasso’s painting provoking an intense feeling of suffering, fear, and inescapability. In Savov’s re-appropriation the figures are now in a boat drowning in the Aegean sea. In 2015, these bodies are named ‘refugees’ trying to escape wars and atrocities declared (or remaining undeclared) in front of covered Guernicas. Savov’s artwork has colour – while Picasso’s painting is black and white- and depicts on the background a cruising boat on the Aegean sea, perhaps a commentary by the artist that not all crossings are dangerous, not all bodies are drowning in the Aegean. The Aegean Guernica is a powerful reminder of the normalisation of war and not its inescapability.
Myrto Tsilimpounidi
Reference: | https://lesvosatlas.net/aegean-guernica/ |
Q:
Insert yyyyMMdd string into date column using Talend
I have the follow situation:
A PostgreSQL database with a table that contains a date type column called date.
A string from a delimited .txt file outputting: 20170101.
I want to insert the string into the date type column.
So far i have tried the following with mixed results/errors:
row1.YYYYMMDD
Detail Message: Type mismatch: cannot convert from String to Date
Explanation: This one is fairly obvious.
TalendDate.parseDate("yyyyMMdd",row1.YYYYMMDD)
Batch entry 0 INSERT INTO "data" ("location_id","date","avg_winddirection","avg_windspeed","avg_temperature","min_temperature","max_temperature","total_hours_sun","avg_precipitation") VALUES (209,2017-01-01 00:00:00.000000 +01:00:00,207,7.7,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL) was aborted. Call getNextException to see the cause.
can see the string parsed into "2017-01-01 00:00:00.000000 +01:00:00".
When I try to execute the query directly i get a "SQL Error: 42601: ERROR: Syntax error at "00" position 194"
Other observations/attempts:
The funny thing is if I use '20170101' as a string in the query it works, see below.
INSERT INTO "data" ("location_id","date","avg_winddirection","avg_windspeed","avg_temperature","min_temperature","max_temperature","total_hours_sun","avg_precipitation") VALUES (209,'20170101',207,7.7,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL)
I've also tried to change the schema of the database date column to string. It produces the following:
Batch entry 0 INSERT INTO "data" ("location_id","date","avg_winddirection","avg_windspeed","avg_temperature","min_temperature","max_temperature","total_hours_sun","avg_precipitation") VALUES (209,20170101,207,7.7,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL) was aborted. Call getNextException to see the cause.
This query also doesn't work directly because the date isn't between single quotes.
What am i missing or not doing?
(I've started learning to use Talend 2-3 days ago)
EDIT//
Screenshots of my Job and tMap
http://imgur.com/a/kSFd0
EDIT//It doesnt appear to be a date formatting problem but a Talend to PostgreSQL connection problem
EDIT//
FIXED: It was a stupid easy problem/solution ofcourse. THe database name and schema name fields were empty... so it basically didnt know where to connect
A:
FIXED: It was a stupid easy problem/solution ofcourse. THe database name and schema name fields were empty... so it basically didnt know where to connect thats why i got the BATCH 0 error and when i went deeper while debugging i found it couldnt find the table, stating the relation didnt exist.
| |
Is it possible to set a user-defined date format in write? probe1 asked a similar thing last November and I've tried the things suggested. The DateTime2 system was cumbersome and I still couldn't get it to affect the normal Insert - Fields - Date entry. The autotext solution worked instead of the normal entry but I may forget the name and to press f3. I never thought I'd say this but Word does it well! Any ideas? Many thanks for any help. | https://user.services.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4788&view=print |
08 October 2010
An international speaker at the forefront of groundbreaking new research into converting forestry wastes into bio-fuels, food additives, plastics and other environmentally-friendly products is visiting New Zealand next week to speak at meetings in Wellington and Auckland.
The New Zealand Bioenergy Strategy developed by Crown Research Institute, Scion, has identified a wealth of bioenergy opportunities here, saying that New Zealand could be self-sustaining in transport fuels from bioenergy. The strategy compares well with similar strategies being developed in Canada.
Gilsenan, who is an economist, is involved with the Future Bio-Pathways Project, a study spearheaded by the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) to explore options for transforming the Canadian forest products industry. Other project partners are the biotechnology and energy industries, along with research institutes, the financial sector and government.
The project has involved more than 65 top Canadian experts in such diverse areas as bio-technology, investment banking and carbon pricing.
The research has placed traditional wood products, such as lumber and pulp, at the heart of a new, green business model with the potential to make the forest products industry a pivotal force in Canada's effort to become a clean energy super-power.
The FPAC hopes this new model will enable Canada to produce power on the scale of nine nuclear reactors, enough to meet the energy needs of 2.5 million homes, or one out of every five homes across Canada.
Gilsenan is based in Ottawa and has been with the Canadian Forestry Service since 2003, working primarily on bioenergy and climate change issues. His current work includes the development of a government decision-making framework for commercialising bioenergy technologies. | http://nzfoa.org.nz/news/foa-news/foa-media-releases-2010/942-081010foanews |
Black Perspectives, the award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), will host an online forum on Eric Williams’ foundational text, Capitalism and Slavery in honor of his birthday. Born on September 25, 1911 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Williams was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He served as prime minister from 1962 until his death in 1981. His magnum opus, Capitalism and Slavery, published in 1944, explores how slavery helped to finance the Industrial Revolution in Europe. This week-long forum, organized by historian Sasha Turner, begins on Monday, September 21st and concludes on Friday, September 25th. The online forum will feature essays by Williams’ daughter Erica Williams-Connell, Verene A. Shepherd, Katie Donington, Natasha Lightfoot, and Sasha Turner.
During the week of the online forum, Black Perspectives will publish new blog posts every day at 5:00AM EST. Please follow Black Perspectives (@BlkPerspectives) and AAIHS (@AAIHS) on Twitter, like AAIHS on Facebook, or subscribe to our blog for updates. By subscribing to Black Perspectives, each new post will automatically be delivered to your inbox during the week of the roundtable.
About the Organizer
Sasha Turner is a historian of the Caribbean, with current special interest in the period of colonialism and enslavement. She is currently an Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and serves as Co-President for the Coordinating Council for Women in History. She is especially interested in understanding the lives of women and children and how they navigated racial and gendered subjectivities. Professor Turner’s current research examines emotions as a site of gendered racial subjectivity. She is the author of Contested Bodies: Pregnancy, Childrearing and Slavery in Jamaica (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), which won numerous awards, including: The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Prize; The Julia Spurill Prize, awarded by the Southern Historical Association of Women Historians, for the best published book in southern women’s history; and The Murdo J. McLeod Prize, awarded by the Latin American and Caribbean Section of the Southern Historical Association. Tentatively titled, Slavery, Emotions, and Gender, her new research explores the role of emotion in structuring the power struggles that defined enslavement, including how enslaver and enslaved deployed emotion for social, cultural, and political goals. Professor Turner’s research has been supported by many distinguished fellowships, including Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition Fellowship; Rutgers University Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Studies Fellowship; Washington University in St. Louis African and African American Studies Fellowship; and the Richards Civil War Era Center and Africana Research Center Fellowship at the Pennsylvania State University. Follow her on Twitter @DrSashaTurner.
About the Participants
Erica Williams-Connell is the daughter of Eric Williams, Trinidad and Tobago’s late first Prime Minister and renowned historian. She was educated in her native land, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in England and Switzerland. For the last 39 years since her father’s death, she has spearheaded the establishment of the Eric Williams Memorial Collection Research Library, Archives & Museum (EWMC) at The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago campus. The Collection, which includes Williams’ personal library of over 7,000 volumes, was inaugurated in 1998 by former US Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell. It was named to UNESCO’S Memory of the World Register in 1999. Mrs. Connell remains fully involved in institutionalizing the numerous projects that continue to drive the Collection’s objectives, including the 2011 Harvard/Oxford Universities UK conference in honor of the Centenary of Williams’ birth; and the 2019 Thomas Jefferson Foundation/University of Liverpool conference, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Capitalism and Slavery. Williams-Connell’s writings have appeared in several books, including Eric E. Williams Speaks, edited by Prof. Selwyn R. Cudjoe.
Verene A. Shepherd is a Social Historian and current Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at The University of the West Indies. She completed a BA in history and a M.Phil. from the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies; and completed her PhD in History at the University of Cambridge. In 1989, after returning to Jamaica, Professor Shepherd joined the Department of History at the UWI, Mona as a Lecturer. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1994; and ultimately to the rank of Professor in 2001. In 2010, Professor Shepherd was appointed as the University Director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies, where she remained until 2017. A renowned and eminent expert in the field of 19th century immigration history in the Caribbean, Professor Shepherd has done extensive and groundbreaking research on the immigration of Asian Indians into the Caribbean and has been a leading authority in unearthing the voices of historically marginalised groups. Her work has also contributed to the international human rights and justice agenda at the United Nations, where – from 2010 to 2014 -she was a member of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD), serving as the Working Group’s Chair from 2011-2014. She is the author of Livestock Sugar and Slavery: Contested Terrain in Colonial Jamaica (Ian Randle Pubs, 2009), and the forthcoming Biography of Lucille Mathurin Mair (UWI Press, December 2020). Follow her on Twitter @VereneAShep.
Katie Donington is a Senior Lecturer in History in the Department of Law and Social Sciences at London South Bank University. She completed her PhD with the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project at UCL and was a Post-doctoral Research Associate with the second phase of the project The Structure and Significance of British Caribbean Slavery, 1763-1833. Her research focuses on the cultural, commercial, political and intimate familial world the slave-owners made in both Jamaica and Britain. She is the author of The Bonds of Family: Slavery, Commerce and Culture in the British Atlantic World (Manchester University Press, 2019). She is interested in the representation of slavery within public history and was an historical advisor for the BAFTA-award winning BBC2 documentary Britain’s Forgotten Slave-owners (2015). More recently she co-curated Slavery, Culture and Collecting at the Museum of London Docklands (2018-2019). Her research and public history work have been funded by the Arts Council England, the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council. Her latest project focuses on new historiographical and pedagogical approaches to slavery in the classroom and is a partnership between the Historical Association, the Institute of Education, UCL and the Centre for the Studies of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, UCL. Follow her on Twitter @KatieDonington.permission. | https://www.aaihs.org/online-forum-eric-williams-capitalism-and-slavery/ |
Essential to strike balance between speed, quality of growth, says Chinese President Xi Jinping at BRICS Summit
Jinping added that China would contribute a sizeable amount to the NBD project preparation facility to support the business operation in the long-term development of the bank.
Published: 04th September 2017 10:50 AM | Last Updated: 04th September 2017 11:07 AM | A+A A-
XIAMEN: Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the BRICS Summit plenary session on Monday morning and delivered an opening speech, in which he stressed on striking a balance between the speed of growth and quality of growth.
The focus needs to be on sustainable growth, the Chinese President said.
"It is important to strike a balance between the speed of growth and the quality and efficiency of growth. By implementing the 2030 sustainable development agenda, we have the opportunity to achieve balanced economic, social and environmental progress and bring about inter connected and inclusive development," he quoted.
Chinese President Jinping further said, "Though separated by mountains and oceans, BRICS countries have been closely bound by a shared commitment to win-win cooperation."
Jinping added that China would contribute a sizeable amount to the NBD project preparation facility to support the business operation in the long-term development of the bank.
"I wish to announce here that China will launch the economic and technical cooperation plan for the BRICS countries. To facilitate policy exchange and practical cooperation in the economic and trade field, China will contribute 4 million US Dollars to the NBD project preparation facility to support the business operation in the long-term development of the bank. China will work with all parties to follow through on the outcome and consensus achieved in the past and make use of the existing mechanism," Jinping said.
"The BRICS has travelled a glorious journey of one decade, though separated by mountains and oceans, our five countries have been bound by a shared commitment. We owe the rapid development to the BRICS cooperation to our adoption of a right approach and that is the key to the rapid development for the BRICS countries cooperation," he said.
"Guided by this approach, we have respected and supported each other in following the path of development suited to our respective national conditions. We have pushed forward economic, political and people to people cooperation in an open inclusive and spirit and we have worked with other emerging markets and developing countries to uphold international justice and equity and faster sound external environment."
"Past progress shows that BRICS cooperation has met our common need for development and is keeping with the history. Though we have different national conditions, we share the commitment to pursuing common development through partnership. This has enabled us to rise above differences and seek winning results. As the world goes under profound and complex changes, the BRICS cooperation has become more important. Our people expect us to jointly boost development and improve their well being; the international community expects us to make contribution to world peace and common development."
Xi Jinping hoped that the second decade of BRICS would be as successful as the first one.
Jinping added that they have launched the African regional centre of the new development bank, and have decided to set up the BRICS model e-porch network and have reached extensive agreement on taxation, e-commerce, local currency bond, public-private partnership and the network of financial institutions and services. Their practical cooperation has become more institutionalised and substantive and delivered a more tangible result, he added.
"We need to strengthen complimentary of our development strategy. Despite our differences in national condition, our five countries are in a similar stage of development and we share the same development goals. We all face an odious task in growing on the economy. Strengthening the complementarity of our development strategies will help bring out our comparative strengths in resources market and labor force and to release the growth potential of the five countries and the creativity of our three billion people opening up huge space for development," he said.
"We need to plan well at the macro level and take concrete actions in the key areas acting in the spirit of extensive consultation and shared benefits we need to identify those areas where our development policies and priorities converge and continue to work for the goal of connectivity in trade investment, currency and finance and infrastructure. With a focus on structural reform and sustainable developments, we need to expand our converging interest and share experience on innovation, entrepreneurship, industrial development and projection capacity to boost our respective economic development," he added.
Jinping said that the BRICS nations need to make economic globalisation open inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, build and open an open world economy, support the multilateral trading regime and oppose protectionism.
"We need to advance the of global economic governance, increase the representation and voice of emerging market in developing countries and inject new impetus into the efforts to address the development gap between the north and the south and boost global growth," he said.
"We need to promote people-to-people exchange. The amity between the people holds the key to sound status state relations. Only with intensive care can the tree of friendship and cooperation grow luxuriant. Enhancing the exchange among our people, and seeing the spirit of partnership embraced by all is a worthy cause that deserves our enduring commitment. The job well done in this regard will help in BRICS cooperation vibrant," he added.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, during his address, that trade and economy formed the foundation of the cooperation among the BRICS countries.
Appreciating thrust in people-to-people exchanges, Prime Minister Modi opined that such inter-mingling would consolidate our links and deepen our understanding.
The Prime Minister also urged an early creation of the BRICS rating agency to cater to the financing needs of sovereign and corporate entities of developing countries.
Along with the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Secretary East Preeti Saran, and the High Commissioner of India to China, Vijay Gokhale were also present at the session. | https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2017/sep/04/essential-to-strike-balance-between-speed-quality-of-growth-says-chinese-president-xi-jinping-at-b-1652309.html |
1. An important part of my religious practice is to feel the presence of the Divine in everything I do.
2. I have no interest in feeling a sense of awe about ‘the truth and greatness of the Divine’.*
3. An important aspect of my prayer experience is to feel a deep sense of connectedness with the Divine.
4. Fundamental to my religious experience is an absolute trust in the Divine.
5. It is not important for me to feel an intimate personal relationship with the Divine.*
6. For me‚ an important part of religious practice is experiencing the power and majesty of the Divine.
7. I never try to achieve the feeling of oneness with the Divine.*
8. I do not have much faith in ‘Divine will’.*
9. Part of my being religious involves a constant search for deeper truths behind the words of my sacred texts.
10. I try to avoid centering my thoughts and will around Divine principles.*
11. An essential aspect of my religious practice is to try to understand Divine law.
12. I almost never think about the Divine during the day.*
13. It is not very important for me to search for knowledge about what the Divine would have me do.*
14. I rarely or never think about ways to improve myself to be more attuned to Divine law.*
15. I ask religious questions in order to better understand my relationship to the Divine.
16. My search for Divine guidance is an important religious activity.
* Reversed item
This instrument can be found on page 57 of When How You Believe Matters More than What You Believe: Religiosity and Religious. Available online at:http://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~anlab/pdf/HansenNorenzayanReligiousTolerance.pdf
Fiorito‚ B. & Ryan‚ K. (1998‚ August). Development and preliminary reliability of a newmeasure of religiosity: Religiousness and spirituality questionnaires. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American PsychologicalAssociation‚ San Francisco‚ CA. | https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/devotion-to-divine-scale/ |
---
abstract: 'Recently the OPERA collaboration [[@opera]]{} has reported the observation of superluminal neutrinos traveling a distance of 730 km from Grand Sasso Laboratory to CERN.These results contradict the basic tenet of the Theory of Special Relativity: No particle can travel faster than light in vacuum. Moreover they seem to be in conflict with the speed of (anti)neutrinos detected from the explosion of the SP1987A Super Nova[[@SP1987A]]{}.Here we show that the relative velocity between neutrino and photon has the following property: It depends weakly on the energy of the particle excepts in certain regions(thresholds) where discrete jumps appear.This explains both Opera and SP1987A Super Nova data.'
author:
- |
\
Jorge Alfaro\
Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile\
Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile.\
[email protected]
title: Superluminal neutrinos and the Standard Model
---
OPERA measurement of the relative velocity between neutrino and photon(RVN) is $$\frac{v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma}}{v_{\gamma}} = 2.48 \pm 0.28 \left( {\ensuremath{\operatorname{stat}}} .
\right) \pm 0.30 \left( {\ensuremath{\operatorname{sys}}} . \right) \times 10^{- 5} \label{opera}$$ In the past the MINOS experiment[[@minos]]{} reported a RVN of $$\frac{v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma}}{v_{\gamma}} = 5.1 \pm 2.9 \times 10^{- 5}$$
If we accept (\[opera\]), the neutrinos from the Super Nova should have arrived years before light reaches us from the explosion. But at most a retard of few hours was observed.
Therefore the speed of (anti)neutrinos detected from the explosion of the SP1987A must satisfy:
$$\frac{\left| v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma} \right|}{v_{\gamma}} < 2 \times 10^{- 9}$$
In all experiments the speed of the neutrinos do not show a dependence on the energy of the particle.
OPERA deals with $\mu$ neutrinos at an energy of 20-40 Gev. The Super Nova Neutrinos are mainly $e {}, \mu$ antineutrinos with an energy of 10-20 Mev. That is OPERA neutrinos have 1000 times more energy than the Supernova neutrinos.
In [[@prl]]{}, we proposed a mechanism of Lorentz Invariance Violation(LIV) that within the Standard Model of Particle Physics, predicted that the particles will have different Maximal Attainable Velocities(MAV) [[@cg]]{}. In particular neutrinos, photons and electrons will travel at different maximal speeds, because their mutual interactions are different.
For alternative scenarios to break Lorentz invariance, see [[@otros]]{}; or deform it see [[@dsr]]{}.
In this letter, we want to show how the results of [[@prl]]{} can be used to explain the observations of OPERA and SP1987A Super Nova and obtain new predictions to be tested in future experiments. We will see that the RVN has the following property: It depends weakly on the energy of the particle excepts in certain regions(thresholds) where discrete jumps appear.
The RVN computed in [[@prl]]{} is:
$$\begin{aligned}
\frac{v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma}}{v_{\gamma}} = e^2 \alpha \left\{ \right.
\frac{2}{3} \sum_f N_{c f} Q_f^2 - \frac{3}{2} - \frac{(3 + tan^2 \theta_w)}{8 s i
n^2 \theta_w} \left\} \right. & & \label{liv}\end{aligned}$$
where $Q_f$ and $N_{c f}$ are the electric charge and the color factor(1 for leptons, 3 for quarks) of the fermion $f$, $e$ is the coupling of the photon to a charged particle and $\theta_w$ is the Weinberg’s angle. The factor $\frac{3}{2}$ in the curly bracket is the contribution of the $W_+$ vector boson.$\alpha$ is a free constant that parametrizes the breaking of Lorentz symmetry at high energies.
In the Standard Model $e, \theta_w$ run with the energy scale. In the range of energies we are studying: 20-40 Gev for the Opera neutrino and 10-20 Mev for the Super Nova neutrino, the change of the coupling constants is small[[@PDG]]{}.
The main variation comes from the threshold in the photon vacuum polarization. The charged particles to be considered in (\[liv\]) must have masses smaller than the neutrino energy $E$ [[@Pokorski]]{}.
For energies below $m_{\mu} = 105 {\ensuremath{\operatorname{Mev}}}$(muon mass), we have to include the electron and quarks u,d.
For energies $m_b < E < m_W$, where $m_b = 4.2 {\ensuremath{\operatorname{Gev}}}$(bottom quark mass)and $m_W = 80 {\ensuremath{\operatorname{Gev}}}$(W-boson mass) we must add the muon,the tau and quarks s,c,b.
In both cases, $W_+$ is not included, because it has a higher mass.
So we get: $$\begin{aligned}
\frac{v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma}}{v_{\gamma}} \left( 0 < E < m_{\mu}\right) = e^2 \alpha \left\{ \right. \frac{16}{9} - \frac{(3 +
tan^2 \theta_w)}{8 s i n^2 \theta_w} \left\} \right. = e^2 \alpha
f_{{\ensuremath{\operatorname{LOW}}}} & & \label{low}\\
\frac{v_{\nu} - v_{\gamma}}{v_{\gamma}} \left( m_{b} < E < m_W\right) = e^2 \alpha \left\{ \right. \frac{40}{9} -
\frac{(3 + tan^2 \theta_w)}{8 s i n^2 \theta_w} \left\} \right. = e^2
\alpha f_{{\ensuremath{\operatorname{HIGH}}}} & & \label{high}\end{aligned}$$ The main uncertainties come from the different schemes to compute $\theta_w$.
Allowing a 4% increase in $\theta_w$, we get an estimation of Weinberg angle at low energy, using Table 10.2 from [[@PDG]]{} : $$0.2322 < s i n^2 \theta_w < 0.2409 {}; - 1.2 \times 10^{- 5} <
f_{{\ensuremath{\operatorname{LOW}}}} < 5.6 \times 10^{- 2}$$
We see that the value of $\theta_w$ at low energies is compatible with $f_{{\ensuremath{\operatorname{LOW}}}} = 0$.
In fact $$f_{{\ensuremath{\operatorname{LOW}}}} = 0 {\ensuremath{\operatorname{at}}} s i n^2 \theta_w = 0.232202$$ From (\[opera\]) and (\[high\]), we get $\alpha \sim 10^{- 4}$.
electron MAV
============
Define: $e_L = \frac{1 - \gamma^5}{2} e$, $e_R = \frac{1 + \gamma^5}{2} e$, where $e$ is the electron field. We get [@prl]: $$\begin{aligned}
c_L = 1 - ( \frac{g^2}{\cos^2 \theta_w} (\sin^2 \theta_w - 1 / 2)^2 + e^2 +
g^2 / 2) \frac{\alpha}{2} ; \\
c_R = 1 - (e^2 + \frac{g^2 \sin^4 \theta_w}{\cos^2 \theta_w})
\frac{\alpha}{2}\end{aligned}$$
Relative velocity neutrino electron
===================================
$$\begin{aligned}
c_{\nu} - c_L = 0\\
c_{\nu} - c_R = \frac{3 e^2 \alpha}{8}
\left\{ \sec^2 \theta_w - {\ensuremath{\operatorname{cosec}}}^2 \theta_w \right\} \end{aligned}$$
Pair creation
=============
We want to study the kinematics of the process $\nu_{\mu} \rightarrow \nu_{\mu}
+ e^+ + e^-$ that has been proposed in [@cog] to rule out neutrino superluminar speeds in Opera. Icarus[@icarus] did not observe this decay mode in Opera, thus claiming that there cannot be superluminar neutrinos in Opera. In our model this process is forbidden, so it should not be observed. Icarus result can be interpreted as supporting this view. The threshold energy above which the process is allowed is[@cog]: $$\begin{aligned}
E_0=\frac{\sqrt{2}m_e}{\sqrt{c_\nu-c_e}}\end{aligned}$$ In our model, this process is forbidden. The left electron has $\delta =
c_{\nu_{\mu}} - c_e$=0, whereas the righ electron has $\delta < 0$. So Icarus evidence is inconclusive.
Compatibility with MINOS[@minos]
================================
In MINOS the velocity of a 3 GeV neutrino beam is measured by comparing detection times at the near and far detectors of the experiment, separated by 734 km. They measure $\frac{v - c}{c}
= 5.1 \pm 2.9 \times 10^{- 5}$(at 68% C.L.).
In our model, the velocity of the neutrinos changes at thresholds where new SM particles enter the loop, in particular the charm (1.3 GeV), tau (1.77 GeV) and bottom (4.5 GeV). These thresholds fall into the spectrum of MINOS and they should have been observed. The fact is that the uncertainty in the measurement of the velocity of the neutrino reported by MINOS is too large to see the velocity jumps. The maximum change in the velocity after including all the particles mentioned above in (\[liv\]) will be: $$\begin{aligned}
\Delta v_\nu = \frac{16}{9} e^2 \alpha = 1.66 \times 10^{- 5}\end{aligned}$$ It is well into the uncertainty of MINOS.
Compatibility with FERMILAB measurement of the relative neutrino velocity
=========================================================================
In [@fermilab] several relative velocities of neutrino, antineutrino and muon were measured with great precision. They reported that no energy dependence of the velocities of neutrinos or antineutrinos is observed within the statistical and systematic errors over the energy range 80 to 200 GeV. The velocity differences (95% confidence level) are $\left| \beta_{\nu} - \beta_{\bar{\nu}} \right| < 0.7 \times 10^{- 4}$, $\left| \beta_{\nu_K} - \beta_{\nu_{\pi}} \right| < 0.5 \times 10^{- 4}$, $\left| \beta_{\nu \left( \bar{\nu} \right)} - \beta_{\mu} \left(
{\ensuremath{\operatorname{corrected}}} \right) \right| < 0.4 \times 10^{- 4}$ where $\beta = v /
c$.
We have that , in this model, $\beta_{\nu} - \beta_{\bar{\nu}} = 0$, $\beta_{\nu_K} - \beta_{\nu_{\pi}} = 0$, $\beta_{\nu \left( \bar{\nu} \right)}
- \beta_{\mu_L} = 0$ . It remains to check: $$\begin{aligned}
c_{\nu} - c_R = \frac{3 e^2 \alpha}{8} \left\{ \sec^2 \theta_w -
{\ensuremath{\operatorname{cosec}}}^2 \theta_w \right\} = - \frac{9}{8} e^2 \alpha = - 1.04 \times 10^{- 5} & & \end{aligned}$$ The bound of [@fermilab] are satisfied in this model.
The main predictions to be tested in future experiments are:
1)Jumps in the relative velocity when crossing thresholds at the masses of massive particles in the Standard Model.Corrections ${\cal O }\left( \left( \frac{E}{M} \right)^2 \right)$are expected, where $M$ is the mass of the lightest decoupled particle[@Pokorski].
2)Slow variation of the relative velocity with energy(running of the couplings).
3)MAV is independent of the family, i.e. electron, muon and tau neutrinos must have the same MAV.
4\) In addition to this, we should observe birefringence in charged leptons, but not in gauge bosons. The right handed electron(muon,tau) should move at a different maximal speed compared to the left handed electron(muon,tau)[@prl].
[[**Note Added**]{}]{} For various discussions of the OPERA report, please see[[@wopera]]{}.
[[**Acknowledgements**]{}]{}. J.A. thanks M. Loewe for a useful discussion and carefully reading the manuscript. He also want to acknowledge useful comments from G: Cacciapaglia. The work of JA is partially supported by VRAID/DID/46/2010 and Fondecyt 1110378.
[99]{} Opera Collaboration, Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam, arXiv:1109.4897
P. Adamson et al. \[ MINOS Collaboration \], Measurement of neutrino velocity with the MINOS detectors and NuMI neutrino beam, Phys. Rev. D76 (2007) 072005. \[arXiv:0706.0437 \[hepex\]\].
K. Hirata et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58 (1987) 1490; R. M. Bionta et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 58 (1987) 1494; M. J. Longo, Phys. Rev. D 36 (1987) 3276.
J. Alfaro, Quantum Gravity and Lorentz Invariance Violation in the Standard Model, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 221302 (2005).
MAV were introduced by Coleman, S.and Glashow, S.L., Phys. Rev. D 59, 116008 (1999).
Amelino-Camelia, G. et al., Nature 393, 763 (1998); Gambini, R. and Pullin, J. , Phys. Rev. D 59, 124021 (1999);Alfaro, J. Morales-T’ecotl, H.A. and Urrutia, L.F. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2318 (2000);Bertolami, O., Colladay, Kostelecky, V.A. and Potting, R., Phys. Lett. B395(1997)178.
G. Amelino-Camelia, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 11 (2002) 35-60; G. Amelino-Camelia, Nature 418 (2002) 34;J. Magueijo and L.Smolin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 190403. K. Nakamura et al. (Particle Data Group), J. Phys. G 37, 075021 (2010), Electroweak model and constraints on new physics.
For a discussion of this point, please see Pokorski, S., Gauge Field Theories, Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics,Cambridge University Press 2000, page 438 “QED as the Effective Low Energy Theory”. A. G. Cohen, S. L. Glashow, arXiv:1109.6562 \[hep-ph\] Icarus collaboration, “A search for the analogue to Cherenkov radiation by high energy neutrinos at superluminal speeds in ICARUS”, arXiv:1110.3763 \[hep-ex\].
G. R. Kalbfleisch , Phys. Rev. Lett. 43, 1361 (1979).
L. Gonzales-Mestres, arXiv:1109.6630 \[physics.gen-ph\] (2011);J. Alexandre, J. Ellis and N.E. Mavromatos, arXiv:1109.6296 \[hep-ph\] (2011); G. Amelino-Camelia, G. Gubitosi, N. Loret, F. Mercati, G. Rosati, P. Lipari. arXiv:1109.5172 \[hep-ph\];J. Magueijo. arXiv:1109.6055 \[hep-ph\]; R. Ehrlich, arXiv:1110.0736 \[hep-ph\];D.V. Ahluwalia, S.P. Horvath, D. Schritt,arXiv:1110.1162 \[hep-ph\];D. V. Naumov, V. A. Naumov.,arXiv:1110.0989 \[hep-ph\]; J. Goldberg,arXiv:1110.0970 \[hep-ex\].
| |
Gallagher: Peace can be attained only through dialogue at all costsAddressing the Union Superiors General, gathered in Rome for their assembly, the Vatican Secretary for relations with States and International Organizations, insists that rejection of war to solve conflicts, and dialogue “at all costs” are the only means to attain durable peace.
Nov 24, 2022
War can be prevented by promoting social progress for the new generations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher has said. The Vatican Secretary for relations with States and International Organizations highlighted this point on Wednesday at the opening of the 98th assembly of the Union of Superiors General (Usg) taking place at the Fraterna Domus of Sacrofano, near Rome, until November 25.
The USG Assembly
The thee-day assembly, is discussing the theme "Fratelli Tutti: called to be artisans of peace”, drawn from paragraph 225 of the Enciclycal on human fraternity in which Pope Francis says that “in many parts of the world, there is a need for paths of peace to heal open wounds”, emphasizing that “There is also a need for peacemakers, men and women prepared to work boldly and creatively to initiate processes of healing and renewed encounter”.
The meeting is focusing on the Church’s commitment to promoting peace in the world and in particular on the USG and UISG’s (International Union of Women Superiors General) common commitment to peace, justice and integrity of creation in particular through their training programmes for consecrated men and women.
Ensuring peace implies the total rejection of war and dialogue
In his opening remarks Archbishop Gallagher insisted that the Church cannot be exonerated from this commitment to peace. He noted that Pope St. Paul VI’s reiterated calls for dialogue as the only means to attain peace is still expressed incessantly today by Pope Francis who, referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine and to the many other grave armed conflicts in other parts of the world, has spoken of a “Third World War”.
Peace is not the simple absence of conflicts
However, according to the Secretary for relations with States, "ensuring peace implies first of all the total rejection of war and seeking dialogue at any cost, helping to create a climate of growing trust that guarantees the path towards a future". Likewise "it is necessary to ensure the foundations of peace", remarked Archbihop Gallagher, specifying that peace "is not only the absence of conflicts but the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations, with a view to safeguarding the rights of man and of peoples, including the right to freedom of conscience and religion".
The USG assembly will conclude on Saturday with a meeting in the Vatican with Pope Francis.
The Union of Superiors General
The Union of Superiors General (USG) is an international organization of Superiors General of men's Religious Institutes or Societies of Apostolic Life, of Pontifical Right.
Since 1952, when the first Superiors General met, it has been an international forum where they share experiences, exchange information, and accompany each other in their service. | https://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/gallagher-peace-can-be-attained-only-through-dialogue-at-all-costs/68791/2 |
INTRODUCTION
============
Macroautophagy, hereafter referred to as autophagy, is a catabolic process targeting wide varieties of cellular contents. Autophagy occurs at basal level in normal condition, but is accelerated by varieties of stresses such as starvation, accumulation of abnormal proteins, organelle damage and pathogen infection. Autophagy was originally considered to be a bulk and non-selective degradation system. But subsequent studies show autophagy selectively degrades cargos and by doing so contribute to the intracellular homeostasis. During autophagy, a small cisterna, called isolation membrane elongates and surrounds a portion of cytoplasm to form a double-membraned structure, called the autophagosome. Autophagosomes are then transported and fuse with lysosomes to form autolysosomes for the digestion of sequestered contents ([Fig. 1](#f1-molce-41-1-65){ref-type="fig"}). During autophagy, several autophagy-related (ATG) genes are engaged sequentially in a highly regulated manner. Genetic studies in yeast have identified more than 30 ATG genes that are required for autophagy, most of which are conserved from yeast to mammals. Essential ATG genes are organized into at least five functional groups that allow for the initiation, formation, elongation, and fusion of the autophagosome. These functional groups are the Atg1/ULK initiation complex, the class III PI3 Kinase nucleation complex, the phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P)-binding Atg18/Atg2 complex, the Atg5--Atg12 conjugation system, and the Atg8/LC3-PE (Atg8/LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine) conjugation system. First step of autophagy initiates from the activation of Atg1/ULK complex, which lead to the formation of isolation membrane. The next step involves membrane nucleation by the Class III Vps34/PI3-kinase nucleation complex (consisting of Vps34, Atg6/Beclin1, and Vps15/p150) via production of PI3P, to start formation of a double-membrane structure, isolation membrane (or phagophore). In mammals, the isolation membrane originates from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondria contact site and from others including Golgi, endosomes, and plasma membrane ([@b5-molce-41-1-65]; [@b19-molce-41-1-65]). To start elongation, the isolation membrane recruits the PI3P-binding complex consisting of Atg18/WIPI and Atg2, which regulates the distribution of Atg9, a transmembrane protein that has been proposed to deliver lipids to the isolation membrane and the growing autophagosome. During the next step, the isolation membrane expands into a double-membrane structure called the autophagosome. Autophagosome elongation is dependent on two ubiquitin-like conjugation systems, the Atg5--Atg12 conjugation system and the Atg8/LC3-PE conjugation system. In Atg5--Atg12 conjugation system, Atg7 and Atg10 (E1- and E2-like enzymes, respectively) conjugate Atg12 to Atg5 and this complex associates with Atg16. Then, the Atg12--Atg5 conjugate promotes the conjugation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) to cytosolic Atg8/LC3, which is formed by cleavage of the ubiquitin-like protein Atg8/LC3 by the protease Atg4. During this process, PE-conjugated LC3 associates with the autophagosomal membrane and therefore LC3 is most commonly used as an experimental marker of autophagosomes ([@b13-molce-41-1-65]; [@b27-molce-41-1-65]; [@b38-molce-41-1-65]). The autophagosome eventually matures into a closed cargo-containing vesicle, which then fuses with the lysosome to become the autolysosome, and its contents are finally degraded for recycling. Autophagosome fusion step is mediated by HOPS complex, phosphoinositides, Rab proteins and SNEREs. For the detailed molecular mechanism of autophagosome formation and autophagosome-lysosome fusion, please refer to the recent specific review paper ([@b41-molce-41-1-65]).
ACTIVITY OF AUTOPHAGY IS ONE OF CONVERGENT MECHANISM OF DIFFERENT LONGEVITY PATHWAYS
====================================================================================
Aging represents the functional deterioration of an organism. For long time, aging is not considered as a tightly regulated process. During last 20 decades, the evolutionally conserved molecular mechanisms which delay animal aging and extend lifespan have been identified using several model organisms including yeast, worms, fly and mice. These pathways, for instance, include reduced Insulin/IGF-1 signaling, dietary restriction, reduced TOR signaling, germline removal and reduced mitochondrial respiration. Extensive efforts to identify the downstream mechanism in each longevity pathway reveals that numerous but different sets of factors or biological processes mediate in each longevity pathways, although some factors work in common. Notably, recent studies mainly from *C. elegans* suggest that autophagy is one of convergent downstream mechanisms of all these longevity paradigms. Activity of autophagy is elevated in long-lived animals and is required for their longevity. Below, we summarize the major longevity pathways and their reported relationship with autophagy ([Fig. 2](#f2-molce-41-1-65){ref-type="fig"} and [Table 1](#t1-molce-41-1-65){ref-type="table"}).
Mild reduction of Insulin/IGF-1 signaling
-----------------------------------------
Reduced Insulin/IGF-1 signaling has been shown to extend the lifespan in several species ([@b28-molce-41-1-65]). Initial discoveries were made in *C. elegans*, where mutations in *age-1* and *daf-2* genes were found to extend lifespan. Moreover, first connection between autophagy and longevity has been reported in this Insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway ([@b37-molce-41-1-65]). In *daf-2* mutants, autophagy activity is elevated, as reflected by increased autophagic vesicles by electron microscopy and GFP::LGG-1(a homolog of LC3 in *C. elegans*) puncta, a *C. elegans* autophagosome marker. Importantly, RNAi knockdown of *bec-1/Beclin1* shortens *daf-2* lifespan, indicating that activity of autophagy is essential for *daf-2* longevity. Reduction of Insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway extends lifespan in *Drosophila* and mice as well. Moreover, human centenarian has mutations in this pathway suggesting that this longevity pathway seems to be conserved up to human. Whether longevity in *Drosophila* and mice depends on autophagy need to be examined in future study. The mechanisms by which *daf*-*2* mutants regulate autophagy are unclear, but they could include post-translational and transcriptional regulation. The catalytic subunit of the energy regulator AMPK (AAK-2 in *C*. *elegans*) is essential for lifespan extension in *daf*-*2*mutants ([@b3-molce-41-1-65]), and it regulates autophagy in both *C. elegans* and mammals ([@b9-molce-41-1-65]). It is possible that *Ampk*/*aak*-*2*-regulated autophagy contributes to lifespan, since AMPK overexpression is sufficient to increase longevity of *Drosophila* in an *Atg1*/*Ulk1*/*unc*-*51*-dependent manner ([@b60-molce-41-1-65]). *daf*-*2* mutants also regulate autophagy at the transcriptional level. *daf*-*2* mutants require a master regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis, *hlh*-*30/TFEB* for their long lifespan, display nuclear-localized HLH-30, and have elevated levels of several autophagy-related and lysosomal genes ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]). HLH-30 translocates to the nucleus of intestinal cells following knockdown of mTOR and *daf-2* ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]). Since *mTor* RNAi inhibition in *daf-2* mutants do not extend *C. elegans* lifespan in an additive manner ([@b61-molce-41-1-65]), they mediate lifespan extension through at least partially overlapping mechanisms. What is the autophagy cargo relevant for longevity conferred by reduced Insulin/IGF-1 signaling? A recent study suggested that mitophagy is induced in *daf*-*2* mutants because mitochondria accumulate upon *bec*-*1* and mitophagy gene inhibition and *daf*-*2* mutants require mitophagy genes, including adaptor protein *Bnip3*/*dct*-*1*, the E3 ligase *Park*/*pdr*-*1* and the kinase *pink*-*1* for full lifespan extension ([@b43-molce-41-1-65]).
Dietary restriction/reduced mTOR signaling
------------------------------------------
Dietary restriction is one of most prominent way to slow aging and extend lifespan in many species. Dietary restriction was first observed to slow down aging in rat about 100 years ago. Since then the beneficial effects to extend lifespan was confirmed in numerous species including yeast, worms, fly, fish, dogs, mice and apes ([@b35-molce-41-1-65]). Multiple molecular mechanisms have been proposed to mediate the effect of dietary restriction on longevity, including TOR and Insulin/IGF-1 signaling. The lifespan of the budding yeast *S. cerevisiae* can be measured by two methods; replicative lifespan (RLS) and chronological lifespan (CLS). Both RLS and CLS can be modulated in *S. cerevisiae* by reducing nutrients in the growth media ([@b56-molce-41-1-65]). One method to induce dietary restriction is by amino acid limitation, which has been shown to extend CLS and also induce autophagy ([@b1-molce-41-1-65]). Similarly, inhibition of the nutrient sensor mTOR by rapamycin (a compound discovered in a soil bacterium on the Easter Island Rapa Nui) increases CLS and autophagy, and autophagy genes are required for rapamycin to extend lifespan ([@b2-molce-41-1-65]). However, the role of autophagy in yeast aging seems complex. Intriguingly deletion of only ATG15, but not other autophagy genes tested, blocks RLS extension induced by glucose limitation ([@b57-molce-41-1-65]) which is another method of dietary restriction in yeast. Several models of dietary restriction exist in *C*. *elegans* ([@b17-molce-41-1-65]), including *eat*-*2* mutants, which carry an acetylcholine receptor mutation that impairs pharyngeal pumping and reduces food intake. *eat-2* mutants show increased numbers of GFP::LGG-1 in hypodermal seam cells. The longevity of *eat-2* mutants are also abolished when several autophagy genes including *unc-51/ULK1, bec-1/Beclin1, vps-34, atg-18* and *atg-7* are inactivated ([@b21-molce-41-1-65]; [@b25-molce-41-1-65]). In *eat-2* animals, some autophagy genes are transcriptionally induced by several transcription factors, including *hlh-30, pha-4* and *nhr-62* ([@b21-molce-41-1-65]; [@b23-molce-41-1-65]; [@b32-molce-41-1-65]). Recently it has been shown that intestinal autophagy is essential for lifespan extension during dietary restriction ([@b15-molce-41-1-65]). How these transcription factors contribute to activation of autophagy and longevity in spatial and temporal manners need to be clarified in future study. Similar to yeast, in *C. elegans,* lifespan extension induced by dietary restriction may be at least partly mediated through TOR, because TOR inhibition in *eat-2* mutants does not further extend lifespan ([@b20-molce-41-1-65]). In line with this, similar to dietary-restricted worms, inhibition of TOR extends lifespan in transcription factor, *pha-4* or *hlh-30* dependent manner ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]; [@b54-molce-41-1-65]). In *Drosophila*, rapamycin treatment results in a modest lifespan extension, and this effect requires the autophagy gene *Atg5* ([@b4-molce-41-1-65]), suggesting that reduction of TOR extends lifespan in *Drosophila* at least partially through autophagy similar to yeast and worms. In 2009, rapamycin treatments have been also shown to extend both median and maximum lifespan of male and female heterogeneous mice ([@b22-molce-41-1-65]). After that, other groups also confirmed the positive effect of rapamycin on lifespan in mice using different genetic backgrounds ([@b30-molce-41-1-65]). However, the contribution of autophagy to these mice is unclear.
Germline removal
----------------
Reproduction is negatively correlated with longevity in many species. Removal of germline stem cells by laser microsurgery or genetic mutation extends lifespan in *C. elegans* and *Drosophila*. In worms, temperature sensitive mutant, *glp-1(e2141)*, which encodes *C. elegans* Notch receptor shows the reduction of germline stem cells and lifespan extension. It has been shown that the numbers of GFP::LGG-1 puncta are in germline deficient *glp-1* animal and autophagy genes are essential for their longevity ([@b31-molce-41-1-65]). In germline deficient animal, several transcription factors including *hlh-30*, *mml-1/mxl-2* and *pha-4* have been shown to induce autophagy genes ([@b31-molce-41-1-65]; [@b32-molce-41-1-65]; [@b42-molce-41-1-65]). Interestingly, intestine specific knockdown of autophagy genes abolishes *glp-1* longevity, while it is not the case in *daf-2* mutants, indicating critical differences of autophagy regulation in individual tissues between conserved longevity paradigms ([@b6-molce-41-1-65]). *glp-1* animals have increased lipase activity and *lipl-4* is required for *glp-1* animals to live long ([@b62-molce-41-1-65]). *Lipl-4* overexpression increases autophagy and lifespan and this animal requires autophagy gene for longevity ([@b31-molce-41-1-65]). These studies indicate lipid turnover by autophagy is essential for longevity.
Reduced mitochondrial respiration
---------------------------------
The free radical theory proposes that aging is the cumulative result of oxidative damages to cells and tissues over time. These molecular damages are caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is generated primarily from mitochondrial respiration. Although oxidative damages increase with age, it is still unclear if this is indeed causative effect to organism aging. Importantly, reduced mitochondrial respiration is known to extend lifespan of many organism from yeast to mice ([@b24-molce-41-1-65]; [@b29-molce-41-1-65]). In worms, the reduction of electron transport chain components extends lifespan, when they are inhibited during larval stages. Several mitochondrial mutants including ubiquinone synthetase mutant *clk-1* and iron-sulfer mutant *isp-1* also show longevity. Larval inhibition of autophagy genes (*vps*-*34*, *atg*-*18* and *lgg*-*1*) specifically shortens the lifespan of *clk*-*1*and *isp*-*1* mutants ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]; [@b58-molce-41-1-65]). Consistent with a role for autophagy, these mutants display increased numbers of GFP::LGG-1 punctae in the hypodermal cells during larval stage L3 ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]). Frataxin is a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial protein involved in the biogenesis of iron-sulphur (Fe-S)-cluster-containing proteins and also involved in the function of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Partial depletion of *frh*-*1* has been shown to increase autophagic activity and extends the lifespan of wild-type animals, but not *bec*-*1*mutants ([@b49-molce-41-1-65]). Moreover, a recent report showed that longevity of *frh*-*1* mutants requires mitophagy genes for its longevity ([@b50-molce-41-1-65]).
Forced activation of autophagy suffices to extend lifespan?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Loss of autophagic activity has been shown to cause premature aging phenotypes in many species. An unbiased screening for genes involved in chronological lifespan in yeast, identified several short-lived mutants which have mutation in macroautophagy genes ([@b36-molce-41-1-65]). Decreased lifespan is also observed in *C. elegans Atg1/unc-51, Atg7, Atg18* and *Beclin1/bec-1* loss of function mutants ([@b58-molce-41-1-65]). Similar findings are reported in *Drosophila* as well ([@b55-molce-41-1-65]). Although whole body knockout of Atg genes in mice leads to postnatal death, conditional tissue specific knockouts of Atg7 or Atg5 shows several age-associated phenomena including aggregation of inclusion bodies in neurons, accumulation of lysosomes containing lipofuscin pigments, disorganized mitochondria, increased protein oxidation and decreased muscle mass ([@b46-molce-41-1-65]). Moreover, autophagic activity is known to decrease with age in several species ([@b6-molce-41-1-65]; [@b7-molce-41-1-65]; [@b8-molce-41-1-65]; [@b59-molce-41-1-65]). Based on the correlation between autophagy and aging, it is reasonable to test if the forced activation of autophagy suffices to extend animal lifespan. Overexpression of HLH-30, a master regulator of autophagy and lysosomal biogenesis extends worm lifespan ([@b32-molce-41-1-65]). Consistent with this, the treatment of TFEB agonists have been recently shown to extend lifespan in worms and mitigate metabolic syndromes in mice ([@b63-molce-41-1-65]). In addition, ATG5 overexpression in mice extend lifespan both in male and female ([@b45-molce-41-1-65]). Moreover, neuronal overexpression of Atg8 is sufficient to extend lifespan in *Drosophila* ([@b55-molce-41-1-65]). However why simple overexpression of these autophagy genes lead to the activation of autophagy remains elusive and further studies need to clarify this point.
PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVATION OF AUTOPHAGY CONTRIBUTING TO LONGEVITY
=================================================================
In the following section, we summarize several pharmacological treatments which have been shown to extend animal lifespan and healthspan through the activation of autophagy ([Table 1](#t1-molce-41-1-65){ref-type="table"}).
Spermidine
----------
Administration of a natural polyamine, spermidine provides beneficial for health in a number of species and extends lifespan of yeast, worms, flies and mice ([@b10-molce-41-1-65]; [@b11-molce-41-1-65]). Survival of cultured mammalian cells is also promoted by treatment with spermidine, and this is accompanied by epigenetic hypoacetylation of histone H3 via inhibition of histone acetyltransferase activity. This, in turn, correlates with transcriptional upregulation of multiple autophagy-related genes, including *Atg5* and *Lc3*/*ATG8*/*lgg*-*1*/*2* ([@b10-molce-41-1-65]). In keeping with this observation, spermidine fails to extend the lifespan of *C*. *elegans* subjected to *bec*-*1* RNAi, whereas it increases the expression of DsRed::LGG-1 ([@b10-molce-41-1-65]) in a *sir*-*2*-independent fashion ([@b40-molce-41-1-65]). In flies, spermidine alters the expression of autophagy markers, protects against age-induced memory loss in an autophagy-dependent manner, and extends the lifespan in an *Atg7*-dependent manner ([@b18-molce-41-1-65]). Collectively, these data suggest that the positive effects of spermidine on health and longevity are mediated, at least in part, via autophagy induction.
Resveratrol
-----------
Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound found in grapes and an activator of the NAD-dependent histone deacetylase sirtuin (SIRT1). Administration of resveratrol is known to extend the lifespan of several model organisms ([@b44-molce-41-1-65]). Especially, the lifespan extension in *C. elegans* seems to be dependent on autophagy since resveratrol fails to extend the lifespan of *bec*-*1* (*RNAi*) treated animals. Additionally, resveratrol increases DsRed::LGG-1 levels in wild-type animals but not in *sir*-*2.1* loss-of-function mutants ([@b39-molce-41-1-65]). These observations are in agreement with findings in mammalian cells, where pharmacological activation of SIRT1 by resveratrol treatment stimulates autophagic flux ([@b39-molce-41-1-65]).
Urolithin A
-----------
Urolithin A as a first-in-class natural compound that induces mitophagy both *in vitro* and *in vivo* following oral consumption. In *C. elegans*, urolithin A prevents the accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria with age and extends lifespan ([@b47-molce-41-1-65]). Likewise, Urolithin A prolongs normal activity during aging in *C. elegans*, including mobility and pharyngeal pumping, while maintaining mitochondrial respiratory capacity. These effects are observed in rodents, where Urolithin A improves exercise capacity in two different mouse models of age-related decline of muscle function, as well as in young rats.
Tomatidine
----------
Tomatidine, a natural compound abundant in unripe tomatoes, inhibits age-related skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. Recent study shows that tomatidine extends lifespan and healthspan in *C. elegans* ([@b12-molce-41-1-65]). Tomatidine improves many *C. elegans* behaviors related to healthspan and muscle health, including increased pharyngeal pumping, swimming movement, and reduced percentage of severely damaged muscle cells. Microarray, imaging, and behavioral analyses reveal that tomatidine maintains mitochondrial homeostasis by modulating mitochondrial biogenesis and PINK-1/DCT-1-dependent mitophagy. Detailed analysis shows tomatidine induces mitochondrial hormesis by mildly inducing ROS production, which in turn activates the SKN-1/Nrf2 pathway and possibly other cellular antioxidant response pathways, followed by increased mitophagy. This mechanism occurs in *C. elegans*, primary rat neurons, and human cells.
AUTOPHAGY REGULATORS RELEVANT FOR LONGEVITY
===========================================
In many cases, autophagic activation at the transcript level seems essential for longevity. Several autophagy and lysosomal genes are regulated by different transcription factors, microRNA and chromatin modifying enzymes, which are described below.
HLH-30/TFEB
-----------
TFEB originally identified as a master regulator of lysosomal biogenesis is subsequently is shown to regulate autophagy and fat metabolism ([@b48-molce-41-1-65]; [@b51-molce-41-1-65]; [@b52-molce-41-1-65]). TFEB is known to be negatively regulated by nutrient sensor TOR. At nutrient rich condition, TFEB is phosphorylated on lysosome. Phosphorylated TFEB is bound to 14-3-3 and is mainly localized on cytosol. Upon starvation, TOR becomes inactivated and TFEB is then dephosphorylated and translocated in the nucleus to initiate the transcription of target genes ([@b53-molce-41-1-65]). *C. elegans* homolog of TFEB, HLH-30 has been shown to regulate genes involved in autophagy and lysosomal function. Essentially, HLH-30 is translocated to the nucleus by inhibition of Insulin/IGF-1 signaling, mitochondrial respiration, TOR signaling, translation and germline removal, and is required for their longevity. Moreover, overexpression of *hlh-30* is sufficient to extend lifespan of wild type animals. These results indicate that HLH-30/TFEB is a master transcription factor regulating many longevity pathways possibly through transcriptional activation of target genes involved in autophagy and lysosomal function. In future, it is worth examining whether TFEB has a role to regulate aging and lifespan in mammals.
MML-1/Mondo
-----------
Other bHLH transcription factor complex, MML-1/MXL-2 has been identified as a novel regulator of longevity ([@b42-molce-41-1-65]). MML-1/MXL-2 belongs to Myc and Mondo family member and their homologs, MondoA/MLX or ChREBP/MXL functions as a glucose sensor. MML-1/MXL-2 is required for the longevity conferred by germline removal, reduced Insulin/IGF-1 signaling, reduced mitochondrial respiration, reduced TOR signaling in *C. elegans*. Interestingly, inhibition of MML-1/MXL-2 impairs HLH-30 nuclear localization and activation of autophagy in germline less long-lived animals, *glp-1*. This is partly through the regulation of *lars-1*, a positive regulator of TOR signaling. Interestingly, in *glp-1*, MML-1/MXL-2 and HLH-30 are mutually regulated each other. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis reveals they have many shared target genes including lysosomal genes, but also have preferential targets. Some autophagy genes including *atg-2/ATG2, atg-9/ATG9* and *epg-9/ATG101* are preferentially regulated by MML-1/MXL-2, while *unc-51/ULK1* and *lgg-1/LC3* are regulated by HLH-30 ([@b42-molce-41-1-65]). Thus, they might distribute the responsibilities to reinforce autophagy and longevity in germline less animals.
Forkhead transcription factors (daf-16/FOXO, pha-4/FOXA)
--------------------------------------------------------
In *C. elegans*, *Drosophila* and mouse, reduction of Insulin/IGF-1 signaling ultimately activates DAF-16/FOXO function and extends lifespan. In worms, DAF-16 upregulates some of autophagy genes and increases autophagy flux ([@b26-molce-41-1-65]). Consistent with this, overexpression of DAF-16 increase the number of autophagosomes. However, although *daf-2* and *daf-16* double mutants do not show longevity, these mutants still have increased numbers of autophagosomes. Conceivably, other factors compensate the activity of autophagy or DAF-16 regulates autophagy at other timing. Other forkhead transcription factor, PHA-4/FOXA binds to the promoter region of *unc-51/Ulk1*, *bec-1/Becn1, lgg-1/LC3* which work in early stage of autophagosome formation and upregulates these genes in worms, leading to autophagic activation. *pha-4* is required for the longevity by mTOR inhibition, germline removal and calorie restriction through activation of autophagy.
miR-34
------
Many microRNA has been shown to regulate animal lifespan. Among them, miR-34 is related to autophagy and aging in some species. In worms, loss of function of miR-34 extends lifespan and this longevity is abolished by RNAi knockdown of several autophagy regulators, *bec-1*, atg-9 and *atg-4.1* ([@b65-molce-41-1-65]). In long-lived calorie restricted mice, miR-34 expression is reduced. In worms, miR-34 expression increases with age and represses autophagy gene, Atg9a in vitro. In contrary, increased Mir34 levels extend lifespan and reduces the neurodegeneration caused by polyglutamine expansion protein in *Drosophila* ([@b34-molce-41-1-65]). However, the contribution of autophagy in this context remains elusive.
Sirtuins
--------
NAD-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 (sirtuin 1) is a particularly well-known modulator of aging. Specifically, the life spans of yeast, worms, and flies can be extended by overexpression and/or pharmacological activation of SIRT1 and the lifespan of mice is extended by ubiquitous overexpression of SIRT6, or brain-specific overexpression of SIRT1 ([@b16-molce-41-1-65]; [@b44-molce-41-1-65]). In *C. elegans*, the lifespan extension of the SIRT1 activator resveratrol requires the expression of *bec-1* suggesting that autophagy is necessary for this longevity paradigm. SIRT1 regulates autophagy gene expression through histone deacetylation, with lysine 16 on histone H4 (H4K16) ([@b14-molce-41-1-65]). SIRT1 is known to co-immunoprecipitate with ATG5, ATG7 and LC3 and deacetylate these in vitro and these interactions could be also essential for autopagy regulation ([@b33-molce-41-1-65]).
CONCLUSION
==========
As we described above, accumulating evidences show activation of autophagy seems essential for longevity. However, the several fundamental questions remain elusive. How is autophagy regulated during aging? Cells, tissues and timing specific roles of autophagy also need to be considered. Recently and unexpectedly, neuron specific knockdown of autophagy after reproductive period has been shown to extend lifespan in worms ([@b64-molce-41-1-65]). Thus, it is crucial to understand spatio- and temporal-regulation of autophagy and their physiological relevance to aging. It is essential to determine how autophagy contribute to lifespan extension and which autophagy cargo are relevant for aging and longevity. Clearance of lipids (lipophagy) and mitochondria (mitophagy) are relevance to *C. elegans* ageing ([@b31-molce-41-1-65]; [@b43-molce-41-1-65]; [@b62-molce-41-1-65]). It remains to be clarified whether such selective autophagy or other autophagy cargos contributes to aging in other species. Additionally, it is necessary to assess which potential autophagy inducers are effective and applicable to humans. One fundamental problem is there is no way to monitor autophagy activity in human. These questions and problems need to be solved in upcoming studies with technical advances.
SN is supported by AMED-PRIME, JSPS KAKENHI, the Senri Life Science Foundation, the Takeda Science Foundation, the Nakajima Foundation, and the MSD Life Science Foundation. TY is supported by MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI, HFSP grant, JST-CREST and AMED-CREST.
{#f1-molce-41-1-65}
{#f2-molce-41-1-65}
######
Longevity through activation of autophagy
Genetic or pharmacological manipulations Animals Phenotypes Epistatic analysis by inhibition of autophagy genes References
------------------------------------------ -------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------
Reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b37-molce-41-1-65]
Calorie restriction Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b25-molce-41-1-65]
Reduced TOR signaling Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b21-molce-41-1-65]
Reduced mitochondrial respiration Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b58-molce-41-1-65]
Germline removal Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b31-molce-41-1-65]
HLH-30 overexpression Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b32-molce-41-1-65]
Urolithin A Worm, mouse Lifespan extension(worms), improved muscle function(mouse), activation of mitophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b47-molce-41-1-65]
Resveratrol Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b39-molce-41-1-65]
Spermidine Worm, *Drosophila* Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b10-molce-41-1-65]
Rapamycin *Drosophila* Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy Cancelation of longevity [@b4-molce-41-1-65]
Tomatidine Worm Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy ND [@b12-molce-41-1-65]
Brain specific Atg8 overexpression *Drosophila* Lifespan extension in female ND [@b55-molce-41-1-65]
ATG5 overexpression Mouse Lifespan extension, activation of autophagy ND [@b45-molce-41-1-65]
| |
Related literature {#sec1}
==================
For linear hydrogen bonding associations involving 4-aminobenzoic acid, see: Smith *et al.* (1997[@bb6]). For related structures, see: Smith *et al.* (2000[@bb9], 2005[@bb7]); Lynch & McClenaghan (2001[@bb4]). For hydrogen-bond motifs, see: Etter *et al.* (1990[@bb3]).
Experimental {#sec2}
============
{#sec2.1}
### Crystal data {#sec2.1.1}
C~12~H~12~N~2~·2C~7~H~7~NO~2~*M* *~r~* = 458.51Monoclinic,*a* = 7.3556 (10) Å*b* = 23.230 (3) Å*c* = 7.9373 (11) Åβ = 115.579 (2)°*V* = 1223.3 (3) Å^3^*Z* = 2Mo *K*α radiationμ = 0.09 mm^−1^*T* = 297 K0.76 × 0.34 × 0.22 mm
### Data collection {#sec2.1.2}
Bruker SMART CCD area-detector diffractometerAbsorption correction: multi-scan (*SMART*; Bruker, 2000[@bb2]) *T* ~min~ = 0.674, *T* ~max~ = 1.0006871 measured reflections2406 independent reflections1530 reflections with *I* \> 2σ(*I*)*R* ~int~ = 0.032
### Refinement {#sec2.1.3}
*R*\[*F* ^2^ \> 2σ(*F* ^2^)\] = 0.051*wR*(*F* ^2^) = 0.165*S* = 1.032406 reflections162 parametersH atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinementΔρ~max~ = 0.21 e Å^−3^Δρ~min~ = −0.23 e Å^−3^
{#d5e463}
Data collection: *SMART* (Bruker, 2000[@bb2]); cell refinement: *SAINT* (Bruker, 1999[@bb1]); data reduction: *SAINT*; program(s) used to solve structure: *SHELXL97* (Sheldrick, 2008[@bb5]); program(s) used to refine structure: *SHELXS97* (Sheldrick, 2008[@bb5]); molecular graphics: *PLATON* (Spek, 2009[@bb8]); software used to prepare material for publication: *PLATON*.
Supplementary Material
======================
Crystal structure: contains datablocks global, I. DOI: [10.1107/S1600536810020337/pb2029sup1.cif](http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S1600536810020337/pb2029sup1.cif)
Structure factors: contains datablocks I. DOI: [10.1107/S1600536810020337/pb2029Isup2.hkl](http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S1600536810020337/pb2029Isup2.hkl)
Additional supplementary materials: [crystallographic information](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendsupfiles?pb2029&file=pb2029sup0.html&mime=text/html); [3D view](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendcif?pb2029sup1&Qmime=cif); [checkCIF report](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?pb2029&checkcif=yes)
Supplementary data and figures for this paper are available from the IUCr electronic archives (Reference: [PB2029](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendsup?pb2029)).
This work was supported financially by Yuanpei University.
Comment
=======
4-Aminobenzoic acid is a useful ligand for structure extension through both the carboxylic acid and amine functional groups, forming linear hydrogen bonding associations (Smith *et al.*, 2005). Other related reports with 4-aminobenzoic acid and Lewis base such as 4-(4-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (Smith, 1997), 4-aminobenzonitrile (Smith *et al.*, 2000) and 2-amino-4-(4-pyridyl)pyrimidine (Lynch & McClenaghan, 2001).
We present here the crystal structure analysis of the 2:1 4-aminobenzoic acid and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane adduct (Fig 1). The structure of the title compound comprises two 4-aminobenzoic acid molecules and one 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane molecule, with no proton transfer. In the structure, the molecules associate 4-aminobenzoic acid and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane via carboxylic and pyridine group O---H···N \[ O···N 2.613 (2) Å \] D~2~^2^12( Etter *et al.*, 1990), forming linear hydrogen bonding parallel to \[ 2 1 1\], further connect into a three dimensional network via amine and carboxylic N---H··· O \[N···O 3.030 (3) and 3.081 (3) Å \], respectively.
The title compound\'s supramolecular structure can be readily analyzed in terms of pyridyl atom N2 acts as hydrogen-bond donor to carboxyl atom O2. Similarly, O1 acts as hydrogen-bond donor to amino group N1, respectively (Table 1 and Fig. 2). Furthermore, p -p ring stacking interaction is between neighboring heteraromatic ring in the structure. The distance between Cg1 (N2/C8---C12)···Cg1^i^ is 3.8622 (14) Å\[ symmetry code: (i) = 2-X,1-Y,1-Z\].
Experimental {#experimental}
============
The 4-aminobenzoic acid (0.137 mg, 1.0 mmol) and 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (184 mg, 1.0 mmol) were dissolved in 20 ml 50% methanol-water, the solution was refluxed for 30 min. The filtered solution was transferred to a 25 ml tube after one week at room temperature, and colorless transparent crystals formed (yield 60.48%).
Refinement {#refinement}
==========
N and O-bound H atoms were located in a difference Fourier map and were refined isotropically. Other H atoms were positioned geometrically with C---H=0.93 (aromatic) and 0.97 Å(methylene), and refined using a riding model with Uiso(H)=1.2Ueq(C).
Figures
=======
{#Fap1}
{#Fap2}
Crystal data {#tablewrapcrystaldatalong}
============
------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
C~12~H~12~N~2~·2C~7~H~7~NO~2~ *F*(000) = 484
*M~r~* = 458.51 *D*~x~ = 1.239 Mg m^−3^
Monoclinic, *P*2~1~/*c* Mo *K*α radiation, λ = 0.71073 Å
Hall symbol: -P 2ybc Cell parameters from 2347 reflections
*a* = 7.3556 (10) Å θ = 3.0--23.7°
*b* = 23.230 (3) Å µ = 0.09 mm^−1^
*c* = 7.9373 (11) Å *T* = 297 K
β = 115.579 (2)° Parallelepiped, colorless
*V* = 1223.3 (3) Å^3^ 0.76 × 0.34 × 0.22 mm
*Z* = 2
------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Data collection {#tablewrapdatacollectionlong}
===============
----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Bruker SMART CCD area-detector diffractometer 2406 independent reflections
Radiation source: fine-focus sealed tube 1530 reflections with *I* \> 2σ(*I*)
graphite *R*~int~ = 0.032
phi and ω scans θ~max~ = 26.1°, θ~min~ = 1.8°
Absorption correction: multi-scan (*SMART*; Bruker, 2000) *h* = −9→5
*T*~min~ = 0.674, *T*~max~ = 1.000 *k* = −27→28
6871 measured reflections *l* = −9→9
----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Refinement {#tablewraprefinementdatalong}
==========
------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refinement on *F*^2^ Primary atom site location: structure-invariant direct methods
Least-squares matrix: full Secondary atom site location: difference Fourier map
*R*\[*F*^2^ \> 2σ(*F*^2^)\] = 0.051 Hydrogen site location: inferred from neighbouring sites
*wR*(*F*^2^) = 0.165 H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
*S* = 1.03 *w* = 1/\[σ^2^(*F*~o~^2^) + (0.0959*P*)^2^ + 0.0431*P*\] where *P* = (*F*~o~^2^ + 2*F*~c~^2^)/3
2406 reflections (Δ/σ)~max~ \< 0.001
162 parameters Δρ~max~ = 0.21 e Å^−3^
0 restraints Δρ~min~ = −0.23 e Å^−3^
0 constraints
------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special details {#specialdetails}
===============
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geometry. Bond distances, angles etc. have been calculated using the rounded fractional coordinates. All su\'s are estimated from the variances of the (full) variance-covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account in the estimation of distances, angles and torsion angles
Refinement. Refinement on *F*^2^ for ALL reflections except those flagged by the user for potential systematic errors. Weighted *R*-factors wR and all goodnesses of fit *S* are based on *F*^2^, conventional *R*-factors *R* are based on *F*, with *F* set to zero for negative *F*^2^. The observed criterion of *F*^2^ \> σ(*F*^2^) is used only for calculating -*R*-factor-obs etc. and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement. *R*-factors based on *F*^2^ are statistically about twice as large as those based on *F*, and *R*-factors based on ALL data will be even larger.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å^2^) {#tablewrapcoords}
==================================================================================================
------ -------------- -------------- ------------ -------------------- --
*x* *y* *z* *U*~iso~\*/*U*~eq~
N2 1.1453 (2) 0.43421 (8) 0.3904 (2) 0.0738 (7)
C8 1.0950 (3) 0.48682 (10) 0.3233 (3) 0.0783 (8)
C9 0.8987 (3) 0.50396 (11) 0.2231 (4) 0.0864 (9)
C10 0.7437 (3) 0.46541 (11) 0.1882 (3) 0.0739 (8)
C11 0.7978 (3) 0.41122 (10) 0.2571 (3) 0.0806 (8)
C12 0.9970 (3) 0.39735 (10) 0.3566 (3) 0.0826 (9)
C13 0.5251 (3) 0.48182 (15) 0.0801 (4) 0.1066 (13)
O1 0.4674 (2) 0.33090 (7) 0.4157 (2) 0.0841 (5)
O2 0.51671 (19) 0.40480 (7) 0.6066 (2) 0.0837 (6)
N1 1.3716 (3) 0.28863 (10) 1.0252 (3) 0.0824 (8)
C1 0.5750 (3) 0.35702 (8) 0.5572 (3) 0.0624 (6)
C2 0.7798 (3) 0.33843 (8) 0.6832 (2) 0.0560 (6)
C3 0.8914 (3) 0.36554 (8) 0.8520 (3) 0.0621 (6)
C4 1.0858 (3) 0.34892 (8) 0.9655 (3) 0.0649 (6)
C5 1.1749 (3) 0.30406 (8) 0.9143 (3) 0.0601 (6)
C6 1.0617 (3) 0.27578 (9) 0.7479 (3) 0.0722 (7)
C7 0.8687 (3) 0.29233 (9) 0.6355 (3) 0.0690 (7)
H8A 1.19710 0.51350 0.34500 0.0940\*
H9A 0.87020 0.54150 0.17880 0.1040\*
H11A 0.69910 0.38350 0.23650 0.0970\*
H12A 1.02950 0.36010 0.40280 0.0990\*
H13A 0.44700 0.44670 0.03900 0.1280\*
H13B 0.48190 0.50100 0.16510 0.1280\*
H1A 1.413 (4) 0.3021 (12) 1.142 (4) 0.108 (9)\*
H1B 1.409 (3) 0.2543 (12) 0.988 (3) 0.095 (8)\*
H2A 0.38730 0.41220 0.52780 0.1600\*
H3A 0.83380 0.39560 0.88940 0.0750\*
H4A 1.15800 0.36800 1.07780 0.0780\*
H6A 1.11810 0.24500 0.71210 0.0870\*
H7A 0.79550 0.27240 0.52510 0.0830\*
------ -------------- -------------- ------------ -------------------- --
Atomic displacement parameters (Å^2^) {#tablewrapadps}
=====================================
----- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------- ------------- --------------
*U*^11^ *U*^22^ *U*^33^ *U*^12^ *U*^13^ *U*^23^
N2 0.0497 (10) 0.0777 (12) 0.0824 (12) 0.0081 (8) 0.0176 (9) 0.0039 (9)
C8 0.0490 (11) 0.0770 (14) 0.0935 (16) −0.0026 (10) 0.0163 (11) 0.0066 (12)
C9 0.0549 (13) 0.0798 (15) 0.1084 (18) 0.0100 (10) 0.0201 (12) 0.0279 (13)
C10 0.0445 (10) 0.0941 (16) 0.0755 (13) 0.0038 (10) 0.0189 (9) 0.0124 (11)
C11 0.0565 (13) 0.0847 (15) 0.0937 (15) −0.0058 (10) 0.0260 (12) 0.0087 (12)
C12 0.0670 (14) 0.0707 (13) 0.1014 (17) 0.0099 (11) 0.0281 (13) 0.0117 (12)
C13 0.0498 (13) 0.146 (3) 0.110 (2) 0.0138 (13) 0.0212 (13) 0.0438 (17)
O1 0.0607 (8) 0.0805 (10) 0.0741 (9) −0.0025 (7) −0.0058 (7) −0.0085 (8)
O2 0.0553 (8) 0.0796 (10) 0.0888 (11) 0.0151 (7) 0.0052 (7) −0.0106 (8)
N1 0.0556 (11) 0.0881 (14) 0.0825 (14) 0.0129 (10) 0.0100 (10) 0.0009 (11)
C1 0.0496 (10) 0.0616 (11) 0.0620 (11) −0.0040 (8) 0.0110 (9) 0.0041 (9)
C2 0.0480 (10) 0.0548 (10) 0.0557 (10) −0.0022 (8) 0.0134 (8) 0.0004 (8)
C3 0.0574 (11) 0.0591 (11) 0.0592 (11) 0.0088 (8) 0.0152 (9) −0.0038 (9)
C4 0.0570 (11) 0.0638 (11) 0.0546 (10) 0.0021 (9) 0.0060 (9) −0.0047 (9)
C5 0.0483 (10) 0.0596 (11) 0.0627 (11) 0.0042 (8) 0.0147 (9) 0.0075 (9)
C6 0.0662 (12) 0.0703 (12) 0.0705 (12) 0.0141 (10) 0.0206 (10) −0.0085 (10)
C7 0.0628 (12) 0.0690 (12) 0.0593 (11) 0.0029 (9) 0.0114 (9) −0.0099 (9)
----- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------- ------------- --------------
Geometric parameters (Å, °) {#tablewrapgeomlong}
===========================
----------------------------- ------------- --------------------- --------------
O1---C1 1.220 (3) C11---H11A 0.9300
O2---C1 1.310 (3) C12---H12A 0.9300
O2---H2A 0.9000 C13---H13B 0.9700
N2---C12 1.320 (3) C13---H13A 0.9700
N2---C8 1.321 (3) C1---C2 1.468 (3)
N1---C5 1.377 (3) C2---C7 1.390 (3)
N1---H1A 0.90 (3) C2---C3 1.384 (3)
N1---H1B 0.93 (3) C3---C4 1.376 (3)
C8---C9 1.373 (4) C4---C5 1.382 (3)
C9---C10 1.381 (4) C5---C6 1.386 (3)
C10---C13 1.509 (4) C6---C7 1.366 (3)
C10---C11 1.362 (3) C3---H3A 0.9300
C11---C12 1.369 (3) C4---H4A 0.9300
C13---C13^i^ 1.436 (4) C6---H6A 0.9300
C8---H8A 0.9300 C7---H7A 0.9300
C9---H9A 0.9300
O1···N1^ii^ 3.081 (3) C12···H4A^xi^ 3.0000
O1···N1^iii^ 3.030 (3) C13···H9A^i^ 2.7900
O2···N2^iv^ 2.613 (2) H1A···O1^vii^ 2.14 (3)
O1···H1A^iii^ 2.14 (3) H1A···H4A 2.3000
O1···H1B^ii^ 2.16 (3) H1B···H6A 2.3200
O1···H7A 2.5700 H1B···O1^viii^ 2.16 (3)
O1···H11A 2.9200 H1B···C1^viii^ 2.81 (3)
O1···H4A^iii^ 2.8000 H2A···C8^iv^ 2.6900
O2···H3A 2.4500 H2A···C12^iv^ 2.6200
O2···H8A^v^ 2.7400 H2A···N2^iv^ 1.7200
O2···H13B^vi^ 2.8400 H3A···O2 2.4500
N1···O1^vii^ 3.030 (3) H3A···C11^xii^ 3.0600
N1···O1^viii^ 3.081 (3) H4A···H1A 2.3000
N2···O2^ix^ 2.613 (2) H4A···C12^xii^ 3.0000
N2···C1^ix^ 3.368 (3) H4A···O1^vii^ 2.8000
N1···H6A^x^ 2.9500 H6A···H1B 2.3200
N2···H2A^ix^ 1.7200 H6A···N1^xiii^ 2.9500
C1···N2^iv^ 3.368 (3) H6A···C4^xiii^ 2.8700
C3···C9^v^ 3.567 (3) H6A···C5^xiii^ 2.8100
C8···C9^v^ 3.587 (4) H7A···O1 2.5700
C9···C8^v^ 3.587 (4) H8A···O2^v^ 2.7400
C9···C3^v^ 3.567 (3) H9A···C4^v^ 2.8700
C1···H1B^ii^ 2.81 (3) H9A···C13^i^ 2.7900
C3···H9A^v^ 2.8600 H9A···C3^v^ 2.8600
C4···H9A^v^ 2.8700 H9A···H13A^i^ 2.2400
C4···H6A^x^ 2.8700 H11A···O1 2.9200
C5···H6A^x^ 2.8100 H11A···H13A 2.3500
C7···H12A 3.0300 H12A···C7 3.0300
C8···H2A^ix^ 2.6900 H13A···H11A 2.3500
C9···H13A^i^ 2.7500 H13A···C9^i^ 2.7500
C11···H3A^xi^ 3.0600 H13A···H9A^i^ 2.2400
C12···H2A^ix^ 2.6200 H13B···O2^vi^ 2.8400
C1---O2---H2A 110.00 C13^i^---C13---H13A 108.00
C8---N2---C12 117.08 (19) C13^i^---C13---H13B 108.00
C5---N1---H1A 111 (2) O2---C1---C2 114.69 (17)
C5---N1---H1B 113.1 (14) O1---C1---O2 122.1 (2)
H1A---N1---H1B 128 (2) O1---C1---C2 123.22 (19)
N2---C8---C9 122.9 (2) C1---C2---C7 120.41 (16)
C8---C9---C10 119.9 (2) C3---C2---C7 117.52 (19)
C9---C10---C11 116.5 (2) C1---C2---C3 122.07 (19)
C11---C10---C13 121.1 (2) C2---C3---C4 121.4 (2)
C9---C10---C13 122.4 (2) C3---C4---C5 120.6 (2)
C10---C11---C12 120.2 (2) N1---C5---C4 120.6 (2)
N2---C12---C11 123.3 (2) C4---C5---C6 118.1 (2)
C10---C13---C13^i^ 117.1 (2) N1---C5---C6 121.3 (2)
C9---C8---H8A 118.00 C5---C6---C7 121.1 (2)
N2---C8---H8A 119.00 C2---C7---C6 121.17 (19)
C8---C9---H9A 120.00 C2---C3---H3A 119.00
C10---C9---H9A 120.00 C4---C3---H3A 119.00
C10---C11---H11A 120.00 C3---C4---H4A 120.00
C12---C11---H11A 120.00 C5---C4---H4A 120.00
N2---C12---H12A 118.00 C5---C6---H6A 119.00
C11---C12---H12A 118.00 C7---C6---H6A 119.00
C10---C13---H13B 108.00 C2---C7---H7A 119.00
H13A---C13---H13B 107.00 C6---C7---H7A 119.00
C10---C13---H13A 108.00
C12---N2---C8---C9 0.3 (3) O2---C1---C2---C3 7.6 (3)
C8---N2---C12---C11 0.0 (3) O2---C1---C2---C7 −172.38 (19)
N2---C8---C9---C10 −0.2 (4) C1---C2---C3---C4 −177.7 (2)
C8---C9---C10---C11 −0.3 (4) C7---C2---C3---C4 2.3 (3)
C8---C9---C10---C13 179.6 (2) C1---C2---C7---C6 177.6 (2)
C9---C10---C11---C12 0.6 (3) C3---C2---C7---C6 −2.3 (3)
C13---C10---C11---C12 −179.3 (2) C2---C3---C4---C5 −0.5 (3)
C9---C10---C13---C13^i^ 40.3 (4) C3---C4---C5---N1 178.0 (2)
C11---C10---C13---C13^i^ −139.9 (3) C3---C4---C5---C6 −1.2 (3)
C10---C11---C12---N2 −0.4 (3) N1---C5---C6---C7 −178.0 (2)
C10---C13---C13^i^---C10^i^ −180.0 (2) C4---C5---C6---C7 1.2 (3)
O1---C1---C2---C3 −173.5 (2) C5---C6---C7---C2 0.6 (3)
O1---C1---C2---C7 6.5 (3)
----------------------------- ------------- --------------------- --------------
Symmetry codes: (i) −*x*+1, −*y*+1, −*z*; (ii) *x*−1, −*y*+1/2, *z*−1/2; (iii) *x*−1, *y*, *z*−1; (iv) *x*−1, *y*, *z*; (v) −*x*+2, −*y*+1, −*z*+1; (vi) −*x*+1, −*y*+1, −*z*+1; (vii) *x*+1, *y*, *z*+1; (viii) *x*+1, −*y*+1/2, *z*+1/2; (ix) *x*+1, *y*, *z*; (x) *x*, −*y*+1/2, *z*+1/2; (xi) *x*, *y*, *z*−1; (xii) *x*, *y*, *z*+1; (xiii) *x*, −*y*+1/2, *z*−1/2.
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, °) {#tablewraphbondslong}
=============================
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------------
*D*---H···*A* *D*---H H···*A* *D*···*A* *D*---H···*A*
N1---H1A···O1^vii^ 0.90 (3) 2.14 (3) 3.030 (3) 171 (3)
N1---H1B···O1^viii^ 0.93 (3) 2.16 (3) 3.081 (3) 172 (2)
O2---H2A···N2^iv^ 0.90 1.72 2.613 (2) 173
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------------
Symmetry codes: (vii) *x*+1, *y*, *z*+1; (viii) *x*+1, −*y*+1/2, *z*+1/2; (iv) *x*−1, *y*, *z*.
###### Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, °)
*D*---H⋯*A* *D*---H H⋯*A* *D*⋯*A* *D*---H⋯*A*
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------- -------------
N1---H1*A*⋯O1^i^ 0.90 (3) 2.14 (3) 3.030 (3) 171 (3)
N1---H1*B*⋯O1^ii^ 0.93 (3) 2.16 (3) 3.081 (3) 172 (2)
O2---H2*A*⋯N2^iii^ 0.90 1.72 2.613 (2) 173
Symmetry codes: (i) ; (ii) ; (iii) .
| |
1. Place selector lever in “P” position, and turn ignition switch ON (engine stop).
2. Make sure that selector lever can be shifted to other than “P” position when brake pedal is depressed.
Also make sure that selector lever can be shifted from “P” position only when brake pedal is depressed.
3. Move the selector lever and check for excessive effort, sticking, noise or rattle.
4. Confirm the selector lever stops at each position with the feel of engagement when it is moved through all the positions. Check that the actual position of the selector lever matches the position shown by the shift position indicator and the manual lever on the transaxle.
5. The method of operating the selector lever to individual positions correctly should be as shown.
6. When selector button is pressed in “P”, “R”, or “N” position without applying forward/backward force to selector lever, check button operation for sticking.
7. Confirm the back-up lamps illuminate only when selector lever is placed in the “R” position. Confirm the back-up lamps do not illuminate when the selector lever is pushed toward the “R” position when in the “P” or “N” position.
8. Confirm the engine can only be started with the selector lever in the “P” and “N” positions.
9. Make sure transaxle is locked completely in “P” position.
10. When selector lever is set to manual shift gate, make sure that manual mode is displayed on combination meter.
Shift selector lever to “+” and “-” sides, and check that set shift position changes.
ADJUSTMENT
CAUTION: Apply parking brake before adjustment. 1. Loosen the control cable nut.
2. Place the manual lever and the selector lever in “P” position.
3. Tighten control cable nut to specified torque.
Control cable nut: Refer to TM-433, "Exploded View".
CAUTION: Secure the manual lever when tightening control cable nut. Make sure the manual lever stays in the "P" position.
4. Check the operation of the CVT.
Road testDescription DESCRIPTION • The purpose of the test is to determine overall performance of CVT and analyze causes of problems. • The road test consists of the following three parts: 1. “Che ...
Other materials:
Front door speaker (sedan)
Description The audio unit sends audio signals to the front door speakers using the door speaker circuits. Diagnosis Procedure 1.HARNESS CHECK 1. Disconnect audio unit connector M43 (A) and suspect speaker connector (B). 2. Check continuity between audio unit harness connector M43 (A) t ...
Precautions in repairing high
strength steel
High Strength Steel (HSS) High strength steel is used for body panels in order to reduce vehicle weight. Accordingly, precautions in repairing automotive bodies made of high strength steel are described below: SP130 is the most commonly used HSS. Read the following precautions when re ...
P2101 Electric throttle control function
Description Electric throttle control actuator consists of throttle control motor, throttle position sensor, etc. The throttle control motor is operated by the ECM and it opens and closes the throttle valve. The current opening angle of the throttle valve is detected by the throttle pos ... | https://www.nialtima.com/cvt_position-1113.html |
Mayor Eddie Moran proposed his 2022 spending plan with no tax increase a couple months ago, and the city auditor Monday night made some recommendations to the budget.
Moran proposed a $94 million budget that did not include a tax increase in October. The 2022 budget is a $2.6 million increase over the 2021 budget. The administration also proposed using about $2.8 million in reserves to cover a deficit.
City Auditor Maria Rodriguez released her budget recommendations Monday night at the committee of the whole meeting. The recommendations are nonbinding, and Rodriguez is required to make the recommendations per the city’s charter.
She suggested budgeting higher revenues in some line items and lower revenues in others.
Since the real estate market has been particularly strong in the city, Rodriguez suggested budgeting an additional $300,000 in real estate transfer tax revenues.
The city received $6.2 million in real estate transfer tax revenues in 2020 and another $7.1 million as of Oct. 31, Rodriguez said.
The city only budgeted $5.2 million in real estate transfer tax revenues in 2022, but Rodriguez believes the city could easily budget another $300,000.
“Due to how much revenue has been recorded for 2021 I think we bump it up,” Rodriguez said. “We have to be conservative because we don’t know how it can jump from year to year.”
City Finance Director Jamar Kelly agreed with Rodriguez.
“The trend on that has been super positive over the years,” Kelly said. “Definitely in full agreement in your recommendation on that.”
Moran’s administration also budgeted a little too low on the earned income tax from the prior year revenues, Rodriguez said.
In 2020, the city collected $6.1 million in earned income tax from the prior year and in 2021 has collected $7.1 million so far.
The administration budgeted for $5.1 million in 2022, but Rodriguez believes that line item can be increased $100,000 in 2022.
Rodriguez also believed the administration could expect high revenues from the city’s business privilege tax.
She believes the city should budget an addition $100,000 in revenue from the business privilege tax after the city collected $1.6 million so far this year and $1.7 million in 2020.
When it comes to occupational tax revenues, Rodriguez believes the administration overbudgeted for 2022 at $200,000.
The city has only collected $5,910 in occupational tax revenues so far in 2021.
Because there has been a decrease in those revenues in 2020 and 2021, she believes the administration should only budget $50,000 in 2022, a decrease of $150,000 in the proposed budget.
Rodriguez suggested the city adjust its budget for traffic fines in 2022 as well.
The administration budgeted $313,600 in 2022, and Rodriguez believes that is too high.
The city only collected $24,048 in motor vehicle fines in so far this year, so she believes the administration should consider budgeting no more than $50,000 in that line item.
Kelly thought the motor vehicle fines were lower because of the pandemic. He said he would check with Police Chief Richard Tornielli to see if the chief would also recommend reducing the amount.
Rodriguez suggested the city reach out to Berks County Convention Authority to see what kind of events might be coming to the city in 2022.
“I know the city lost out on a lot of revenue in (admission tax) in 2020 due to the pandemic,” she said. “But, in 2021, we have already collected $177,000.”
Kelly was receptive of Rodriguez’s recommendations.
“I like a lot of your recommendations,” he said. “And we will review them.”
Formerly unlicensed sushi seller at Reading Hospital back in compliance after investigation
Jeremy Long came to the Reading Eagle in 2017 as a reporter covering the Reading School District city edition and was later named the city reporter. He has been a journalist since 2006 either as a freelancer or on staff at a local newspaper. Jeremy worked as a photojournalist for the Lebanon Daily News for seven years before coming to the Reading Eagle. | |
Monte Carlo integration - the process of numerically estimating the mean of a probability distribution by averaging samples - is used to evaluate risk and simulate prices for a variety of financial instruments.
Using traditional hardware, the complex calculations needed for Monte Carlo are typically executed once overnight, which means that in volatile markets, traders are forced to use outdated results.
CQG says it has "solved" this problem with an algorithm detailed in a released pre-print of a paper by Senior Research Scientist, Steven Herbert, "showing how historic challenges are eliminated, and the full quadratic quantum advantage is obtained".
Says Herbert: "This new algorithm is a historic advance which expands quantum Monte Carlo integration and will have applications both during and beyond the NISQ era. We are now capable of achieving what was previously only a theoretical quantum speed-up."
Last month, Goldman Sachs claimed that it had made a breakthrough that could see Monte Carlo simulations sped up using near-term quantum hardware expected to be available in just five to 10 years. To do this, researchers from the bank and partner QC Ware sacrificed some of the speed up from 1000x to 100x to produce shallow Monte Carlo algorithms. | |
Product main function:
1.Display Mode: LED display SpO2
2.Measuring Range: 0%~100%, (the resolution is 1%).
3.Accuracy: 70%~100%:±2% ,Below 70% unspecified. PR Measuring Range: 30bpm~250bpm, (the resolution is 1bpm)
4.Accuracy: ±2bpm or ±2% (select larger)
5.Resistance to surrounding light: The deviation between the value measured in the condition of man-made light or indoor natural light and that of darkroom is less than ±1%.
6.Power Consumption: less than 25mA
7.Voltage: DC 2.6V~3.6V
8.Power Supply: 1.5V (AAA size) alkaline batteries * 2
9.Safety Type: Interior Battery,BF Type
Packing:
Physical Identity Weight: About 75g Machine
Dimension:58(L) * 30W) * 30(H) mm
Box volume:10*9*4cm Outer box volume:46.8cmX30.3cmX50cm
What is the Pulse Oximetry?
Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method for monitoring a person's oxygen saturation (SO2). Though its reading of SpO2(peripheral oxygen saturation) is not always identical to the more desirable reading of SaO2 (arterial oxygen saturation) from arterial blood gas analysis, the two are correlated well enough that the safe, convenient, noninvasive, inexpensive pulse oximetry method is valuable for measuring oxygen saturation in clinical use.
In its most common (transmissive) application mode, a sensor device is placed on a thin part of the patient's body, usually a fingertip or earlobe, or in the case of an infant, across a foot. The device passes two wavelengths of light through the body part to a photodetector. It measures the changing absorbance at each of the wavelengths, allowing it to determine theabsorbances due to the pulsing arterial blood alone, excluding venous blood, skin, bone, muscle, fat, and (in most cases) nail polish.
Less commonly, reflectance pulse oximetry is used as an alternative to transmissive pulse oximetery described above. This method does not require a thin section of the person's body and is therefore well suited to a universal application such as the feet, forehead, and chest, but it also has some limitations. Vasodilation and pooling of venous blood in the head due to compromised venous return to the heart can cause a combination of arterial and venous pulsations in the forehead region and lead to spurious SpO2 results.
Advanced Digital Sound Amplifier Hearing Aid Device
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How Mobile Security Trends are changing
Initially, there were times in which people used to maintain hard copies of every data which was essential to them, and at the same point in time, they used to store this data in books like journals and ledgers. This data used to be preserved in lockers, and hence the keys used to be maintained by the owner. However, with the passage of time and the evolution of technology, the existing pattern has undergone a complete amount of change, and gone are the days of hard copies. The working culture and working pattern changes are happening at such a dynamic speed that everything has undergone a complete overhaul in these times.
Methods by which the present data is saved
Therefore with the evolution of technology in the present world, data is now stored in mobile-based applications. This data can be regarding account details or personal information. In addition to the maintenance of these records nowadays, mobile-based applications are becoming the storehouse of the data that comprise our history E and tracks all the actions and activities we undertake across the web. In this way, these mobile-based applications have a hold over the majority of the applications. At the same point in time, they also tried to have an equal amount of control over the operator’s preferences. With such an important stock of data with the applications, it becomes essential to provide that these applications are sufficiently stored in a safe environment. Mobile Application security is extremely essential in the long run.
Why is Data Privacy in Mobile Applications becoming a big concern?
This concern is in the light of the Global exposure the mobile applications face because whatever is on the web could be accessed by a third party very easily and hence could be distorted to our detriment to a great possible extent. Therefore in such a situation, it becomes pertinent to mention that the needs and wants should be met in the minimum possible time. Every possible attempt must be made to safeguard the data in mobile applications. This article attempts to list down the novel Technologies which the operator should employ to safeguard the data in the minimum possible time.
Easy Steps to Safeguard Data
In this present world, technology is evolving to such a great extent that it is becoming difficult for people to imagine a single day without Technical help. It is simply because of the reason that the mobile applications not only help to forward multiple tasks but at the same point of time also play a pivotal role in the management of data and its protection. With this amount of protection being accorded to the applications these days, it becomes vital to ensure that the devices are the softwares utilised to enhance the protection of the already existing applications should be having the required amount of features they can establish themselves as the best safeguards.
Which Applications Should be used for safeguarding
With the evolution of technology, the entire world is getting converted to a global village, and there is hardly any network that is not accessible by the other network. With this amount of interconnection already established in the surroundings, it now becomes essential to enhance the protection level to avoid third party interference. Therefore, for enabling an enhanced amount of protection, it becomes important that the applications installed in all the softwares installed to safeguard the mobile applications are in the position to provide them with the maximum amount of security. There are different amount of parameters on the Touchstone of which the competence of these applications is judged. These parameters have been given as follows.
Easy to amalgamate
There are two options using which security could be e enhanced for the mobile applications. Simultaneously, one of the methods includes the installation of third-party software for protecting the existing application. The Other method usually takes into a cord the application, which is itself coded with security devices and can enhance the level of the protection without the need to install an additional device. So, therefore, any application which is installed to enhance the level of security to the mobile application data then without any doubt only that application or software should be chosen which is in the position to easily amalgamate with the existing synchronisation of the application because any incompatibility will be destructing the performance. Mobile application security is able to sufficiently well with this process.
Easy to Control Trojan attack
Hacking is becoming one of the most important methods employing which the data of the applications is stolen. It is extremely important to put a part of the front against hacking so that the data could be protected to the maximum possible extent. Therefore controlling trojans is the most important function that every security application should perform. It is only when the protection is enhanced by doing away with the possibility of hacking and third party interference that the data could be protected to the maximum possible extent. Hence, all the threats could be decreased. App Sealing is one such application that plays a vital role in the long term fulfilment of the goals.
Easy User-Friendly Interface
Managing the data in day to day life is essential. The process of management also requires the element of protection. Hence, any software installed by the operator to protect the application should have a user-friendly interface so that every person can access the software and utilise it to the best of its capacity to enhance the protection cover upon the mobile application the data stored in it. By this process, the person can manage all the activities all by himself without the need to consult an expert. Within the extremely user interface, the person would be capacitated to utilise multiple functions, which would again help protect the mobile applications and enhance the level of the securities.
After having said search, it now becomes essential to conclude that by this method, long-term goals should be achieved and hence the ultimate in of protecting the mobile applications and providing them with the maximum amount of security would get fulfilled. This would be helpful in the long run and at the same point in time would be in the position to achieve great results. | https://arreh.com/how-mobile-security-trends-are-changing/ |
The intentions of this thread are to present frequent insights on current economics and events in order to understand the markets better. This couples with tangible instrument directions and targets based on such insights.
October 18th, 2019.
An outlook for broad US stock market indexes NASDAQ, Dow 30 and S&P 500.
As an outlook, opening a trade based on the target is not advised - despite probability of a timely close.
NASDAQ prices are high compared to the most recent 1-month history while technical trajectory (short-term) appears to have begun to point downward blatantly today. This begs an outlook target to short-sell the NASDAQ or S&P 500. This post will focus on the NASDAQ rather than the Dow 30 and S&P 500 as they are all closely correlated.
IXIC (NASDAQ Composite Index) Price Target -
Current Quote = $8,101
Target = $8,000 which is a 1.2% difference from the current quote today
Target Time-Frame = 1-4 weeks, extendable another month
Estimated Duration To Close = 1-2 weeks
Supporting Data -
October 21st, 2019.
Expectations for 10-Year Treasury Bond Yields.
10-Year Treasury Yields current quote = 1.77%
FED actions proving intentions to suppress interest rates leads me to believe interest rates are being targeted. The bottom around 1.5% in August 2019 was followed by higher lows which is indicative of likely upside to continue. Technically the next leg up would likely find its way to 2.1%, approximately. Beyond that in the longer-term one could presume 3% is possible but the climate driven by the central banks is leading me to believe upside will be limited to around 2%. This will buoy demand for USD denominated stocks, clearly what the FED cares about in regards to preserving this bull market.
So expect the likely-hood that 10-Year Treasury Yields range mostly between 1.5% and 1.9% (currently near 1.8%) for the next several months or years.
October 22nd, 2019
Link To Full Thread “OCT-22 Sell GBP”
Trade Idea GBP Sell
Great British Pound (GBP) rallied sharply against its’ major peers from October 10th to October 21st posting a gain zenith of more than 6% versus the US Dollar (USD) which poses an opportunity to sell-short the profit-taking pull-back. The prime idea to me seems to pair GBP shorts with USD, CHF and JPY. Because the trend this trade idea counters was a short-term one (less than 1-month) the duration of this trade will be limited to around 1-month as well.
GBPUSD Sell
Current Quote = 1.289
Target = 1.265 (1.8% difference from current quote)
Duration = 1-6 weeks. (Estimate 1-3 weeks)
GBPJPY Sell
Current Quote = 139.8
Target = 136 (2.7% difference from current quote)
Duration = 2-12 weeks (Estimate 2-4 weeks)
GBPCHF Sell
Current Quote = 1.275
Target = 1.255 (1.6% difference from current quote)
Duration = 1-3 weeks (Estimate 2-3 weeks)
Leverage limit for aggregate position = 2X
Estimated profit / duration if successful = 10% / 4 weeks
October 28th, 2019
S&P 500 Index Outlook Update
As an outlook, opening a trade based on the target is not advised - despite probability of a timely close.
Timing for bulls dominance on S&P 500 spot prices seems limited to around a month before a pullback or correction begins.
Correlated NASDAQ at resistance of all time highs which have already been tested and established.
NASDAQ (NASDAQ: QQQ)
NASDAQ spot currently $8,324 short-sell target $8,000 for a 4% difference. Intended trade duration is 1-3 months. Grid applicable to $8,500 which is 2.1% above the spot which is currently $8,326.
October 31st, Halloween 2019
Link To Full Thread “Halloween 2019 Sell CAD”
Trade Idea CAD Sell
Buy USDCAD Target 1.323 Quote 1.315 Difference 0.6%
Sell CADJPY Target 81.25 Quote 82.25 Difference 1.2%
The duration for this trade idea is 1-4 weeks. | https://forums.babypips.com/t/macro-insights-and-trade-ideas/250511 |
PURPOSE: To make the speaker thin and increase the sound quality by fixing the end part of a copper foil thread wire to a bobbin so that the copper foil thread wire has a specific lead-out angle at its hardened part.
CONSTITUTION: The part L of the copper foil thread wire 3 which has necessary length from its bobbin-fixation side end part is hardened by being impregnated or coated with resin, and the end part of the copper foil thread wire 35 is fixed to the bobbin 13 while having the specific lead-out angle α at its hardened part 35. An adhesive which is flowable enough to enter the copper foil thread wire 35 and sets in a short time after entering the copper foil thread wire 35 is preferably used as the resin hardening the copper foil thread wire 35 nearby the bobbin-fixation side end part. The length L of the hardened part of the copper foil thread wire 35 is set according to the diameter, shape, etc., of the speaker. Further, the lead-out angle α of the hardened part 35a of the copper foil thread wire 35 is set according to the direction of the gap between the cone paper and damper so that it comes into contact with neither of the cone paper and damper.
COPYRIGHT: (C)1996,JPO | |
Michael Maalouf – NakedPolitics
Overview of the Lebanese economic crisis:
Since the beginning of the Lebanese economic crisis, the fragility of the Lebanese economic system appeared as a result of the flawed policies of the Lebanese government. The high rate of corruption in the Lebanese state and the damages that Lebanon faced throughout its many Wars brought the country backward in development. The Lebanese Lira’s fake stability broke as the rate went above 1,500 L.L. per U.S. Dollar for the first time since 1993. The problem reached higher stages as the Banks trapped their client’s money, Covid-19 lockdown restricting businesses to open for months, and trade with other countries decreased due to political complications. Many describe what is going on in Lebanon as an economic war as the government’s work in solving the crisis seems illogical and irrelevant while opening the way for political pressure to get in the way and cripple the economy’s movement. Due to the hard work of the country’s corrupt politicians, the World bank placed Lebanon in the Top 3 most severe economic crises in history. Historians will recognize their achievements in the history books and their names for the ages to come. However, as time is passing the economic situation started getting worse, with new problems started arising. This article will focus on the fuel crisis that will open a transportation crisis in the future. It is crucial to expose the policies that led us here and show who benefits from this.
Gas station lines are a daily struggle
The disagreement between fuel providers and the government over the pricing system has existed for a long time. For example, days before the October revolution, people rushed to the Gas stations after a statement released by the Gas station owners syndicate stated that all gas stations would be involved in a strike. Right after the announcement went all over the news, the government rushed to give false promises to the syndicate to stop the strike. This game between both sides was on and off while they fooled the people most of the time.
However, recently, things have changed drastically as long lines in front of gas stations have become a routine for the Lebanese people. These scenes came after many gas stations closed leaving while only a few remained open while applying strict mitigation measures which involve a limited supply of 20,000 L.L worth of fuel and the stations only open for a few hours daily, making the simple task of refueling would take hours of waiting or would require waking up early morning, so they don’t miss work.
Before getting to the causes of the fuel crisis, we will look at what representatives from different sides had to say about the situation.
George Brax-Head of Gas station owners’ syndicate: “BDL has not given its pre-approval to petroleum importing companies, which allows them to unload electricity-generating ships that have reached the Lebanese waters or will arrive in a few days.”
Walid Dib-head of the fuel companies’ workers and users syndicate: “oil and gas sector is nearing collapse next week when the companies’ reserves run out.”
An internal source from the Ministry of Finance told Arab News: “Failure to directly announce lifting subsidies is due to fear that it leads to public protests with unintended consequences. None of the politicians wants to bear those consequences.”
Similar statements have been recurrent from all the sides that are involved in the crisis. However, looking at who is responsible can be a difficult task as they are all stuck in this web of corruption as smugglers and their partners exploit the subsidy system at the expense of the Lebanese economy.
The booming smuggling business
The problem starts with the fact that the price of fuel in Lebanon has become five times less than the standard global price. As subsidy measures decreased, the prices have been increasing weekly; however, they remained cheap as the Lebanese Lira is witnessing devaluation daily. The low price of fuel has made smuggling a gold mine for fuel traders, gas station owners, and political parties who all have extensively profited from this at the expense of the Lebanese taxpayers. Subsidies have played a role in boosting the smuggling of products of all kinds, which is natural as a hunt for profit, especially in a time of crisis becomes irresistible.
Removing the subsidy system would stop smuggling; however, entirely removing it at this stage would spark a national emergency as the local population wouldn’t handle the pain that would come with it. Subsidies are like drugs; people get addicted to them, and at a certain point, going cold turkey on them would lead to a lot of pain. As the Lebanese government did not solve the issue, the consequences were severe and would most probably reach much more risky stages. Removing the subsidy system would stop smuggling as it would not be profitable for smugglers anymore as the fuel would not have a competitive advantage in other markets.
As fuel is becoming scarce and expensive, transportation has been severely affected, mainly since most Lebanese people rely on cars for their daily commute. Public transport in Lebanon is in poor condition and is primarily held by the government. As government regulations also limit the transportation market, the situation is expected to get worse. In rural areas where the economic conditions are much more severe, many citizens have shifted from cars to Tuk-tuks and Motorcycles, currently used as a Taxi service. However, this would not solve the issue as there many other solutions that would help the country get out of this crisis.
What will happen next?
The fuel price will continue to increase but would not match the actual value, while smuggling will continue, leading to long gas lines and extreme fuel shortages. The situation will make the black market stronger as it might become the only reliable fuel source; however, it will take time as it is still present in the internal market. The fuel crisis in Venezuela is the perfect example of how the fuel crisis in its extreme form will become. A youtube vlog did by Drew Binsky under the title “The truth about Venzeula’s gas crisis” will show you how the gas crisis will shift. However, a subsidy sounds good; however, it leads to extreme consequences since a week economy can never hide behind Sedative economic measures. | https://nakedpolitics.org/2021/07/29/lebanon-26/ |
Static stretching is one of the most entrenched exercise habits in the western hemisphere, especially for runners. It doesn’t do any favors to our running economy, our injury rates, our long-term development of power—and yet it endures.
You would think this means that we have an unabashed cultural acceptance of stretching, but that isn’t so. No matter how positively we speak of stretching, or how much we proselytize its benefits, the language that we use to describe it (and its effects) continue to carry hints that it isn’t—and will never be—a real solution.
The latest issue of Runner’s World ran an article on page 50 titled “What can I do about perpetually sore calves.” The background image depicts someone’s calf muscles being stretched, with a little blurb next to it, which reads: “Fend off postrun tightness in your calves and hamstrings with the Downward Dog yoga pose.”
The language is telling: according to the author, all you can do about this perpetual, recurring problem is to “fend off” its symptoms by doing a particular yoga pose. Even though you could think of it as nothing more than a cutesy way of catching someone’s attention, we already know from previous cultural examples that these sorts of sound bites, regardless of how innocuous they may be, describe important cultural phenomena and social systems.
A great example of this is the phrase “boys will be boys”—a phrase which has been used to justify a wide array of oppressive social systems, from bullying to rape culture. This is a rhetorical tautology—a phrase which describes something by repeating or rephrasing the subject in the predicate, with the intention of making the assertion logically irrefutable. However, rhetorical tautologies are not merely assertions of supposed facts; they are used to convince someone of something, by using the tautological structure as an argument. In the case of “boys will be boys,” the logical irrefutability of the phrase is used to sell some sort of existential irrefutability: this is how boys are in this culture, and you can’t question that. The point is that the kind of structure or semantics of the phrase tell you very important things about the specifics of the system that this language describes. It is almost as if, embedded in the cultural unconscious, the very real knowledge that bullying is an oppressive system (which serves to maintain the status quo) “leaks out” into our use of language.
This language is what in systems thinking we would call a linguistic artifact—a clue that the problem that we are describing with language belongs to a particular systemic archetype. In the case of static stretching, the archetype in question is Shifting the Burden.
Shifting the Burden systems form when there is a problem that can be addressed by a quick-fix (a solution that only addresses the symptoms), or by a fundamental solution that addresses the underlying problem. However, in Shifting the Burden systems, the “symptomatic” solution has a side-effect that inhibits the system’s ability to solve the underlying problem. The burden for solving the problem therefore becomes shifted away from the fundamental solution towards a symptomatic solution. The system is rendered less and less capable of addressing the fundamental problem until the only possible recourse—unless something else changes—is to “fend off” the symptoms using the initial quick-fix:
It isn’t unexpected that the system in question is shifting the burden away from some fundamental solution onto a symptomatic one. Most of our culture specializes on quick-fixes: drink to loosen your tongue. Take pills for back pain. Buy the latest phone to feel fulfilled. Now, while it may not be unexpected, it is completely counterproductive.
But at least we have a linguistic artifact that helps us identify the problem. As soon as we hear or read the words “fend off,” we can be reasonably sure that we are dealing with an example of shifting the burden, and therefore that it is time to start looking elsewhere for the real solution. When soreness occurs in the rear muscles, such as the calves, we know that it has to do because the anterior (frontal) muscles are too weak. As I’ve discussed before, this occurs because the posterior (rear) muscles have a mechanical advantage over the front muscles; they can move the joints more easily, and therefore are easier to train and develop. So, the fundamental solution in the case of sore calves and hamstrings is to train the anterior calf muscles and the quadriceps, respectively. The Gait Guys capture the fundamental solution of this shifting the burden system into an easily-digestible sound bite:
“Develop anterior strength to earn posterior length.”
By developing the anterior calf muscles, we can stop “fending off” calf soreness and tightness and actually begin moving in a direction that solves the problem. On the other hand, Runner’s World seems to be unaware of this fundamental solution—or that “fending off” the problem, any problem, is never the answer. Indeed, as Peter Senge mentioned in a recent workshop I took, one of the main problems with shifting the burden systems is that all too often, what we think of as the fundamental solution actually turns out to be the symptomatic solution. Perhaps the writers or the editors simply don’t know about anterior strength, or they think their readers too unsophisticated to care (or to implement a fundamental solution), or they are too risk-averse to challenge the status quo.
Who knows? But I’ll tell you this much: the answer to that particular question, “What can I do about perpetually sore calves?” isn’t to “fend it off” with anything. If you do that, they’ll be perpetually sore, and you’ll find yourself perpetually fending off that soreness. No amount of debate, insistence, or rationalization, will change the fact that we are dealing with a shifting the burden system. Static stretching masquerading as a yoga pose isn’t the answer—and never will be.
P.S. You can find an exercise to help with posterior strength at The Gait Guys’ blog, here. A telling tidbit from the blog post I linked to: | https://runninginsystems.com/2014/10/01/the-language-of-static-stretching-how-to-identify-systemic-archetypes-using-linguistic-clues/ |
Despite this, the use of “medical special needs shelters”, “medical friendly shelters”, “special needs shelters” “Federal Medical Stations” and other terms describe the only type of emergency sheltering provided for many individuals with disabilities living in the community and not appropriately served in a nursing home or hospital. The use of these facilities has been prevalent in many of the recent disasters requiring evacuation of disaster impacted communities.
These shelters have operated in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and other states with federal disaster declarations over the past three years. Some of these are open and operating in North and South Carolina as we write this complaint, including people who are being sheltered in what is described as circumstances that are “less than optimal”.
We disagree with the use of any of these facilities to meet the disaster related sheltering needs of individuals with disabilities who “don’t require the type and level of medical care that would ordinarily be provided by trained medical personnel in a nursing home or hospital”. Each of these facilities is a place of public accommodation and most receive some federal funds. Thus, these facilities must comply with Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
We have also seen the use of “evacuation centers”, including those funded with FEMA P-361 grant funds, which, despite the grant instructions, are repeatedly described by local and state government as “different than shelters” and “not required to provide disability accommodations” such as accessible bathrooms, personal assistance, interpreters, cots and other reasonable accommodations.
Under the Rehabilitation Act, “entities selected to receive a grant, cooperative agreement, or other award of federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or one of its Components, including State Administering Agencies must comply with civil rights obligations.” “Sub recipients have the same obligations as their primary recipient to comply with applicable civil rights requirements and should follow their primary recipient’s procedures regarding compliance with civil rights obligations.” However, time and again, individuals with disabilities are not being accommodated “in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, which is typically a mass care shelter”.
The members of the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, our members and other emergency inclusive emergency management stakeholders we work closely with have all witnessed civil rights violations due to failure to provide necessary guidance, training and technical assistance to state and local government, failure to monitor compliance, and failure to enforce civil rights laws that apply before, during and after disasters. Adding to this is the conflicting information provided by the federal, state and local government to disaster impacted individuals and communities about the requirements for sheltering individuals with disabilities in emergencies and disasters.
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies and our national members have attempted to work collaboratively with the FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination, the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the HHS Administration for Community Living and the DOJ Civil Rights Division Disability Rights Section, to resolve these and other issues regarding the rights of 61 million Americans with disabilities and the access and functional needs of many others before, during and after disasters. We have repeatedly invited their representatives to join us in our daily (during disasters with large evacuation and sheltering operations) and weekly stakeholder meetings (during steady state and more localized disasters). All have been included in our daily and weekly invitations since hurricane Harvey made landfall, over one year ago. Only the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Anti-Discrimination Team has regularly attended our meetings and consistently worked collaboratively with us. The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has invited us to meet with her and others, and we are hopeful that the many issues raised will be addressed, however, the issues we raised remain unresolved. We have requested training from the DHS Compliance Office to help disability organizations navigate these and other issues, but we have not been successful in getting training scheduled.
Further confounding the problem with inconsistent civil rights guidance and lack of enforcement from the responsible federal agencies, is a lack of clarity about which agency “owns” the obligation for enforcing the requirement to provide sheltering to individuals with disabilities in the most integrated setting throughout emergencies and disasters. We are much less concerned with which federal entity is responsible for enforcement, and far more concerned with who we can look to for enforcement of civil rights obligations currently harming children and adults with disabilities and those who will be harmed as soon as the next disaster. We are not simply looking for who to blame, rather, we are looking for how to assist those responsible, since our members are the nation’s leading experts on disability inclusive emergency management and we have a footprint in almost every community across the United States.
If federal responsibility is not already settled, ownership must be immediately assigned, and compliance enforced. If ownership has been determined, the responsible federal agency has failed to act, and this failure must be immediately addressed, and compliance enforced.
The impact of the inconsistencies and non-compliance have resulted in the denial of equal access to emergency programs and services for disaster impacted individuals with disabilities, violating their civil rights.
Some individuals with disabilities choose to remain in harm’s way, even in a mandatory evacuation, rather than evacuating to special medical needs shelters, hospitals and nursing homes unable to provide the disability assistance they require.
Some individuals with disabilities who evacuate are denied access to general population community shelters and are instead transferred (often against their will) to special medical needs shelters or directly to hospitals and nursing homes even though they do not require hospitalization or nursing home care.
Individuals with disabilities who are denied access to community sheltering are often admitted to hospitals and nursing homes without discharge plans, and these individuals sometimes remain institutionalized in these facilities long after the disaster has ended.
Many “special medical needs shelters” do not have adequate emergency plans in place for sheltering-in-place and evacuation. For example, one currently open “special medical needs shelter” reportedly plans, if necessary, to evacuate shelterees with disabilities and bariatric needs housed on the 3rd floor of their shelter using “bed sleds”.
Some individuals with disabilities are forced to pay for their evacuation and sheltering (whether in a hotel or in a hospital) while others who are allowed in the community shelter benefit from government funded transportation and sheltering at no cost to them.
The failure to provide equal access to community shelters harms not only individuals with disabilities, but also communities with limited acute care beds, first responders and skilled medical professionals when they are needed most.
We are requesting that the US Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Health and Human Services immediately address these violations of disability civil rights throughout federally declared disasters and provide accurate and consistent information to state and local emergency planners, shelter operators, and all stakeholders who may be impacted by the misinformation and subsequent actions denying the civil rights of disaster impacted individuals with disabilities.
Due to the urgency of the issues included in this complaint, and the failure of FEMA, HHS and DOJ to attend our daily meetings, we are requesting an immediate meeting with the senior officials responsible for resolving these civil rights issues and ensuring compliance with the civil rights of disaster impacted individuals with disabilities. | http://disasterstrategies.org/index.php/news/disability-civil-rights-complaint-september-21st |
Data breaches and compromises of customer and employee data continue to be reported at a high frequency. When a breach occurs, you need to be ready to respond quickly and effectively to mitigate exposure to brand damage and legal liability.
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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal disorder. Young women between the age of 18 and 44 are the most-affected demographic, though girls as young as 11 can develop PCOS. The condition can lead to complications such as infertility, diabetes and liver disease. Obesity and lack of physical activity can further worsen PCOS. It is difficult to diagnose PCOS in its early stages, due to the non-specificity of and seeming disconnect between the symptoms.
Polycystic ovary syndrome triggers the creation of excess testosterone, upsetting the body's hormonal balance and causing cysts to develop that prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs. In most cases, this interrupts menstruation. In other cases, the menses can become infrequent, irregular or even prolonged. This symptom often goes unnoticed when it occurs in teenagers and young women because it is common for cycles to be irregular at a young age.
This site offers information designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on any information on this site as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or as a substitute for, professional counseling care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. | https://facty.com/ailments/body/10-symptoms-of-polycystic-ovary-syndrome/1/ |
Repetitive Strain Injuries
Repetitive strain injury is a term used for certain seriousforms of debilitating medical conditions. These can be divided into two differentcategories. Type 1 repetitive strain injuries are actually musculoskeletaldisorders while type 2 repetitive strain injuries are diffuse cases which areassociated with nerve damage and vocational activities. There are numerousfactors which can be held responsible for the occurrence of repetitive straininjuries. The most common ones include working in cold conditions, lack ofvariety in the type of work that one does, long work hours, lack of training inthe safest way to carry out a certain task, holding the muscles in the sameposition for a long time, not having breaks, working too fast, working withequipment that does not fit one’s body and doing something with the armsrepeatedly for too long. In all cases of repetitive strain injuries, theunderlying causes include damage to the muscles, tendons and nerves that runthrough them induced by repeated micro trauma. Improper amounts of rest maylead to further damage, commonly accompanied by painful sensations, scartissue, thickening and inflammation. The most common symptoms associated withdifferent types of repetitive strain injuries include chronically cold hands,difficulties with normal everyday activities and motions of hands, weakness inthe hands and forearms, lack of strength, fatigue, numbness, clumsiness,tremors, shooting pain, aching pain or burning sensations. The first signs ofthese types of injuries commonly include tingling sensations and soreness atthe affected areas of the body. Most cases of repetitive strain injuries lastfor only a couple of weeks, but if left untreated they may bother a person foryears.
Statistical Data
The incidence of repetitive strain injuries is graduallyincreasing over the years. The term repetitive strain injury was first used inAustralia during the 1980s. According to numerous researches, repetitive straininjuries occur in women much more often than they do in men. The occupationwhich is associated with the highest incidence of repetitive strain injuriesare meatworkers.
List of the Different Types of Repetitive Strain Injuries
Bursitis is one of the most common types of repetitivestrain injuries and it is usually caused by continual friction on the bursa. Itis characterized as an inflammatory condition which affects the bursa. Forthose who do not know, bursa is a type of sac filled with fluid located in theparts of the human body where there is need for tendons or muscles to glideover joints. Another type of repetitive strain injury is dystonia, which isalso sometimes referred to as writer’s cramp. It is actually an involuntaryspasm of muscles characterized by tension in the arms. Dupuytren’s contractureis one more type of common repetitive strain injury characterized by aninability to straighten the fingers into an open hand. It occurs because of theaccumulation of scar tissue beneath the skin located at the base of thefingers. Gamekeeper’s thumb is another common repetitive strain injurytriggered by excessive strains to the ulnar collateral ligament. In most casesit involves painful sensation and swelling of the thumb. Among the most commontypes of repetitive strain injuries is the one commonly referred to as tenniselbow, but its medicinal name is epicondylitis. This type of injury affects theelbow joint and causes inflammatory conditions of the tendons on the forearm.Diffuse RSI is one of the latest additions to the list of repetitive strain injuries.Another fairly common type of repetitive strain injuries is the one calledganglion cyst. It is characterized by the formation of cysts in the tissueswhich surround the inflamed joints. In some cases, these ganglions may becompletely painless. There are also certain cases of ganglion cysts associatedwith the gradual development of rheumatoid arthritis. There is another type ofrepetitive strain injury which is medicinally referred to as DeQuervain’ssyndrome. It is characterized as an inflammatory condition of the tendonsresponsible for the movement of the thumbs. Cubital tunnel syndrome is amedical condition associated with numbness, paralysis and painful sensations ofthe little finger and the ring finger, induced by the pinching of the Ulnarnerve. It sometimes gets confused with another similar medical condition calledcarpal tunnel syndrome. Another commonly experienced repetitive strain injuryis called Raynaud’s disease. It involves an interrupted blood supply to abodily extremity. It is extremely painful and it may even lead to thedevelopment of gangrene. Tendinitis is an injury which involves the swelling ofany type of tendon in the human body. Thoracic outlet syndrome involves thecompression of blood vessels or nerves, while tenosynovitis can becharacterized by inflammatory conditions which affect the synovial sheath.
Best Treatment for RSI
There are certain treatment techniques which can be of greathelp for all those who suffer from different types of repetitive straininjuries. The most common ones include Tai Chi, meditation techniques,Alexander technique, walking, osteopathy, deep tissue massage, stretching andrest of the affected area. | https://ic.steadyhealth.com/types-of-repetitive-strain-injury |
Booktitle:
Titus Flavius Sabinus (Consul 47)
Titus Flavius Sabinus (father of Vespasian), Vespasia Polla, Roman conquest of Britain, Legatus
Fec Publishing
(2013-01-12 )
eligible for voucher
ISBN-13:
978-620-0-72666-7
ISBN-10:
6200726663
EAN:
9786200726667
Book language:
English
Blurb/Shorttext:
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Titus Flavius Sabinus (8 AD–20 December 69 AD) was a Roman politician and soldier. He was the elder son of Titus Flavius Sabinus and Vespasia Polla and brother of the Emperor Vespasian. Along with his younger brother Vespasian, he was born in Reate, modern Rieti, in Sabinia, Italy, and served in the Roman conquest of Britain as a Legate in a legion in 43 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. He was Consul Suffectus in 47 AD (some say in 45 AD, or perhaps Ordinarius in 45 AD?), Governor, or better Legatus Augusti pro praetore of Moesia from 50 to 56 AD or from c. 53 to 60 AD, Consul Suffectus in November 52 AD, and from 56 to 69 AD was Praefectus Urbi Romae.
Publishing house:
Fec Publishing
Website:
http://www.alphascript-publishing.com
Edited by:
Columba Sara Evelyn
Number of pages:
84
Published on:
2013-01-12
Stock:
Available
Category:
Antiquity
Price:
34.00 €
Keywords:
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While thousands dropped out of Boston's Marathon on Monday due to the scorching heat, thousands braved the race, but were treated in medical tents for dehydration and heat exhaustion.
As temperatures soared to the upper 80s, 120 runners were taken to hospitals in ambulances to seek medical attention.
It was brutal, just brutally hot, Jason Warick, 38, a runner from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told the Associated Press. He had taken an ice bath before the race to cool his body, but it wasn't enough. Around 15 miles the wheels just came off. Then it was just about getting home, he added.
More than 2,100 runners were treated along the 26.2 mile course. The heat caused many more people to walk on the last lengths of the race. Tyler Husak, 25, a runner from Olin, Iowa, described the race as a death march. After the 23-mile mark he fainted and was rushed to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was treated before returning to finish the race, according to the Boston Globe.
Another woman was treated at the hospital for a 108-degree temperature. Many runners who sought medical care were treated in ice baths for five to 10 minutes.
The root cause of every single one of the presentations is heat-related -- anything spanning from some basic heat cramps all the way up to heat exhaustion and up to heat stroke,'' Mark Pearlmutter, the chief of emergency medicine at St. Elizabeth's, told the Boston Globe. Medical volunteers were sent to scan people at the finish line. Many were taken away on wheelchairs, according to the AP. The 2012 race was one of the hottest in Boston's marathon history.
Organizers said that careful preparation for the heat prevented more serious problems during the race.
Winners
Two runners from Kenya beat the heat and took the top prizes. Wesley Korir took the men's first-place title and Sharon Cherop won the women's race, claiming first-place prizes of $150,000 each.
Korir finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 40 seconds. It was very important to me to take water, to take fluids, to hydrate as often as possible, even if it led to falling off the pace at times. It's hot. Too hot. In case you don't know that, Korir said after the race.
Cherop, who finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 50 seconds, said she prepared harder this time around and started a lot slower, with a faster finish.
The Boston Marathon is one of the five World Marathon Majors and is the world's oldest annual marathon. It takes place every year on the third Monday in April, otherwise known and celebrated as Patriots' Day. The first Boston Marathon took place in 1897 with 18 participants. On Monday, 26,716 people signed up to run -- however, only 22,426 ran in the end due to the heat. | https://www.ibtimes.com/boston-marathon-2012-hundreds-hospitalized-heat-photos-555109 |
No Time for Clicking of Heels
In the closing scenes of The Wizard of Oz, Glinda the Good tells the despairing Dorothy to click her heels together three times, while repeating, “there’s no place like home,” … and she will find herself there. In short order, Dorothy is magically transported back to Kansas and awakens from what Auntie Em and Uncle Henry assure Dorothy was just a bad dream.
We, unfortunately, are living no dream and we will not be returning to Kansas anytime soon.
The effects of the COVID crisis on businesses may be plotted on a bell curve. Some industries have been devastated and no meaningful return is expected in the short term (e.g. restaurant and entertainment).
Other industries are temporarily booming (e.g. food manufacturing and paper products), with production capacities strained and where, ironically, a return to some semblance of normal will represent welcome relief.
In the center of this bell curve are businesses in industries that have sustained great trauma but which will return. For such businesses, however, what that “return” will look like is uncertain.
Some readers have had experience managing clients through turnaround situations. Workout professionals, in fact, are quite adept at right-siding businesses experiencing liquidity issues due to poor management or unfortunate events. Some of those same tools will be useful in helping guide some of these businesses in the middle of the curve to bluer skies. However, what is called for today is not turnaround management. It is crisis management.
Unlike turnaround situations, in a crisis, not only is the client’s business experiencing uncertainty, so too are the client’s commercial partners. For example, will the business’s lender continue to have an appetite for lending to the client’s industry? Will trade creditors be willing to extend trade credit for new business before receiving payment on pre-crisis trade debt? Will customers, also suffering liquidity issues, be creditworthy going forward? Will there be reliable governmental assistance? Will employees be willing to return to work?
Abraham Lincoln’s oft-quoted line, “The best way to predict [one’s] future is to create it,” fits our time in a highly pragmatic way. Indeed, the future for many of our clients will need be created through collaboration with trade partners and others in novel ways.
Access to trade credit will be of paramount importance to these businesses moving forward. Collaboration will be required of all interconnected parties in a way which recognizes the common interest shared by those in the same stream of commerce (e.g. vendor–manufacturer–
The very essence of the communication between the parties will be required to change fundamentally from a “you versus me” contest to an “us versus the universe” collaboration. Such a collaboration will require prudent patience and cooperation on the part of all stakeholders.
As in normal times, credit will gravitate to those who can: (i) show that, through thoughtful analysis, the scope of their capital requirements are properly understood; (ii) articulate the use to which the capital will applied; and, (iii) illustrate how the capital will be repaid.
How might you, as trusted advisor, assist? Perhaps by encouraging and facilitating the following:
1. Preparation of a Forecasting Template. That 13-week cash flow you read about earlier in the crisis should be converted into a template which will forecast the coming eight weeks, and then the ten months following.
2. Quantification of Lost Liquidity. Help your clients to understand and quantify the trauma sustained by their businesses during lock-down in terms of lost liquidity. This will be an important variable to the algebra of calculating capital need.
3. Forecasting of Working Capital Requirements. Difficult though it may be, your clients will need to forecast the future return of business revenues. This process should not be done in the abstract, as is often the case when budgeting for the upcoming year. Rather, owners should reach out directly to major customers for the purpose of gathering market intelligence.
4. Performance of Sensitivity Analyses. Once a forecast has been made, “what if” scenarios should be considered. For example, what if we are 10% off forecast, 15%, or 20%, and what will the capital implications be?
5. Effective and Transparent Communication with Capital Sources. Once capital needs have been determined for pre-crisis debt, on the one hand, and for working capital needs, on the other, the task of funding the capital deficit must be considered. Tranches of capital will likely come from agreements with vendors, revised senior lending facilities, government subsidized loans, mezzanine financing, and finally, if necessary, equity infusion.
In addition to shepherding clients through the type of processes described, the trusted advisor should have a seat at the table in virtually every critical communication with their clients’ trade partners. The advisor likely has a superior ability to communicate the concepts and underlying rationales needed to be shared with trade partners in order to achieve compromises and concessions which, in a normal economy, might seem impractical.
The advisor’s presence in such a role will be comforting to clients as they engage in what for them is foreign behavior, and it will add credibility to the proposals being offered in the eyes of non-client participants.
What happens next for many of your clients will require more art than science. By engaging in aggressive analysis, applying well-reasoned assumptions, and having honest communication with all stakeholders, your clients will have the comfort of knowledge that they are doing the very best they can during this time of uncertainty. | https://milestoneba.com/2020/06/no-time-for-clicking-of-heels/ |
A premier U.S. orchestra, the NSO performs approximately 150 concerts each year of classical, new works, pops, and special events, including nationally televised concerts on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol and numerous education and community engagement events.
One of the leading opera companies in the United States, WNO focuses on bold productions of classic operas, fascinating contemporary perspectives, and the best in American artistry.
Under the artistic direction of George Balanchine’s most admired muse, the Kennedy Center’s own ballet company encompasses an ever-growing repertoire of beloved ballets including more than 65 works choreographed by George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, and Jerome Robbins.
Help us continue to provide the outstanding performances you've come to expect!
Renovated in 1997, the Concert Hall is the largest performance space in the Kennedy Center, seating 2,465. This state-of-the-art facility, which originally opened in 1971, sets new standards for accessibility and sound with a high-tech acoustical canopy, accessible locations on every level, and new seating sections (onstage boxes, chorister seats, and parterre seats). The 7 famous Hadeland crystal chandeliers, a gift from Norway, are repositioned to clear the field of view from the Second tier center. Behind the stage you will note the organ, a generous gift by Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, given on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy Center and the 80th anniversary of the NSO.
For more information on the organ's specifications click here.
2,462 capacity
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566
Building opens daily at 10 a.m.
Tickets & Information: (202) 467-4600
Toll-Free: (800) 444-1324
TTY: (202) 416-8524
Box Office Hours:
Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-9 p.m., | http://www.kennedy-center.org/Pages/VirtualTour/concerthall |
Excel provides a collection of formulas that can manipulate or transform text within a cell. Two of these let you extract text from either a cell's beginning or its end.
There are times when an Excel worksheet won't fit on a single printed page. Maybe it has so much information that it spills across to a second page to the right. However, most of the time a spreadsheet contains dozens, if not hundreds, of rows. Enable repeating rows or columns to ensure that meaningful labels appear on every printed sheet.
If you have used Microsoft Excel for any length of time, you have probably discovered the AutoFill handle — the tiny black square on the lower right-hand corner of a selected cell — to be one of its most useful tools. You can use the AutoFill handle to quickly drag a series into existence. You can drag days of the week, months of the year, or a numerical series — you can even create your own custom series.
Even though Excel can’t sing, it knows the days of the week. You can begin a list by typing either the full day of the week or its 3-letter abbreviation in a blank cell. Then, position the mouse pointer above the AutoFill handle and drag the handle horizontally or vertically across adjacent cells. Dragging the handle down or to the right fills in the next item in the series, while dragging up or to the left fills in the previous item.
Similarly, Excel knows the months of the year. You can enter the month or its 3-letter abbreviation, then drag the AutoFill handle to fill in other months of the year.
When it comes to automatically filling in a numerical series, you have a couple of options.
to replace the multiple copies of the selected number with a series of numbers that increment (or decrement) by one.
Second, if you select two adjacent cells with distinct numerical values and drag the AutoFill handle, Excel fills the cells with a series which increments by the difference of the two values. In other words, if you selected one cell containing the number 1 and another cell containing the number 3 and then dragged with the AutoFill handle to the right, the resulting series would be 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. Each subsequent value would be 2 more than the last. In this way you can increment a series by twos, by threes, or even by twenty-sevens.
As we have seen, Excel knows days, months, and numbers — and that’s it. If you select a cell with any other “non-series” data and drag the AutoFill handle, Excel just copies those cells. However, you can create your own custom list — or lists — to “teach” Excel new series.
Note: In Excel 2007, click the Microsoft Office button, then click Excel Options. Click the Popular > Top options for working with Excel > Edit Custom Lists.
Now, you can AutoFill a series based on items in your custom list. And, you can even sort your data according to the order of items in your custom list.
You can extend a series in a column by double-clicking the AutoFill handle; Excel uses the column to the left as a guide.
When working in Excel, you may wish to see the formulas in use on your worksheet to help you track down an error, or to see which cells are dependent upon other cells.
In the Tools menu, click Options.
On the View tab, in the Windows options area, check Formulas.
Excel displays the formulas contained in cells on the active worksheet; it displays the underlying serial numbers for dates, and opens the Formula Auditing toolbar.
Note: Alternatively, you can toggle the display of formulas in Excel by pressing CTRL + ` (grave accent).
You can use data validation to restrict the type of information allowed in a given cell (or cells). You can also specify a range of valid data for numerical, time or date values, and even text length. In addition, you can use data validation to limit data to a predefined list of acceptable items.
Select the cells you wish to affect.
In the Data menu, click Validation.
In the Source box, type the values, separated by commas, you want to allow.
For example, try typing: blue, green, orange.
When you click on a cell, the drop-down arrow is available with the values you specified.
Note: In the Source box, you can use a formula or reference to a range of cells that contain your list values rather than explicitly typing those values in.
However, if you want to refer to a range of cells on a different worksheet in the same workbook, you need to define a named range, then refer to the named range in the Source box, =named_range.
You can use VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP to find corresponding information in a list of data, either vertically (VLOOKUP) or horizontally (HLOOKUP).
The VLOOKUP function scans vertically down the leftmost column of data, looking for a match to the input you provide. Upon finding a match, VLOOKUP returns a value from the given row, corresponding to a column you specify.
Note: HLOOKUP functions similarly, but it scans horizontally across the first row of data and returns a value from a given column, with respect to a corresponding row number.
The three arguments required by VLOOKUP are Lookup Value, Table Array, and Column index. There is an optional fourth argument, Range Lookup.
Lookup Value: The data you want to find. This can be text (enclosed in quotes) or it can be a reference to another cell.
Table Array: A reference to a range of cells of at least 1 column of data. By default, the first column of data is used as the index to find the corresponding data for each row. Your data should be sorted in ascending order by the first column.
Column Index: The corresponding column that contains the data you want to return.
Range Lookup [optional]: A logical value, TRUE or FALSE. If this argument is omitted or TRUE the lookup returns the first closest match. If the argument is set to FALSE, lookup searches for an exact match.
Note: If you plan to copy your formula to use across more than one cell, you may wish to use absolute cell references for the table array so the addresses do not automatically adjust to a new range as the formula is copied. In our above example, the Table Array reference would become $A$1:$B$4.
In Excel, you can take a cell and split its text across columns in a number of ways. The easiest of these is to use the Text to Columns command under the Data menu in Excel.
For example, if you have a cell that contain both first and last names, you can use the Text to Columns command to split the data in each cell across multiple columns using a delimiter, a special character that indicates at what point data should be split. In this example, we will use a space as the delimiter.
In the Data menu, click Text to Columns.
In the Wizard, select Delimiter, then click Next.
In the Delimiters area, check Space, then click Finish. | http://hemmans.com/?category=Excel |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
BACKGROUND OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
Feedforward Control System:
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS INCLUDED IN FIGURES
This application claims priority to provisional application Nos. 61/146,508, which was filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) on Jan. 22, 2009; 61/171,263, which was filed in the USPTO on Apr. 21, 2009; and 61/254,963, which was filed in the USPTO on Oct. 26, 2009.
This application is not the subject of any federally sponsored research or development.
There has been no joint research agreements entered into with any third parties.
Solar generation systems and devices for tracking the sun across the sky are known in the art. A number of existing systems use mechanical apparatuses that are poorly designed, expensive and unreliable. The solar trackers described in this application improve upon existing solar trackers by, among other things, utilizing a mechanical apparatus that reduces costs and improves reliability, durability and accuracy of the solar trackers.
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an actuated solar tracker that includes a sub-frame capable of supporting at least one solar panel, at least one post for supporting the sub-frame, and a linking mechanism that connects the sub-frame to the post, where the linking mechanism includes a first axle, a second axle and a body member that connects the first axle to the second axle. Further, the first axle and the second axle of the linking mechanism are disposed substantially orthogonal to each other and are separated by a distance equal to the body member. The solar tracker also includes at least two linear actuators, each containing a first end and second end, a rotational joint that connects the second end of the linear actuators to the sub-frame, and a driver system that drives the linear actuators. Additionally, the solar tracker includes a controller for calculating desired positions of the linear actuators and communicating with the driver system to drive the linear actuators to the desired positions.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an actuated solar tracker that includes a sub-frame capable of supporting at least one solar panel, at least one post for supporting the sub-frame, and a linking mechanism that connects the sub-frame to the post, where the linking mechanism includes a first axle, a second axle and a body member that connects the first axle to the second axle. Further, the first axle and the second axle of the linking mechanism are disposed substantially orthogonal to each other and are separated by a distance equal to the body member. Additionally, the first axle, second axle, and the body member are an integrated member. The solar tracker also includes at least two linear actuators, each containing a first end and second end, a rotational joint that connects the second end of the linear actuators to the sub-frame, and a hydraulic driver system that drives the linear actuators. Further, the solar tracker includes at least one pedestal having a first end and a second end, the first end being connected to a beam of a foundation system and the second end being connected to a linear actuator. Additionally, the solar tracker includes a controller for calculating desired positions of the linear actuators and communicating with the driver system to drive the linear actuators to the desired positions.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an actuated solar tracker that includes a sub-frame capable of supporting at least one solar panel, at least one post for supporting the sub-frame, and a linking mechanism that connects the sub-frame to the post, where the linking mechanism includes a first axle, a second axle and a body member that connects the first axle to the second axle. Further, the first axle and the second axle of the linking mechanism are disposed substantially orthogonal to each other and are separated by a distance equal to the body member. Additionally, the first axle, second axle, and the body member are an integrated member and the ends of the first axle and the second axle are disposed in bearing assemblies. The solar tracker also includes at least two linear actuators that act as structural members that support the sub-frame, each containing a first end and second end, a rotational joint that connects the second end of the linear actuators to the sub-frame, and a hydraulic driver system that drives the linear actuators. Further, the solar tracker includes at least one pedestal having a first end and a second end, the first end being connected to a beam of a foundation system and the second end being connected to a linear actuator. The solar tracker also includes a means for preventing the sub-frame from being driven past its mechanical limits. Additionally, the solar tracker includes a controller for calculating desired positions of the linear actuators and communicating with the driver system to drive the linear actuators to the desired positions.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an actuated solar tracker that includes a sub-frame that supports a platform, a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and a rack gear, a rod attached to the rack gear, at least one actuator capable of moving the rod, at least three structural members, and at least one post connected to the sub-frame. Further, the solar tracker includes a linking member that connects the sub-frame to the post, where the linking member includes a first axle, a second axle and a body member disposed between the first axle and the second axle. The first axle and the second axle are disposed substantially orthogonal to each other and separated by a distance approximately equal to the length of the body member and the linking member is connected to the sprocket gear such that the linking member moves as the rod moves. The solar tracker also includes a driver system for driving the linear actuator. Additionally, the solar tracker includes a controller for calculating desired positions of the linear actuators and communicating with the driver system to drive the linear actuators to the desired positions.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an actuated solar tracker that includes a sub-frame that supports a platform, a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and a rack gear, a rod attached to the rack gear, at least one actuator capable of moving the rod, at least three structural members, and at least one post connected to the sub-frame. Further, the solar tracker includes a linking member that connects the sub-frame to the post, wherein the linking member includes a first axle, a second axle and a body member disposed between the first axle and the second axle, where the first axle and the second axle are disposed substantially orthogonal to each other and separated by a distance approximately equal to the length of the body member. Further, the linking member is connected to the sprocket gear such that the linking member moves as the rod moves. The solar tracker also includes a driver system for driving the linear actuator. Additionally, the solar tracker includes a controller for calculating desired positions of the linear actuators and communicating with the driver system to drive the linear actuators to the desired positions.
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein.
In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the figures. Additionally, in the following description, it is understood that terms such as “first,” “second,” and the like, are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
The embodiments of the present invention are directed to a platform for aiming solar power generating systems (and components, such as mirrors or photovoltaic cells “PV” and the like) such that the platform's sub-frame is positioned to optimize the capture of energy from the sun for conversion into electricity or other useful forms of energy. The embodiments of the present invention are optimized for strength, reliability, efficiency and maintainability. The embodiments of the present invention are also well suited for high wind conditions and can continue tracking the sun even in strong winds.
FIGS. 1-5
FIGS. 1-5
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As depicted in and -, in an embodiment of the present invention, the solar tracking apparatus includes a foundation system comprising an I-beam cross and adjustable foundation mountings (such as screws, metal foundations, or the like) that secure the I-beam cross to the mounting surface to which the solar tracking apparatus is affixed. One skilled in the art will readily understand that the foundation mountings may be adjustable or non-adjustable in embodiments of the present invention. Additionally, one skilled in the art will readily understand that different I-beam foundation systems may be utilized, including, but not limited to, a T-cross. Connected to the I-beam cross are two linear actuators , and a post . In an embodiment of the present invention, the linear actuators , are preferably comprised of an east-west actuator and a north-south actuator . The bottom end of the linear actuators , are preferably connected to the I-beam cross via pinned connections , joint connections, or the like. These pinned connections allow the linear actuators , to achieve two degree of freedom movement, relieve strain in the linear actuators, and they assure proper, free motion of the actuators. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that, as used in the description of embodiments of the present invention, two degree of freedom movement refers to a manipulation that can cause motion in two independent forms such as two orthogonal axes or two orthogonal lines of motion, or one axis and one line. Additionally, a person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that the pinned connection can be a connection made by the use of a link with two pins, such that the link allows two degree of freedom movement. In a preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in , the bottom end of the post is rigidly anchored to the I-beam cross . This creates a two-pinned system in an embodiment of the invention. However, a three-pinned system in an embodiment of the invention may be preferred in which the post is connected to the I-beam cross via a pinned connection (not shown in figures). In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the top end of the linear actuators , and the top end of the post are connected to a sub-frame , which holds a platform that tracks the sun. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the platform holds or consists of a solar array. The linear actuators , are connected to the sub-frame via a joint connection that allows the actuators , to achieve two degree of freedom movement. In fact, both the pinned connections at the bottom of the linear actuators , and the joint connection at top of the linear actuators , are two degree of freedom pinned connections or the like that relieve strain in the actuators and assure proper, free motion. The post is preferably connected to the sub-frame via a linking mechanism that allows the platform to rotate about the post with two degrees of freedom. In another embodiment of the invention the post may be connected to the sub-frame via a joint, similar to the joint connection between the actuators , and the sub-frame . A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that there are different means for connecting both the post and the actuators , to the sub-frame. All embodiments described above creates a three-pinned system of connection between the sub-frame and the tops of the post and actuators , . In yet another embodiment of the invention, the actuators , and the post are connected directly to the platform via pinned joints or linkages without a sub-frame .
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The solar tracker's two or three-pinned connections to the foundation system and joint connection and/or linking mechanism connections to the sub-frame provide adequate strength to withstand substantial forces while minimizing or avoiding transmission of certain torques into its foundation system . The lower torques associated with the connection points of the post and actuators , to the foundation system and sub-frame also provide for the capability of installing the system on rooftops. Most embodiments of the system are well suited for commercial roof truss spacing because the solar tracker's foundation system is capable of spanning two or more trusses (which are typically eight to ten feet apart).
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In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the linear actuators , also function as structural members. Use of the actuators , as structural members creates operating strength while also reducing production costs. In a preferred embodiment of this invention the linear actuators , are hydraulic cylinders that are driven by a hydraulic pump.
FIGS. 6A-6C
FIG. 6A
FIG. 6B
FIG. 6C
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As can be seen in the figures, and more specifically , the connections of both the bottom and the top of the linear actuators , and the post to the foundation system and sub-frame , respectively, preferably create a triangle shape. The dimensions of the triangles formed by the connections to the foundation and the connections to the sub-frame can be adjusted for different requirements in different embodiments. For example, standard PV panels have greater tolerance than mirrored or focused systems (i.e., concentrators). Standard panels can be controlled with a smaller system with smaller triangles and smaller actuators than focused systems, which require more exact aiming. depicts a right angle triangle position (“RA” model solar tracker) ; depicts an isosceles triangle position (“ISO” model solar tracker) ; and depicts an equilateral triangle position (“EQ” model solar tracker) .
FIGS. 1-5
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As shown in , in an embodiment of the present invention, the foundation system is comprised of an I-beam cross and a number of removable, adjustable foundation mountings (pilings, ground screws, helical ground anchors, or the like). In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the foundations under the three separate bases (post and two actuators , ) are replaced with a single foundation designed to support the three mounting locations. For example, a large concrete slab or the like could be used. In this embodiment the foundation system comprises a concrete slab with adjustable mountings for an I-beam cross or the like, or the three separate bases. The I-beam cross is mounted such that its bases face north-south and east-west and is leveled by the adjustable foundation mountings . The actuators , and center post are preferably mounted to the I-beam cross . This system provides for rapid, strong, and inexpensive installations while also providing for inexpensive and total clean-up after the system is decommissioned after twenty to thirty years of service.
FIG. 10
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As can be seen in , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pedestal is added under the actuator , which causes the lower joints or pinned connections of the actuators , to be at levels different from one another. Causing the lower joint or pinned connection to be higher on the base (of which actuator is part) is desirable as it improves stability and strength of the solar tracking apparatus for certain angles of the east-west degree of freedom at the beginning and ending of solar days. Additionally, the pedestal under the actuator helps reduce strain and interference, and allow the solar tracker apparatus to efficiently reach angles required to align the platform orthogonal to the rays of the sun.
FIGS. 9A and 9B
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As depicted in , in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, diagonal braces attach to the post at some height above the foundation and to the foundation mountings of the actuators , (cylinders in the hydraulic embodiment). These braces provide additional strength and/or reduce the amount of material needed in the post and thus reduce the cost of the post . In embodiments where the I-beam cross is not used, braces or torsion resistance bars may be used to connect the foundation mountings of the actuators , and post such that they are constrained from rotating. These connections act as long levers on the post base while using the actuator , foundation mountings as anchors to resist movement. Using the actuator , foundation mountings in this way is particularly effective as the load on the actuator , base would be perpendicular to the primary axis of the screw foundations (or the like) giving the maximum resistance.
FIGS. 1-5
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Turning back to a preferred embodiment depicted in , the orientation of the linking mechanism or joint at the top of the post is fixed and capable of resisting rotational forces about its center axis. The post itself is also designed to be capable of resisting such rotational forces transferred from the linking mechanism . This resistance keeps the solar tracking apparatus standing erect and in calibration.
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The mounting of the linking mechanism at the top of the post as well as the joints at the top of each actuator , is at an angle to optimize use of the linking mechanism or joint within their mechanical limits. Joints at the tops of the actuators , can optionally have some rotational freedom in addition to what is provided by the free rotation of the actuators , .
FIGS. 7 and 8
FIG. 7
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further depict the two degree of freedom linking mechanism at the top of the post in greater detail. The two degree of freedom linking mechanism at the top of the post is designed to be sufficiently strong to withstand very large torque forces. A preferred embodiment depicted in shows a linking mechanism designed to compensate for the maximum torque that might be caused by high winds. The linking mechanism includes a body member that connects a first axle and a second axle . The first axle and second axle preferably include bearing assemblies , that are mounted orthogonal to each other to allow the linking mechanism to achieve two degree of freedom movement. The radius “r” of the body member causes the torque to be distributed into forces in each of two bearings/axle assemblies such that the torque is resisted by each bearing .
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FIG. 7
A preferred embodiment of the post linking mechanism depicted in also provides an offset comprised of the distance between the first axle and the second axle of the linking mechanism , center to center. This offset acts to assure the sub-frame has clearance past the post even at sunset when the sub-frame is oriented to point close to the horizon. The offset also provides greater angular movement of the sub-frame near the end of the linear actuator's , stroke. The offset also provides leverage for the actuator when the actuator is near its retracted position.
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FIG. 8
FIG. 7
FIG. 7
FIG. 8
FIG. 8
FIG. 7
FIG. 8
FIG. 8
FIG. 8
FIG. 7
FIG. 8
The linking mechanism depicted in provides a more compact link than that of the linking mechanism shown in , and provides fewer singularities for angles near the horizon. The linking mechanism in an alternative embodiment of the present invention is substantially a pillow block bearing assembly. The fundamental differences between the linking mechanism in and the linking mechanism in are that the linking mechanism in has no axles (the axles are part of the post and sub-frame ), whereas the linking mechanism in has the axles , as part of the link and the linking mechanism has an elongated offset between axles compared to the linking mechanism in . The linking mechanism depicted in includes a steel plate or the like to assure proper orientation of the bearing assemblies . The disadvantage of the linking mechanism in is that it requires a slightly longer actuator to achieve the same angles as the post link shown in . The linking mechanism in is not preferable in that it is not capable of reaching certain angles that are required to point at the sun for some locations and days of the year. Linking mechanism is preferred as it provides the capability to reach extreme angles in order to align the sub-frame /platform to a position orthogonal to the rays of the sun, particularly during sunrise and sunset.
FIGS. 7 and 8
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As can be seen in , the linking mechanisms , are designed to provide minimal strain displacement even under heavy wind loads. The linking mechanism preferably provides minimal clearance requirements for the bearings and bearing/axle assembly to minimize costs and strains in these components. The offset distance between the axles , causes the system to move in a fashion that closely resembles the solar system, thus one actuator preferably provides time of day positioning while the other actuator preferably provides day of the year positioning. The linking mechanism body member length determines the amount of angular movement that can be achieved without binding. Linking mechanism length is optimized to provide the required freedom of movement at the lowest possible loading conditions for the actuators , . The linking mechanism may be constructed of welded components rather than being formed of a solid piece of metal. The axles , of the linking mechanism are typically separate components that are welded or fastened into place in the twisted or fabricated component. The body member of the linking mechanism may also be fabricated from square stock, twisted flat bar, casting or the like.
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A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that, in alternate embodiments, ball joints or other types of joints may be used in place of the joints and/or pinned connections . This is because the joints on the actuators , may allow rotation. However, the joint/linking mechanism , at the top of the post cannot be replaced by a ball joint because it must hold the system in place resisting rotation, and it preferably has an offset length (or joint/linking mechanism length) greater than zero. However, an alternative embodiment of the invention may allow for a linking mechanism with an offset length equal to zero.
FIGS. 16 and 16A
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depict the solar tracking apparatus with the addition of a third actuator . Additional accuracy is achieved in the early morning or late evening by adding the additional actuator to the sub-frame such that the mounts on one end of the platform are raised at an angle to the sub-frame such that this additional degree of freedom sweeps across the horizon (for the ISO model solar tracker) or down to the horizon (for the RA model solar tracker) to the exact position of sunrise or sunset for any given day of the year. Fixed or actuated elevation is added to the sub-frame to optimize the solar tracking apparatus for early morning or late afternoon/evening aiming. This added capability is desirable for certain types of solar panels and/or cases where power generation at or near sunrise/sunset is critical.
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The solar tracking apparatus is designed for rapid and cost effective deployments. The assembly process is aided by the system design in that multiple assembly steps can take place simultaneously: foundation system , sub-frame , structural component assembly (actuators , and post ) and the positioning and orientation of the foundation system . These simultaneous operations culminate in final assembly wherein a crane (or similar) is used to place the components so that they can be fastened together efficiently. The power supply to the solar tracker apparatus is any form of stable, clean power. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, any electronic components in the system are provided with an enclosure for protection from weather and the like.
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FIGS. 6A-6C
FIG. 6B
FIG. 6A
FIG. 6C
Several different embodiments of the solar tracking apparatus are available for different uses. Each embodiment provides specific features for its specific function. As shown in , these embodiments vary the triangle from a standard isosceles triangle () to a preferable right angle triangle () to an equilateral triangle (). Post height and actuator , and lengths also vary to change performance characteristics.
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A person skilled in the art would readily understand that there are different means that may be utilized to create a feedforward control system in embodiments of the present invention, including, but not limited to, having inputs of time of day, date, GPS coordinates, and foundation orientation. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a computer control platform will use these inputs to acquire several sets of solar position angles for a given day. The computer control platform in the present invention preferably has input and output capabilities typical of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Additionally, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the feedforward control system makes use of polynomial spline curves to drive the linear actuator , and positions. These spline curves are created by taking multiple known angular positions of the sun during the day and translating those angles into linear actuator , and positions based on the a relationship between the angular positions of the sun and the mechanical configuration of the particular embodiment of the present invention. These linear actuator , and positions become data points for the creation of the spline curve which is a function of “t”-time from sunrise to sunset. In some embodiments additional spline curves are also used to map the angles of the linking mechanism axles , and the time-function ratio of those angular positions and angular velocities are related to the linear positions and linear velocities of the actuators , and .
Either a central computer or a computer located on each solar tracker is capable of calculating these spline curves overnight for the next day's use using previously stored data. In the case where a central computer is used to calculate the spline curves for all the solar trackers in an application area or all the solar trackers in more than one application area, each solar tracker has the ability to store a data table. This data table contains the coefficients for spline curves indicating actuator cylinder positions (or associated angles) and related motor speeds (or on-off cycles and valve positions) as a function of time and delta-t (time shift for GPS longitude location within time zone). Alternatively, each solar tracker could be equipped with sufficiently large memory capacity to store up to several years' worth of data tables. In some embodiments, multiple curve sets are provided in the data table with the correct curve set selected based on certain factors such as the date or the latitude as given by GPS coordinates with the associated time offset (location), or both date and location.
22
In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, data tables are used to control the system by using stored data for input versus time, without the use of spline curves. Another alternate embodiment of the present invention uses full solar calculations done in real-time. This embodiment uses feedforward control based on actuator positions and/or linking mechanism angular positions, and rates of change directly translated from elevation and azimuth angles in real-time rather than using spline curves to indicate actuator positions and velocities. Yet another embodiment of the present invention uses neither feedforward control nor spline curves but rather uses a series of rules together with actuator positions translated from standard elevation and azimuth angles for solar position.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes the spline curve method for building the feedforward model. This is because the mathematics of real-time solar calculations and their respective derivatives requires much greater computational power and generates a significant error as well as potential for a plethora of singularities. This increase in complexity leads to an increase in hardware costs and reduces the accuracy and stability of the control system.
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In a preferred embodiment, the spline curve method provides for incremental adjustments to the actuator , and velocities throughout the day with position adjustments being continuous (or so frequent and small that the motion increment is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible).
The spline curve used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is typically a multi-segment, third degree polynomial in the form:
f
t
a
·t
+a
·t
+a
·t+a
1
1
2
3
4
a
3
2
()=for t=0 to t
f
t
b
·t
+b
·t
+b
·t+b
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a
b
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2
()=for t=tto t
f
t
c
·t
+c
·t
+c
·t+c
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()=for t=tto t
t
t
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·t
+d
·t
+d
·t+d
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c
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()=for t=tto t
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Methods for solving such systems of equations are well known to those skilled in the art. The above example is a system composed of a sixteen by sixteen set of position equations that requires sixteen data points to define a unique solution. A combination of position requirements (for certain values of “t”) and continuity constraints (between f, f, f, and f) define these data points. Higher degree polynomials with correspondingly larger systems of equations are used to make the linear actuator , and positions increasingly accurate for achieving desired angles of the sub-frame and/or platform . The spline curves indicating the desired angles of the axis of the post linking mechanism are used to produce a feedforward modification loop. The actual angles of the post linking mechanism are compared with the desired angles to calculate the measured error. This error is multiplied by a gain that is used in the feedback loop to modify the feedforward control system.
A preferred embodiment of the feedforward control system includes the use of a time differential to minimize or eliminate motion hysteresis. By advancing time by a small increment (“delta-t”) in the spline curve calculations, the time delay caused by the physics of the solar tracking apparatus' response and a circuit's response can be virtually eliminated. A “delta-t” term is used in each spline curve used for driving the solar tracking apparatus such that the drive and sensor feedback match more precisely. Real-time without the “delta-t” term is used for checking position and measuring error. This use of “delta-t” effectively reduces control error by one order of magnitude.
In alternate embodiments of the present invention, the spline curves may be 2nd, 3rd or higher degree polynomials in one or more segments.
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The first derivative of the position equation is then used to determine the desired time rate of change for the actuator , and . If hydraulic cylinders are used for the linear actuators , and , this time rate of change is easily converted into fluid flow rate requirements by the computer and subsequent pump-motor speed/current requirements for the feed forward control system.
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The feedforward control system provides very accurate and smooth control (such as pump motor speed control, pulse modulation to the drive(s) or valve fluttering) for the linear actuators , and . This control strategy minimizes or eliminates overdriving of the actuators , and , which reduces wear and strain on the actuators , and and other mechanical components and minimizes the electrical current draw and energy use.
2
Constraining the first, second, third and fourth derivative to be continuous between functions provides the smoothest operation and lowest wear for the mechanical components of the solar tracking apparatus . With these constraints the equipment has greater reliability.
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In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, sensor feedback on actuator , and positions, linking mechanism angles, or both is required to modify and update the feedforward control system. This creates a feedback control system. A person skilled in the art would readily understand that means for a feedback control system include, but are not limited to, having inputs of linear actuator positions, angular positions of the linking mechanism axles , , and solar tracking sensor data. Wind resistance and changes in friction will change with environmental conditions and time. Compensation for these small changes is accomplished by multiplying the error times a small gain to adjust the actuator , and speed until the actual position matches the expected position. This error information is also multiplied by an even smaller gain to adjust power to the actuators , and for future movements thus making the feedforward model increasingly accurate over time for the then current environmental and mechanical conditions.
Communications capabilities help assure maximum up time. In another alternate embodiment the control system is equipped with secure interne communications for sending maintenance requests and/or responding to status inquiries.
The embodiments of the present invention preferably include one of the following categories for the configuration of the solar tracking apparatus:
1. Optimized for PV panel, ground installations between 30° and 50° latitude;
2. Optimized for PV panel, ground installations between 0° and 30° latitude;
3. Optimized for PV panel, ground installations with extreme latitudes greater than 50°;
4. Optimized for PV panel, rooftop installations between 30° and 50° latitude;
5. Optimized for PV panel, rooftop installations between 0° and 30° latitude;
6. Optimized for PV panel, rooftop installations with extreme latitudes greater than 50°;
7. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, ground installations between 30° and 50° latitude;
8. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, ground installations between 0° and 30° latitude;
9. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, ground installations with extreme latitudes greater than 50°;
10. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, rooftop installations between 30° and 50° latitude;
11. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, rooftop installations between 0° and 30° latitude; and
12. Optimized for concentrated PV panel, rooftop installations with extreme latitudes greater than 50°.
It should be noted that some embodiments optimize at angles other than 0°, 30° or 50°. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, an additional level of optimization is added to provide maximum wind resistance for each of the above twelve categories.
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14
In each of these categories, the triangle dimensions, platform or solar array size, actuator , and lengths, and/or the post height are adjusted to accommodate the specific needs of the particular embodiment. For example, standard PV panel installations require a lower cost system but have a greater angle of tolerance. Focused/concentrated systems have a small tolerance for error but are less costly than standard PV systems on a per watt basis.
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For locations in North America, the latitude requires that the PV panels are preferably elevated above the horizon between a minimum and maximum angle at mid-day, specific to the particular location and day of the year. For ISO models (based on an isosceles triangle ) all locations between certain latitudes require a specific post height while a different post height is required when outside of this particular range. Locations closer to the equator require a taller post and locations farther north require a shorter post . In all cases for the ISO model solar tracker, the post height is adjusted relative to the fully retracted actuator , and (cylinder) height.
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Extra height may be added to all three bases to gain ground clearance for the solar panel array and frame mounted to the sub-frame. In an embodiment of the present invention, risers can be added under post and actuators , to provide extra height for ground clearance, or so a larger platform may be mounted on a solar tracker. Risers may also be added under the entire foundation system , for example under the I-beam cross to bring I-beams to level or to raise the height of the entire foundation. This use for leveling is preferred and of particular value for locations where the ground is sloped.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, torsion resistance bars are used to diagonally tie risers to the ends of the I-beam cross component not passing over or under the riser. These torsion resistance bars provide the risers with additional stability and resistance to torque.
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Actuator , and capabilities can also be adjusted to meet different height requirements of the solar tracker. In any case, larger systems require larger components, including larger actuators , and .
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ISO systems (based on isosceles triangles ) operating in northern regions of the northern hemisphere or far southern regions of the southern hemisphere benefit from an embodiment with a reverse orientation where the post is taller than the retracted actuators , . In such a case the orientation would preferably position the post away from the equator for an ISO model embodiment of the present invention. This is because the sunrise will appear farther north and south away from the equator during the summer and winter as the system installation location moves away from the equator.
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As discussed above, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the linear actuators , and are hydraulic cylinders because hydraulic systems are well known for reliability and strength. Components are readily available and the supply of technicians capable of working on hydraulics is ample. In alternate embodiments, screw drives, pneumatics, or other linear actuators and the like may be used in place of hydraulic cylinders. In these alternate embodiments a motor is preferably used to drive the actuators. However, a person skilled in the art will readily understand that there are many means that may be used to drive the actuators, including, but not limited to, using pumps with valves, motors with gears, and motors with belts and pulleys.
The control system in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a feedforward system based on expected angles for the position of the sun at a given time on a given date for a given set of coordinates. Inputs to the system may include (but are not limited to) time of day, date, GPS coordinates, foundation orientation, cylinder/angular position feedback, and solar tracking sensor data. The feedforward output controls motor speed and fluid flow rate. In certain preferred embodiments where hydraulics are utilized, the system also manipulates valve positions to control fluid flow directions. One adjustable valve or one or more binary valves function as dump valves to release excess fluid (if any) to flow back to a hydraulic reservoir. The control system causes the motor to drive the pump to produce nearly the exact amount of fluid needed to cause the required movements. Excess fluid flow will only be produced in cases where the fluid demand is so small that the motor and pump cannot accurately produce the desired flow rate. There are also times when excess fluid flow is produced when motion is stopped and the pump is running in stand-by mode (such as in a warm-up cycle).
As for the inputs in the system described above for an embodiment of the present invention, the time of day and date are acquired from a radio frequency (“RF”) signal, a local server, a GPS system, an onboard clock, or the like. The GPS coordinates are acquired from an onboard GPS system, or are input by/from an external GPS and stored in flash memory. Alternatively, the GPS coordinates are acquired from a local server, or the like. The foundation orientation is input at setup and stored in flash memory, or input via sensors or the like. The cylinder positions are acquired in real-time or input via sensors or the like. The solar tracking sensor data is acquired in real-time or input via sensors or the like.
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Expected sensor readings for actuator , and (cylinder) positions or linking mechanism angles are also output by the feedforward system and are measured against actual readings of their positions to find control errors used in the feedback portion of the control system. These errors are then multiplied by relatively small gains to dynamically modify the pump speed (or motor speed) and valve positions to accomplish desired movements of the solar tracker. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the feedback system compensates for mechanical system changes over time, including, but not limited to, those in friction, and environmental condition changes, including, but not limited to, temperature changes.
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For embodiments with solar feedback optimization, the outputs from the solar sensor(s) detecting the position of optimal solar input relative to the position of the platform are multiplied by a relatively small, time cumulative gain to create slow and stable adjustments to the feedforward positioning within predefined limits from the feedforward values. This output is then translated into an adjustment to the actuator , and (cylinder) positions and finally converted to pump and valve signals. A sensor similar to a single two dimensional Charged Couple Device (“2D CCD”) sensor with minimal optics and computing capability is used to find the center of brightness in this embodiment. However, other sensors with similar capabilities may also be used.
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The known relationship recorded in the mathematical model between the actuator , and (cylinder) position's “time rate of change” (or first derivative) and motor speed for driving the hydraulic pump is a component of the control system. The first derivative of the spline curve equations provides the velocity of the rod that drives the actuators , and (cylinder). For hydraulic systems, knowing the cylinder bore and rod diameter allows the control system to calculate the fluid flow rate required to move the actuators , and (cylinder) at that speed. With the required flow rate the control system can use the cubic inch per rotation rating of the pump to calculate the required pump speed. The driver calculations for controlling the motor speed to drive the pump are then derived from the pump speed requirements to create the desired flow rate.
Because of the speed of the system the requirements for the motor size are minimal. A small but durable motor (similar in size to a vacuum cleaner motor) is all that is required to drive the system. Additionally, minimizing motor startups helps reduce wear on the motor. A small motor rated and regulated for continuous use is better than a larger motor that must be started and stopped frequently. The feedforward control system balances the drive so that on/off cycles are minimized. Minimizing valve cycles is also important to assure maximum reliability. The balance provided by the feedforward control system provides for minimal valve cycles.
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In certain embodiments of the present invention, sensors are mounted to the actuator , and (cylinder) bodies or are mounted inside the cylinder bodies such that they detect the measurement of the total cylinder length from center of one joint to the center of the other joint. These sensors provide feedback data on the position of each actuator , and (cylinder) that is used in the control algorithm discussed above. However, a preferred embodiment of this invention calculates actuator positions based on linking mechanism angles as measured by encoders on each angle as it is more accurate and cost effective than measuring the actuator positions directly.
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In the RA embodiment or the ISO embodiment of the solar tracker the sub-frame of the present invention has multiple mounting holes for the attachment of the universal joints at the top of each actuator , such that the adjustments can be made to accommodate various latitude and tolerance requirements. Using mounting holes that are spaced close together provides a greater reach for extreme sunrise and sunset angles while positions farther from the post or other actuator , offer greater accuracy.
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In an embodiment of the present invention, full 360° rotation is achieved by using linear actuators , with longer strokes (relative to the triangle height) and making the post height equal to the actuator's mid-stroke length.
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Sensors: In certain embodiments the control system has one or more types of sensors for each degree of freedom. These sensors include, but are not limited to, encoders, linear sensors, level sensors, and vision sensors. Encoders may be used to measure angles directly from the linking mechanism axles , . Linear position measurement sensors such as Magnetostrictive, laser, Ultrasonic (e.g., those manufactured by MTS), or the like may be used to measure linear actuator , and lengths. A gyroscope, mercury switch or other device is used to measure when the platform is level. A machine vision system and/or photocell (or similar) can optionally be included as part of the control system in certain embodiments. The vision system is used to measure the angular error between the solar tracker position and the actual position of the sun. This measured error is used to modify or calibrate the control system and reduce error.
18
In an embodiment of the present invention, sensors to measure elevation and azimuth angles may replace or augment sensors on the linear actuators. These angle measuring devices will help assure the system operates within the tighter tolerances of focused, concentrated, or mirrored collectors. Additionally, in an embodiment of the present invention, integrated data from the energy system may be added to the other data inputs mentioned above and made available to owners and maintenance providers through the present invention's optional internet connection. In certain embodiments of the present invention, solar sensor feedback may be added to verify tracking is correct. This involves directly sensing the position of the sun relative to the line orthogonal to the face of the platform by measuring system power output.
In alternate embodiments, solar angles may be provided in real-time and translated directly into linear actuator positions with derivatives extracted by use of difference calculations. These translations and calculations are used as an alternative to the spline curves described above.
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Day time calibration: In an embodiment with a photocell or similar detector being used, the sensors are located at the bottom of a hollow tube mounted such that the tube's main axis is aimed orthogonal to the plane of the platform . The tube size and length is selected to assure the desired degree of accuracy is confirmed when the sensor can and cannot detect the sun. Alternatively, the measured output of electrical energy from one or more solar panels on the tracker may be used to sense that the sun is within the acceptance angle of the platform and solar panel. In the case of using electrical output, the ramp up and ramp down of power provides additional information about the sun's position relative to the current calibration of the control system. If the sensing strategy does not detect the sun for more than a given amount of time, the control program moves the platform outward in concentric circles (the central axis orthogonal to the platform sweeps out circular search patterns with each iteration increasing the radius of the circle) from its original position until it detects the sun or reaches a preset maximum angular offset from its then current calibration. If the maximum allowable offset is reached the solar tracker goes back to the original trajectory and continues tracking for a set amount of time. If the sun is again detected by the sensor, tracking continues as normal. If not, the search sequence is initiated again. If the sun is found during a search, calibration offsets are set for the angles associated with each axle , of the linking mechanism . If the sun is not located before a set number of search sequences are completed, the tracker sends a message requesting maintenance for recalibration. To find the center of the sun the tracker continues its then circular path until it reaches the farthest point along the path where the sun is detected. The time and length of the arched path where the sun is detected are measured and this geometric information is used to calculate the center of the sun based on the known expected geometry of the appearance of the sun for the given day and GPS coordinates.
An embodiment of the present invention uses a machine vision sensor that operates in a similar way but is faster because its concentric circles are performed in software rather than on the solar tracker apparatus. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, sensors measuring the electrical output of the solar panel system are used in lieu of optical sensors or the like that detect the sun.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positions and times of where and when the sun is first detected and last detected are recorded and used in calculations that take advantage of the known circular pattern of the solar tracker's motion, the known motion of the sun across the sky, and the known apparent size and geometric characteristics of the sun to find the center of the sun.
18
Nightly calibration: Each night the solar tracker goes into a position where its platform is level and the system checks its position against the level sensor (gyroscope or similar). If the level position is confirmed within a certain tolerance the sequence is complete. If the system is out of tolerance, a search sequence similar to a daytime search is conducted to find the level position and offset angles are set as discussed above, or as applied to azimuth and elevation inputs to the spline curve generation only with a greater maximum search area.
Communication: In a preferred embodiment the system is equipped with a combination of fiber optic, wireless, and/or wired local ethernet networking or the like to communicate with a local server which possesses an internet connection. Depending on the number of trackers within a solar field, a number of local servers act as a supervisory control system and data acquisition systems (“SCADA system”) for a group of solar trackers. The SCADA system uses an internet connection to sync its local clocks to remote atomic clocks on a daily basis. The SCADA system then syncs its real-time clock to the real-time clocks of the solar trackers on a nightly basis or at power-up. In addition, the SCADA system relays any additional information required for the nightly spline curves wherein inputs such as time, position coordinates of the solar tracker, and angular position of the sun or spline curve coefficients can be acquired. The SCADA system also acts as a data concentrator, as well as performing functions such as monitoring alarms, collecting data and the like. Messages and reports can also be sent from this connection (e.g., a request for maintenance).
In any of the calibration methods mentioned above, the corrections may be used as output in the control system to improve performance or as inputs to a feedforward control system such that the outputs of the planned trajectory incorporate the calibration corrections.
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Wind relief: In a preferred embodiment the solar tracking apparatus is designed such that its actuators , and moves in order to comply with the force of heavy winds in order to prevent any system components from breaking or bending. In systems with hydraulic actuators , and this is accomplished through the use of counterbalance valves mounted on each cylinder. The counterbalance valves are set to relieve the hydraulic pressure that exceeds the pressure needed for normal wind conditions. Fluid relieved under this condition flows between both sides of the cylinder and a reservoir tank. This relief function of the counterbalance valves is proportional to the force of the wind. The valve will open only as needed resulting in a minimal cylinder displacement. After the wind gust subsides, the drive system brings the cylinder back to recover its position within a certain tolerance. Recovery time will vary with the amount of displacement but will always be accomplished within a few minutes. This feature protects the system from damage in high winds and allows for the capture of solar energy at much higher wind speeds than has been possible with other solar trackers.
In an embodiment of the present invention the hydraulic reservoir is in the post. A portion of the interior of the main post is used to house the hydraulic fluid.
A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that bumpers or the like may be used in embodiments of the present invention as a means to prevent the solar tracking apparatus from being driven past its mechanical limits. As such, in an embodiment of the present invention, bumpers are provided to prevent the solar tracking apparatus from being driven past its mechanical limits. These bumpers keep the solar tracking apparatus from being damaged or moving in an undesirable direction in windstorms. In the event of a power failure during heavy winds, the wind relief system and bumpers preference the system to move toward a horizontal position where wind loading will be at a minimum. If heavy winds are not present during a power failure, the system holds its position until power is restored.
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Balance: The solar tracking apparatus is preferably balanced about the linking mechanism such that ground clearances are maximized and wind loading is channeled to promote moving the platform to a horizontal position. These conditions also help minimize actuator , and loads under most circumstances. Balance in this case is by geometry rather than mass.
Fluid: In an embodiment utilizing hydraulic cylinders, the system is preferably well suited to use biodegradable oils because of the design for low operating pressures and duty cycles. These environmentally friendly fluids also reduce costs for clean-up and maintenance.
Hose failure: As discussed above, in an embodiment of the invention, counterbalance valves are mounted directly to the cylinders. In the event of hose failure, the counterbalance valves hold the cylinders in place until hydraulic power can be restored. If the hydraulic fluid supply drops to the point that no cylinder movement is possible, then the control system will sense this condition and automatically shutdown. In any case the amount of fluid spilled will be minimized. All fittings and seals and hoses in the system are made with the latest technology and best quality to assure minimal maintenance requirements and lowest probability of leakage or spills.
In an embodiment of the solar tracker apparatus, separate pumps and motors (or bi-directional pumps and motors) are used for each cylinder as an alternative to valve controls from one pump to multiple cylinders.
Another embodiment of the present invention makes use of multiple layers of manipulation where a second, third, or fourth base system is mounted on top of other systems such that the manipulation is cumulative. This stacked approach provides greater freedom of manipulation and reduces the impact of the mechanical limits of the joints.
In an embodiment of the present invention, auxiliary actuation of the sub-frame along a single axis or multiple axes offers greater freedom and accuracy on the chosen axis. For example, some embodiments of the present invention have minimal or no articulation across the horizon (azimuth axis). These configurations benefit from being able to rotate north-south for the location of the sunrise/sunset on the horizon.
Further, an embodiment of the present invention may utilize auxiliary actuation of the base as an alternate way of adding flexibility and accuracy. In such a case the foundation mountings of the actuators and post are each attached to a single rotating base.
An embodiment of the present invention may utilize damping such as struts or the like that are added to eliminate vibrations and further reduce wear.
Additionally, an embodiment of the present invention may be used for alternate purposes such as for aiming a satellite dish, drive mechanism (such as a propeller or jet engine), or as a mounting/aiming system for weapons.
An embodiment of the present invention does not use feed forward control. In this alternate configuration the spline curve positions are used as inputs for standard Proportional-Integral-Derivative (“PID”) control.
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2
In alternate embodiments, additional articulation may be added to rotate the linking mechanism at the top of the post , rotate the entire post , or rotate the entire apparatus . The primary reason for doing so is to increase the accuracy of the system in the early morning and/or late afternoon. For certain conversion equipment to be mounted on an embodiment of the present invention, the power generation opportunity increases by one to two hours for both sunrise and sunset if the additional articulation is added.
In alternate embodiments of the present invention, the solar tracking apparatus may be mounted in orientations other than horizontal. For example, the system may be mounted on the side of a building, on a hillside, or the like. These locations will offer less exposure to the sun in total but will benefit by a greater efficiency from tracking the sun when there is exposure.
In another alternate embodiment of the present invention the post height is actuated. A linear actuator or the like is used to move the top of the post up and down while the joint is held from rotating about the axis of the post by the actuator or framing external to the actuator. This embodiment provides greater range of motion for the platform with less stroke length in each actuator.
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A person of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to only two actuators. In an embodiment of the present invention, a third actuator may also be attached in a fashion similar to actuators , directly to the sub-frame such that it is on the opposite side of the post and symmetric to the east-west actuator. This third actuator would serve the same purpose as the east-west actuator, thus increasing strength and stability.
FIGS. 12A and 12B
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As shown in , in an embodiment of the present invention, the system utilizes one or more inverted cylinders . These cylinder configurations provide a pulling force only, and have the advantage of gravity pulling debris away from the rod seals .
FIGS. 13-15
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Further, as shown in , in an embodiment of the present invention a second post (fourth leg) is used to create greater stability and torque resistance. In this version the second post is aligned with the axis of the lower rotation of the linking mechanism and the axle of the lower joint is extended to span the distance between the posts and . The linking mechanism is further supported by link supports .
FIGS. 19-21
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66
66
As depicted in , another embodiment of the present invention provides a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and rack gear . This configuration also allows multiple trackers to share a single actuator for the east-west actuation. The single actuator pushes and pulls a rod with a rack gear attached to the rod at each solar tracker . The rack gear interfaces with a sprocket gear segment on each tracker . The post-top link is directly connected to the sprocket gear such that the link rotates east and west (or along the orientation desired at setup) as the rod is pushed and pulled. The rod runs at or near ground level so as to provide clearance for the solar tracker motion. The sprocket gear segment has a radius R from the center of the rotational axis of the lower axle of the post-top link down to the rack gear on the rod . In certain embodiments, the post can be split such that the rod and sprocket gear run between the two parts of the post or the rod and sprocket gear may run adjacent to the post . The second actuator for each solar tracker can be moved continuously or may be moved periodically as needed to meet performance requirements. In other embodiments the second actuator is replaced with a fixed length member or a manually adjusted length member. This embodiment would be much less costly to build and would provide advanced performance over other solar trackers.
In yet another alternate embodiment the east-west actuator is positioned horizontally and moves a gear rack which turns a spur gear that is an integral part of the post link. The center of the spur gear is the bottom axle of the link. The top axle of the link is attached to the spur gear joining two points on the outer circumference of the gear such that the axle has a sufficiently long connection to the gear as to assure strength and stability, and is sufficiently far from the other axle as to provide adequate angular freedom to assure all positions of the sun can be reached by the tracker. The axles would preferably be orthogonal to one another. The two ends of the top axle and the second actuator on the sub-frame would form stability triangles. The horizontal actuator would be supported by a short post at its fixed end and it would be supported by the center post at the rod end. The short post, main post, and base of the second actuator would form the stability triangle on the ground. The main post could either be comprised of a two post system or a single post with a passage for the actuated gear rack and actuator support though its center.
FIGS. 22
22
22
68
70
72
74
74
70
72
As depicted in , A and B, in another alternate embodiment a third ground-mounted actuator is used to pull a chain or cable across a sprocket or non-slip pulley in opposition to the east-west control actuator of a right angle with sprocket (“RAS”) model tracker. This embodiment provides a constant moment for all positions of the actuators driving the east-west angular position and provides a greater stability factor at and near the horizons. The chains or cable can run over the top or under the bottom of the sprocket or non-slip pulley .
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention and modifications thereof have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the embodiments and modifications described herein, and that other modifications and variations may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, the present invention may include four or more actuators, three or more posts, angled posts, as well as other features.
1
() Foundation System
2
() Solar Tracking Apparatus
4
() I-Beam Cross
6
() Foundation Mountings
8
() Mounting Surface
10
() Actuator
12
() Actuator
14
() Post
15
() Joint/Pinned Connection
16
() Sub-frame
17
() Post Base
18
() Platform
20
() Joint Connection
22
() Linking Mechanism
23
() Linking Mechanism
24
() Right Angle Triangle
25
() Isosceles Triangle
26
() Center Axis
27
() Equilateral Triangle
28
() Bearing Assembly
29
() Steel Plate
30
() Bearing
31
() Body Member
32
() Offset
33
() First Axle
34
() Third Actuator
35
() Second Axle
36
() Mounts
38
() Braces
40
() Torsion Resistance Bars
42
() Foundations
44
() Pedestal
46
() Constant Moment Lever
48
() Sprocket Gear
50
() Rack Gear
52
() East-West Actuator
54
() Rod
56
() Solar Tracker
58
() Post Top Link
60
() Rotational Axis
64
() Post
66
() Second (North-South) Actuator
68
() Ground Mounted Actuator
70
() Chain
72
() Sprocket
74
() East-West Actuator
76
() Inverted Cylinder
78
() Rod Seals
80
() Second Post
81
() Link Supports
82
() Lower Joint
84
() Pull Bar
86
() Chain Connection
88
() Mounting Pins
90
() Torsion Bars
92
() Push Bar
94
() Guide Pins
96
() Foundation Plate
The following is a list of reference numbers used in the attached figures for embodiments of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred features of embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, and wherein:
FIG. 1
is a front perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker in the early morning position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2A
is a detail showing the joint connector of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2B
is a detail showing the linking mechanism of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3
is a side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker in the mid afternoon position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3A
is a detail showing the joint connector of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3B
is a detail showing the linking mechanism of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5
is a side plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6A
is a depiction of the location of the bases of a feedforward controlled solar tracker configured in a right angle triangle position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6B
is a depiction of the location of the bases of a feedforward controlled solar tracker configured in an isosceles triangle position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6C
is depiction of the location of the bases of a feedforward controlled solar tracker configured in an equilateral triangle position, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7
is a front/side perspective view of a linking mechanism used to connect the post to a platform/sub-frame of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8
is a front perspective view of a linking mechanism in the form of a pillow block bearing assembly used to connect the post to a platform/sub-frame of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9A
is a depiction of the actuator bases and post base of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, which are stabilized by torsion resistance bars, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 9B
is a side plan view of the post base and an actuator base of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, which are stabilized by a diagonal brace and a torsion resistance bar, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with a pedestal connected to an actuator base, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11
is a flowchart illustrating the hydraulic system process of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12A
is a front perspective view of an inverted single acting actuator cylinder of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12B
is a front perspective view of an inverted single or double acting actuator cylinder of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 13
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with two posts, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14
is a front perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with two posts, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 15
is a side plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with two posts, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 16
is a side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with a third actuator, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 16A
is a detail further showing the mechanics of a feedforward controlled solar tracker with a third actuator, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 17
is a side plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 18
is a front perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 19
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and a rack gear, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 20
is a side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and a rack gear, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 20A
is a detail of the sprocket gear of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a constant moment lever for actuation, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 21
is a front plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a constant moment lever for actuation through a sprocket gear and a rack gear, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 22
is a front/side perspective view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a third ground mounted actuator to pull a chain or cable to provide a constant moment for the positions of the actuators, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 22A
is a front plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a third ground mounted actuator to pull a chain or cable to provide a constant moment for the positions of the actuators, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 22B
is a side plan view of a feedforward controlled solar tracker that utilizes a third ground mounted actuator to pull a chain or cable to provide a constant moment for the positions of the actuators, according to an embodiment of the present invention. | |
Once a trip is booked, many people don’t think about getting ready until the week before departure. However, some planning may need to be done sooner:
Prior to departure, it’s important to make sure all recommended vaccines are up to date. You should also consult a travel medicine specialist to identify additional vaccine needs.
If you take prescription medicines on a regular basis, it’s important to make sure you have an adequate supply for the duration of your trip. These medications should be packed in carry-on luggage to prevent them from being lost. Travelers who have severe allergies are also recommended to pack their epinephrine auto-injector in case of emergency. If any of the medications are injectable or considered to be controlled substances, travelers should consider having their doctor write a letter identifying their need to use these medicines.
We all know it’s important to pack the right clothes for your travel destination, both according to the weather and any special activities you might be doing while there, such as hiking or swimming. But travelers should also pack a travel health kit that includes basic first-aid supplies, insect repellant and sunscreen. It is also a good idea to carry your health insurance card as well as the names and phone numbers for your family members’ healthcare providers.
Contributed by: Charlotte A. Moser, BS
Categories:
Parents PACK May 2014, Did You Know?
Materials in this section are updated as new information and vaccines become available. The Vaccine Education Center staff regularly reviews materials for accuracy.
You should not consider the information in this site to be specific, professional medical advice for your personal health or for your family's personal health. You should not use it to replace any relationship with a physician or other qualified healthcare professional. For medical concerns, including decisions about vaccinations, medications and other treatments, you should always consult your physician or, in serious cases, seek immediate assistance from emergency personnel. | https://www.chop.edu/news/preparing-summer-travel |
As a digital mom, I spend a great deal of time online. I’m on MomGenerations.com, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram…and a whole lot of sites throughout the day. Part of my job as a digital mom is updating and making sure I’m constantly creating content through postings, videos, tweets and status updates. I may not work a regular 9-5 job, but I feel I have a great set-up the way my work life goes.
When the boys are home from school, I try my hardest to stay offline and only focus on them. I don’t want them thinking that while we’re eating dinner together that I need to be online or that while we’re at the library or at swim team that I always need to be digitally connected. It’s important for me to show my sons that there are boundaries and limits and that I’m 100% focused on them when we’re together.
That said, I expect the same from them. My guys are obsessed with their games. With four boys in the house that all love to be connected, I know their digital-play-time could get out of control if I didn’t limit them. I’ve seen too many of my friends’ sons become addicted to their gaming systems and completely checkout of family time.
We have one set rule that all the boys know and follow when it comes to game time: when mommy says STOP, they stop. I’m very focused on keeping them together and busy with activities throughout the day, after school and on the weekends. I want game time to be a special treat, not a regular activity.
There are many things that I do to keep the boys “distracted” from constantly playing their games, and I’m very proud of my husband and I for keeping up on these activities.
Employ Everyone
Have them help with snack time or dinner when they come home from school. I give everyone a job and make sure they are involved. Even if it just means setting the table, it’s still something that they’re doing and keeping them in the kitchen with me talking, sharing and connecting.
Get Physical
I sign everyone up for swimming lessons and/or swim team. Physical activity is VERY important to me – it’s something that keeps my sons healthy, but also enriches them with friends and team work. I love seeing my guys doing this together and encouraging them throughout the hour.
(see also Fall Fitness Starts with Family Fun Runs)
Take Trips
I bring the boys to the library. With so many books available online now, I want my sons to know and feel the “cool” factor of heading to a library and taking out a book. I love watching them walk around the kids’ area looking for a fun book to read rather than connected to their game machines.
Arrange Play Dates
I set up play dates with their friends and let them come over and run around for a couple of hours after school. My rule is that they can’t watch TV or play video games – they need to go outside and PLAY, actually play! I encourage lemonade stands, tag, hide and go seek, etc. I love seeing my boys running around and having fun with their friends.
(see also The Power of Playgroups)
Hone in On Homework
My sons have homework now when they come home, so it’s something that I like them to get done as soon as possible. I’ve found that when we hold off, the boys become less thrilled to sit down and do it. I love clearing the counter in our kitchen and having my oldest guys sit down and go through their folders with them from school. If my youngest guys don’t have homework, I’ll have them draw pictures for the next day or read a book with them. It’s important for me to make sure everything is done and put back away in their backpacks.
When everything is done and the boys are settled for the night, I’ll let them play games for a bit. The good thing is, since games aren’t something they want to do all day, it’s more of a special treat than something they feel programmed to do. If you’re looking for new activity ideas for your kids, check out the Family Resources section on TogetherCounts.com – they have lots of great ideas. I’m very adamant about my guys doing activities with me and each other, and this is the best way I’ve been able to balance both worlds!
How do you balance family time and digital time?
Audrey McClelland, a social media consultant and brand advocate is the founder of MomGenerations.com, an online destination for mothers. She is the mother of four boys – William (6), Alexander (5), Benjamin (4) and Henry (3). She speaks frequently on the topic of motherhood, fashion/beauty and social media at blogging conferences, Twitter conferences and social media mixers. She lives in Providence, RI with her husband and four sons. | http://blog.togethercounts.com/5-ways-to-cut-video-game-time-at-home/ |
Korea, US set up senior economic channel for fair trade
WASHINGTON -- Seoul and Washington will establish a high-level body for economic cooperation and seek “a truly fair and level playing field” in bilateral trade.
In the joint statement released after Friday’s summit between President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump, the two sides will work to expand trade, economic growth and job creation.
“President Trump and President Moon committed to foster expanded and balanced trade while creating reciprocal benefits and fair treatment between the two countries,” the statement said.
“In that regard, the two sides further committed to foster a truly fair and level playing field, including working together to reduce the global overcapacity of such basic materials as steel, as well as non-tariff barriers to trade.”
Also as part of the agreement, the two sides said that they will cooperate “to promote investment, support entrepreneurs, and facilitate cooperation” for economic growth and job creation in both countries.
Seoul and Washington also agreed to collaborate in seeking additional economic opportunities through a joint public-private forum, and to push for more cooperation in high-tech areas.
“Given the role of science, technology, and innovation in driving economic growth, we are enhancing our cooperation in cybersecurity, information and communication technology, and civil space,” the statement said.
“Highlighting the important economic role women play in our societies, the two sides pledged to launch a bilateral partnership to advance women’s economic empowerment.” | |
dignitaries are expected to participate at the maiden edition of the Sheikh Mustapha Zuglool Sanusi Colloquium; an annual Islamic academic conference instituted to immortalize the Sheik who was the founder of Daru Dda’wah Wal Irshad Arabic Centre, Isolo.
Also, President, Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Babalola and Barrister Ramlat Okunola and no fewer than 1000 people are among dignitaries expected at the event.
The Mudeer, Daru Dda’wah Wal Irshad Arabic Centre, Sheikh Ridwan Zuglool Sanusi who disclosed this yesterday, noted that the colloquium with the theme “Islamic Education and its Role in Sustaining Peace and Human Development” will hold on Thursday, 21stJune 2018 at Daru Dda’wah College, Isolo by 10.00am.
He said seasoned Islamic Scholars and teachers of Islamic and Arabic Studies including Prof. Ibrahim Muhammed of Bayero University, Kano; Prof Mashood Baderin of University of London and Hon Abdul Lateef Abdul Hakeem, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Lagos State are expected to deliver presentations at the colloquium.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
He: “We instituted this annual colloquium in the name of Sheikh Mustapha Zuglool Sanusi, the founder of Daru Dda’wah Wal Irshad Arabic Centre, in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of Islamic knowledge in Nigeria and in keeping with Islamic tradition of scholarship exemplified by him.”
Sheikh Sanusi noted that discussion from the colloquium will generate scholarly debates and interventions with potentials to positively impact on the Nigerian people and the Muslims, in the face of security challenges that threaten the world peace.
He added that there would be presentations on the contributions of Sheikh Zuglool to the development of the world security and peace; concept of leadership and qualities of good leaders in Islam; Islamic Impact on Contemporary Literature amongst others at the colloquium.
While stating that the colloquium is one of the ways which Daru Dda’wah Wal Irshad Arabic Centre is adopting to promote peace and ensure human capital development, Sheikh Sanusi added that that activities of the school is aimed acquainting students with the broad outlines of Islam as a religion and a complete way of life as well as provide qualified and trained Arabic and Islamic teachers and scholars who will adequately serve the staffing needs of schools and colleges in Nigeria and West Africa in general.
“We are also poised to complement government efforts at both national and international levels in providing qualitative Arabic and Islamic education to learners who are interested in acquisition of spoken and written competences in Arabic language and maintain the rigorous scholarly approach to the problems of contemporary Muslim communities with particular reference to Nigeria by providing trained and well equipped Islamic scholars in Da’wah who can convey the true message of Islam”, he explained.
Late Sheikh Mustapha Zuglool Sunuusi was born on 18th of August 1938. He was one of the earliest students of Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-ilory. He was a successful researcher in Islamic historiography. His school; Daru dawah wal irshad at Isolo has graduated hundreds of students in Arabic and Islamic studies. | |
In a tiny apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with fabric and in-progress costumes filling every inch of available space, Emily Riggins decided to explore a new career path. Since graduating with a degree in theatre from Bucknell University, Emily found success designing and sewing costumes for theaters in New York City and at the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico. But it was time for a change.
Her career in costume design had started with an entry-level job as a draper’s assistant on Broadway shows. The position was an excellent networking opportunity and after one year, she earned a prestigious internship as a costume design assistant at the Juilliard School, which led to further opportunities collaborating with the Metropolitan Opera and a two summer stint with the Santa Fe Opera.
After building her reputation as a hard worker and skilled designer, she indulged her entrepreneurial side and began doing freelance work for several venues in New York City. The risk paid off. She had no shortage of work, but the deadline-oriented nature of theater productions left little flexibility for a life outside work. “I missed some important family events. In theatre, the show must go on and there’s no postponing,” she says. “I just got to the point where my values changed, and I didn’t want to miss my family anymore.”
She was ready for a new challenge but wanted to pivot away from working in theatre. “I’d tried every type of job from technical to design and none quite felt like ‘it,’” she says. Growing up watching her dad run a third-generation family business, Emily always had an interest in starting her own company. An MBA seemed like the best way to change career paths and explore the possibilities of opening her own business. With one campus visit, the Drexel LeBow MBA program and available resources made a strong impression.
Emily enrolled without a clear idea what area of study she was most interested in; though she was leaning towards entrepreneurship and innovation management. To explore her options, she took advantage of the career panels organized by Graduate Career Services. The panels feature guests from different industries who spoke about their careers and professional interests. The final panel focused on marketing, with speakers from several companies, including Comcast. She remembers thinking: “These are my people. They like what I like and talk like I talk. Everything they did sounded really interesting.”
The marketing field provided an outlet for her creativity, while balancing her interest in business. With that, her mind was made up, but she still didn’t really know much about marketing. To remedy that, Emily set up informational interviews with companies to get the lay of the land. “I needed to learn what the job titles even meant,” she says. “I didn’t know the language because I was coming from a different industry.”
After gathering as much information and advice as possible, she applied for a C-Suite Co-op with Agile Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that specializes in women’s health. The position appealed to her because Agile Therapeutics was still in the process of bringing their first product to market, so the branding and marketing were still in development. She interviewed and was offered a position working under the company’s chief commercial officer.
Right away she noticed that her work at Agile Therapeutics dovetailed with what she was studying in the new product development course. It was also the perfect opportunity to utilize her skills and knowledge in the areas of design and innovation in a new field. “People at Agile really valued my unique background. I was afraid I’d be a square peg in a round hole, but I fit right in,” she says.
In one of her earliest projects, she was tasked with writing a script for an animated video explaining Agile’s products, manufacturing process and patient benefits to potential investors. The project proved to be a tremendous learning experience. With the opportunity to speak with executives in every department, she quickly gained a thorough understanding of how the company operated and what it had to offer.
By the time her co-op ended, Emily had a clear idea what career path she wanted to pursue. Agile Therapeutics also knew they didn’t want to lose her creativity and drive and offered her a position as an associate product manager upon graduation. She’s currently working with them three days a week until January, when she’ll begin full time. | https://www.lebow.drexel.edu/news/people/designing-career-change |
Kevin Hodes, the owner of SWYPIT, talks about philanthropy and running a business.
Frisco, TX: Kevin Hodes, owner of SWYPIT, a credit card processing company recently published an article on his website (www.swypit.com) about philanthropy and running a business. Philanthropy is not talked about much in the business world. It is important to incorporate philanthropy in a business plan because it is the right thing to do.
SWYPIT provides competitive rates and an ongoing commitment to providing outstanding customer service for any credit card processing needs. Mr. Hodes service stems from the ongoing commitment to better his community.
About Kevin: Kevin Hodes is the founder of www.SWYPIT.com, a nationwide credit card processing company. The company is more than a credit card processing business, but a way for Mr. Hodes to maintain and build relationships while giving back to his community. Mr. Hodes currently serves on three boards including Planning & Zoning Board, Downtown Advisory Board and the Frisco Chamber of Commerce Board. He is also a sponsor for several non-profit events and fundraisers in his community. | https://www.swypit.com/kevin-hodes-talks-about-philanthropy/ |
In command-line interfaces users were required to know computer terminology, concepts, and syntax in order to accomplish their tasks. Current user interfaces exploit visual metaphors of physical objects, such as a desktop and folders. Applications are confined to overlapping rectangular windows on the desktop, similar to their physical counterparts (papers, calendar, calculator, etc.) However, these interfaces have not kept pace with user demands because they provide no added value over their problematic traditional physical counterparts . Physical metaphors can be limiting in terms of interaction and screen utilization.
Novel approaches emphasize a docu-centric approach (Microsoft OLE) in which documents become more important and applications fade into the background. Users' focus are on multimedia documents which contains information pieces of various formats. However, these approaches lack an effective scalable organization method.
Although these innovations are one step to achieve a visual environment in harmony with users' perceptions of their work, an effective organization of information according to users' roles that reflects this perception is needed[8, 9]. A great deal of personal organization is required to manage multiple roles whose goals, partners, tools, and documents are likely to be very different. When users are working on their tasks they should find related people, documents, and tools rapidly. Users should be able to create, abandon, extend, and modify the current role hierarchy. | http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/trs/98-13/node49.html |
This invention relates to computer-based systems for assembling, organizing, and distributing information.
Conventionally, as outlined in Luconi, Malone, and Morton, (Fred L. Luconi, Thomas W. Malone, and Michael S. Scott Morton, "Expert Systems and Expert Support Systems: The Next Challenge for Management," in John F. Rockart and Christine V. Bullen, ed., The Rise of Managerial Computing: The Best of the Center for Information Systems Research, Sloan School of Management, MIT (Homewood, Ill.: Dow Jones Irwin, 1986), pp. 365-371), computers are used to solve problems using several different paradigms. In traditional data processing, the input, output, and procedure for generating the output from the input are well-defined and thus suited to conventional programming.
A second paradigm, decision support systems, uses the decision making ability of people to control the problem solving goals of the computer.
A third paradigm of computing, expert systems, is directed to even less structured problems.
The fourth, closely related, paradigm of computing, expert support systems, closely resembles expert systems. They actively process knowledge, draw conclusions, and make recommendations, thereby supporting experts rather than replacing them.
Other problems exist that do not fit into one of the four paradigms. These problems 40, shown in the upper right quarter of FIG. 4, are highly unstructured, complex, and often involve new or rapidly changing products, competitors, markets, technologies, employees, and procedures. Multiple objectives overlap and sometimes conflict, such as the market share of established products, launching next generation products, lowering costs, and profitability.
Software applications are available that permit the creation of novel projections and models, such as spreadsheets which are used to project "what if" financial models. Simulations permit computerized modeling of real phenomena where the computer simulation can be compared to a natural event such as weather (a thunderstorm) or a scientific experiment where the outcome is unknown (DNA splicing). Industrial design illustrates how imagined constructs can be simulated on computers (air flow over a new airplane wing design or the performance of an integrated chip schematic). In many situations, favorable results on the computer result in real-world implementations.
A highly structured example is project management software, which permits a series of tasks to be named in a sequence, resources and personnel allocated to them, and their implementation tracked. One of these systems is the critical path method (CPM), in which a network of activities is created that shows the sequence of operations and the interdependencies of a manufacturing process. A variation of this basic method is PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) which uses multiple estimates to provide a probabilisitic output. These systems are frequently computerized and searched to find the critical item; i.e., the item that is, in effect, the latest, and which determines the final completion date. Project management software establishes a schedule of activities, assigns a time duration estimate to each activity, and establishes baseline dates for the start and completion of each activity.
Computer technologies increasingly permit the nature of work and planning to be originated in mental and abstract concepts. Software to accomplish this includes Computer Aided Design (CAD) which allows new mechanical or electronic conceptions to be constructed on the computer screen. Some CAD software is integrated with manufacturing machinery, indicating the potential for rapidly manufacturing and marketing certain types of computer-expressed ideas. CAD's approach has also been extended into areas like software design, engineering design, and architectural drafting. Imaginative ideas that have been designed on computers have been introduced and developed successfully in a variety of fields.
HyperCard is a new kind of software application that can create information linkages in which individual titles, words, pictures, and parts of pictures are each linked to a related screen of information. Each of these screens must be designed, written, and created; together they form the HyperCard "stack" that can be accessed by an individual application. The HyperCard links are individual "buttons" that are fixed on each screen and each link is individually programmed to call a specific screen in a "stack" of screens. Good examples of flexible software applications are word processing and spreadsheets, which permit users both broad scope and ease of use.
Known software applications to aid learning include on-line help, Expert Systems, Computer Aided Instruction (CAI), and Computer Based Training (CBT).
On-line help is used to teach software applications to computer users when they need guidance. Its rapidly accessed instructions help users read the steps they should take in using the software; by trying the steps they may be able to learn unfamiliar parts of the software quickly.
Expert Systems are used to capture expertise and deliver it via the computer. Expert Systems have succeeded in enabling computers to reason from knowledge within specific domains, and they have been applied to specialized areas like medicine, geology, and financial planning. The power of an Expert System depends on the quality of the decision-making rules used to construct its inferences, and the breadth of its knowledge base. Because the knowledge is stored in active, rule-based form, there is an unfortunate relationship between the quantity of knowledge, the number of rules, and the resulting search time. The greater the scope of an Expert System, the more complicated its programming and the slower the response time.
Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) and Computer Based Training (CBT) are uses of the computer for education and training. Unlike on-line help or Expert Systems, with CAI and CBT one stops work and uses the computer to learn, then returns to work. CAI and CBT are typically separated from an ongoing situation.
| |
Date: Jul 25, 2019
View above image in high resolution.
See above infographic in French.
On April 25, 2019, Statistics Canada released Culture Satellite Account (CSA) updated economic data for the Canadian arts, culture and sport sectors from 2013 – 2017.
The CSA is an accounting framework that measures the economic importance of culture and sport in the Canadian economy in terms of output, gross domestic product (GDP) and employment, and is supported in part by the Government of Alberta.
In 2017, culture goods and services contributed $5.3 billion to Alberta's GDP, the fourth highest among the provinces. Like most industries across Alberta, the culture sector saw a slight decrease in total GDP in 2015-2017. However, over the long term, both sectors continue to show growth.
From 2010 to 2017, Alberta’s culture GDP increased overall by 16 per cent, for a total of $5.3 billion in 2017:
- of the culture GDP, the largest growth was observed for live performance (60 per cent growth)
Additionally, Alberta’s culture sector provided a total of 53,739 jobs in 2017.
See above infographic in French.
Alberta’s arts community makes important contributions to the overall economic impact of the province’s culture sector. Through strong and stable funding through the Government of Alberta, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts will continue to support artistic activity across the province to improve Albertan’s quality of life and contribute to the diversification of Alberta’s economy. | https://www.affta.ab.ca/news/explore-economics-alberta-art |
The article addresses the problematic issues of training public servants at the English lessons. It is emphasized the ability of the modern public administrators to communicate in foreign languages as an urgent requirement of the present time under the conditions of increasing cooperation between countries in the world. The features of speaking as a type of oral activity are determined; the characteristics of dialogue and monologue are introduced. Conditions of successful students’ communication and interaction at the lessons are outlined. The difficulties which arise during the development of speaking skills and hinder the students’ fluency in communication have been revealed. The ways to overcome the difficulties in teaching speaking are introduced; recommendations on the application of effective approaches to the organization of educational activities at the English lessons are given.
References
Казанцев А.Ю., Казанцева Г.С. Эффективность обучения говорению на английском языке в высшей школе / А.Ю.Казанцев, Г.С. Казанцева // Вестник ТГПУ (TSPU Bulletin). – 2014. – № 3 (144). – С.105-109.
Тишкова О.Ф. Причини труднощів під час навчання навичок говоріння та шляхи їх подолання / О.Ф. Тишкова // Збірник наукових праць Херсонського державного університету “Педагогічні науки”. – 2017. – Вип. LXXX. Том 3. – С. 71-76.
Aleksandrzak M. Problems and Challenges in teaching and learning speaking at advanced level / M. Aleksandrzak // Glottodidactica. – 2011. – Vol. 37. – Adam Mickiewicz University Press, Poznan . – P. 37-48.
Dakowska M. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. A Guide for Professionals / M. Dakowska. –– Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2005. – 292 p.
Harmer J. How to Teach English (New Edition) / J. Harmer. – Longman, 2007. – 288 p.
Harmer J. The Practice of English Language Teaching (Third Edition) / J. Harmer. – London; New York: Longman, 2008. – 386 p.
Hedge T. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom / T. Hedge. – Oxford University Press, 2000. – 447 p.
Nunan D. Language Teaching Methodology / D. Nunan. – UK: Prentice Hall International, 1991. – 264 p.
Parrot M. Task for Language Teachers. A resource book for training and development / M. Parrot. – Cambridge University Press, 1993. – 325 p.
Ur P. A course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory / P. Ur. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. – 121 p. | https://iducz-journal.com.ua/index.php/iducz/article/view/12 |
In linguistics, an Allomorph is an alternative manifestation of a morpheme (which is in turn the smallest meaningful linguistic unit in a language). Allomorphs vary in shape or pronunciation according to their conditions of use, but not as to meaning.
Here are some examples of allomorphs. In English, the negative prefix
in
has several allomorphs:
In
-capable
Il
-logical
Im
-probable
Ir
-reverent
In "First published in
IEEE Communications Magazine
, May 1993, Volume 31, Number 5,
System Management Information Modeling
, S. Mark Klerer, AT&T Bell Laboratories (''Abstract: OSI techniques and tools successfully model telecommunications equipment, networks, and services - and enhanced capabilities are on the way. )
It says, "...
Allomorphism
Allomorphism refers to the ability of an MO instance that is a member of one class to be managed as an instance of an object of one or several other MO classes. In its most general form OSI allows members of arbitrary classes to be related allomorphically as long as they exhibit compatible behavior. In its most useful format allomorphic behavior will result in the object fully emulating the behavior and characteristics of a member of that MO class to which it currently is allomorphic. Two types of allomorphism may be distinguished: static and dynamic. Static behavior involves an object being created allomorphically and representing that class to all its users. Dynamic allomorphism allows the same object to represent different class characteristics to different managers.
Static allomorphism is useful in allowing a managed system to substitute a more refined MO, generally representing a more sophisticated resource, for the one that the user or manager requested. The more useful case is, however, that of dynamic allomorphism. Dynamic allomorphism allows managing systems and managed systems to evolve independently, thus providing for backward compatibility. It also allows for an elegant way of handling proprietary extensions. Backward compatibility is provided by allowing the manager to request that the MO behave as if it were an instance of a class of which the manager has full knowledge. The manager need not have any other information about the object.
Allomorphism accommodates proprietary extensions by allowing vendors to create subclasses (or otherwise compatible classes) while retaining the capability of being managed as an instance of a standard class. A management system customized to cope with the proprietary extensions can exploit the vendor-specific features, while a standard management system still can be assured of interoperability.
As defined in SMI, allomorphism is a property of an instance not of the class as a whole. This allows members of the same class to exhibit different allomorphic behavior. The more usual case is the case of every member of a class being allomorphic to some superclass. However, the capability of allowing individual instances to be allomorphic to other compatible classes is useful in creating customized views of MO instances. For instance, if a service provider wishes to hide certain attributes and events from some users, a compatible class may be defined that is identical to the MO class except that it is lacking the characteristics that are to be hidden from the user. The user is then granted access to only instances of that "view" class, thus essentially masking the characteristics that are to be kept private.
Allomorphism is the one property that potentially makes class relationships visible to the user and of importance to the implementor. Allomorphism is not free; however, it is an important property that will prove its usefulness in the marketplace.
..." | http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AlloMorphism |
In NLP the Meta-Model is a model of language, derived from Virginia Satir, that gives us an “over” view of language.
It allows us to recognize deletions, generalizations and distortions in our language, and gives us questions to clarify imprecise language and gain specificity.
The Meta-Model can be used to curiously challenge statements and conclusions to dig deeper into the internal causes for the conclusion. If you respond to a conclusion with an opinion or contradictory statement, the conclusion is unlikely to change. If you use Meta-Model to dig deeper into the language, you can establish the underlying ‘cause and effect’ and in many cases cause change to occur. When the underlying belief is found, the individual you are communicating with can be enlightened and can often see their old statement very differently, therefore changing the emotional response.
Here’s an example:
Conclusion: Steve doesn’t like me
Meta-Model examples: How do you know he doesn’t like you? Who says that Steve doesn’t like you? What causes you to choose to think that he doesn’t like you?
When using Meta-Model, you will either find a deeper layer of information or the individual will change their perception. In the case of the example outlined above, the individual you are communicating with may end up arriving at the conclusion that there is no reason to believe that Steve doesn’t like him / her.
The Meta-Model is an essential NLP tool for NLP Practitioners. It provides the necessary insight into how beliefs are constructed and provides a great opportunity to loosen up the reality that the client has created for themselves.
Meta-Model goes hand in hand with a technique called Reframing, which is a language technique designed to communicate with the belief system and give their language a new meaning or context which enables change to occur. You can read more about NLP Reframing in our article.
It’s not only NLP Practitioners that can benefit from the Meta-Model. It’s a powerful tool for leaders that can enable more effective performance management. The ability to challenge our own perceptions and view them differently greatly enhances the relationship between our internal world and the external world. This makes the Meta-Model a useful tool for anyone seeking to improve their mind-set or become an advanced communicator.
You can read more about the Meta Model in our article here. | https://www.nlpworld.co.uk/nlp-glossary/m/meta-model/ |
Nearly half of the people who experience a heart attack don’t realize it instantly.
Such heart attacks are only diagnosed after a thorough checkup when a doctor records your heart’s electrical activity or conducts other tests that reveal the level of damage to the heart.
Some people confuse their symptoms like muscle pain or indigestion, while others feel pain in their upper body. Such heart attacks are called silent Ischemia.
What Is a Silent Heart Attack?
A silent heart attack has no symptoms or extremely minimal symptoms that go unrecognized most of the time. A heart attack is called silent when it does not show obvious signs.
A heart attack is also called a myocardial infarction. It occurs when your heart does not get sufficient oxygen.
As a result, a blood clot forms in the heart that keeps the blood from flowing through the coronary arteries. Here are some other factors that can cause a heart attack:
- Emotional or physical stress
- Intense physical activity
- High blood pressure
Many people do not experience the classic symptom of chest pain. Instead, many people describe a silent heart attack as chest discomfort, pressure, and congestion. Sometimes it feels like an intense crushing sensation.
Hard to Recognize Symptoms of a Silent Heart Attack
Missing the symptoms can make it difficult to identify a heart attack for weeks or even months. When a healthcare provider runs an ECG or conducts various other tests, they determine the level of damage caused to the heart.
This helps identify a coronary problem or heart attack. A silent heart attack often has no symptoms, minimal symptoms, or hard to recognize symptoms.
But since it is like any other heart attack, the blood flow to the heart is temporarily blocked, which causes scarring and damage.
Most patients complain about fatigue or pressure. A silent heart can make you feel like you have flu or sore muscles in the chest or back. You may experience jaw ache or pain in the upper back or arms.
Patients also feel that they have indigestion. These symptoms differ from the symptoms of a traditional heart attack.
- Shortness of breath
- Discomfort in the upper body
- Chest pain
- Lightheadedness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Cold sweats
- Exhaustion
What to Do During a Silent Heart Attack?
The silent heart attack has many complicating factors since the symptoms go unnoticed. When people do not recognize the symptoms, it can cause other health complications.
However, if you notice any of the hard to recognize symptoms, you must contact the hospital immediately. In addition, you must clarify that it is not panic or an anxiety attack and that you may be having a cardiac arrest.
How to Get Checked Out for a Silent Heart Attack?
Many people get checked after experiencing persistent fatigue, heartburn, or shortness of breath. An electrocardiogram or an echocardiogram detects a silent myocardial infarction. They highlight the damage to the heart muscle.
Another popular method for checking a silent heart attack is a blood test for the molecular footprints of the compound troponin T.
Heart cells release troponin T if they are injured. This test is usually conducted on patients with heart attack symptoms.
Once the doctor diagnoses a silent myocardial infarction, they identify the primary risk factors to design a treatment plan for you. This includes changing diet, adding exercise to your routine, monitoring your health with the app and taking medications to prevent another heart attack.
If you notice any silent heart attack symptoms, you must consult a healthcare professional. It is wise to stay alert and learn about the potential harms of a heart attack.
You should never neglect mild chest pains as they could result in something more serious.
Tests That Help Diagnose a Silent Heart Attack
Most silent heart attacks are diagnosed after weeks or months. They are diagnosed by the following:
- Blood tests
- Physical exam
- Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG)
- CT scan
- Coronary angiography
- Exercise stress test
- Echocardiogram
- MRI
- Nuclear stress test
Reducing the Risk of a Silent Heart Attack
You can take vital measures to reduce the risk of a silent heart attack. For example, taking oral aspirin may prevent a silent heart attack, but you must consult a healthcare provider.
Other things that reduce the risk of a heart attack include the following.
- Exercise
- Healthy diet
- Quit smoking
- Consuming low-fat products
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Keeping stress under control
- Controlling high blood pressure
- Stopping the use of tobacco products
If you have any medical problems that may increase the risk of heart disease, you must consult your doctor to minimize the risk factors to prevent a heart attack.
Final Words
Discomfort in the center of your chest is a classic symptom of heart attacks.
However, since silent myocardial infarctions have nonclassic symptoms, you must get yourself screened if you experience persistent heartburn, upper body pain, or pressure in the chest.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions, and data contained in these publications are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of Credihealth and the editor(s). | https://profitsrd.com/could-you-have-a-heart-attack-and-not-know-it-credihealth-blog/ |
The fish used for kawaii kawai is a species of koi known as kawa kawa.
Koi kawau are prized for their smooth texture and high-quality flavor.
Fish sold as kawawa kawa are usually found at specialty stores, or even in the wild.
But what about the fish that is not sold at specialty shops?
Where do the kawa go?
Koi kelp, for example, is a popular ingredient in kawasas, and is one of the main ingredients in the popular kawajimemashita fish sauce, commonly called ikan, which is often served with kawasaki rice.
Kawa kava, the main ingredient in the kawasu soup is a freshwater species of freshwater kawaka that is found in the eastern Pacific.
There are more than 300 species of seaweed native to the ocean.
Most of these species live in a tropical or temperate climate, so the ocean temperatures are relatively low, but the climate is constantly changing.
Some of the seaweeds in kawa kelp are used in traditional medicine.
In Japan, kawa seaweed is used to treat a wide range of ailments, including insomnia, heartburn, and depression.
Koa kawa are also a popular garnish for sushi, and they are a popular food in many parts of the world.
What are some other kawashas?
There are a number of other seaweeds that can be used to make kawaki, including ikan and ikan kawu, which are made from a combination of kawa and seaweed.
Other seaweeds include kawa gushi, kawan, kawan kawa (also called kawan keba), kawan gushi (also known as gushi kawan), and kawan makita.
Koan keba are often used in kawan-style sushi dishes.
The Japanese name for ikan is ikan makatachi, and the Japanese name of ikan keba is ikatachi.
There is also a Japanese word for ika-kan, which means seaweed soup.
Koans are usually used as a garnish in many Asian and European dishes, and are also commonly used in Asian and African cuisine.
Some popular sushi dishes include ikan oyakaki, ikan shiso, ika yamaguchi, and ika katsuya.
Are kawamis safe?
Koans contain a lot of chemicals and nutrients, which can cause health problems in some people.
Many people who are allergic to seaweeds have allergies to kawama.
There’s also a link between seaweed consumption and an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.
Koas are also very sensitive to UV light, so people with skin conditions or sensitive skin should be especially careful with the use of kawakas.
ikan can also be used as an ingredient in traditional cooking.
This recipe can be made from seaweed, kami, and some other ingredients, and you can add kawabe or other seaweed for flavor. | https://duynhatkoifarm.com/2021/08/11/what-are-the-best-fish-for-koi-kawa/ |
Importance: US life expectancy and health outcomes for preventable causes of disease have continued to lag in many populations that experience racism.
Objective: To propose iterative changes to US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) processes, methods, and recommendations and enact a commitment to eliminate health inequities for people affected by systemic racism.
Design and Evidence: In February 2021, the USPSTF began operational steps in its work to create preventive care recommendations to address the harmful effects of racism. A commissioned methods report was conducted to inform this process. Key findings of the report informed proposed updates to the USPSTF methods to address populations adversely affected by systemic racism and proposed pilots on implementation of the proposed changes.
Findings: The USPSTF proposes to consider the opportunity to reduce health inequities when selecting new preventive care topics and prioritizing current topics; seek evidence about the effects of systemic racism and health inequities in all research plans and public comments requested, and integrate available evidence into evidence reviews; and summarize the likely effects of systemic racism and health inequities on clinical preventive services in USPSTF recommendations. The USPSTF will elicit feedback from its partners and experts and proposed changes will be piloted on selected USPSTF topics.
Conclusions and Relevance: The USPSTF has developed strategies intended to mitigate the influence of systemic racism in its recommendations. The USPSTF seeks to reduce health inequities and other effects of systemic racism through iterative changes in methods of developing evidence-based recommendations, with partner and public input in the activities to implement the advancements.
DOI of Published Version
10.1001/jama.2021.17594
Source
US Preventive Services Task Force, Davidson KW, Mangione CM, Barry MJ, Cabana MD, Caughey AB, Davis EM, Donahue KE, Doubeni CA, Krist AH, Kubik M, Li L, Ogedegbe G, Pbert L, Silverstein M, Simon M, Stevermer J, Tseng CW, Wong JB. Actions to Transform US Preventive Services Task Force Methods to Mitigate Systemic Racism in Clinical Preventive Services. JAMA. 2021 Dec 21;326(23):2405-2411. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.17594. PMID: 34747970. Link to article on publisher's site
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors, see article. | https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/2154/ |
A. Atrial fibrillation (AF) may manifest only as fatigue caused by impaired cardiac output or the patient may have no symptoms. Palpitations, shortness of breath or chest pain may occur, and syncope may infrequently accompany AF. Symptoms of myocardial ischemia and angina may be caused by the rapid ventricular rate. Paroxysmal AF may cause symptoms that abate and recur.
B. The cause of the atrial fibrillation should be identified. Precipitating causes, such as hyperthyroidism, electrolyte abnormalities, and drug toxicity, should be excluded. Stimulant abuse, excess tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, over-the-counter cold remedies, and street drugs should be sought. AF may be associated with a recent acute illness, such as pneumonia.
Constipation Prescription
Did you ever think feeling angry and irritable could be a symptom of constipation? A horrible fullness and pressing sharp pains against the bladders can’t help but affect your mood. Sometimes you just want everyone to leave you alone and sleep to escape the pain. It is virtually impossible to be constipated and keep a sunny disposition. Follow the steps in this guide to alleviate constipation and lead a happier healthy life. | https://www.alpfmedical.info/clinical-evaluation/iclinical-evaluation-1.html |
Debt Free Justice California (DFJC) is a multi-regional California-based coalition focused on putting a stop to the unfair ways the criminal legal system drains wealth from vulnerable communities. The coalition is comprised of legal advocates, policy experts, and most importantly movement building organizations led by impacted people.
California is known for its commitment to equity and fairness. In opposition to these values, existing laws and practices within the criminal legal system continue to harm people of color and low-income communities. Our aim is to reduce the harm of the criminal legal system while also shrinking its reach and negative impact on individuals and families. Our current focus is to eliminate the harmful administrative and other criminal justice fees placed on people who have served their sentence, entangling them in a spiral of debt and creating massive barriers as they strive to move forward with their lives.
With a strong racial justice framework, our work is both data-driven and rooted in the voices and perspectives of those directly impacted. Our work includes conducting research, policy advocacy, and narrative change to mobilize the public and politicians to pass transformative legislation for people of color and low-income communities.
The broader coalition is comprised of dozens of organizations throughout the state of California. | https://ebclc.org/cadebtjustice/about/ |
If you find an injured or downed raptor in the state of Nebraska, please call the toll-free rescue hotline for the Raptor Conservation Alliance at (866) 888-7261 or visit their website at rcabirds.org. Please leave a voicemail if the call is not answered and a member of their staff will respond as quickly as possible.
You may also contact the nearest Nebraska Games & Parks Conservation Officer, your local Humane Society, or local law enforcement.
Important Guidelines
When to Observe
Sometimes, a well-intentioned member of the public happens upon a young raptor (or other wildlife) and by instinct they want to pick up the animal believing it is orphaned, not realizing the parents are watching.
In reality, intervening is not always in the best interest of the animal. Before removing a young bird or other wildlife from its home, observe and watch to determine if parents are returning with food. A young raptor’s best chance of survival is to be raised by its parents in the wild. If the youngster’s parents are still providing food, leave the bird alone. If the young raptor is in immediate danger from predators such as cats and dogs, try placing it on a higher branch off the ground.
When to Take Action/Call
- The bird is obviously injured, a wing is drooping, you see blood, or the bird is lying on the ground, is trapped, or caught in something, e.g. barbed wire or other fence/netting.
- The bird is in obvious danger from a predator or in danger of being captured by one.
- There are hazards nearby like busy roads or large pools of water.
- The parents have been killed or seriously injured.
- The bird has its eyes closed and does not respond to your presence.
Who to contact
If determined that a raptor needs help, please contact the Raptor Conservation Alliance’s raptor hotline at (866) 888-7261 for further assistance. Please do not try to handle a raptor by yourself unless instructed to do so. Injured birds and other wildlife will not realize you are trying to help and will try to get away and/or see you as a threat and attack or injure you.
Non-raptor bird (and other wildlife) rescue
Found an animal other than a raptor?
Similar to the raptor guidelines above, in many instances what appears to be injured or orphaned wildlife may actually be fine and not in need of assistance. However, that is not always the case. If you found an animal that is injured or orphaned, please contact one of the organizations below for further guidance.
Nebraska Wildlife Rehabilitation takes many types of wild animals in need of help. If you find non-raptor birds or other wildlife that are in need of help, please call Nebraska Wildlife Rehabilitation at 402-234-2473. Learn what to do if you find a wild animal by visiting their website at nebraskawildliferehab.org.
Nebraska Humane Society is another resource for injured wildlife. You can contact them via phone at (402) 444-7800 or via their website at nehumanesociety.org.
Please bear in mind that the Raptor Conservation Alliance is a specialty organization that only cares for birds of prey. They are not equipped to accept other non-raptor birds or wildlife. | https://fontenelleforest.org/raptors/injured-raptor/ |
www.damientanseysolicitors.ie is a site operated by the firm Damien Tansey Solicitors (“we” or “the firm”). A list of the firm’s partners is available on our website and the firm’s registered place of business is Embankment, Rockwood Parade, Sligo.
All intellectual property rights in the content of this website and in the material published on it is owned by the firm or its licensors.
Commentary and other materials posted on our site are for general information purposes only. Specific legal advice should be sought on any particular matter. We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any visitor to our site, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.
The material contained on this website does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Legal or other professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from any action as a result of the contents of this website. Any and all information is subject to change without notice.
You should note that no solicitor/client relationship or duty of care or liability of any nature shall exist or be deemed to exist between Damien Tansey Solicitors and you until you have received a written letter of engagement from us in which we confirm our appointment as your Solicitors.
No liability whatsoever is accepted by Damien Tansey Solicitors for any action taken in reliance on the information on this website.
Damien Tansey Solicitors is not responsible for the content of any external website that links to this website or that is linked to from this website.
Except to the extent limited by the applicable law, including Irish and International Law, neither Damien Tansey Solicitors, nor any partners, associates, consultants, employees or representatives of the firm of Damien Tansey Solicitors will be liable for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with your use of the website or any of the facilities or services offered either through this site or as a link from this website (including, but not limited to, indirect or consequential loss or damages, loss of data, income, profit or opportunity, loss of or damage to property, loss of reputation and claims of third parties) even if Damien Tansey Solicitors has been advised of the possibility of such loss or damages or such loss or damage where reasonably foreseeable.
No links to this website may be included on any other website without our express written authorisation.
The Irish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to our site although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these conditions in your country of residence or any other relevant country. | http://www.damientanseysolicitors.ie/terms-conditions/ |
NEJM Knowledge+ is a product of NEJM Group — a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society — the organization behind the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Journal Watch, NEJM Catalyst, and NEJM Resident 360. Health care professionals around the world rely on these products for context on the latest research advances and information that enriches everyday clinical decisions.
The same exacting standards have guided the development of NEJM Knowledge+. More than 300 authors and editors — all practicing physicians — work to ensure questions are accurate, credible, relevant, and current. These are learning materials you can trust.
Our Products
Our products — NEJM Knowledge+ Internal Medicine Board Review, NEJM Knowledge+ Family Medicine Board Review, and NEJM Knowledge+ Pediatrics Board Review — serve busy physicians, residents, and PAs. It’s designed to help clinicians develop and deepen their knowledge and improve insight into their own learning.
NEJM Group partnered with Area9 Learning — a physician-led pioneer in adaptive learning — to create a first-of-its-kind product in continuous medical education. By customizing every aspect of the experience to the learner’s particular needs, the adaptive learning platform makes lifelong learning and board review more efficient and improves proficiency.
NEJM Knowledge+ content is created and maintained through a unique and rigorous process that relies on leading educators, subspecialty experts, training programs, experienced editors, and our users. For more on the process watch this video on our blog. To see our list of contributors, led by Dr. Ole-Petter Hamnvik, click here.
Find out more about personalized learning that is tailored to you: | https://knowledgeplus.nejm.org/about-us/ |
Established in 1994, View Deluxe Company Limited is a well-developed home appliances manufacturer and has served exclusively for many OEM & ODM customers around the world.
Based on our experiences and competence in metal works and plastic injection technology, we strive to be one of the major players in professional-graded and consumer marketplace of quality home appliances. We are also capable of providing value-added services and supports on new product development projects according to customers’ specifications.
After serving worldwide customers for more than 15 years, we have established a comprehensive collection of kitchenware with fry pans, woks, grills and other home appliances. Highlight includes our recently developed shower fryer which provides an energy-efficient and healthy way of frying food.
We look forward to joining hands with you and develop a happy and profitable relationship together. | http://vdeluxe.com.hk/e/CMSpage.asp?content_id=50 |
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