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As the effort to reform America’s marijuana laws broadens, understanding the evolving nature of public opinion on the issue becomes more important. Having provided decades of polling for drug policy reform advocates, including the successful marijuana legalization ballot measure campaigns in both Oregon and Washington, D.C. in 2014 as well as for successful efforts to liberalize marijuana regulations in numerous California cities, FM3 has an extensive library of research on public opinion toward marijuana. This body of research - as well as a wide range of public polling on the issue – highlights a number of clear demographic differences in support for marijuana policy reform.
The simplest and starkest dichotomy on the issue of marijuana reform involves age. Support for legalizing marijuana peaks among Millennials and hits its lowest point among the oldest of senior citizens. Rarely have we seen an issue with such a clear-cut age differential – a fact that has obvious ramifications for future marijuana reform campaigns around the country. In California, for example, where Proposition 64 appears primed for passage on November 8th (support has been hovering in the high 50s), FM3’s research has shown the following age distribution of support for the measure.
Table 1:
California Proposition 64—Legalization of Marijuana
Support for Measure by Age
|
|
Age Category
|
|
Percent Supporting Prop. 64
|
|
18-49
|
|
69
|
|
50-64
|
|
61
|
|
65+
|
|
43
Though we can only speculate whether the pro-legalization views of the young will persist as they age, or if they will instead adopt a more skeptical perspective as they form families and temper their own behavior, current polling data suggests that the reform side would appear to have the upper hand. When it comes to marijuana reform, middle-aged Americans are more similar to their younger compatriots than they are to voters over 65. In the short-term, however, this generational divide has clear political implications, particularly with regards to voter turnout. While marijuana reform initiatives tend to be able to generate more interest and participation than other kinds of ballot measures, the fact remains that the youngest voters often turn out only for presidential elections. So while November 2020 may well prove to be even more promising for marijuana reform than November 2016, it’s entirely possible – perhaps even likely – that every election in between may be less so.
The wide generational disparity on marijuana reform is accompanied by the usual ideological/partisan divide. Most Democrats and liberals support legalization, and most conservatives and Republicans oppose it, though at levels that are nowhere near their basic partisan leanings when it comes to electoral politics. Moderates and independents lie in the middle, though in most states they appear to hold views closer to those on the left than those on the right. Despite their strong and growing support for left-of-center candidates and issues, the Latino community can be a bit more skeptical of legalization efforts than their voting behavior would otherwise suggest.
One variable from which a deviation from the usual ideological or partisan positions can be found is gender. We have found in some cases that women, particularly those with children under the age of 18 and/or who do not have a college education, exhibit weaker support for legalization than do otherwise similar men, including men who have a similar partisan and ideological profile. Among these women, there is still a significant concern about the impact of reform outcomes and more liberalized policy on the behavior of children. (This difference does not apply to medical marijuana reform, where women have actually shown greater support than men.) As such, these women may well become an increasingly important – and contested – constituency for partisans of legalization on both sides. | https://calmarijuanapolicy.org/2016/10/marijuana-legalization-seed-has-been-planted.html |
---
author:
- |
Florian Huber^a^ Luca Rossini^b^\
\
bibliography:
- 'BART\_Biblio.bib'
title: ' Inference in Bayesian Additive Vector Autoregressive Tree Models[^1]'
---
Introduction {#sec_Intro}
============
In macroeconomics and finance, most models commonly employed to study the transmission of economic shocks or produce predictions assume linearity in their parameters and are fully parametric. One prominent example of a frequently used fully parametric and linear model is the vector autoregression (VAR) that is extensively used in central banks and academia [see @Sims1980; @Doan1984; @Litterman1986; @Sims1998]. In normal times, with macroeconomic relations remaining stable, this linearity assumption might describe the data well. In turbulent times, however, key transmission channels often change and more flexibility could be necessary.
The linearity assumption has been questioned several times in the recent literature. For instance, [@Granger1993] show that macroeconomic quantities might exhibit non-linear relations and thus assuming linearity might be overly restrictive. As a solution, researchers increasingly wish to estimate non-linear models that assume the parameters to change over time and/or shock variances to be time-varying. These time-varying parameter (TVP) models, however, assume that within each point in time, the relationship between the endogenous and explanatory variables is linear. For recent contributions, see [@Primiceri2005; @Kalli2014; @Bitto2019; @Huber2019; @Chan2020].
Another strand of the literature proposes Bayesian nonparametric time series models in order to relax the linearity assumption. Particularly, several recent papers [see, e.g. @Bassetti2014; @Kalli2018; @Billio2019] propose novel methods that assume the transition densities to be nonparametric. These techniques are characterized by featuring an infinite dimensional parameter space that is flexibly adjusted to the complexity of the data at hand. For a review on Bayesian nonparametric methods, see [@Hjort2010]. Within the nonparametric paradigm, there has been a number of popular methods that make use of machine learning techniques such as boosting [@Freund1997; @Friedman2001], bagging and random forests [@Breiman2001], decision trees and Mondrian forests [@Roy2009; @Lakshminarayanan2014] and Bayesian tree models [@Chipman2002; @Gramacy2008; @Chipman2010; @Linero2018]. In this paper, we focus on Bayesian tree models applied to multivariate time series regressions.
The main contribution of the present paper is to connect the literature on Bayesian additive regression trees [BART, see @Chipman2010] with the literature on VAR models. BART is a nonparametric regression approach which allows for unveiling non-linear relations between a set of endogenous and explanatory variables without much input needed from the researcher. Intuitively speaking, it models the conditional mean of the regression model by summing over a large number of trees which are, by themselves, constrained through a regularization prior. The resulting individual trees will take a particularly simple form and can thus be classified as ”weak learners”. Each single tree only explains a small fraction of the variation of the response variable while a large sum of them is capable of describing the data extremely well.
It is precisely this intuition on which we build on when we generalize these techniques to a multivariate setting. More precisely, we assume that a potentially large dimensional vector of endogenous variables is driven by the lags of the response variables. As opposed to VAR models which assume linearity between the explanatory and endogenous variables, we capture these relations using BART. The resulting model, labeled the Bayesian Additive Vector Autoregressive tree (BAVART) model, is a highly flexible variant that can be used for forecasting and impulse response analysis.
Estimation and inference is carried out using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques. Since the error covariance matrix is non-diagonal, we propose methods that allow for equation-by-equation estimation of the multivariate model. These techniques imply that model estimation scales well in high dimensions and permits estimation of huge dimensional models. Another crucial feature of our approach is that it allows for flexibly handling heteroscedasticity. We control for heteroscedasticity by proposing a stochastic volatility specification. This feature is crucial for producing precise density forecasts.
We illustrate our BAVART model using macroeconomic data for the Eurozone. In this application, we assess the forecasting accuracy of our method relative to competitors that are commonly used in the literature. Since interest not only centers on one-step-ahead predictive distributions but also on multi-step-ahead forecasts, we provide algorithms to simulate from the relevant predictive distributions. These techniques are then used in a second application where we consider the effects of economic uncertainty on the Eurozone. We show how our model can be used to compute generalized impulse response functions (SGIRFs) and find responses that are consistent with established findings in the literature.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section \[sec\_BARTModel\] discusses the BART model in the context of the homoscedastic regression model while Section \[sec:BAVART\] extends this method to the VAR case and proposes the BAVART specification and how we control for heteroscedasticity. Section \[sec\_Real\] presents the results of the forecasting and impulse response exercise. Finally, the last section summarizes our findings and concludes the paper.
Bayesian Additive Regression Tree Models {#sec_BARTModel}
========================================
In this section, we briefly review the BART approach for regression on which we build on in later sections. For an extensive introduction, see [@Hill2020]. Let $\bm y = (y_1, \dots, y_T)'$ denote the $T-$dimensional response vector and $\bm X =(\bm x_1, \dots, \bm x_T)'$ be a $T \times p$-dimensional matrix of exogenous variables with $\bm x_t$ being the $p$ covariates in time $t$. We assume the following relationship between $\bm y$ and $\bm X$: $$\bm y = f(\bm X) + \bm \varepsilon, \quad \bm \varepsilon \sim \mathcal{N}(\bm 0_T, \sigma^2\bm I_T),$$ where $\sigma^2$ denotes the error variance and $f(\cdot)$ is a (potentially) highly non-linear function. The BART model is then obtained by approximating $f$ through a sum of many regression trees as follows: $$f(\bm{X}) \approx \sum_{j=1}^{m} g(\bm{X};T_j,\bm{m}_j).\label{eq_Tree}$$ In [ ]{}, $(T_j,\bm{m}_j)$ corresponds to a single tree model with $T_j$ denoting the tree structure associated with the $j^{th}$ binary tree and $\bm{m}_j = (\mu_{j1},\ldots,\mu_{{jb}_{j}})'$ is the vector of terminal node parameters associated with $T_j$ and $b_j$ are the leaves of the $j^{th}$ tree. The binary trees are constructed by considering splitting rules of the form $\lbrace \bm X \in \mathcal{A}_{jk}\rbrace$ or $\lbrace \bm X \not\in \mathcal{A}_{jk}\rbrace$ with $\mathcal{A}_{jk}$ being a partition set. These rules typically depend on selected columns of $\bm X$, denoted as $\bm X_{\bullet j}$, and a threshold $c$. The set is then defined by a unique partition of the predictor space such that $\lbrace \bm X_{\bullet j} \le c \rbrace$ or $\lbrace \bm X_{\bullet j} > c \rbrace$.
The step function $g(\cdot;\cdot,\cdot)$ is constant over the elements of $\mathcal{A}_{jk}$: $$g(\bm{X}; T_j,\bm{m}_j) = \mu_{jk}, \quad \text{ if } \bm{X} \in \mathcal{A}_{jk}, \quad k=1,\ldots,b_j.$$ Hence, the set $\mathcal{A}_{jk}$ defines a tree-specific unique partition of the covariate space such that the function $g$ returns a specific value $\mu_{jk}$ for specific values of $\bm x_t$.
To avoid overfitting, the trees are encouraged to be small (i.e. take a particularly simple form) and the terminal node parameters to be shrunk to zero. If the first tree, $g(\bm{x};T_1,\bm{m}_1)$, is a weak learner and fitted in a reasonable way, the corresponding tree structure will be very simple and elements in $\bm{m}_1$ will be pushed towards zero. This implies that the first tree will explain a small fraction of the variation in $\bm y$. Subtracting $g(\bm X; T_1, \bm{m}_1)$ from $\bm y$ yields a new conditional model with transformed $\tilde{\bm y} = \bm y - g(\bm X; T_1, \bm{m}_1)$ and the next tree will be fitted. This procedure is repeated for a sufficiently large number $m$ of trees until the fit of the additive model becomes reasonably good.
We illustrate BART using a simple example. In this simple example, we use a single regression tree model (i.e. $m=1$). The case of several regression trees is considered afterwards.
Consider the regression tree $g(\bm{X};T_j,\bm{m}_j)$ in Figure \[fig\_singletree\]. We include two covariates $\bm x_t = (x_{1t}, x_{2t})$. In the figure, each rectangle refers to a splitting rule and henceforth label this a node. At the top node (also called root node or simply root), we have the condition that asks whether $x_{1t} <0.8$. If this condition is not true, then we arrive at the terminal node, $\mu_{j1}$ and set $\mathbb E(y_t) = \mu_{j1}$. By contrast, if the condition is fulfilled we move to the next node. The corresponding splitting rule states that if $x_{2t} \ge 0.3$, we reach a terminal node with $\mathbb E(y_t) = \mu_{j2}$ whereas if $x_{2t} < 0.3$, we set $\mathbb E(y_t) = \mu_{j3}$. Using a single tree thus yields three possible values for the conditional mean, $\mu_{j1}, \mu_{j2}$ and $\mu_{j3}$ and implies abrupt shifts between them. If $y_t$ is evolving smoothly over time, using a single tree would thus lead to a rather simplistic conditional mean structure.
[cc]{}
Since the tree model in the first example is too simplistic, our second example deals with a more flexible conditional mean structure. Let us consider a sum of regression trees with $m=2$ trees and $3$ covariates, depicted in Figure \[fig\_sumtree\]. Within a given tree, the same intuition as in Example 1 applies. However, since we now use two trees we gain more flexibility in modeling the conditional mean of $y_t$. This is because the conditional mean at a given point in time is equal to the sum of the terminal node parameters for the two trees and the combination of the two parameters depend on the specific set of decision rules across both trees. This allows for a substantially richer mean structure and increased flexibility as opposed to a single tree model.
-- --
-- --
The second example shows how flexibility is increased by adding more trees and illustrates how BART handles non-linearities in a flexible manner. In particular, each regression tree is a simple step-wise function and when we sum the different regression trees, we gain flexibility. The resulting additive model essentially allows for approximating non-linearities without prior assumptions on the specific form on the non-linearities.
BART models for multivariate time series analysis {#sec:BAVART}
=================================================
Bayesian Additive Vector Autoregressive Tree Models
---------------------------------------------------
In this section we generalize the model outlined in the previous section to the multivariate case. Consider a $M$-dimensional vector of endogenous variables $\bm y_t = (y_{1t}, \dots, y_{Mt})'$. Stacking the rows yields a $T \times M$ matrix $\bm Y = (\bm y_1, \dots, \bm y_T)'$. We assume that $\bm Y$ depends on a $T \times K$ matrix $\bm X = (\bm X_1, \dots, \bm X_T)'$ with each $\bm X_t = (\bm y'_{t-1}, \dots, \bm y'_{t-P})'$ being a $K(=PM)$-dimensional vector of lagged endogenous variables. The Bayesian Additive Vector Autoregressive Tree (BAVART) model is then given by: $$\bm Y = F(\bm X) + \bm \varepsilon,
\label{BAVART_stacked}$$ where $\bm \varepsilon = (\bm \varepsilon_1, \dots, \bm \varepsilon_T)'$ and $\bm \varepsilon_t \sim \mathcal{N}(\bm 0_M, \bm \Sigma)$. For the moment, we assume that the error variance-covariance matrix $\bm \Sigma$ is time-invariant. In [ ]{}, $F(\cdot)$ is defined in terms of equation-specific functions $f_j(\bm{X})$: $$F(\bm X) = (f_1(\bm X), \dots, f_M (\bm X)).$$ Similarly to the standard BART specification, we approximate each $f_j(\bm X)$ through a sum of $N$ regression trees: $$f_j(\bm X) = \sum_{k=1}^N g_{jk}(\bm X;T_{jk},\bm{m}_{jk}).$$ Here, $g_{jk} ~(k=1,\dots, N)$ denotes an equation-specific step function with arguments $T_{jk}$ and $\bm m_{jk}$. As before, the individual tree structures $T_{jk}$ are associated with a $b_{jk}$-dimensional vector $\bm{m}_{jk} = (\mu_{jk, 1}, \dots, \mu_{jk, b_{jk}})'$ of *terminal* node coefficients associated with $b_{jk}$ denoting the number of leaves per tree in equation $j$.
As stated in Section \[sec\_BARTModel\], a regression tree creates a partition of the covariate space into subgroups. Internal nodes of regression trees are equipped with splitting rules that are characterized by some column of $\bm X$, labeled $\bm X_{\bullet i}$, and a specific threshold $c$ which can take any value in the range of $\bm X_{\bullet i}$. Such a decision rule takes the form $\left\{\bm X_{\bullet i} \le c\right\}$ or $\left\{\bm X_{\bullet i} > c\right\}$ and thus allocates observations according to this condition.
We estimate the BAVART model by exploiting its structural form. Using the structural form of the VAR to speed up computation has been done in several recent papers [see, e.g., @Carriero2019; @huber2020inducing]. In our case, [ ]{} can be written as follows: $$\bm Y = \tilde{F}(\bm X) + \bm Y (\bm I_M - \bm A_0) + \bm \epsilon, \label{eq:strucform}$$ whereby $\tilde{F}$ is defined similarly to $F$, $\bm A_0$ is a $M \times M$-dimensional lower triangular matrix with $\text{diag}(\bm A_0) = (1, \dots, 1)'$ and $\bm \epsilon = (\bm \epsilon_1, \dots, \bm \epsilon_T)'$ denotes a $T \times M$ matrix of orthogonal shocks with $\bm \epsilon_t \sim \mathcal{N}(\bm 0_M, \bm H)$ with $\bm H$ denoting a $M \times M$-dimensional diagonal matrix with the variances on its main diagonal.
Conditional on $\bm A_0$, this form permits equation-by-equation estimation since the shocks are independent. This leads to enormous computational gains. Notice that the $j^{th}>1$ equation can be written as: $$\bm y_{\bullet j} = \sum_{k=1}^N \tilde{g}_{j k}(\bm X; T_{j k}, \bm m_{j k}) + \sum_{l=1}^{j-1} {a}_{jl} \bm y_{\bullet l} + \bm \epsilon_{\bullet j}.
\label{BAVART_equation}$$ Here, we let $\tilde{g}_{j k}(\bm X; T_{j k}, \bm m_{j k})$ denote a regression tree while $\bm y_{\bullet j}$ and $\bm \epsilon_{\bullet j}$ refers to the $j^{th}$ column of $\bm Y$ and $\bm \epsilon$, respectively. $a_{jl}$ denotes the $(j,l)^{th}$ element of $- \bm A_0$.
Notice that [ ]{} is a generalized additive model that consists of a non-parametric part $\sum_{k=1}^N g_{j k}(\bm X; T_{j k}, \bm m_{j k})$ and a regression part $\sum_{l=1}^{j-1} {a}_{jl} \bm y_{\bullet l}$. For $j=1$, the model reduces to a standard BART specification without including the contemporenous values of the other endogenous variables.
The key idea behind this formulation is that, for a sufficiently large number of trees, we approximate non-linear relations between $\bm y_t$ and its lags while allowing for linear relations between the contemporaneous values of $\bm y_t$. After obtaining estimates of the trees and the free elements of $\bm A_0$, we can solve [ ]{} for its reduced form representation as follows: $$\bm Y = \tilde{F}(\bm X) \bm A_0^{-1'} + \bm \epsilon \bm A_0^{-1'}. \label{eq:redform}$$ with $\bm \varepsilon = \bm \epsilon \bm A_0^{-1}$, $\bm \Sigma = \bm A_0^{-1} \bm H \bm A_0^{-1'}$ and $F(\bm X) = \tilde{F}(\bm X) \bm A_0^{-1}$.
Allowing for Heteroscedasticity {#sec:heteroscedasticity}
-------------------------------
Up to this point we assumed the error variance to be constant. If the researcher wishes to relax this assumption, several feasible options exist. In a recent paper, [@Pratola2019] propose a combination of a standard additive BART model with a multiplicative BART specification to flexibly control for heteroscedasticity. But modeling heteroscedasticity with BART implies that we need some information on how the volatility of economic shocks depends on additional covariates (which potentially differ from $\bm X$). As a simple yet flexible solution we adopt a standard stochastic volatility (SV) model. SV models are frequently used in macroeconomics and finance and possess a proven track record for forecasting applications [see, e.g., @clark2011real; @clark2015macroeconomic]. Our SV specification simply assumes that $\bm H$ is time-varying: $$\bm H_t = \text{diag}(e^{h_{1t}}, \dots, e^{h_{Mt}})$$ with the time-varying variances $e^{h_{jt}}$. Their logarithms follow an AR(1) model: $$\begin{aligned}
h_{jt} = c_j + \rho_j (h_{jt-1}-c_j) + \sigma_{jh} \nu_{jt},\quad \nu_{jt} \sim \mathcal{N}(0, 1),\quad h_{j0} \sim \mathcal{N}\left(c_j, \frac{\sigma^2_{jh}}{1-\rho_j^2}\right).\label{eq: stateSV}\end{aligned}$$ Here, $c_j$ is the unconditional mean, $\rho_j$ is the persistence parameter and $\sigma_{j h}^2$ is the error variance of the log-volatility process. In our empirical work, all models feature stochastic volatility of this form.
The Prior and Posterior Simulation {#sec_prior}
----------------------------------
The Bayesian approach calls for the specification of suitable priors over the parameters of the model. Here we mainly follow the different strands of the literature our approach combines and thus only provide a brief summary. In particular, we focus on the priors associated with the trees $T_{jk}$ and the terminal node parameters $\bm m_{jk}$ for $j=1,\dots, M$ and $k=1, \dots, N$. We assume that the hyperparameters across priors are the same for each equation.
For each equation $j$, the joint prior structure is given by: $$\begin{aligned}
p\left((T_{j1},\bm{m}_{j1}) \dots, (T_{jN},\bm{m}_{jN}), c_j, \rho_j, \sigma^2_j, \bm a_j\right) &= p\left((T_{j1},\bm{m}_{j1}) \dots, (T_{jN},\bm{m}_{jN})\right) p(c_j) p(\rho_j) p(\sigma^2_{j, h}) p(\bm a_j).\end{aligned}$$ At this level, the prior implies independence between $p\left((T_{j1},\bm{m}_{j1}) \dots, (T_{jN},\bm{m}_{jN})\right)$ and the remaining model parameters. [@Chipman2010] further introduce the following factorization: $$\begin{aligned}
p\left((T_{j1},\bm m_{j1}), \dots, (T_{jN},\bm m_{jN})\right) &= \prod_{k=1}^N p(\bm m_{jk}|T_{jk}) \times p(T_{jk})\\
p(\bm m_{jk}| T_{jk}) &= \prod_{q=1}^{b_{jq}} p(\mu_{jk, q}|T_{jk}).\end{aligned}$$ This structure indicates that the tree components $(T_{jk},\bm{m}_{jk})$ are independent of each other and of the remaining parameters while the prior on $\bm{m}_{jk}$ depends on the tree structure.
The prior on the tree structure is specified along the lines suggested in [@Chipman2010]. More precisely, we assume a tree generating stochastic process that follows three recursive steps per tree. Assume initially $s=0$, then we have the following steps:
1. Start with the trivial tree that consists of a single terminal node (or only its root), which will be denoted by $\eta_{jk}$ for each equation $j$ and $k=1,\ldots,N$.
2. Split the terminal node $\eta_{jk}$ with probability $$p_{SPLIT}(\eta_{jk}, T^{(s)}_{jk}) = \alpha (1+d)^{-\beta}, \quad \alpha \in (0, 1),\quad \beta \ge 0,\quad d=0, 1,2,\ldots$$ where $d$ denotes the depth of the tree, and $(\alpha,\beta)$ are prior hyperparameters. In detail, a node at depth $d$ spawns children with $p_{SPLIT}(\eta_{jk}, T^{(s)}_{jk})$ and as the tree grows, $d$ increases while the prior probability decreases, making it less likely that a node spawns children. This implies that the probability that a given node becomes a bottom node increases and thus a penalty on tree complexity is introduced.
3. If the current node is split, we introduce a splitting rule $\kappa_{jk}$ drawn from the distribution function $p_{RULE}(\kappa_{jk}| \eta_{jk}, T^{(s)}_{jk})$ and use this rule to spawn a left and right children node. In particular, the rule $p_{RULE}(\kappa_{jk}| \eta_{jk}, T^{(s)}_{jk})$ is set such that a given ”splitting" covariate $\bm X_{\bullet j}$ is chosen with probability $1/K$. As described above, conditional on a chosen covariate, one needs to estimate a threshold. The prior on this threshold is, in the absence of substantial information, assumed to be uniformly distributed over the range of $\bm X_{\bullet j}$.
4. Once we obtain all terminal nodes (i.e. no node is split anymore), we will label this new tree $T_{jk}^{(s+1)}$ and return to step (2).
On the terminal node parameter $\mu_{jk,q}$, we use a conjugate Gaussian prior distribution $\mathcal{N}(0,\sigma^2_{\mu})$, where $\sigma^2_{\mu} = 0.5/(s \sqrt{N})$. Recall that $N$ is the number of trees and $s$ is the number of prior standard deviations between $0$ and $0.5$. Hence, larger values of $N$ increasingly push $\mu_{jk,q}$ towards zero.
For the free elements in $\bm A_0$, we introduce a Horseshoe prior on each element of $\bm{a}_j = (a_{j1},\ldots,a_{jj-1})'$ for every $j=1,\ldots, M$ and $$\begin{aligned}
a_{jl} &\sim \mathcal{N}(0,\tau_{jl}^2 \lambda^2_j), \\
\tau_{jl} &\sim \mathcal{C}^{+}(0,1),\\
\lambda_j &\sim \mathcal{C}^{+}(0,1),\end{aligned}$$ where $l=1,\ldots,j-1$ and $\mathcal{C}^{+}$ denotes the half-Cauchy distribution. The prior specification on the parameters of the log-volatility equation follows the setup proposed in [@Kastner2014]. In details, we use a zero mean Gaussian prior with variance $10^2$ on the unconditional mean $c_j$, a Beta prior on a transformation of the persistence parameter, $\frac{\rho_j+1}{2} \sim \mathcal{B}(25,5)$ and a Gamma prior on the error variance of the log-volatility process $\sigma_{j,h}^2 \sim \mathcal{G}(1/2,1/2)$.
These priors can be combined with the likelihood to yield a joint posterior distribution over the coefficients and latent states in the model. To simulate from this joint posterior distribution we adopt a MCMC algorithm. This algorithm simulates all quantities in an equation-specific manner. Since all steps necessary are standard, we only provide an overview. Appendix \[App\_Sec\_Posterior\] provides more details. Here it suffices to say that we sample all quantities related to the trees (i.e. $T_{jk}, \bm m_{jk}$ for all $j, k$) using the algorithm outlined in [@Chipman2010]. The latent states and the coefficients associated with the state equation of the log-volatilities are obtained through the efficient algorithm discussed in [@Kastner2014]. Conditional on the trees and log-volatilities, the posterior of $\bm a_j$ is multivariate Gaussian and takes a standard form since the resulting conditional model is a linear regression model with heteroscedastic shocks. Finally, the parameters of the Horseshoe prior are simulated using techniques outlined in [@makalic2015simple].
Empirical Work {#sec_Real}
==============
Data Overview
-------------
In this section we briefly discuss the dataset adopted. Instead of focusing on US data, we apply our approach to monthly Eurozone data that ranges from January 1999 to January 2019. Our dataset is a selection of time series from the popular Euro Area Real Time Database (EA-RTD).
For the in-sample results discussed in the next sub-section, we consider a medium-scale model that includes six macroeconomic and financial time series. These six time series are augmented by an uncertainty index (abbreviated as [Unc]{}) which is estimated using the approach outlined in [@jurado2015measuring]. Apart from the uncertainty indicator, we include the growth rate of the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 price index (DJE50), HICP inflation (C\_OV), unemployment rate (UNETO), 3-month Euribor (EUR3M), industrial production (XCONS) and the yield on Euro area 10-year benchmark government bonds (10Y).
In the forecasting application, we consider three different datasets. A small one that includes only HICP inflation, the unemployment rate and the 3-month Euribor. These three variables will consequently form our set of focus variables. Moreover, we consider the medium-sized dataset discussed above but without the uncertainty index as well as a large dataset. The large dataset augments the medium-sized one by adding the real effective exchange rate (ERC$0$\_BGR), the M2 money base (M2\_V\_NC), the one-month forward price of Brent crude oil (OILBR) and the spread between ten and two year government bond yields ($10$Y$2$Y).
All variables are transformed to be approximately stationary. We include one lag of the endogenous variables.[^2]
In-sample Results
-----------------
In this section, we illustrate key features of the BART approach using a subset of the dataset discussed in the previous section.
Unc$_{t}$ DJE50$_t$ EUR3M$_t$ C\_OV$_t$ UNETO$_t$ XCONS$_t$ 10Y$_t$
--------------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ---------
Unc$_{t-1}$ 31 10 11 6 9 14 9
DJE50$_{t-1}$ 11 40 9 9 6 10 10
EUR3M$_{t-1}$ 12 12 45 13 9 11 14
C\_OV$_{t-1}$ 11 12 13 55 12 14 12
UNETO$_{t-1}$ 13 10 11 9 54 12 11
XCONS$_{t-1}$ 12 10 9 10 10 35 12
10Y$_{t-1}$ 11 10 5 5 7 11 41
: Number of times a given covariate shows up across splitting rules in a medium-scale VAR with one lag.[]{data-label="tab: varIMPORTANCE"}
Variable importance is gauged by considering the posterior median of the number of times a given quantity shows up in a splitting rule. These frequencies are shown in Table \[tab: varIMPORTANCE\]. The columns refer to the different equations and the rows to the corresponding covariates. By simply inspecting the main diagonal elements of the table we directly observe that the first, own lag of a given variable within some equation appears to be important. This finding holds for all equations and resembles key results of the literature on Bayesian VARs which states that the AR(1) term explains most variation in $\bm y_t$. However, here it is worth stressing that our model is far from sparse and also the lags of other variables seem to play a role in determining the dynamics of a given endogenous variable.
In principle, we could also use Table \[tab: varIMPORTANCE\] to construct a restricted VAR model. This can be achieved by introducing a threshold (such as including only variables that show up at least $12$ times). Using this (arbitrary) threshold would lead to a model that assumes uncertainty to depend only on its lagged value, the short-term interest rate, the unemployment rate and industrial production. Similarly, stock returns only depend on lagged stock returns, short-term interest rates and inflation. Short-term interest rates would only depend on inflation and lagged interest rates while inflation only depends on lagged inflation and the short rate. The unemployment rate is determined exclusively by its own lag and (lagged) inflation, closely resembling a Phillips curve-type relationship. Furthermore, we find that industrial production growth depends on lagged inflation, unemployment, uncertainty and its lag. Finally, 10-year bond yields depend on lagged bond yields, short-term interest rates, inflation and industrial production. This simple example essentially shows that, conditional on choosing a suitable cut-off value, one can investigate the determinants of each equation in a multivariate model and potentially use these to construct a restricted linear VAR model.
Forecasting results
-------------------
In this section, we investigate whether our combination of BART and VAR models yields better forecasts of short-term interest rates, the unemployment rate and inflation. Before discussing the precise design of the forecast exercise, the question on how to compute the predictive distribution naturally arises. Producing one-step-ahead forecasts is computationally easy since conditional on the tree structures, splitting values and splitting covariates it is straightforward to compute a prediction for $\bm y_{T+1}$. More precisely (and with a slight abuse of notation), the one-step-ahead predictive distribution is given by: $$p(\bm y_{T+1}| \bm y_{1:T}) = \int p(\bm y_{T+1}| \bm y_{1:T}, \bm \Xi) p(\bm \Xi| \bm y_{1:T}) d\bm \Xi,$$ where $\bm y_{1:T}$ denotes the full history of $\bm y_t$ and $\bm \Xi$ is a generic notation that summarizes all parameters and latent states (i.e. the tree structures, terminal nodes, log-volatilities etc.). The conditional density $p(\bm y_{T+1}| \bm y_{1:T}, \bm \Xi)$ is: $$y_{T+1}| \bm y_{1:T}, \bm \Xi \sim \mathcal{N}\left(F(\bm X_{T+1}), \bm \Sigma_{T+1|T}\right).$$ $\bm \Sigma_{T+1|T}$ is obtained by using (\[eq: stateSV\]) to predict the log-volatilities and using these predictions to form $\bm H_{T+1|T}$. Higher order forecasts are then computed iteratively by first simulating from the one-step-ahead predictive distributions to obtain a prediction for $\bm y_{T+1}$. This prediction is then used to form $\bm X_{T+2}$ which is consequently used to predict $\bm y_{T+2}$. We repeat this procedure until we have a prediction $\bm y_{T+o}$ with $o$ denoting the desired forecast horizon.
The design of the forecasting exercise is the following. Considering a hold-out period that runs from $2009:M07$ to $2019:M06$ ($120$ monthly observations), we use an initial estimation period that lasts until $2009:M06$ to produce the $o=1,3$-step-ahead predictive distributions for $2009:M07$. After these are obtained, we repeat the procedure until we reach the final point in our sample. The predictions are then evaluated by using relative mean squared forecast errors (MSFEs) and the continuous ranked probability score (CRPS). The MSFEs allow us to gauge the quality of point forecasts while the CRPS is used to evaluate the quality of the predictive distribution.
We compare our BAVART model to several commonly used multivariate time series models in the literature. First, we use a set of VAR models that feature different shrinkage priors. The first is the non-conjugate Minnesota prior that allows for asymmetric treatment of ”own” lags (defined as lags of a given endogenous variable in $\bm y_t$) and ”other” lags (defined of the lags of the other variables in $\bm y_t$). The corresponding shrinkage hyperparameters are estimated using a random walk Metropolis Hastings step. Since this prior is often used by practitioners, we use it as a baseline model to which we benchmark our models. Second, we use the stochastic search variable selection (SSVS) prior of [@george2008bayesian]. The third prior is the Normal-Gamma prior proposed in [@griffin2010inference] that has been applied to VARs in [@huber2019adaptive]. Moreover, we use a TVP-VAR with a NG shrinkage prior on the state innovation variances and the initial state of the system. Finally, all models are estimated using a stochastic volatility specification. Recall that all results are relative to the Minnesota VAR.
The results of our forecasting exercise are shown in Table \[tab:LPS\]. Our forecasting horse race draws a rich picture on relative model performance. We consider models of different sizes, priors, assumptions on the conditional mean and forecast horizons. For all these specifications, we provide a table that summarizes forecasting performance across the three focus variables and for point and density forecasts.
Starting with the one-step-ahead horizon and point forecasts, we observe that for the interest rate and unemployment, our BAVART setup (irrespective of model size) is dominated by linear VAR models in terms of MSFEs. More precisely, the small-scale SSVS (for interest rates) and TVP-VARs (for unemployment) yield the lowest prediction errors. But notice that most of the ratios are close to one, indicating that the BAVART is never far off and thus highly competitive. Inflation appears to be an exception. Across all model sizes considered, we find that our model generally yields the smallest forecast errors. This suggests that controlling for non-linearities pays off when interest centers on forecasting inflation.
Turning to higher order forecasts provides a relatively similar picture. For longer-run forecasts, we again identify models which improve upon the BAVART setup for interest rate and unemployment forecasts. These improvements, however, are again quite small. One striking difference between the one-step- and the three-steps-ahead case is the strong performance of the Minnesota VAR for larger information sets and especially for unemployment. The results for inflation are again consistent with the findings for the one-step-ahead forecasts but appear to be more pronounced. Across model sizes, BAVART produces multi-step-ahead inflation predictions which feature the lowest forecast errors across all models considered.
Considering only point forecasts imply that we do not factor in how well a given model predicts higher order moments of the predictive distribution. We evaluate density forecasts using CRPSs. These are a generalization of the MSFE and consider the qualities of the full predictive distribution under scrutiny. Similarly to the one-step-ahead point forecasts, we find that most values are below but close to unity. This suggests that using the BAVART model improves upon the Minnesota benchmark in most cases. When compared to the other models, we can again identify a model that improves upon BAVART for interest rates and unemployment. For inflation, the CRPSs corroborate the findings for the point forecasts. For all information sets, the BAVART model produces the most precise predictive densities.
When we consider three-months-ahead predictive densities, the pattern observed above remains mainly in place. While there are models which yield more precise density forecasts than our proposed setup, these differences are often very small. By contrast, our model dominates when we consider higher-order inflation predictions. In this case, the performance gains vis-a-vis the competing models are appreciable.
To sum up, our forecasting exercise shows that the BAVART model works remarkably well for forecasting Eurozone inflation. For unemployment and interest rates, our proposed specification is slightly outperformed but both point and density forecasts are still competitive.
Impulse Responses to an Uncertainty Shock
-----------------------------------------
In this section we briefly illustrate how the BAVART model can be used to carry out structural inference. Since our model is dynamic, we can consider how a shock at time $t$ affects the quantities in the system over time. Because of the highly non-linear nature of our model, we resort to structural generalized impulse response (SGIRF) functions [see @koop1996impulse].
Let $\bm \epsilon_t$ denote the $M$ structural shocks and $\bm s_j$ denotes a $M\times 1$ selection vector that equals $1$ in the $j^{th}$ position. Hence, $\epsilon_{jt} = \bm s'_j \bm \epsilon_t$ yields the $j^{th}$ structural shock. The SGIRF to the $j^{th}$ structural shock is then defined as the difference between a forecast that assumes $\epsilon_{jt}=1$ (while setting the other shocks to zero) and the unconditional forecast (i.e. with $\bm \epsilon = \bm 0_M$). The posterior distribution of the SGIRFs are computed by repeating this procedure during MCMC sampling.
Figure \[fig: IRFs\] shows the dynamic responses to a one standard deviation uncertainty shock. The dashed gray lines represent 16th and 84th posterior credible intervals. For brevity, we only report impulse responses that are significant (i.e. the credible intervals do not cover zero) for at least one month across the impulse response horizon.
**UNC**
**C\_OV**
**DJE50**
**XCONS**
\
![Dynamic responses of selected macroeconomic quantities to an uncertainty shock. The dashed gray lines represent $16$th and $84$th posterior credible intervals.[]{data-label="fig: IRFs"}](IRF_Unc.pdf)
![Dynamic responses of selected macroeconomic quantities to an uncertainty shock. The dashed gray lines represent $16$th and $84$th posterior credible intervals.[]{data-label="fig: IRFs"}](IRF_C_OV.pdf)
![Dynamic responses of selected macroeconomic quantities to an uncertainty shock. The dashed gray lines represent $16$th and $84$th posterior credible intervals.[]{data-label="fig: IRFs"}](IRF_DJE50.pdf)
![Dynamic responses of selected macroeconomic quantities to an uncertainty shock. The dashed gray lines represent $16$th and $84$th posterior credible intervals.[]{data-label="fig: IRFs"}](IRF_XCONS.pdf)
The responses to an uncertainty shock largely mirror the ones reported elsewhere in the literature [see, among many others, @bloom2009impact; @jurado2015measuring]. The uncertainty index displays an immediate increase that fades out after the first five months. By contrast, we observe that inflation falls due to decreasing demand that drives down prices. Notice that prices react with a lag of one month. Since the uncertainty index is ordered first in $\bm y_t$ this is purely driven by our shrinkage prior on the covariance parameters. This sluggish reaction of prices to uncertainty shocks reflects the fact that prices tend to be sticky and it takes some time for companies to adjust due to menu costs.
Turning to stock market reactions shows that equities display a rather short lived decline that fades out after around five months. Finally, real activity measured through industrial production also decreases. Interestingly, we do not observe a rebound in real activity arising from a ”wait-and-see mechanism" reported in, e.g., [@bloom2009impact].
To sum up, this brief structural exercise shows that BART is capable of producing dynamic responses that are consistent with the ones commonly found in the literature.
Conclusions {#sec_Conclusions}
===========
VAR models assume that the lagged dependent variables influence the contemporaneous values in a linear fashion. In this paper, we relax this by blending the literature on Bayesian additive regression tree (BART) models and VARs. The resulting model, labeled the Bayesian additive vector autoregressive tree (BAVART) model, can handle non-linear relations between the endogenous and the exogenous variables. Our proposed model is, moreover, capable of handling stochastic volatility in the shocks. This feature is crucial for obtaining precise density forecasts. We illustrate our model using synthetic as well as real data. Using data on the Eurozone shows that the BAVART model is capable of producing precise forecasts and that it yields reasonable impulse responses to an uncertainty shock.
Posterior Approximation of the Trees {#App_Sec_Posterior}
====================================
In this appendix, we provide details on the MCMC algorithm used to simulate from the joint posterior distribution of the trees and the terminal node parameters. The remaining quantities take well known forms and are very easy to simulate using textbook results for the Gaussian linear regression model.
As stated in Section and following [@Carriero2019], [@Koop2019] and [@Kastner2020], we rely on a structural representation of the model that entails equation-by-equation estimation.
We simulate from the conditional posterior of $(T_{jk},\bm{m}_{jk})$ by conditioning on all trees except for the $k^{th}$ tree. This is achieved by using the Bayesian backfitting strategy discussed in [@Chipman2010]. More precisely, the likelihood function depends on $(T_{jk},\bm{m}_{jk})$ through the partial residuals $$\bm R_{jk} = \bm{y}_{\bullet j} - \sum_{l=1}^{j-1} a_{jl} \bm y_{\bullet l} - \sum_{s \neq k} g_{j s}(\bm X; T_{j s}, \bm m_{j s}).$$ The algorithm proposed in [@Chipman2010] then proceeds by integrating out $\bm{m}_{jk}$ and then drawing $T_{jk}$ with Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm detailed in [@Chipman1998].
This step is implemented by generating a candidate tree $T_{jk}^{\ast}$ from a proposal distribution $q(T_{jk},T_{jk}^{\ast})$ and then accept the proposed value with probability: $$\alpha(T_{jk},T_{jk}^{\ast}) = \min{\left\{1,\frac{q(T_{jk}^{\ast},T_{jk})}{q(T_{jk},T_{jk}^{\ast})} \frac{p(\bm R_{ jk}|\bm{X},T_{jk}^{\ast},M_j)}{p(\bm R_{jk}|\bm{X},T_{jk},M_j)} \frac{p(T_{jk}^{\ast})}{p(T_{jk})} \right\}}.$$ The first term is the ratio of the probability of how the previous tree moves to the new tree against the probability of how the new tree moves to the previous one. The second term is the likelihood ratio of the new tree against the previous tree and the last term denotes the likelihood ratio of the new against the previous tree under the prior distribution.
The proposal distribution $q(T_{jk},T_{jk}^{\ast})$ features four local steps [@Chipman1998]. The first is step grows the tree by splitting a node into two different nodes. The second step combines two non-terminal nodes into a single terminal node. The third step swaps splitting rules between two terminal nodes and the final step changes the splitting rule of a single non-terminal node.
After sampling the tree structure we can easily simulate from the posterior distribution of the terminal nodes. Since the prior is conjugate the resulting posterior will also be a Gaussian distribution that takes a standard form and does not explicitly depend on the tree structure but only on the subset of elements in the residuals allocated to a specific terminal node.
[^1]: Florian Huber gratefully acknowledges funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): ZK 35. Luca Rossini acknowledges financial support from the EU Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie scheme (grant agreement no.796902).
[^2]: Using a single lag allows for simple inspection of several features of the model. Including more lags is straightforward but, as discussed in the text, lags larger than one only rarely show up in the splitting rules.
| |
OSHA has issued a new standard for construction work in confined spaces, which will be effective August 3, 2015*. The new standard, Subpart AA of 29 CFR 1926, will help prevent construction workers from being hurt or killed by eliminating and isolating hazards in confined spaces at construction sites similar to the way workers in other industries are already protected.
How does the new rule differ from the rules that previously applied to construction work in confined spaces?
The rule requires employers to classify spaces their workers are in, identify potential hazards of the space, and how those hazards should be eliminated, what training workers should receive, and how to rescue those workers if anything goes wrong.
What is different between the General Industry Rule and the new Construction Rule?
There are 5 key differences from the existing General Industry rule:
- Detailed provisions requiring coordinated activities on multiple employer worksites to ensure hazards are not introduced into a confined space by workers performing tasks outside the space.
- A competent person must evaluate the work site and identify confined spaces, including permit spaces.
- Continuous atmospheric monitoring whenever possible.
- Continuous monitoring of engulfment hazards.
- Suspension of a permit, instead of cancellation, in the event of changes from the entry conditions listed on the permit or an unexpected event requiring evacuation of the space. The space must be returned to the entry conditions listed on the permit before re-entry.
Additional provisions to clarify existing requirements in the General Industry standard include:
- Employers who direct workers to enter a space without using a complete permit system must prevent workers’ exposure to physical hazards through elimination or isolation methods, such as lockout/tagout.
- If using local emergency services for responders, they need to notify the employer in advance if they will be unable to respond for a period of time (because they are responding to another emergency, attending department-wide training, etc.).
- Provide training in a language and vocabulary that the worker understands.
Finally, several terms have been added to the definitions for the construction rule, such as “entry employer” to describe the employer who directs workers to enter a space, and “entry rescue”, added to clarify the differences in the types of rescue employers can use.
Where can I find more information?
Visit OSHA’s Confined Spaces webpage at: https://www.osha.gov/confinedspaces/index.html for additional information.
* OSHA has announced a 60 day delay in enforcement to ease employers into full compliance. This delay comes in response to requests for additional time to train and acquire the equipment necessary to comply with the new standard. Between August 3rd and October 2nd, construction employers will not be cited for violating the new standard if they are making a “good faith” effort to comply and are in compliance with training requirements under the new or old standard. According to OSHA, good faith efforts include scheduling training for employees, ordering necessary equipment to comply with the new standard, and taking alternative measures to protect employees from confined spaces.
Please contact the J.W. Terrill Loss Control Department at [email protected] with any questions. | http://www.jwterrill.com/wp/2015/07/15/oshas-new-construction-subpart-for-confined-spaces/ |
Under Local Law 196, New York City now requires all workers within specified job sites to meet new OSHA training requirements. Signed into law back in October of 2017, the first phase of Local Law 196 is effective as of March 1, 2018.
Construction and demolition workers at any NYC job site with a Site Safety Plan must have 30 hours of Site Safety Training (SST) by December 1, 2019.
Who Is Affected by Local Law 196?
If a worksite requires a Site Safety Plan, then its workers must meet these new training requirements. Affected sites will have a designated Site Safety Coordinator/Manager and Construction Superintendent, both of which must also meet the new training requirement.
You can learn more about Site Safety Plans on the NY DOB's website.
What Are the New OSHA Training Requirements?
The new training requirements will be implemented in several stages:
First Stage
By March 1, 2018, all workers must have completed at least 10 hours of OSHA training. This means workers must complete a 10-hour or 30-hour OSHA course by that date. A 100-hour, NYC DOB-approved program will also satisfy this requirement.
Second Stage
By December 1, 2019, all workers must have 30 hours of training to earn a 30-hour OSHA card or a Limited Site Safety Training (SST) Card. To obtain these, workers must complete a 30-hour OSHA construction course. The DOB considers OSHA 30 cards in construction as equivalent to Limited SST cards.
Also by this date, supervisors will need 62 hours of training. This includes OSHA 30-Hour Training and an additional 32 hours of Site Safety Training.
Third Stage
By September 1, 2020, all workers must have a Site Safety Training Card. To obtain this card, which is valid for five years, workers must have a total of 40 hours of training.
What if I've Already Taken a 10- or 30-Hour OSHA Course?
If you completed a 10- or 30-hour course before or on October 16, 2017, then you have met the March 1 training requirement. If you completed a 30-hour course on or before that date, then you have already satisfied the December 1, 2019, requirement. Otherwise, you must take another course that meets the NY DOB's new requirements.
What if I'm Currently Taking a Course?
If you are currently taking a course, it will qualify if it meets the NY DOB's new requirements. If it does not, you will have to restart with a course that does.
Do USFOSHA.com's 10- and 30-Hour OSHA Courses Qualify?
Yes, they do. The New York City DOB is accepting courses from all OSHA-authorized online providers which are considered actively proctored under these requirements per the February 2018 Service Notice, which can be found here.
Get Started on Local Law 196-Compliant OSHA Training Today!
Whether you need a 10-Hour OSHA Course or a 30-Hour OSHA Course, we've got you covered. Courses are online, OSHA-authorized and meet the new NY DOB requirements. Sign up today! | https://www.usfosha.com/new-york/local-law-196/ |
From time to time, there are public policies that are considered and brought before voters. It is the Chamber Board’s responsibility to research and take positions on those policies that could significantly affect a majority of members. This may prove especially valuable to members who are managing a business and who do not have the time to conduct thorough research.
Given the great diversity of member opinions, the goal in taking positions cannot be to reflect the preferences and beliefs of every chamber member or even every board member. Therefore, the Board will seek to take positions on matters that would only affect business, and will always advocate the position that will have the greatest positive impact on the greatest number of Chamber members.
The Chamber’s Policy Agenda reflects positions in the following areas:
Environmental Regulations
Environmental Regulations
Policy Objectives: Government agencies designated to protect the environment should provide reasonable regulations, including cost-effecting reporting requirements, to support a sustainable environment in balance with commerce.
- Support: Reform to the federal, state, county, and local environmental regulations that avoid unnecessary duplication of permits and enforcement.
- Support: Incentives that encourage clean-air driving and reduced emissions on a cost-effective basis.
- Support: Equitable spread of costs of compliance to society as a whole, rather than placing the financial burden disproportionately on business and property ownership.
- Oppose: Policy decisions based on emotions or political agendas/opinions rather than based on scientific evidence.
- Oppose: Regulatory requirements that are complex and ambiguous.
Housing and Development
Housing and Development
Policy Objectives: Our community maintains a reasonable supply of housing to meet its internal growth needs, and provide a sufficient number of new housing to encourage new business to locate to our community. The ability for employees to have housing choices available to them near where they work has a positive effect on employee morale, productivity, and, by reducing commute lengths, reduces traffic and air pollution. Balanced land-use decisions are the key to maintaining a positive business environment.
- Support: Land use that provides adequate land for residential and non-residential land uses. Review existing inventories and adjust to economic changes that alter the long-term needs of particular land use.
- Support: Land use and plan areas that result in a fiscal benefit to the community as a whole.
- Support: Ballot measures that provide full disclosure of the impacts on business and residents.
- Oppose: Efforts to increase the cost of housing through the imposition of fees intended to meet unfunded mandates or new building standards.
- Oppose: Unreasonable limits or undue burdens for entitlement approvals for development projects.
- Oppose: Ballot box planning.
Education
Education
Policy Objectives: To enhance and maintain a high-quality education system to ensure an educated local workforce.
- Support: The passage of fiscally responsible local and state bond measures, where necessary and appropriate.
- Support: Curriculum that prepares students with the necessary skills to be successful and productive in the workplace.
- Support: The recruitment of higher education facilities to El Dorado County.
Workplace Laws and Regulation
Workplace Laws and Regulation
Policy Objectives: Government laws and regulations must carefully balance the needs of business and the economy with appropriate protections for workers to ensure a strong job base sufficient to sustain a community.
Worker’s Compensation
- Support: The passage of laws that stem worker’s compensation system abuse and fraud and provide for appropriate protections for workers, while maintaining reasonable rates for employers and removing employer obligations for non-work-related injuries.
Health Care
- Support: Incentives and tax deductions for employer-paid health care coverage and employee health care expenses.
- Oppose: Government mandates on employers for health care coverage.
Wage Mandates
- Oppose: Artificial wage mandates.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure
Policy Objectives: In order to maintain economic vitality and continue to stand as one of the most desirable communities in the region in which to reside, we must maintain and build on our infrastructure plan with major emphasis on transportation systems, reliable water and power resources, and advanced communications and technology. To maintain a high quality of life, we must support a high-quality system of parks, recreation, and cultural activities. We must keep a forward-thinking, proactive approach to remain competitive in our ability to attract and maintain jobs that are essential to our economic well-being.
Transportation
- Support: Local efforts to secure regional, state, and federal funds that will improve traffic flow on surface streets, highways, and freeways.
- Oppose: Undue financial burden to local businesses and residents for alleviating traffic congestion in our area.
Water
- Support: Policy and legislation that ensures an economical, reliable, and sustainable supply of water to assure that our current and future businesses and residents will always have ample water supply in wet and dry years.
Power Resources
- Support: Solutions for reliable, low-cost power resources for our businesses and residents including, but not limited to, alternative power sources and diversification from the grid.
Communication & Technology
- Support: Policy and legislation that enables our technology providers to offer businesses and residents the most advanced communication and technology.
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Activities
- Support: Opportunities for state and local funding of park facilities. If proposed funding may result in higher taxes or fees to businesses or individuals, a careful review of costs and benefits shall be assessed prior to taking a position.
- Support: The passage of fiscally responsible local and state bond measures where necessary and appropriate.
- Support: High quality arts and cultural activities to enhance and stimulate the quality of life for local residents.
Government Operations and Business Regulations
Government Operations and Business Regulations
Policy Objectives: Government agencies should review the complete cost associated with the adoption and implementation of regulations and justify to the public how the benefits brought will outweigh the costs associated.
- Support: Regular reviews of government functions and funding mechanisms to ensure fiscal responsibility and efforts to cut wasteful spending, duplication, or unnecessary programs or regulations.
- Support: A balanced state budget that restores the fair and appropriate allocation of funds to local government and does not disproportionately tax California businesses.
- Support: A balanced local government budget that fairly distributes the burden of local government finance without creating an artificially high cost of doing business in our community.
- Support: State government balancing the budget without incurring expenses to local jurisdictions.
- Support: Regulations that give California and our community a competitive advantage in attracting jobs.
- Support: Government processes that eliminate cost and delays to business.
- Oppose: Unfunded government mandates.
Taxes and Fees
Policy Objectives: The Chamber generally opposes efforts to raise taxes and fees on businesses and individuals to pay for core government services that should otherwise be paid out of general funds, sales taxes, property taxes, or gasoline taxes. Tax increases on the business community are generally opposed unless the clear and specified benefit to the business community can be justified.
- Support: Efforts on the federal, state, and local levels that would simplify the current tax system and reduce the tax burden on businesses and individuals.
- Support: Elimination of inequitable, hidden, or burdensome taxes and fees on businesses.
- Oppose: Taxes and fees which are levied for purposes other than those directly linked to the provision of specific government services. | https://eldoradocounty.org/public-policy/ |
Ruka-Kuusamo’s nature offers several must-see nature sights.
There are the summer mornings at Pähkänäkallio, Konttainen that offers great views from the top and as a part of the scenery, Valtavaara trails next to Ruka and not to forget Kiutaköngäs waterfalls and Myllykoski rapids. There are several nature parks, each with their own special features. With an expereinced local guide these spots are reached either just with a pair of good hiking shoes or with snowshoes in winter time.
Duration: from 2 hrs
Price: depending on tour
Hikes range from very easy tp demanding but have one thing in common – nice views ad good guiding! | https://salonkitravels.fi/experiences/hiking/ |
Cette interview est tirée du Cahier Louis Bachelier n°32, intitulé : Les défis imposés par la faiblesse des taux d’intérêt, publié en mars 2019.
The low interest rate environment is a challenge for investors who need to reorient their investment strategies towards more profitable asset classes. This difficult situation, by no means devoid of financial risks, is addressed by Marie Brière, whose standpoint is particularly interesting in lying between the professional and academic spheres (see Biography). Interview.
Institut Louis Bachelier: The current low level of interest rates seems to be unprecedented. Is this really so?
Marie Brière: The decline in long-term interest rates has been a trend since the 1980s. We have moved from a very high interest rate regime in the 1970s, marked by two inflationary events (the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks), to a new regime in which rates are structurally lower. This gradual and generalized shift began in the 1980s during the «Great Moderation», during which the main macroeconomic variables, including growth and inflation, were less volatile. Today, 17% of all bonds issued come with negative rates (Deutsche Bank, 2018). This exceptional situation, a consequence of the subprime crisis and the unconventional monetary policies that followed, may well continue.
What are the implications of low interest rates for institutional investors?
MB: The performance of the traditional asset classes, namely equities and bonds, has been reduced due to lower risk-free interest rates and the compression of risk premiums, related in particular to investors’ search for yield. Investors are opting for riskier and less liquid assets, thus increasing prices and squeezing their expected returns. The low interest rate environment also affects the balance sheets of institutional investors, in particular insurers and pension funds, which have commitments embodied in their liabilities.
To what extent are the balance sheets of institutional investors under pressure?
MB: In the balance sheet of insurance companies and pension funds, the assets invested are performing less well, while the fall in rates automatically increases the value of liabilities, discounted at market value with the current accounting and prudential regulations. According to the latest stress tests on pension funds in Europe, carried out in 2017 by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), the overall underfunding of occupational pension funds was estimated at 349 billion euros, or an average deficit of around 20% of the value of liabilities, with significant disparities from country to country.
Are the regulations at fault?
MB: The regulators are not the cause of the current difficulties faced by pension funds. Rather pension funds balance sheets have deteriorated because of low interest rates, as well as from the increasing life expectancy of beneficiaries. However, prudential regulations that require regulatory capital to be set aside in the event of an imbalance between assets and liabilities, together with accounting standards oriented towards marked-to-market valuations, naturally accentuate the problems, even though they did not trigger them.
So how are insurance companies and pension funds reacting?
MB: We are seeing is a structural shift towards a reduction in the guarantees offered, with a transfer of risks to individuals. This is evident with insurance companies, which now prefer to sell unit-linked contracts rather than euro funds with guaranteed capital. It is similar with regard to pension funds. In some countries (US, UK, Switzerland), there has been a shift from funds with defined benefits to defined contributions pension funds. In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, we are witnessing the creation of «hybrid» funds, where risks are shared between the pension fund’s sponsoring company and the contributing employees, who are the future beneficiaries. In such cases, retirement pensions may depend on the performance of the financial markets or on changes in longevity. This sharing of risks can be quite effective, and even relatively attractive for individuals (on this topic see Boon, Brière and Werker, 2018), and it limits financial institutions’ costly requirement for regulatory capital.
What are the consequences for individuals?
MB: The consequence of this phenomenon is a reallocation of risks towards individuals, since financial institutions play the role of financial intermediation and distribute financial products with more limited risk of loss. The low rates also have implications for intergenerational risk sharing, with a potential reduction of benefits larger for younger generations compared to older generations. Lastly, we can expect an increase in the supply of work and savings demand and a redistribution of wealth (see the paper by Horneff, Maurer and Mitchell (2018), presented at the Financial Risks International Forum).
Let’s go back to institutional investors. What are their strategies for generating returns?
MB: Investors have been turning much more towards alternative assets since the financial crisis. In recent years, real estate and private equity have benefitted. According to the work of Ivashina and Lerner (2018), also presented at the Financial Risks International Forum, there has been a large reallocation towards alternative assets, which are supposed to be more remunerative, because they are less liquid. There is, however, a debate within the academic community about this asset class. Does the extra return over liquid assets remunerate a liquidity premium or instead a higher risk that is poorly measured because of the relative lack of transactions data? Although this question has not been settled, investors nonetheless are moving massively in this direction, as evidenced by the rise in outstanding assets invested on this asset class in developed countries, which increased by 63% between 2008 and 2017, according to the study mentioned above.
Another investor trend is the adoption of active systematic smart beta or factor strategies that outperform passive strategies. Active strategies are, in fact, supposed to capture additional risk premiums and therefore higher returns.
Do these new strategies generate more risk?
MB: Passive strategies based on traditional indexes weighted by market capitalization induce hardly any portfolio turnover, unlike systematic active strategies. The risk lies in investors’ possible herd behaviour (the crowding effect). If they adopt similar active strategies in buying and selling the same securities, this may accentuate funding risk in the case of coincident clients’ redemption requests, and hence potentially stronger coincident price declines in the markets. As shown by the work of Fontaine, Garcia and Gungor in 2016, and Cho in 2019, equity markets have been more exposed to such funding risk since the mid-1990s.
Are the risks of contagion higher?
MB: Yes, this can generate new correlations between certain securities that were not linked at all previously.
To conclude, are these investment strategies resulting from low interest rates bubble vectors?
MB: It is always very difficult to show the existence of a bubble before it bursts. Nevertheless, when investors move simultaneously and massively into an asset class, it is obvious that valuations increase sharply, which can result in bubbles that may subsequently burst.
1) Boon, Brière and Werker (2018), “Systematic Longevity Risk: To Bear or to Insure?”, SSRN Working Paper N°2926902.
2) Horneff, Maurer and Mitchell (2018), “How Will Persistent Low Expected Returns Shape Household Economic Behavior”, NBER Working Paper 25133.
3) Ivashina and Lerner (2018), “Looking for Alternatives: Pension Investments around the World, 2008 to 2017”, Working Paper.
4) Fontaine, Garcia and Gungor (2016), “Funding Risk, Market Liquidity, Market Volatility and the Cross Section of Asset Returns”, SSRN Working Paper 2557211.
5) Cho (2019), “Turning Alphas into Betas: Arbitrage and the Cross-Section of Risk”, Paul Woolley Centre Working Paper 61. | http://variances.eu/?p=4213 |
Weekend Immersions – Upper Wilson’s Creek, Byron Bay Shire, Australia. October 5rd – 7th 2018
Come walk with us on the land, drink from the spring, experience the potent reflection of the sacred.
Sacred Rites are powerful Earth immersions, working with the most powerful and enlivening designs, practices and initiations for personal evolution that we walk, live and breathe in our own lives.
Sacred Rites is a journey of Earth based spirituality with Adya, Velan, Devani and the power of community. This work will refine and crystallize your vision, deepen your roots, clarify your voice and call you to stamp your commitment into the earth.
A deep immersion into the wisdom of the elements, the wisdom of self and the community circle that weaves it all together.
Sacred Rites are potent intimate gatherings, cultivating deep attention, journeying into nature and the mystery of the ancient ways. On the Sacred Spring lands, surrounded by fresh flowing water, abundant flora and fauna, black cockatoos, kangaroos and backing onto the Jerusalem National Park.
Sacred Rites are a potent synthesis, deeply grounded in powerful traditions and lineages, shared with deep respect and reverence for the ancient teachings and elders that we are blessed to receive from. From the foundation of silence and stillness we will embrace the ceremonial ways of life.
Sacred Rites Immersions include
- Powerful longevity practices – Shoalin Internal Arts
- Purifying Personal Rituals deep in Jerusalem National Park
- Sacred Rites and solo Quest on the Land
- Breath work
- Water ceremony and drinking spring water directly from the source
- Moon Work
- Earth altars
- Singing the songs of the earth
- Held by the sacred fire
Earth altars by www.earthaltars.com.au
Earth Artist – Devani Cadden
As an Earth Artist, Devani creates art, altars and Installations with a symbolic and ceremonial nature, using natural materials. She is inspired by a vision to activate a remembrance of reverence for – ourselves, the earth, our families, the cycles of life and the elements.
She is known for the beauty she creates, the gentle activism of her work, the depth and passion she brings to her Art and facilitation.
Location: Upper Wilson Creek – more details upon registration
Timing: Arrive afternoon/evening Friday the 5th of October and leaving October 7th after lunch.
Food: Gluten Free nourishing Breakfast will be provided. We will all co-create lunch with offerings and shared foods, and we will provide a nourishing soup in the evening + organic teas and fresh fruits available all day.
Accommodation: Shared Bell tents
Investment:
$550 – Bring your own tent
$650 – Bell Tent
____
It’s a feeling, a deep knowing of feeling home again.
For anybody who is willing to uproot there own limitations and be open to exploring the sacredness of the earth ways. This is an invitation to you.
Alice,
Australia
____
This was a journey which I could never have imagined possible. It has led me to a new level of understanding of myself. I have deepened my connection with Nature and the Sacred world of ritual. I have remembered that the Mystery calls on me…
Kirralie, | https://sacredseed.com.au/sacred-rites-2018/ |
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These reactions are called dehydration or condensation reactions. Glycosidic bonds are covalent chemical bonds that link ring-shaped sugar molecules to other molecules. Example: 1,4 glycosidic bonds are formed due to condensation reaction between a hydroxyl residue on carbon-1 and the anomeric carbon-4 on two monosaccharide units to form disaccharides.
In coustion reactions, a compound reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and heat. In disproportionation reactions, a molecule is both reduced and oxidized; these types of reactions …
Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about Organic Chemistry の. Download Organic Chemistry の and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
11/12/2011· Nucleophilic substitution, nucleophilic addition, electrophilic substitution, and electrophilic addition are the four major types of mechanisms describing organic reactions. CONTENTS 1. Overview and Key Difference 2. What is Nucleophile 3. What is Electrophile 4.
Fill out all the compounds and reactions/reagents used in the synthesis scheme shown, starting with salicylic acid You have laboratory data on all the compounds in the synthesis, however the amount of data available to you varies. Some have the entirety of the
28/7/2020· Seismic waves help scientists ''see'' chemical changes beneath a watershed Date: July 27, 2020 Source: Penn State Summary: Chemical reactions deep …
The second and third types are similar to reactions of the carbonyl group carbonyl group , in chemistry, functional group that consists of an oxygen atom joined by a double bond to a carbon atom. The carbon atom is joined to the remainder of the molecule by two single bonds or one double bond.
Lysis reactions – those that generate a double bond – are brought about by lyase enzymes. Lysis reactions are the kind of elimination reactions that are not hydrolytic or oxidative. The lyases are also sometimes called synthase enzymes. A Michael addition
Experiment #8 - Types of Reactions and Conservation of Mass Objectives: To become familiar with several different types of reactions. To study the law of conservation of mass. Safety glasses are required for this experiment. Part 1: Types of Reactions Textbook
In addition to atp what types of molecules are produced in the Krebs cycle? 👍 👎 Answer Top Answer Wiki User 2011-08-11 12:46:47 2011-08-11 12:46:47 Gtp,nadh2,fadh2,co2
Heme proteins play a major role in various biological functions, such as oxygen sensing, electron transport, signal transduction, and antioxidant defense enzymes. Most of these reactions are carried out by redox reactions of heme iron. As the heme is not recycled
Zinc Carbon Battery Zinc carbon battery is being popularly used during last 100 years. Generally there are two types of zinc carbon battery generally available - Leclanche battery and Zinc chloride battery. Both of these are primary battery. This battery was invented
Types of: Interaction | Reaction | Process It is convenient to classify chemical interactions, reactions & processes either by the reaction mechanism or some ''collection'', such as the sequence of reactions involved in a synthesis, etc. Addition Addition: 1,1
11/8/2020· Chemical explosions may be distinguished from other exothermic reactions by the extreme rapidity of their reactions. In addition to the violent release of energy, chemical explosions must provide a means to transfer the energy into mechanical work.
Carbon dots (CDs) are an emerging family of nanosystems displaying a range of fascinating properties. Broadly sing, they can be described as small, surface-functionalized carbonaceous nanoparticles characterized by an intense and tunable fluorescence, a marked sensitivity to the environment and a range of interesting photochemical properties. CDs are currently the subject of very intense
7/9/2015· In addition, if a mixed condensation is being considered, one reaction partner should be incapable of self-condensation (e.g., it should lack α-hydrogens). If we are given the structure of a target molecule and wish to determine whether (and, if so, how) it can be made by a Claisen condensation, we must analyze it retrosynthetically with the preceding points in mind.
These different types of carbon atoms are called isotopes. The fact that they have varying nuers of neutrons makes no difference to the chemical reactions of the carbon atom. Uses of Carbon Graphite coined with clays form the Diamond is used for
Multicomponent Reactions - Superior Chemistry Technology For The New Millennium Multicomponent Reactions (MCRs) are convergent reactions, in which three or more starting materials react to form a product, where basically all or most of the atoms contribute to the …
Metal alysed Reactions in Ionic Liquids is the first non-edited book on the subject of metal alysed reactions in ionic liquids and covers the literature from its origins until early 2005. The book begins with a general introduction to the field of biphasic/multiphasic alysis and describes the synthesis, functionalisation and fundamental properties of ionic liquids relevant to alysis.
2 coupling reactions according to this principle that have become important in organic synthesis. These two types of reactions are shown in equations 1 and 2. RX + R'' Pd(0) RX + R''''M Pd(0) R'' R R R'''' via via Pd R'''' R Pd R R'' (1) (2) electrophilic partner electrophilic
Alternatively, all-carbon stereocenters can arise from addition of a carbenoid containing two different carbon substituents to any prochiral alkene (type II). Diastereoselectivity in the transition state of both processes is achieved by employing a metal carbenoid (Cu, Rh, or Co) possessing chiral nonracemic ligands coordinated to the metal center.
In addition to Lewis acid alysis, two other alytic methods have emerged for the promotion of enantioselective Diels–Alder reactions, both using metal-free, “organic” alysts (9, 10). MacMillan and coworkers ( 11 , 12 ) demonstrated a broadly useful and strategically novel approach for the asymmetric alysis of Diels–Alder reactions.
Decomposition reactions are initiated by the addition of energy. A decomposition reaction is a chemical reaction in which some chemical bonds in a compound are broken and simpler substances are formed. The breaking of chemical bonds requires the addition of
Michael addition of enamines to a,b-unsaturated ketones may be coupled with intramolecular aldol condensations to produce cyclic ketones. This sequence of reactions is an alternative approach to traditional Robinson annulations. Equation 7 provides an example.
1 SCIENCE (52) CHEMISTRY SCIENCE Paper - 2 CLASS X There will be one paper of two hours duration of 80 marks and Internal Assessment of practical work carrying 20 marks. The paper will be divided into sections, two Section I (40 marks) and Section II
The Michael addition and Diels-Alder reactions of acrolein (3) with 2-acetylcyclopentanone (4) and cyclohexadiene (6), respectively (Fig. 4B and tables S1 and S2), can each be promoted by Lewis acidic carboions (32, 33).
The electro-chemical reactions that take place in the cell are shown in the diagram to the right. The PAFC is considered the "first generation" of modern fuel cells. It is one of the most mature cell types and the first to be used commercially. | https://kolobrzegland.pl/Aug-31/carbon-addition-reactions-types.html |
It is important that the training of neuroscientists, and research practice itself, include open and in-depth discussion and examination of the assumptions that underlie research, and the general public is made aware of the limitations as well as the strengths of the science.
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Electroencephalography, positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging are all appropriate techniques for examining the working brain despite being scientifically valid.
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References
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Imaging or Imagining? A Neuroethics Challenge Informed by Genetics
- PsychologyThe American journal of bioethics : AJOB
- 2005
It is argued that interpretation of neuroim imaging data is a key epistemological and ethical challenge and the introduction of concepts of self and personhood in neuroimaging illustrates the interaction of interpretation levels and is a major reason why ethical reflection on genetics will only partially help settle neuroethical issues.
Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st Century
- Psychology, Philosophy
- 2007
Neuroscience has dramatically increased understanding of how mental states and processes are realized by the brain, thus opening doors for treating the multitude of ways in which minds become…
Political Psychology and Social Neuroscience: Strange Bedfellows or Comrades in Arms?
- Psychology
- 2003
A special issue on neuroscientific contributions to political psychology may strike some as an odd choice. Neuroscientists, or so the stereotype goes, are concerned about the basic building blocks of…
Neuroimaging, culture, and forensic psychiatry.
- PsychologyThe journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
- 2009
The neuroethics and neurolegal literature on the use of forensic neuroimaging within the courtroom is surveyed and recommendations are offered on how forensic psychiatrists can add to this research, given their professional interface between law and medicine.
Neuroethics for the New Millenium
- PhilosophyNeuron
- 2002
The Biology of Violence: How Understanding the Brain, Behavior and Environment Can Break the Vicious Circle of Aggression
- Psychology
- 1999
There has been a revolution in neuroscience over the last ten years, and, as Debra Niehoff shows in the first book to examine violence from a complete biological perspective, now is the right time to…
The Future of Psychopharmacological Enhancements: Expectations and Policies
- Medicine, Psychology
- 2009
It is concluded that further discussion on the advantages and drawbacks of enhancers on a collective social level is still needed, and ethical issues regarding psychopharmacological enhancements that require attention from policymakers are identified.
The Causes of Crime: New Biological Approaches
- Psychology
- 1987
Introduction: Biological factors in crime causation: the reactions of social scientists Sarnoff A. Mednick Part I. Methodological questions and implications: 1. Some cautions for the biological…
Emerging Neurotechnologies for Lie-Detection: Promises and Perils
- Computer ScienceThe American journal of bioethics : AJOB
- 2010
Premature application of these technologies outside of research settings should be resisted, and the social conversation about the appropriate parameters of its civil, forensic, and security use should begin. | https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Neuroscience%2C-Neuropolitics-and-Neuroethics%3A-The-of-Henry-Plemmons/5742e9ad1445c682566325b22cdee105f9c8d0e0 |
Which of the following is most likely to lead to reduce competition between similar species?
Banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis, are rodents that feed on seeds and are endemic (found only in) to the deserts of the southwestern United States. Which of the following is the BEST description of their niche?
The “realized niche” of Canada geese depends on which of the following?
Which of the following BEST describes a species' niche?
Aphids can feed in the leafy treetops (or tree canopies). Ants are usually not abundant in the tree canopies unless aphids are also present. You introduce aphids to an area of the tree canopy and survey the abundance of ants over time. Which of the plots below represents your expected trend in ant abundance?
there is no relationship between ant abundance and beetle abundance.
there is a positive relationship between ant abundance and beetle abundance.
there is a negative relationship between ant abundance and beetle abundance.
ecological interactions in the tree canopy have no effect on forest floor communities.
ecological interactions in the tree canopy always have a negative effect on forest floor communities.
As part of the previous experiment, you monitor the growth of tree A (where the ants have been blocked from accessing the canopy) and tree B (where the ants do have access to the canopy) over the 3-year period. You expect _____ because _____.
higher growth in tree A; the number of aphids will fall because ants are absent, and aphids are parasites of the tree.
higher growth in tree B; the natural environment is always optimized so any change (e.g., blocking the ants from tree A) will reduce the performance of all members of the community.
no change in growth; due to the size difference between the trees and the insects, the presence or absence of insects will not have an effect on tree growth.
Which of the following factors would also affect tree growth, and thus complicate the experiment described above?
the presence of other tree parasites.
the distribution of nutrients in each tree’s local environment.
the amount of leaves, and thus photosynthetic production, of each of the trees.
the ambient light conditions, and thus photosynthetic production, for each of the trees.
All of these responses would also affect the growth of the trees, and thus complicate the experiment described above.
intraspecific competition reducing the size of Chthamalus' fundamental niche to a smaller realized niche.
mutualism reducing the size of Balanus' realized niche to a smaller fundamental niche.
competitive exclusion reducing the size of Chthamalus' fundamental niche to a smaller realized niche.
competitive exclusion expanding the size of Balanus' realized niche to a larger fundamental niche.
_____ is an interaction in which individuals require the same resource, and therefore the availability of that resource is lowered.
In the late 1960s, Robert Paine conducted landmark studies on diversity in the rocky intertidal zone comparing the species diversity in control plots with diversity in experimental plots from which he removed the top predator, sea stars. After 5 years, 15 species of intertidal invertebrates lived in the control plots, while the experimental plots were dominated by only two species, one mussel and one barnacle. Why did species diversity MOST likely remain high in the presence of a predator?
The sea star kept the mussel and barnacle populations low enough to prevent competitive exclusion from occurring.
The sea star kept the mussels and barnacles from developing a mutualistic relationship. That, in turn, kept their populations low.
The mussels and the barnacles parasitized the sea stars, keeping populations low enough to prevent competitive exclusion from occurring.
The sea stars developed a mutualistic relationship with the mussels and barnacles, keeping their populations low and preventing competitive exclusion from happening.
Glacier Bay in Alaska is a fjord whose lowlands were covered by glacial ice until around 230 years ago. As the glacier retreated, it left behind sediment that was exposed to plant colonization; remarkably (and fortunately for generations of ecologists), the location of the tip of the retreating glacier has been frequently documented since the late 1700s. This means that scientists have been able to develop a detailed timeline of the changes in the plant community, or _____ in Glacier Bay over time.
In Glacier Bay, one of the first species to colonize a newly exposed area of sediment left behind by a glacier is fireweed. You would predict that fireweed is a(n) _____-strategist.
The oldest plant community in Glacier Bay is hemlock-spruce forest. You would predict that hemlock and spruce trees are _____-strategists.
A _____ affects other members of the community in ways that are disproportionate to its abundance or biomass. | https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/hw-9/deck/20367104 |
Readings: Web notes only! Visit some of the links if you are interested, but you do not need to do so.
So far, we have talked about recessively inherited conditions (#1 below), where the affected child receices two recessive alleles. However, there are other types of genetic disorders:
I. Autosomal recessive disorders: Show up only in the homozygous recessive person (aa) who inherits a recessive allele from both parents, who were carriers (Aa xAa). (25% chance of this happening)
1. Cystic fibrosis: Homozygous recessives (cc) have cystic fibrosis - body cannot make needed chloride channel, high concentrations of extracellular chloride causes mucous to build up, infections, pneumonia. Diet, antibiotics and treatment can extend life to 25 years or more.
2. Tay-Sachs: Enzyme that breaks down brain lipids is non-functional in homozygous recessives (tt). Buildup of lipids causes death by age 2-3.
3. Sickle-cell disease: The most common inherited disease of African-Americans (1:400 affected). Homozygous recessives (ss) make abnormal form of hemoglobin that deforms red blood cells and causes a cascade of symptoms (clogging of blood vessels, organ damage, kidney failure).
Heterozygote advantage: For some disease alleles, being a heterozygote is thought to offer protection against another disease, and there has a selective benefit. Examples:
- Sickle Cell Disease: Ss carriers are resistant to malaria (note: 1:10, or 10% African-Americans are carriers Ss)
- Cystic fibrosis: Cc carriers are resistant to cholera (note: 1:25, or 4% of caucasians is a carrier Aa).
- Tay-Sachs?: Tt carriers are thought to be more resistant to tuberculosis, although there is not a lot of evidence in support of this hypothesis
II. Autosomal dominant disorders: child will show the phenotype if he / she receives just 1 allele from either parent. With just 1 parent affected, 50% chance of offspring being affected.
1. Achondroplasia (dwarfism): AA = Homozygous dominant is lethal - fatal (spontaneous abortion of fetus). Aa = dwarfism. aa = no dwarfism. 99.96% of all people in the world are homozygous recessive (aa)..
2. Polydactyly (extra fingers or toes): PP or Pp = extra digits, aa = 5 digits. 98% of all people in the world are homozygous recessive (pp).
3. Progeria (very premature aging): Spontaneous mutation of one gene creates a dominant mutation that rapidly accelerates aging.
4. Huntington's chorea is also a lethal dominant condition (HH = fatal) but homozygous dominant (Hh) people live to be ~40 or so, then their nervous system starts to degenerate. Woody Guthrie died of Huntington's.
The genetic locus for Huntington's has been pinpointed to the tip of chromosome 4 - there is now a test for Huntington's - if you were from a Huntington's family, would you want to know?
Genetics problems (worksheet)
III. Sex-linked disorders in humans: Sex chromosomes not only determine sex, they also have genes for many functions.
1. Color blindness
- XA = normal vision
- Xa = color blind
The possible genotypes and phenotypes of males and females are:
- XA Y = a male with normal vision
- Xa Y = a male with color blindness (red in figure, color blind)
- XA XA = female with normal vision
- XA Xa = a carrier female with normal color vision (red in figure)
- Xa Xa = a female who is color blind (only if mom is carrier and dad is color blind)
Because daughters have two X chromosomes, they are almost always unaffected (heterozygotes). The normal allele "masks" the mutated allele. Color blind females are rare because they must inherit two recessive alleles for color blindness.
Males show the trait much more often than females do because they only inherit one allele - from their mother - if that one is mutated, they will be color blind.
2. Duchenne muscular dystrophy: affects 1:3500 males in the US. Progressive weakening of the muscles and loss of coordination leads to death in early adulthood. Children with muscular dystrophy lack a key muscle protein named dystrophin; the gene for the dystrophin protein is on the X chromosome. Thus, any mother who is a carrier for muscular dystrophy will have a 50:50 chance giving birth to a son with muscular dystrophy and a 50:50 chance of giving birth to a daughter who is a carrier.
3. Hemophilia: sex-linked recessive trait. Affected children lack the blood clotting factor VIII. Even a minor cut or scratch can cause a person with hemophilia to bleed to death. Queen Victoria was a carrier; thus her sons had a 50% chance of being affected and her daughters had a 50% chance of being carriers (Pedigree of the Royal Family).
Genetics problems (worksheet)
VII. Testing for Genetic Disorders: What is genetic testing? Analysis of genes or gene products (enzymes and proteins) to determine whether a person has a particular genetic condition.
Currently available DNA-based gene tests
How can prospective parents determine whether their child will be affected and how best to optimize outcome?
1. Carrier Screening: Tests the prospective parents with a family history of a genetic disease to determine whether they are carriers (heterozygotes), and possibly to whether their offspring have recessive mutations (examples: CF, Tay-Sachs, MCAD) .
2. Prenatal testing: Tests the fetus - Genetic disorders can be determined before birth, giving the parents time to adjust to their child's condition and make informed decisions.
- Amniocentesis: cells in amniotic fluid are cultured for 2 weeks and DNA karyotyped. Can clearly detect various chromosomal abnormalities (Trisomy 21, trisomy 18).
- FISH: Specific fluorescent DNA "probes" can directly identify genetic disorders, results within 24 hours.
- Chemicals present in amniotic fluid are diagnostic of Tay-Sachs, anencephaly, spina bifida.
- CVS: chorionic villi sampling - small amount of placental tissue removed - results are available within a few days
- Pre-implantation screening: One cell can be removed from an IVF blastocyst at the 8-cell stage or beyond to test for genetic disorders. A decision can then be made about implantation of particular eggs.
3. Newborn Screening:: Tests the newborn for genetic disorders .
- Example PKU (phenylketonuria) recessively inhertied 1:10,000 births. Children can't break down Phe, converted to toxic by-product that causes retardation.
- If PKU test (done in hospital) detects deficiency, a low-Phe diet must be maintained for life. (See warning on Nutrasweet-containing products).
- Thus, PKU is a treatable disorder if caught early enough. All newborns in the US are screened for PKU.
Newborn Screening in Indiana
Expanded Newborn Screening
4. Pre-symptomatic testing: for risk of late-onset disorders like Huntingtons, cancer, and Alzheimer's
IV. Human Genetic Analysis: Pedigree analysis:
Peas: good for genetic research. Humans: not..! Very difficult to do "controlled matings"!
Human geneticists must analyze the results of matings that have already occurred. The family's medical history can be traced by pedigree analysis.
Helps to understand the past and predict the future. (Worksheet on pedigree analysis)
| Objectives: | https://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/humgenetics2.html |
Only available to order.
Description
Information
The Roman Empire was based on law, and it was vital for rulers and ruled that laws should be understood. They were often given permanent form in stone or bronze. This book transcribes, translates, and fully illustrates with photographs, the inscription (more than 155 lines, in its damaged state) that carries the regulations drawn up over nearly two centuries for the customs dues of the rich province of Asia (western Turkey). The regulations, taken from Romanarchives, were set up in Greek in Ephesus, and the book provides a rendering of the text back into Latin. The damaged text is hard to restore and to interpret. Six scholars offer line-by-line commentary, and five essays bring out its significance, from the Gracchi to Nero, for Rome's government andchanging attitudes towards provincial subjects, for the historical geography of the Empire, for its economic history, and for the social life of Roman officials.
ISBN:
9780191564284
Publication Date:
18 / 12 / 2008
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RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release. The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs. Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP. | https://www.qbd.com.au/customs-law-of-asia/unknown/9780191564284/ |
So I think after you’ve been drafting, revising, editing, querying, drafting, revising, editing, querying for a while, you can fall into a routine.
I’ve found myself there. So I’ve decided to switch it up a bit. Move outside my comfort zone. Do something I haven’t done in a VERY long time.
I mean, we all know that saying. I looked it up, and found that it was Henry Ford who said it.
And in all honesty, what I’ve been doing hasn’t been working the way I’d like it to. I want different results. Which means I need to do something different.
So I’ve decided to revise my next manuscript, which is drafted and has been edited by “normal” way a couple of times. I’ve had a few betas read the first few chapters.
Now it’s about to get crazy.
I’m going to print it. I bought 5 highlighters in different colors. I’m taking some independent study courses from Margie Lawson — basically, I pay the $22 fee and I get to download all her course notes. (Click on LECTURE PACKETS if you’re interested to see what she’s offering.) I’ve purchased three of her lecture packets, and I’m working through them with some writing partners.
And I’m almost ready to start putting highlighter to paper. I haven’t edited on paper for YEARS. It’s much slower, if I remember right. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a system quite as detailed as what I’m about to try.
But then again, I’m hoping that I’ll get a result that I’ve never gotten before.
Have you ever done something radically different than normal? What was the result?
——————-
Liz Isaacson writes contemporary and inspirational romance when she’s not teaching. She is currently revising her inspirational romance manuscript and blogging about writing, reading, and life. She lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two children, where she serves on her community’s library board and attends various writing conferences around the state. | https://thinkingthroughourfingers.com/2015/06/26/doing-something-different/?shared=email&msg=fail |
A 31-year-old male with a history of mild psychomotor delay was referred for generalized dystonia with chorea-like movements ([Video 1](#v01){ref-type="other"}). At 24 years old, he had a few episodes of subacute encephalopathy triggered by fever and then developed cervical dystonia. Dystonia gradually worsened to become generalized dystonia. He also developed progressive lower limb spasticity and hyperkinetic dysarthria. There was no sign of cerebellar dysfunction or parkinsonism.
###### MEDGEL Syndrome in Adulthood Revealed by Generalized Dystonia and Spasticity. 2010: cervical dystonia, mild lower limb spasticity, dysarthria. 2012: generalized dystonia, worsening of lower limb spasticity. 2016: worsening of generalized dystonia, spasticity and dysarthria.
Because symptoms began and worsened after fever episodes, an inborn error of energy metabolism was suspected. However, investigations of intermediary metabolism (plasma ammonia, lactate, amino acids, acylcarnitines, phytanic acid, pristanic acid, and urine organic acids) were normal. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed bilateral shrunken striata, suggestive of Leigh syndrome ([Figure 1](#f01){ref-type="fig"}). Electromyography showed severe axonal neuropathy and a visual evoked potential revealed a bilateral optic neuropathy. Audiograms were normal. Mitochondrial investigations on the patient's muscle biopsy (immunohistochemistry, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) activities, quantity, size, and sequencing of the entire mitochondrial DNA) were normal. Nonetheless, a gene panel dedicated to mitochondrial diseases identified compound heterozygous variants in *SERAC1*. The first variant (c.1347-1350dupATCT, p.Val451fs) had already been reported in MEGDEL syndrome (3-MethylGlutaconic aciduria, Deafness, Encephalopathy, Leigh-like syndrome). The second variant (c.1598C\>T, p.Pro533Leu) was predicted to be pathogenic by three in silico prediction software programs (SIFT, Polyphen-2, and GVGD). The parents' blood DNA was not available for testing. A control of urine organic acids showed mild 3-methylglutaconic aciduria.
{#f01}
MEGDEL syndrome is a rare disorder caused by bi-allelic mutations in *SERAC1*, which encodes a protein of the mitochondrial membrane.[@b01] Typically, the phenotype is one of major motor (dystonia and spasticity) and intellectual disability that starts early in life and is associated with deafness; most patients never learn to speak or walk.[@b02] 3-Methylglutaconic aciduria is a cardinal biological marker of the disease and the MRI pattern evolves from the pathognomonic "putaminal eyes" to shrinking and atrophy of the basal ganglia over the disease course.[@b03]
Our observation illustrates that adult-onset generalized dystonia can be the main manifestation in milder atypical forms of MEGDEL syndrome. Brain abnormalities suggested by MRI could be a good clue to the diagnosis whereas the 3-methylglutaconic aciduria level may fluctuate and can be transiently undetectable.
We thank Dr Thierry Gendre for the care he provided to the patient.
**Funding:** None.
**Financial Disclosures:** None.
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors report no conflict of interest.
**Ethics Statements:** All patients that appear on video have provided written informed consent; authorization for the videotaping and for publication of the videotape was provided.
| |
Ongoing Auditing and Monitoring
Navitus performs regular risk assessments, including an assessment of activities delegated to FDRs, which are used to guide the work and activities of the Compliance Program and to develop an annual audit plan. Navitus’ monitoring activities are structured to regularly review normal operations and to confirm ongoing compliance using metrics and key performance indicators. Navitus also monitors federal lists to identify providers, pharmacies, and other individuals and entities that are excluded from participation in federal programs.
As an FDR that contracts with Navitus to provide Medicare-related administrative and healthcare services, you must ensure that compliance is maintained by your organization as well as your downstream and related entities. To ensure ongoing compliance, Navitus conducts random audits, which involve requesting evidence of your compliance with these requirements including:
- Documentation that your organization’s Code of Conduct (or the Navitus Code of Conduct) and compliance policies were distributed within 90 days of hire, when there are updates, and annually thereafter;
- Evidence of completion of compliance and FWA training for employees within 90 days of hire and annually thereafter. Copies of the training materials will also be requested unless the free training from the CMS MLN website is utilized;
- Documentation showing OIG and GSA/SAM exclusion reviews were conducted prior to hire and monthly thereafter;
- Documentation of annual audits of any offshore subcontractors.
Please be familiar with these audit requirements and be prepared to produce the necessary documentation should it be requested by Navitus or CMS. | https://www.navitus.com/vendor-fdr/ongoing-auditing |
Additive manufacturing, especially LPBF, has enormous growth potential. At present, a number of unanswered questions in the areas of design, process control and operational stability stand in the way of a widespread transfer of LPBF technology.
Questions concerning design relate to the lack of adapted design rules and principles. Compared to conventional manufacturing processes, most designers lack experience in the design of lightweight components, which results in an uneconomical use of the technology and a low utilization of the lightweight potential. Through locally adapted process control, the LPBF process offers the potential to produce lattice structures at the meso level. These have great potential for low-material and economical production. Their reliable production by LPBF and the resulting mechanical properties are highly dependent on the process control. This adapted process control has already been developed in initial research work, but must be further developed to series maturity and transferred to a broad industrial application with methodological support. Similarly, there is a lack of a database with regard to fatigue strength, which gives rise to considerable uncertainties in the reliability assessment of additively manufactured lightweight components with regard to fatigue loading and form conformity.
Goal
The aim of the project is to demonstrate the industrial applicability of topologically optimized design and structurally integrative use of lattice structures in quasi-static, dynamically and cyclically loaded components using L-PBF technology. The basis for this is the reproducible, automated generation of lattice structures and a determination of validated material parameters for specific lightweight structures. The central solution approach in both areas is the combination of physically-based models (white-box) with data-based machine learning methods (black-box) in near real-time capable grey-box models for the implementation of innovative targeted manufacturing and dimensioning concepts. It is crucial to be able to predict local material and component behavior, generated by peculiarities of the additive manufacturing process, and to take them into account in the design or construction and calculation. The focus with regard to the load shape should be on the cyclic material behavior. Depending on the component's area of application, however, the static design strength and the plastic deformation and failure behavior in misuse and crash load cases must also be considered. Only a comprehensive evaluation of the loads on a component using CAE methods will allow effective and targeted optimization. To develop and test the method, investigations are carried out on lightweight structures made of various aluminum alloys. As a result, design and manufacturing concepts will contribute to the reduction of market entry barriers and will be further communicated both through influence in standardization and in workshops for practical application.
Approach
Starting with the selection of components or assemblies through methodical evaluation of the lightweight potential, lightweight structure designs are developed for the corresponding components. The project is divided into the two parallel tracks of lattice structures and topology-optimized designs. For each of these two concepts, process strategies will be developed to produce homogeneous component properties (surface, microstructure) for evaluable cyclic strength. Process monitoring systems will also provide characteristic parameters to correlate the process with the resulting properties. Cyclic strength properties are evaluated by considering damage behavior and material models, and combining these in innovative grey-box models. Finally, design and dimensioning guidelines are derived from this evaluation in combination with the design. | https://www.pmd.tu-darmstadt.de/forschung_pmd/projekte_7/laufende_projekte/standardseite_7.en.jsp |
Auction:
4.2.2018
Year:
(1871 Opočno - 1957 Puteaux)
Artwork:
Music
Created:
1930
Starting/Selling price:
54 510 EUR
Estimate:
58 820 – 78 430 EUR
Sold:
1.650.000 Kč / 66 000 EUR
Gouache on paper
Dimensions: 27 x 29,5 cm
Signed lower right "Kupka"
Provenance:
- the collection of Mr. Loriot
- Gallery Zlotowski, Paris
- a private collection, Paris
This artwork is an important high quality study to the oil painting Music (1930-1932, oil on canvas, 85 x 93 cm, in the collection of Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris).
A confirmation of the authenticity by Vladimir Lekes, the author of Kupka’s Catalogue Raisonne of Oil Paintings attached. (published with cooperation of Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, National Gallery Prague, Belvedere Vienna and the owner of Kupka´s resale rights Adagp Paris).
Confirmation of the authenticity by Pierre Brulle, dated 4. April 2016, attached (Curator of the exhibition „Frantisek Kupka – The Way to Amorfa“, National Gallery in Prague, 30, November 2012-3, March 2013).
Consulted with Professor Jaromir Zemina, Dr Karel Srp and Dr Jiri Machalicky. | https://aloos.cz/en/node/1172 |
New radio measurement of SS Cygni could help solve a troubling mystery.
Artist's impression of the binary system SS Cygni, consisting of a white dwarf (right) stripping gas off a red dwarf star. The infalling gas forms an accretion disk, which according to theory flares periodically.
Many violent astrophysical phenomena, from quasars to some types of supernovae, are probably driven by accretion: gas falling onto a compact object. Frequently, the energy involved then blasts light and matter back into space, which is why we can see them.
Cataclysmic variables, a type of recurring explosion involving a low-mass star and a white dwarf, probably fall into that category. However, an observation of the closest cataclysmic variable system—known as SS Cygni—casts doubt on that interpretation. The outbursts from SS Cygni were simply too bright to be accretion-driven by any known mechanism, leading some astronomers to doubt whether the process was responsible for this system and, by extension, other cataclysmic variables. Some even wondered whether it was involved in other phenomena, like bright galactic nuclei.
A new set of data could possibly come to accretion's rescue. J.C.A. Miller-Jones and colleagues measured the distance to SS Cygni very precisely using two networks of radio telescopes and an assumption-free geometry-based method. They determined the binary system is about 372 light-years from the Solar System, placing it about 28 percent closer than the previous distance measurement. If that's a more reliable estimate, the bright outbursts from SS Cygni could be explained using accretion, saving that theoretical model from a premature death.
SS Cygni flares periodically, as seen in this light curve. According to theory, the bumps in the spectrum are when the accretion disk cools enough for electrons to join with atoms.
Cataclysmic variables like SS Cygni are also known as recurrent novas. Unlike supernovae, recurrent novas don't destroy the stars that produce them, so they flare periodically. SS Cygni consists of a white dwarf (the remnant of a star like our Sun) and a low-mass red dwarf star. According to theoretical models, the white dwarf's gravity strips plasma—ionized gas—from the red dwarf, forming a swirling accretion disk near the white dwarf.
However, unlike many more violent systems, the temperature of SS Cygni's disk is relatively low, and it sometimes cools enough to allow electrons to recombine with atoms. When that happens, the disk emits a violent burst of light, causing the whole system to brighten briefly. This process can repeat for centuries since it's non-destructive. This model is known as an accretion disk instability.
The problem: several distance measurements to SS Cygni found it was farther than expected, indicating that its outbursts must be brighter at their source. This in turn means a higher temperature than expected from accretion disk instability. If that was the case, it meant we don't understand cataclysmic variables as well as we thought, which could potentially spell trouble for other accretion-driven phenomena such as X-ray binaries or even the flares that originate near supermassive black holes.
That's where the new distance estimate comes in. A measurement from 1999 was done using visible light obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). It found SS Cygni to be about 519 light-years away—too far for accretion disk instability. The new observation used radio light and determined the system was about 372 light-years distant. The smaller value in turn implies a lower brightness and lower disk temperature.
Hold your fist out straight in front of you; wink first your right eye, then your left. Your hand appears to move relative to the background simply because your eyes aren't in the same position on your head. That's a simple example of parallax. Astronomers use the changing position of Earth as it orbits the Sun in place of winking eyes, but the result is the same: a close-by star appears to move relative to more distant stars, and simple geometrical calculations yield the distance to the star. Parallax is only as good as the telescopes we have, so it can only be used for stars within our galaxy, and not even all of those.
However, that raised another problem: why such a big difference in distance estimates? Both used a method known as parallax, a geometrical technique for measuring distances to objects relatively close to the Solar System. The key difference is how the two measurements were calibrated. Parallax doesn't require knowledge about the emission of light from the object (unlike other distance measurements such as those that use type Ia supernovas), but it still requires reference points.
For visible light, those references are other nearby stars, so astronomers end up averaging over measurements of these distances. That introduces a slight bias and inherent measurement uncertainty, which must be corrected for. However, neither of these are enough to explain the discrepancy.
Radio parallax measurements rely on extragalactic sources for calibration, so they should be completely free of bias. The problem instead is in obtaining high-resolution images of the target, a larger challenge in radio light because of the much larger wavelengths involved. For that reason, the authors of the new study used the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) in North America and the European Very long baseline interferometry Network (EVN), both of which consist of radio telescopes separated by large distances. The distribution of the telescopes allows them to achieve very high resolution, leading in turn to high-precision parallax measurements.
In the end, while there's no reason to doubt the radio parallax estimate, it's unclear why the visible light measurement would be so strikingly different. However, if the radio observation is more reliable, it would rescue the disk-instability model of CV, restoring SS Cygni to its place as the archetype for recurring nova systems.
Science, 2013. DOI: 10.1126/science.1237145 (About DOIs). | https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/refined-distance-measurements-rescue-a-threatened-theory/ |
Responsible for conducting psychiatric assessments; assessing physical health needs; making appropriate referrals to community physicians; providing management and administration of medication in conjunction with the psychiatrist; providing a range of treatment, rehabilitation and support services for individuals in Assertive Community Treatment services.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS – JOB SPECIFIC
• Collaborate with the client and treatment team in developing, writing, implementing, evaluating and revising overall treatment goals and plans; providing individual supportive therapy and symptom management, ensuring immediate changes are made in the treatment plans as clients' needs change, educating and supporting clients' families, and advocating for clients' rights and preferences.
• Under direction of the team psychiatrist organize and manage the system of getting medication to clients and integrating medication administration tightly into clients' individual treatment plans. Take the lead role or participate in providing medication administration and medical services.
• Provide education, training, and coaching on medications, mental illnesses, and co-occurring health illnesses to clients and ACT
• Participate in and conduct parts of the client-centered comprehensive assessment of psychiatric history, mental status and diagnosis, physical and dental health; use of drugs or alcohol; education and employment; social development and functioning; activities of daily living; and family structure and relationships.
• Attend daily staff organizational meetings and treatment planning review meetings, and weekly supervision.
• Complete all required documentation, according to agency policy, which includes but is not limited to: Comprehensive Assessments, Progress Notes, Individualized Treatment Plans, Personal Safety Plans, and Authorizations of Disclosure.
• Provide on-call crisis intervention covering nighttime, evening and weekend hours.
• Accompany clients, when necessary, to medical appointments to assist with communication and understanding of client's illness, medication, and/or procedures.
• Work to help complete prior authorizations and coordinate medical appointments.
• Consult with ACT team regarding client health and medication issues.
• Other duties as assigned
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/CORE COMPETENCIES – COMPANY WIDE
• Regularly attends work except for approved absences
• Attends all training as required
• Maintain professional, “champion” behavior
• Provides quality customer service
• Provides services with a commitment to service excellence
• Works in a way that exhibits a commitment to personal excellence
• Team oriented and values diversity
DESIRED DEMONSTRATED KEY COMPETENCIES
• Analytical Thinking
• Change Readiness
• Collaborative Relationships
• Conflict Resolution
• Creative Thinking
• Communication – Oral
• Communication – Written
• Decision Making
• Flexible Thinking
• Forward Thinking
• Multitasking/Planning
• Organizational/Time Management
• Problem Solving
• Project Management
• Risk Management/ Assessment
• Strategic Thinking
• Teamwork
• Technical Expertise
WORKING CONDITIONS & EXPOSURE RISK
• Regular exposure to blood and/or body fluids
• Regular exposure to biohazard waste materials
• Operating vehicles or machinery
EDUCATION
Associate's degree in nursing required
WORK EXPERIENCE
Experience in an inpatient or outpatient psychiatric setting required
LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION
RN, licensed in Missouri required
Compass Health is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and an E-Verify participant. | https://careers.compasshealthnetwork.org/job/critical-nurse-rn-youth-and-young-adult-population-1-000-sign-on-bonus/J3P14M6YX3R3MSCN98P/ |
Motivation:
Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is a transmission technique that leverages a large number of base station antennas to support many single antenna users, e.g., in your smartphone. It may not possible to deploy such expensive and powerful hardware on every single antenna. Since the power consumption by ADCs grows exponentially with their resolution level, using one-bit ADCs may be a practical way of implementing cost-efficient and green massive MIMO systems.
Goal:
The aim of this thesis is first to do a literature research regarding one-bit massive MIMO detection and to implement several approaches for detection. Depending on the type and advancement in this work, also Machine Learning based approaches (Deep Neural Networks) can be investigated for application in this task.
Requirements:
In order to work on this thesis, a successful participation in the lectures Wireless Communications and Communication Technologies is required. Also, a solid understanding in linear algebra, optimization theory and stochastics is needed. Programming skills in Python and participation in the lecture Advanced Topics in Digital Communications are advantageous but not necessary. | https://www.comm.uni-bremen.de/en/student_theses/14190/ |
Many Latinas doubt their chances for academic and career success, the report found.
(CNN) -- Most Latinas have goals to graduate and get professional jobs, but challenges including discrimination and gender stereotyping undermine their chances of success, a new survey shows.
The discrimination -- sometimes from teachers and fellow students -- affects the young women's self-confidence and performance, leading to lower graduation rates, according to the report released last week by the National Women's Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
"About 80 percent of the students surveyed want to graduate from college and perhaps go further," the report said. "And 98 percent reported that they wanted to graduate from high school. Yet the dropout rates of Latinas are extremely high."
The survey was based on 335 responses received from schools and programs in various parts of the country, with follow-up interviews and focus groups, plus a review of existing research, according to the report.
Out of the young women surveyed, one-third do not expect to achieve their educational goals for various reasons, it said.
"Many Latinas are influenced by family and societal expectations, often based on stereotypes of Latinas as submissive underachievers and caretakers," the report said. "When these stereotypes are internalized, they may cause Latinas to doubt their chances for academic and career success." Alarming rise in Latina drop-out rate »
They also face a series of other challenges, including poverty, immigration status, limited English and lack of parental involvement, it said.
Most don't attend early childhood education programs because their schools don't have enough resources, according to the report.
"Limited English proficiency can make students more likely to fall behind and increase the risk of dropout," the report said. "Moreover, many Latinas lack relationships with role models in the community who can help them to set goals and to envision themselves reaching those goals regardless of their family circumstances."
The report examines some of the reasons for the disparity and lagging performance, and seeks to improve their graduation rates and chances of success.
The recommendations include:
-- Congressional investment in Latino children through early education initiatives and child care, and outreach to Latino families.
-- More outreach to Latinas in schools, including providing them with role models.
-- College preparation by schools for Latinas, with funding from Congress.
-- More school measures to stop discrimination in educational programs and activities.
-- School use of comprehensive, age-appropriate material to teach sex education to avoid the rising pregnancy rates among teen Latinas, and additional support for those who get pregnant. | https://ontd-political.livejournal.com/4019155.html?view=comments |
PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE STATEMENT
LAUTECH Journal of Civil and Environmental Studies (LAUJOCES) upholds high ethics of publication and therefore expects authors, reviewers and editors to follow the best-practice guidelines on ethical behaviour as presented below.
Responsibilities of Editors:
Editorial independence and fairness
All submitted manuscripts are exclusively evaluated by editors on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and its relevance to the journal’s scope, the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy or institutional affiliation notwithstanding. Final decisions to edit and publish are not directly dependent on the policies of governments or any other agencies/bodies apart from the journal. The Editor-in-Chief has full total charge over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content, in line with the journal’s policies.Confidentiality
The disclosure of information about a submitted manuscript by the editors and editorial staff shall be exclusively to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.Handling manuscripts with editors’ conflicts of interest
On no account shall the Editors and editorial board members use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes, a strong exception shall be with the authors’ explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors as a result of handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal advantage. If there are certain manuscripts in which editors have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the papers; editors shall recuse themselves from such and instead, ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.Decisions on Publication
It is the duty of editors to ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication are within the scope of the journal, and that they undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are experts in the field of the article. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments. He/She also ensures that legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism are enforced. The Editor-in-Chief may wish to confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.Involvement and cooperation in investigations
Whenever ethical concerns are raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper, the editors (in conjunction with the publisher and/or society) shall take responsive measures. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. LAUJOCES editors follow the COPE Flowcharts when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct. If, on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be required will be published in the journal.
Responsibilities of Reviewers:
Contribution to editorial decisions
The process of peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of scientific endeavour. LAUJOCES shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to the scientific process have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing. As a result, all our reviewers are Ph.D. holders in various specializations of civil engineering and related fields of science, engineering and environmental studies.Promptness
At any given time, any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, maybe as a result of field divergence or conflicts of interest, or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.Confidentiality
Whenever any manuscript is received for review, it should be treated as a confidential document and must be handled as such. Manuscripts must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the Editor-in-Chief (who would only do so under exceptional and specific circumstances). This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate and not tolerated. Reviewers should concentrate their decisions on the merits of individual articles.Acknowledgement of sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that have not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation or argument that has been reported in previous publications should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge.Disclosure and conflicts of interest
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Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Responsibilities of Authors:
Reporting standards
All authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and the results, followed by an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective and comprehensive, while editorial opinion or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or inaccurate statements, knowingly or unknowingly, constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable to the journal. The report of the manuscript must conform directly and wholly to the format style standard and language of the LAUJOCES.Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication (preferably via an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data centre), provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be guaranteed to be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.Originality and plagiarism
Authors should ensure that they have written and submitted only entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from "passing off"someone elsepaper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another person’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable to LAUJOCES.Multiple, duplicate, redundant or concurrent submission/publication
Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Hence, authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behaviour and unacceptable.Authorship of the manuscript
In all cases, only persons who meet these authorship criteria should be listed as authors in the manuscript as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content by having carried out the following:
(i) made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study; and
(ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and
(iii) have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication.
All persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (such as technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support) but who do not meet the criteria for authorship must not be listed as an author, but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section after their written permission to be named as been obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the authors’ list and verify that all co-authors have seen and approved of the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Authors should - at the earliest stage possible (generally by submitting a disclosure form at the time of submission and including a statement in the manuscript) - disclose any conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones such as honoraria, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers’ bureaus, membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and paid expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial ones such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).Acknowledgement of sources
Authors should ensure that they have properly acknowledged the work of others, and should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately (from conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.Hazards and human or animal subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants, the authors should ensure that ethical consents on all procedures used were obtained and performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them; the manuscript should contain a statement to this effect. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human participants. The privacy rights of human participants must always be observed.Peer review
Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications, and proof of ethics approval, patient consents and copyright permissions. In the case of a "revision necessary" for first decision on the manuscript, authors should respond to the reviewers’ comments systematically, point by point, and in a timely manner, revising and re-submitting their manuscript to the journal by the deadline given.Fundamental errors in published works
When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, it is their obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editors or publisher and cooperate with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, then it is the authors’ obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper. For guidelines on retracting or correcting articles, please click here:https://www.elsevier.com/about/company-information/policies/article-withdrawal.
Responsibilities of the PublisherHandling of unethical publishing behaviour
In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to give the necessary verdicts. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work. The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.Access to journal content
The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive. All the LAUJOCES published papers are assigned unique Digital Object Identification (DOI) number, making their accessibility possible with ease. | https://laujoces.org/publication-ethics/ |
Every week Level One students at Stratford Chefs School tackle one of the ten foundational methods of cooking. This is your opportunity to explore these cooking techniques as taught in Stratford Chefs School's renowned professional culinary program. This 4-hour, hands-on intensive class is perfect for the more advanced home cook or for anyone interested in examining a future career in the culinary arts.
Week 8: Roasting and Baking
Roasting is the most primitive cooking method, having been discovered by the time of the Neanderthals, but of all cooking methods, roasting is the only one to claim its own course in classic menu structure. The roast is given pride of place in the “triad” of meats that form the core of French haute cuisine meals. Although what we consider to be roasting now mostly occurs in enclosed ovens, roasting is distinct from baking because a certain degree of frying, due to rendered fat, occurs during roasting. This frying effect does not occur in baking. Additionally, in baking, a cooking vessel is invariably used. It can be edible (pastry crust), or inedible (pan, foil, or mould).
Suggested Recipes:
Instructor: Eli Silverthorne
Saturday, July 11 | 10:00am – 2:00pm
$85 per person (+ service fee*)
Cost: $85/Per person + a service fee
When: | http://www.stratfordcitycentre.ca/includes/one-event.php?id=20695 |
The Groundlings organization recognizes and acknowledges that we have not done a good enough job in amplifying and supporting the voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in our school and on our stage. While we have seen the positive effects of diversity initiatives first launched in 2015, we know have a long way to go and are committed to making effective long-term change.
Working with the organization since 2016, Povi-Tamu Bryant at Freedom Verses has been engaged with an increased scope of work to strengthen the Groundlings’ efforts to be an anti-racist organization and further our commitment to change and social accountability. A local strategic planning firm with a specialization in diversity, equity and inclusion practices, Freedom Verses are implementing new framework, policies and practices on all levels of the institution.
We Are Committed
It is important for us to foster an organizational culture of diversity, inclusion and anti-racism by changing internal structures that have sustained a lack of these tenets. Here are some of the ways we commit to achieving these goals:
- We commit to being actively anti-racist as an organization. We will provide regular anti-racist training for all artists, staff members, and teachers, and take measures to ensure accountability at all levels.
- We commit to providing monthly workshops specifically for our BIPOC students so they can experience being a majority in the classroom.
- We commit to ensuring more BIPOC voices will appear on our stage.
- We commit to improve our hiring practices and establish more diversity parity in our artists, staff, and teachers.
- We commit to engaging in a dialogue that helps us amplify BIPOC voices and confront our implicit bias.
- We commit to listening. Write to us and tell us how we can do better: [email protected]
Diversity Festival
Returning for a fourth year to celebrate and explore diversity and inclusion in comedy and entertainment, The Groundlings Theatre and School is proud to announce their annual Diversity Festival on November 13-15, 2020. Taking place entirely online this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, The Groundlings have expanded their previous one-day event to a three-day weekend extravaganza with full days of sketch and improv classes, panels and shows. The Groundlings also welcome back sponsors NBC and Nickelodeon for a fourth year in a row.
The festival is also a continuation of The Groundlings’ partnership with NBC. Together they created the NBC/Groundlings Writing Lab Scholarship in 2016 that joined the network’s long-standing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for onscreen and behind-the-scenes talent. NBC provides full-tuition scholarships to students of diverse backgrounds for The Groundlings’ Upper Division Writing Lab.
Nickelodeon will support the teen portion of the program by sponsoring the improv training for a select group of teens invited to perform at the Diversity Festival. Nickelodeon and The Groundlings have partnered for the past eleven years to help nurture the development of young talent. For nearly 20 years, Nickelodeon has cultivated a new generation of diverse and creative talent through its unique and innovative outreach programs including the Animated Short Program, Writing Program, Artist Program and Artist Collective. These hands-on programs were designed to provide innovative, inspiring, and educational opportunities for creative and diverse new talent.
A line-up of improv shows and panels featuring Groundlings, alumni and special guests will take place each afternoon of the festival. The festival will also host several diversity-related classes, these one-hour workshops are $10.00 each and registration will be open to the public. All shows and panels will be free and open to the public. The Diversity Festival will run daily from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. from November 13 - November 15. The schedule of events and workshop registration is available now at www.groundlings.com/diversity.
Diversity and Inclusion Scholarships
Groundlings Diversity Scholarship:
The Groundlings organization has invested over $190,000 to fund scholarships since the inception of the program to support Groundlings students of diverse backgrounds. Scholarships from this fund are awarded to all levels of students.
SNL Scholarship: *NEW!*
The Groundlings also announced a partnership with “Saturday Night Live” and the creation of the “SNL Scholarship” to initiate significant steps toward progressive recruitment of diverse applicants. SNL Scholarships are open to any student in the Core Track.
Gary Austin Scholarship:
This Alumni-funded scholarship was created in honor and memory of The Groundlings founder, Gary Austin. Scholarships from this fund are awarded to students who have accepted an offer for Advanced Lab. | http://www.groundlings.com/diversity-and-inclusion/our-commitment |
Life as a pro athlete's baby mama isn't bringing in the big money Adrienne Sheppard expected.
Now she's determined to get married. Young Zakiya Lee will do anything to escape living with her troubled sister.
Tanisha Butler needs to redeem her one mistake - and reclaim her man.
Sports reporter Cherise Long has a 'no athletes' romance rule.
As different as these women are, they can't resist the same temptation: to win the ultimate gold ring.
But between the pressures of 24/7 fame, greed and betrayal, all four will find that the price of wealth is higher than they expected. | https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Daaimah-S-Poole/Whats-His-Is-Mine/14879569 |
Rio Vista Clears Important Hurdle in Quest for National Historic Landmark Designation
The National Historic Landmark nomination for the Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center in Socorro, Texas was approved by the National Historic Landmarks Committee in late October. This significant Latinx site, the National Trust’s first Latinx National Treasure campaign, is the most intact extant bracero reception center remaining the U.S. Braceros were Mexican workers who secured labor contracts for agricultural work in the US under a bi-national program in the mid 20th century. Several National Trust staff testified in support of the nomination. The next step in the designation process will be review by the National Park Service Advisory Board in early 2022.
Rio Vista was one of only seven locations in the US that served as bracero reception centers during the Mexican Farm Labor Program (1951-1964). This program was a bi-national effort between the U.S. and Mexican governments to bring skilled Mexican guest workers to the US, and it was the single largest temporary alien worker program ever undertaken in this country. The program was part of an effort to address critical farm labor shortages across America during and after World War II.
The program had significant impacts on labor history with braceros comprising almost a quarter of agricultural workers in America by 1959. The bracero program stimulated migration between Mexico and America by introducing Mexican citizens to life in America. While the program provided a reliable source of highly skilled farmworkers who worked for relatively low wages, the program drew criticism because of the impacts on domestic farmworkers and because of exploitation of many braceros.
The National Trust has been closely involved with the Rio Vista since 2015 when we conducted a national search for significant Latinx sites. A key objective of the Trust’s advocacy was to secure a National Historic Landmark designation for Rio Vista, and the National Trust played a key role in securing funds and assisting the City of Socorro to select and work with its contractor to complete the nomination. After five years of hard work and intensive research led by Front Range Research Associates, a highly respected preservation consulting firm, and guidance from a University of Texas at El Paso Latina scholar, Dr. Yolanda Leyva, the National Historic Landmark nomination has been completed and is moving through the National Park Service’s review and approval process.
The addition of Rio Vista to the list of National Historic Landmarks will help the National Register of Historic Places in telling the full American story, providing long overdue recognition of a nationally significant site that has been too long overlooked and underappreciated. The City of Socorro, the owner and steward of this property, has made a tremendous investment in stabilizing and rehabilitating this important landmark for future generations. If approved as a National Historic Landmark, this recognition will be extremely beneficial as revitalization and interpretation efforts continue in the years to come. | https://savingplaces.org/places/rio-vista/updates/rio-vista-clears-important-hurdle-in-quest-for-national-historic-landmark-designation |
The departure from normalcy due to climate emergency and accelerating extinction rates of all species opens the door to a re-evaluation and re-conceptualization of core belief systems and practices in apiculture and conservation. The ecological integrity of wild populations of honeybees (Apis Mellifera) is transforming the fundamentals of apiculture and initiating a radical shift in thinking for apiculturists, conservationists, and scientists alike. As an evolving new reality, wilding has become a driving force of an inquiry into and the creation of a new, holistic paradigm of apiculture and conservation. Wilding describes self-willed ecological processes of ‘living landscapes’ (long-term, minimum intervention, natural process-led area). Honeybees are a keystone species and can serve as a resource and inspiration for our human work in agriculture, sociocultural and environmental fields, apiculture, and economics.
We believe in the importance of multi-disciplinary and collaborative problem-solving and our goal is to assist organizations and communities in increasing their ecological capacity and reach. We serve as an intermediary facilitator for entomological research and compassionate conservation (that argues that compassion for all sentient beings should be what guides conservation actions) with land managers, farmers, educators, researchers, community activists, and apiculturists.
In addition to the Honeybee Conservation & Wilding programs, we also deliver a diverse palette of educational programs to complement our fieldwork and catalyze support both within organizations and with their constituencies, including in-person and online workshops and webinars, and we are always curious about how to co-create hands-on and virtual curricula tailored towards specific circumstances and clients.
Apian Networks focuses on the honeybee populations in local watersheds and promotes a symbiotic narrative and a vision for the collaboration of landscape, honeybees & humans. It is a local watershed program that supports the conditions necessary for populations of honeybees to thrive and provides a baseline for habitat and nesting sites. The framework of Apian Networks follows the natural life gestures of honeybees and integrates cutting-edge research in life sciences, biomimicry and traditional practices. TreeNests are placed to strengthen Apian Networks and are an important tool that can mitigate a low availability of nesting sites and/or support natural selection and the restoration of apian health in a diverse set of landscapes. They are part of new pathways for sustainable, watershed-centric apiculture. | https://www.apisarborea.org/wilding/deep-ecology-research/ |
PURPOSE: To obtain a resin boated metallic plate having a composite resin coating film on the surface and excellent in suitability to blanking without applying oil.
2
2
CONSTITUTION: A composite resin coating film based on a resin and contg. 0.5-20wt.% spherical polyethylene wax particles and 1-30wt.% (expressed in terms of SiO) silica particles is formed on the surface of a metallic plate by 0.2-3g/m coating weight. The resin is prepd. by incorporating 1.0-20wt.% epoxy resin crosslinkable at ordinary temp. into urethane resin contg. active hydrogen in each molecule. The shape of the spherical polyethylene wax is retained in the coating film and the objective resin coated metallic plate excellent in suitability to blanking is obtd.
COPYRIGHT: (C)1995,JPO | |
Barnes, Amy Jane
(2012).
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Abstract
This article explores the independently curated exhibition, Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon, which was on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 2006. It analyses the exhibition’s interpretive approach, as well as the tensions between the exhibition’s curator and institution. I focus, in the final instance, on the particular issues associated with the display of revolutionary material culture, as well as the phenomenon of communist kitsch. The article concludes by arguing that art and politics are inextricably linked in revolutionary material, and in derivatives thereof, including those pertaining to Che Guevara. Without interpretation of both aspects, the impact of the whole is diminished. For a satisfactory outcome, I contend, museums must be prepared to take a clear interpretive stance, and accept any criticism or controversy that follows by tackling the issues this type of art and material culture raises, or not at all.
|Item Type:||Journal Item|
|Copyright Holders:||2012 Amy Jane Barnes|
|ISSN:||1479-8360|
|Keywords:||representation; Victoria and Albert Museum; material culture; revolution; Che Guevara; interpretation|
|Academic Unit/School:||Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities > Art History
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Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)
|Item ID:||69034|
|Depositing User:||Amy Jane Barnes|
|Date Deposited:||16 Jan 2020 16:08|
|Last Modified:||28 Jan 2020 07:10|
|URI:||http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/69034|
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Per the latest Executive Order by Governor Doug Ducey, we are excited to announce that we will be returning to school on August 17, 2020.
School choice has been the cornerstone of Arizona education for over two decades and during that time parents have had the opportunity to choose the academic program that they believe is best suited to meet the needs of their student and family. We believe that providing school choice to parents and families is critical during these unprecedented times and that parents are in the best position to determine what is best and safest for their family.
The school year will begin on Monday, August 17, 2020 for all Leading Edge Academy schools. Following Governor Ducey’s Executive Order on Thursday, July 23rd, we are happy to announce that Leading Edge Academy is making preparations to offer both an in-person and a distance learning (online) option to begin the new school year. Additional guidelines are expected from the state of Arizona on or around August 7, 2020 that will provide guidance for an in-person opening. These guidelines will provide flexibility for our school leaders, with public health data and guidance, to be able to safely prepare for an in-person return. Once these guidelines are released, Leading Edge Academy will analyze them, along with the needs of our school community, and revisit and possibly revise our plan for a successful reopening of our schools. At this time, Leading Edge Academy will continue with current planning for an August 17th start for both in-person and distance learning options.
With that in mind, we strive to provide all of you with the information you need to make the choice best for your student and family. Below are the current highlights of each option (in-person and distance learning) as well as a link to our COVID-19 webpage where detailed documents and policies can be found. The COVID-19 webpage is updated regularly so please refer to it often for the latest information.
Please review this information, discuss with your family, and determine which option (in-person or distance learning) is best for you. In the coming days, you will be contacted by email and asked to provide your choice for the start of the 2020-21 school year. If you have not previously responded with your selection between in-person and distance learning or, if your choice has changed, please respond to this latest email with your choice no later than Friday, August 7, 2020.
Thank you again for your support of Leading Edge Academy and we are looking forward to a fantastic school year.
In-Person School Option
Distance Learning Option
Thank you for your continued support of Leading Edge Academy.
– Lori Anderson
Executive Director
Last Updated 07/27/20
Dear Parents and Students,
We are aware that you may have many questions and concerns about COVID-19 and our updated education, cleaning and health policies. This is designed to be a “one stop” area for you to find direction and answers to your questions. We will update these items for you as much as deemed necessary. As always, if you need more information please do not hesitate to contact your school office.
Here are links to important documents for your review:
We are looking forward to returning to school on Monday, August 17th. While we know many families are ready to return to their brick and mortar school, we recognize that there are families still facing challenges during this unprecedented time.
As a Network of schools, we will be offering a comprehensive distance learning platform to all students K-12, while retaining their “seat” at their brick and mortar school. Families with students enrolled at any Leading Edge Academy school are able to opt in to distance learning where students learn at home, while being provided with rigorous and consistent instruction.
Student courses and learning will be managed by Leading Edge Academy Online, our Fully Accredited online school and their rigorous learning platform. When you are ready for your student to return to their home campus, their seat will be waiting for them.
Families who choose this option will need to commit to the following:
Leading Edge Academy is committed to student achievement and success and remains your partner in education.
No, your homeroom “seat” remains at your home campus. As long as you are enrolled at any Leading Edge Academy school, you may choose the online option for the 20-21 school year.
They will be assigned to a teacher at their home school but their online curriculum may be facilitated by a teacher from LEAO or the home school, depending on student load per grade level.
The curriculum is through the publisher, Lincoln Learning and the online platform is called SchoolsPLP (Schools Personalized Learning Platform). Your student(s) will get all of the information for logging in, etc by August 14th and school will start on August 17th just like their peers.
We are asking families to commit to a quarter of online instruction at a time. The online option will be offered for the entire 20-21 school year.
You will need to make sure they have a quiet place to work, that they login daily and complete their assignments and help them communicate with their online teacher if needed. All of the work will be done at home. The requirement for full time attendance is that students work a minumum of 4 hours a day on their school work Monday through Friday.
Yes, daily attendance will be checked and each subject area will be graded. | https://leadingedgeacademy.com/fall-return-to-school-plan/ |
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) is the world's third most visited museum. With 6 million visitors per year, the need for clear maps and signage is paramount. 50% of visitors purchase a map when visiting, in order to navigate the complex building layout and find the many masterpieces and treasures contained within.
At Applied Wayfinding, we designed a new printed and digital map for both The Met 5th Avenue and The Met Cloisters locations. Both were translated into 9 languages. The result solved many of the information design challenges and enables visitors to confidently find their way around. | https://www.ronankellydesign.com/project/met-museum |
Chris Hayes has tweeted that he will present “All In,” his MSNBC show, from Orlando tonight. He has invited fans to come watch.
He writes: “Tonight we’ll be broadcasting the show live from Orlando. Come by Hooch in the Wall St Plaza around 7:30pm.”
Before the show, Hayes plans to tape an interview with John Legend. The singer will talk about the importance of the midterm elections and getting out the vote. Legend will be joined by Neil Volz and Desmond Meade of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Hayes’ new book, “War on Christmas,” will be out next month. His last book was “A Colony in a Nation.”
On Monday, Hayes was honored at the News & Documentary Emmys for outstanding news discussion and analysis. The prize came for a show about Chicago.
Between Sanford's West End theater and the Florida Festival of New Musicals, the Central Florida art scene finds new success.
Between Sanford's West End theater and the Florida Festival of New Musicals, the Central Florida art scene finds new success.
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Between Sanford's West End theater and the Florida Festival of New Musicals, the Central Florida art scene finds new success.
Between Sanford's West End theater and the Florida Festival of New Musicals, the Central Florida art scene finds new success.
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Orlando Museum of Art hosts Nick Cave exhibit.
Orlando Museum of Art hosts Nick Cave exhibit.
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Mermaids from Weeki Wachee State Park, perform underwater at Sea Life Orlando Aquarium, Friday, September 28, 2018. The world-famous mermaids are making their first-ever field trip to Orlando for special performances and meet-n-greets with guests. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Mermaids from Weeki Wachee State Park, perform underwater at Sea Life Orlando Aquarium, Friday, September 28, 2018. The world-famous mermaids are making their first-ever field trip to Orlando for special performances and meet-n-greets with guests. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
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In the latest wanderings of the Central Florida Explorer, Patrick enjoys the Royal Palm Railway Experience in Mount Dora, which offers riders the experience of drinking wine and riding a train.
In the latest wanderings of the Central Florida Explorer, Patrick enjoys the Royal Palm Railway Experience in Mount Dora, which offers riders the experience of drinking wine and riding a train. | |
The PEI Department of Finance and Treasury Board Secretariat aims to encourage the development of an innovative, diverse and inclusive workforce, which enables the organization to realize its goals. This position is responsible for leading the development of the various emergency management, business continuity, cybersecurity and disaster recovery programs within the province, making recommendations to provincial departments regarding the appropriate actions to take for the prevention of, preparedness and response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters having the potential to or those that have impacted the province.
Duties will include:
– Provide leadership, coordination, development and management of a significant number of business continuity, disaster recovery and emergency planning initiatives for ITSS including; the Provincial All Hazards Plan, Critical IT Infrastructure Protection Plan, Business Continuity Planning Programs;
– Support ITSS and liaises with EMO through the participation of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery measures related to the objectives of: ensuring the continuity of government services and IT systems, protection of IT critical infrastructure and the environment, ensuring public safety through timely access to critical services supported by IT, and ensuring protection of data;
– Provide leadership in the development and maintenance of business continuity, disaster recovery and emergency management programs;
– Provide guidance and advice to government departments and agencies as it relates to comprehensive business continuity, disaster recovery and emergency management programs;
– Lead the coordination and review of provincial government and agency business continuity, disaster recovery and emergency management programs;
– Develop and facilitate awareness sessions that increase and enhance planning activities with provincial government;
– Consulting with agencies and departments emergency alerts (Alertus, SolarWinds, Signal and etc.);
– Develop and facilitate public education and awareness programs;
– Assist in the facilitation of training programs offered by ITSS;
– other duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications:
– Must have degree or diploma in Disaster / Emergency Management, Business Continuity Management, Business Administration or Computer Science related field with experience in emergency management or business continuity;
– Demonstrated equivalencies will be considered;
– Must qualify to acquire a security clearance;
– Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills;
– Experience in emergency planning programs or business continuity or IT disaster recovery;
– Strong facilitation skills;
– Excellent time management skills and writing skills;
– Must have strong proven computer and technology skills;
– Must have innovative and creative presentation techniques;
– Strong interpersonal skills;
– Preference will be given to candidates with
o Knowledge of the relevant Acts associated with PEI EMO and IT including Privacy and Security;
– Applicants must have a good previous work and attendance record. The successful applicant must provide a satisfactory Criminal Records Check prior to beginning employment.
Note: Please ensure the application clearly demonstrates how you meet the noted qualifications as applicants will be screened based on the information provided. The successful candidate will be the only individual receiving written notification of competition results. The “Notification of Successful Candidates” list posted on the Employment Opportunity board will serve to inform all other applicants of competition results.
Salary Range: $26.06 – $31.05 per hour (Level 13 UPSE)
Bi-Weekly Hours: 75.0 hours bi-weekly
Posting ID: 153436-0922TBTO
Closing Date: Monday, October 3, 2022 4:00 p.m.
Please return forms to PEI Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 2000, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A 7N8. Applications may be sent by fax to (902) 368-4383. It is the responsibility of the applicant to confirm receipt of the application, by telephone or in person prior to the closing date. Please ensure that the appropriate Posting ID number is stated on all application forms. You can apply online or obtain an application form by visiting our web site at www.gov.pe.ca/jobs. Forms may also be obtained by contacting any PEI Government office, ACCESS PEI Centre, Regional Services Centre, or by telephone (902) 368-4080.
To apply for this job please visit www.gov.pe.ca. | https://www.techpei.ca/job/it-business-continuity-safety-and-disaster-recovery-officer/ |
JOB SUMMARY VP of Quality & Regulatory:
Leads and manages the Quality & Regulatory organization and all Quality related programs and activities to support site operations. Functions and activities include Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Validation, GMP Training, Compliance and Regulatory. Ensures business, quality and compliance goals are met in full compliance with all Gallus and relevant government issued quality and regulatory policies/guidelines.
REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS Leads: 6-8 Direct Reports & 70-100 Indirect Reports
ACCOUNTABILITIES For setting the standards for current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) Quality for Gallus, by analyzing relevant regulatory authorities laws, standards, programs and activities in areas relevant to biological products. For testing and timely disposition of commercial and clinical material to allow shipment to customers. For measuring, reporting and improving Quality compliance and performance against the Gallus standards. For the compliance of the raw material and consumables vendors against the Gallus standards. For developing an appropriate operating and capital expense budgets and striving to have the Quality organization contribute to Gallus profitability. For supporting the commercial function in the assessment of new opportunities and providing appropriate Quality input to prospective customers, including the demonstration of compliance through audit. Evaluates the functional strengths and developmental areas in the Quality organization and focuses on continuous improvement to ensure that standards are met.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Proactively develops and sustains strong relationships with regulatory authorities. Directs team of Supervisors, Managers, and Professionals within Quality who are responsible in hiring and developing employees within the department in support of site objectives. Collaborates with internal stakeholders in Manufacturing, Process Development, Project Management, EHS, etc. to facilitate successful customer management. Set and direct organization towards short-term and long-term goals by utilizing Operational Excellence Programs. Desired Skills and Experience
KEY CHARACTERISTICS The individual selected for this role must be independent and have a depth of experience in managing all of the quality aspects associated with clinical and commercial GMP manufacturing. Ability to work by influencing peers and their reports and gain their cooperation in dealing with multiple priorities in the management of compliance. Strategic leadership and thinking to ensure compliance is delivered cost effectively. Rational persuasion particularly in the discussions with customers. Strong people management and organizational skills; ability to prioritize and manage through complex processes/projects. Ability to read, analyze and interpret business periodicals, common scientific, professional and technical journals, governmental regulations and legal documents. Ability to deal with abstract and concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS B.S. in a scientific/technical discipline with 15+ years experience in a significant leadership position within the biological and/or pharmaceutical industry, or Ideally a PhD or Masters Degree in scientific/technical discipline with 10+ years experience. At least 10 years experience in a Quality leadership role required Demonstrated strategic leadership of a Quality Organization for a Contract Manufacturer preferred. Knowledgeable of FDA/EMEA regulatory requirements applicable to biologics or pharmaceuticals. Ability to apply GMP regulations and other FDA and international guidelines to all aspects of the position.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS Ability to function in a rapidly changing environment and balance multiple priorities simultaneously. A flexible work schedule is required. This role will be based in St. Louis with up to 30% travel likely. This job description is not all inclusive, other duties may be performed as assigned. About this company
Gallus is a mammalian cell culture contract manufacturing organization (CMO) that offers a unique level of flexibility and strategic appeal to companies seeking to develop and manufacture biologics. As a pure-play CMO, we deliver a high level of quality and reliability to our clinical and commercial clients. Our team has nearly three decades of biologics manufacturing experience, combined with an exceptional focus on quality evidenced in a high frequency of tech transfers and a long-term stellar regulatory record. Gallus also demonstrates reliability with an outstanding record of batches starting and releasing on time. We provide value for your molecule in our uniquely flexible services and business models, including utilizing advanced technologies to improve processes, reduce project timelines and optimize yields. We have significantly expanded our process development laboratories and clinical services suites using flexible stainless steel and single-use technologies, and have built our talent pool with industry-recognized expertise in cell culture, purification, analytical development and project management. Combined, Gallus’ team and facilities provide the exceptional service you seek for developing and manufacturing the biologic therapies of the future. The Gallus team is ready to demonstrate our flexibility and how far we’ll go to work for you. | https://www.asqstl.org/job-notice-vp-of-quality-regulatory-gallus-biopharmaceuticals/ |
Our strategy entrusts the community with powers to plan, design, own and manage their own water supply systems. WASMO has strong faith in the principle that a sense of 'Ownership and Pride' is to be instilled among the community.
- Creating institutions at the village level and strengthening them through continuous capacity building
- Focus on IEC and software activities before taking up development of infrastructure for water supply
- Putting entire programme in public domain for seeking strong citizens' engagement
- Social process based demand driven programme implementation for achieving stakeholder engagement, gaining public confidence, strong community leadership, accountability and efficient service delivery
- Building strong partnerships based on transparency and trust with community, community institutions and NGOs.
WASMO in addition to development of physical infrastructure also gives due emphasis to IEC activities and generation of public awareness and a feeling of responsibility towards water related issues. These "Software Activities" include various measures like Gram Sabha, publications, folk media, electronic media, rallies, campaigns and workshops. These IEC and capacity generation activities are undertaken to generate awareness, share knowledge and create an enabling environment and promoting a behavioral change. Every effort is put to stimulate the necessary skills into the community and trainings are also imparted to villagers addressing a wide array of issues from project planning to post implementation operation & maintenance.
A flexible and adaptive approach is adopted so that the processes can be altered to suit socio-cultural, geographic and economic locale of the project beneficiaries. Transparent systems are deployed at all levels and communities are galvanized to demand more and more openness in the system.
Community-Managed Programme Imperatives- Not Negotiable
Community-managed programme has been scaled up with due consideration that its objectives are fulfilled in a long run. Therefore, it has become important to set some “Not Negotiable” standards for achieving the community participation in real spirit and they are as follows:
- Willingness of community to join with the programme
- Formation of Pani Samiti in Gram Sabha to enjoy people consensus
- Community willing to share partial cost (mostly 10%) of scheme work with real contribution from >80% houses. Community and Pani may consider Samiti at their discretion to exempt community contribution for poor/ deprived people
- Community participation essential in planning and implementation of village scheme. The Government acts as a facilitator to stand-by for required support.
- Social inclusion to benefit all with improved services (100% tap water connectivity)
- Willingness of community to shoulder 100% responsibility for O&M of village water supply system
- No withdrawal from the village or No drop out of the scheme. "Wait, Watch and Revisit until Headway Strategy" is adopted for ensuring Adequate, Regular and Safe Water to all, even to those who have shown less willingness.
Facilitating Empowerment
WASMO has adopted bottom-up approach in consonance with the spirit of the 73rd amendment of our Constitution. Processes for social mobilisation are continued to win trust of the people and obtain their willingness to join with the programme including partial sharing of the cost by them. Concerted efforts are made by the team of WASMO since introduction to the programme to provide all possible required support to the community. The stages for social processes in the programme are as follows:
- Programme introduction and need analysis
- Formation of Pani Samiti with consensus of people in Gram Sabha
- Participatory Rural Appraisal with community involvement
- Preparation of Village Action Plan by community
- Capacity building of the Pani Samiti and sharing of information with villagers
- Implementation of the Scheme by community
- Independent Financial Operations by Pani Samiti with guidance of WASMO
- Operation & Maintenance of System by Community
WASMO trusts in the ability of people and communities and their competency to make informed choices, assume responsibility, manage and resolve conflicts and deal with unforeseen future challenges. To deliver this empowerment, appropriate legal frameworks and institutional mechanism in the Pani Samiti at village level with a specific mandate are devised as under:
- Genuine people’s representation in Pani Samitis with adequate representation from women and marginalized sections of society
- Pani Samiti is a legal entity and enjoys powers to manage for improved village water supply services
- Accountability by making the process transparent and democratic.
- Capacity Building by promoting people’s awareness on water issues and developing skill of community in construction supervision, financial management, operation and maintenance of village water supply system and water quality surveillance. | https://wasmows.gujarat.gov.in/strategy |
Guidelines for late collection of children – for staff and volunteers
It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure that all children are collected from cricket training and matches punctually. Hornsey CC is not responsible for transporting children home, when parents or carers have been delayed.
If there is an unavoidable delay due to an emergency it is the responsibility of the parent or carer to contact the cricket coach or team manager to inform them of the delay. Arrangements should be made by the parent or carer for another responsible adult to collect their child, the coach or manager should be contacted so that they know who will be collecting the child.
However, in cases of late collection, staff and volunteers must:
• Attempt to contact the parent/carer on their contact number
• Attempt to contact parent/carer on the alternative contact number provided
• Staff and volunteers should wait with the child at the ground with at least one other staff/volunteer or parent present
In cases of late collection, staff and volunteers must not:
• Take the child home or to another location
• Send the child home with another person, without obtaining the consent of the child’s parent/carer
• Wait with the child in a vehicle or at the ground with you alone
• Allow the child to wait unattended whist the parent or a representative arrives
If parents or carers are happy for children under the age of 14 to travel home from training and matches unaccompanied they should notify the club in writing.
Any concerns regarding the above should be raised to the team manager, captain or Club Welfare Officer. | https://www.hornseycricketclub.co.uk/late-collection |
The sustainability of fisheries resources in most water bodies in East Africa is are threat.
This has arisen because of poor management, leading to degradation resulting from beach pollution and the use of destructive fishing methods such as dynamite, poison and small fishnets.
Such situation has necessitated the use of alternative management approaches like Beach Management Units (BMUs), which promote more community involvement in the fisheries resources management. Research has it that BMUs reduce unsustainable practices and ensures sustainable management
of the fisheries resources.
In 2005, ILEG partnered with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), to study the utility, dynamics and operationalization of Beach Management Units (BMUs) as a critical mechanism in the management of fisheries in Kenya. The aim was to help propose appropriate policy provisions and legal rules to govern BMUs and their integration into fisheries management.
The project advised and assisted the Kenya Department of Fisheries in the process of developing a legal framework for Beach Management Units (BMUs) to sustainably manage fisheries and landing sites around Lake Victoria. The process involved research on the status of the legal framework with comparative study of the experiences of Uganda and Tanzania in creating and implementing beach management systems, and the role of customary practices.
ILEG also engaged stakeholders in this sector, such as fisher folk, local NGO, fisheries officers, among others to find out the past, present, and potential future role of customary practices in shaping BMU policies and management, effective and enforcement mechanisms for BMUs, the need for additional legislation or regulation to implement BMUs, relative strengths and weaknesses of local, national, private and public approaches to managing shared natural resources and regional harmonization of BMU practices.
This project culminated with a regional workshop where stakeholders from the three East African countries participated to share experiences, discuss issues of concern and exchange ideas towards greater harmonization and sustainable utilization of the shared natural resource of Lake Victoria.
At the close of the project a report ,The Legal and Operational Framework For Beach Management: Kenya status Report which proposed BMUs as useful models for management of fisheries as they provide for involvement of relevant stakeholders in the decision making process o the utilization and management of fisheries resources was published. | https://ilegkenya.org/2022/05/23/legal-framework-for-beach-management-units-in-east-africa/ |
The ATLAS system combines a comparatively small telescope with a very powerful camera. The telescope is an equatorially-mounted 50cm diameter f/2 Wright-Schmidt system, while the camera uses a 110 Megapixel CCD array. A major feature of the telescope is its large 7.4° field of view - about 15 times the diameter of the full moon. With this system the whole night sky visible from Hawaii can be imaged with about 700 separate telescope pointings. At 30 seconds per exposure, plus 5 seconds readout, each telescope can scan 25% of the sky four times per night.we can scan the whole sky twice each night, reaching to magnitude 20. This is astronomer-speak for "respectably but not extremely faint." It is the equivalent to the light of a match flame in New York viewed from San Francisco
The detailed specification for the ATLAS telescope may be found here.
Discovery images of asteroid 2008 TC3
showing its motion against the background
of stars (credit: Catalina Sky Survey)
The key to detecting asteroids is that they continously move against the more or less fixed background of stars and galaxies: a typical asteroid moves something like 30 seconds of arc an hour. ATLAS looks for these high proper-motion objects by taking four images of each part of the sky with exposures separated by 12 minutes. The computer system in the telescope dome, which is capable of analysing 250 GBytes of data per night, makes a detailed search of the images immediately after the fourth one is taken,
The computer will then compile a list of all objects that appear to have changed either their positions in the sky or their brightness and will then work out which of these objects is likely to be an asteroid moving across the sky, and which may be some other astronomical phemenon such as those discussed here. If an object is suspected of being an asteroid, the computer sees if it can be identified with any of the hundreds of thousands of already-known asteroids. If not, the next step is to try to calculate the orbit of the asteroid and distinguish between a main-belt asteroid, which is no danger to us, and a Potentially Hazardous Object, (PHO) which might be. All these calculations are made within minutes of the data being taken.
Go to the Impact Response page to find out what happens if we detect an asteroid on a path that may intersect with the Earth.
Under favorable circumstances ATLAS can detect a 100-meter diameter asteroid at a distance of 40 million kilometers (a quarter of the distance to the Sun) and a 10-meter diameter asteroid at a distance of 4 million kilometers (10 times the distance to the Moon). If we assume the asteroid is approaching Earth at a typical speed of about 20 kph, we will get somthing like about 3 weeks warning for the 100m object and 2 days for the 10m one. As we discuss in the Impact Response page this amount of warning should be enough to move people out of dangerous areas but not to deflect the asteroid away from the Earth.
Unfortunately, a large portion of the sky toward the sun – about one quarter of the night sky – is impossible to look into from the ground without seeing daylight glare and losing sensitivity. Also, parts of the southern sky are not visible from the northern hemisphere since they are below the horizon (about one quarter of the southern sky cannot be seen from Hawai'i). Moonlight also spoils ATLAS's sensitivity This leaves half of the entire sky that in principle can be seen over the course of a night from a single mid-northern latitude site.
In order to assess the effect of these blind spots we undertook a computer simulation in which the Earth was threatened with a large number of fictitious dangerous asteroids. The asteroids had a range of plausible orbits, so that some were easy for ATLAS to find and some were difficult. The graph shows the range of warning times that ATLAS would have provided for these asteroids. We see that most 50 m diameter asteroids will be detected between 3 and 9 days before impact, and most 140 meter asteroids will be detected 10 - 40 days before impact.
As of 2019 ATLAS consists of two identical telecopes, one at Mauna Loa Observatory on Hawai'i Island, and a second on the summit of Haleakala, about 100 miles to the north-west. Having two separated telescopes doubles our survey speed and it reduces the chances of the sky being obscured by clouds. We can also get extra information about an asteroid by the parallax effect; an asteroid which is close to the Earth will appear to be in slightly different position with respect to the background stars when viewed from the two locations, providing us with additional data for calculating its orbit.
There are currently plans to build two more ATLAS telescopes - one in Chile and one in South Africa, both funded by NASA.. These will allow us to detect asteroids approaching us from a southerly direction, and will also give us 24-hour night sky coverage. Multiple systems will also reduce the amount of observing time lost to cloudy weather. The new telescopes should be operational by late 2020.
Several of the ATLAS scientists have alsoworked on the University of Hawai'i Pan-STARRS project, a system designed to find near-Earth objects (NEOs) moving through the Solar System long before they might strike us. Pan-STARRS is a larger telescope than ATLAS, has a larger camera, and can detect fainter objects than ATLA.. But because its field of view is narrower than that of ATLAS, it takes PanSTARRS many nights of observation to image the whole sky even once. Although Pan-STARRS can give us plenty of warning for large asteroids, it is less efficient at finding the far more numerous small asteroids that may be on course to impact Earth.
ATLAS is designed to complement Pan-STARRS by monitoring "shallow but wide" sections of space. By removing the need to look all the way across the Solar System as Pan-STARRS does we can canvas the sky much more frequently. Even a small asteroid will become very bright when it makes its final approach to Earth; ATLAS will be searching for these every night, weather permitting. | https://atlas.fallingstar.com/how_atlas_works.php |
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domesticated species
domesticated species
A term defined by a species in which the evolutionary process has been influenced by humans to meet their needs.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in
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country of origin of genetic resources
guinea pig
References in periodicals archive
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The domestication of animals for food, secondary products, labour and companionship over the past 11,000 years has led to a global distribution of
domesticated species
with distinct geographical patterns.
Where the Animals Graze
They hold a special place in every Christmas celebration and rendition of 'Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.' Reindeer or caribou (as known in North America), which are native to arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia and North America, are the latest animals to get their genome referenced and enter the growing list of
domesticated species
.
Reindeer Genome Shows Common Ancestry With Cattle, Goat
Signatures of multiple domestication events appear to be a general rule as they have been reported for many
domesticated species
(Giuffra et al.
Short Communication - MITOCHONDRIAL DNA D-LOOP SEQUENCE BASED PHYLOGENY OF PAKISTANI BUFFALO (BUBALUS BUBALIS)
The number of
domesticated species
is expected to increase yearly due to the decline of pollinators in agricultural areas.
The diversity and abundance of stingless bee (Hymenoptera: meliponini) in Peninsular Malaysia
For instance, did you know there are only five
domesticated species
of squash?
Make your own seed bank: what you need to know about saving your own seeds
This has been the case with all
domesticated species
, to one extent or another, from horses to pigs to cattle to dogs and the many others, and camels are no exception.
CAMELS IN THE BIBLE
The germplasm collection includes common
domesticated species
such as pigs, chickens, cattle, sheep, and farmed aquatic species like trout and catfish, and also less common
domesticated species
like bison, elk, and even yaks.
Saving the animals
Or, in her words, she studies "the evolution of
domesticated species
of squash to determine how they're related to each other, when and where they were domesticated, [and] what genetic changes underlie domestication."
Wild at heart: scientists and crop breeders are racing to identify the wild ancestors of domesticated plants before they disappear
Alpacas are a
domesticated species
of South American camelid, resembling a small llama.
Beautiful view and a stylish interior; The home of Sue Birkenshaw and family of Golcar
Environment and History has long been interested in the entanglements between humans and other animals (a theme noted, for instance, in our 2014 anniversary issue, 20.4) but the large mammals (from charismatic megafauna to
domesticated species
) have long held the limelight in the focus of the 'animal turn'.
Editorial
It focuses on |Xam characterization of and relationships with the various
domesticated species
that shared their Karoo landscape, and asks whether these relationships differ markedly from their conceptions of non-domesticated animals.
'Hunters-with-sheep': the /Xam Bushmen of South Africa between pastoralism and foraging: hunter-gatherers and herders: Kalahari and cape Khoisan debates
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TECHNICAL FIELD
BACKGROUND
SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and method for electronic communications, and more particularly relates to determining quality of experience for electronic communication sessions.
Various collaboration systems exist for enabling individuals to engage in collaborate activities, such as working together on projects, sharing information, and the like. Collaboration systems can be particularly useful in allowing geographically dispersed individuals to interact and work with one another. Using various different collaboration systems, or multi-functional collaboration systems, individuals who are geographically remote from one another may, for example, engage in common work projects, for example, using online team work spaces, participate in interactive discussions, for example, using teleconferencing or video conferencing systems, and engage in meetings, for example, using electronic meeting systems that allow for presentations, lectures, seminars, and the like.
According to an implementation, a computer-implemented method may include determining a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. The method may also include determining a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. The method may further include deriving a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores.
One or more of the following features may be included. Each of the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, a comparison of a transmitted audio signal and a received audio signal. The plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
Each of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, identified network conditions. The plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
The derived quality of experience coefficient may be a codec specific coefficient. The method may further include determining a non-intrusive quality of experience associated with an audio transmission. The codec specific coefficient may be applied to the non-intrusive quality of experience score to obtain a corrected quality of experience metric.
According to another implementation, a computer program product includes a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored on it. When executed by a processor, the instructions may cause the processor to perform operations including determining a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. Instructions may be include for determining a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. Instructions may further be included for deriving a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores.
One or more of the following features may be included. Each of the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, a comparison of a transmitted audio signal and a received audio signal. The plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
Each of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, identified network conditions. The plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
The derived quality of experience coefficient may be a codec specific coefficient. Instructions may also be included for determining a non-intrusive quality of experience associated with an audio transmission. The codec specific coefficient may be applied to the non-intrusive quality of experience score to obtain a corrected quality of experience metric.
According to another implementation, a computing system includes a processor and a memory module coupled with the processor. The processor may be configured for determining a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. The processor may also be configured for determining a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. The processor may further be configured for deriving a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores.
One or more of the following features may be included. Each of the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, a comparison of a transmitted audio signal and a received audio signal. The plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
Each of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, identified network conditions. The plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions.
The derived quality of experience coefficient may be a codec specific coefficient.
The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
Individuals may often engage in communication sessions, utilizing a data network for conveying the communications. Such communication sessions may include, for example, Voice-over-IP and Video-over-IP communications, in which the communications to and from each party may be conveyed as packetized data over a data network. The quality of these types of communications can be greatly effected by network conditions. For example, packet loss may be one important factor that may impact the perceived quality of experience of the individuals participating in a communication session. As packet loss increases the quality of the communication may be degraded, for example with the individuals experiencing broken or garbled audio signals, increased interference and noise, and the like. Various other network conditions may also impact the quality of the communication.
Consistent with the present disclosure, the quality of experience associated with a media transmission, such as a Voice-over-IP or Video-over-IP communication, an Internet Protocol TV broadcast, etc., may be determined. In some implementations, the present disclosure may allow non-intrusive monitoring methods to be implemented that may provide audio quality assessments that may have a degree of accuracy that may generally be similar to audio quality assessments achievable through intrusive audio quality measurement assessments. The ability to achieve such relatively high accuracy audio quality assessments through non-intrusive monitoring may allow real-time and/or near real-time audio accuracy assessments to be conducted on an ongoing media transmission, such as a communication session. Real-time and/or near real-time audio quality assessments may allow corrective action, such as adaptive algorithms, different error correction codes, and the like to be implemented to provide improved audio quality. In some embodiments, the present disclosure may be implemented in connection with ITU (International Telecommunication Union) standardized codec and/or may be implemented in connection with non-ITU standardized codecs, such as SILK, ISAC, ILBC, SPEEX, etc.
In an embodiment, the present disclosure may allow network conditions, or quality of service factors, such as packet loss, jitter, delay, burst ratio, and the like, to the mapped to a quality of experience metric that may provide an accuracy that may be generally similar to audio quality assessment accuracy achieved using intrusive quality of experience assessment. For example, a quality of experience coefficient may be derived bases upon, at least in part, a mapped relationship between a plurality of quality of experience scores determined using an intrusive assessment technique and a plurality of quality of experience scores determined using a non-intrusive assessment technique. In an embodiment, the quality of experience coefficient may be applied to quality of experience scores determined using a non-intrusive assessment technique to obtain a corrected quality of experience metric. The corrected quality of experience metric may, in some embodiments, have an accuracy generally similar to a quality of experience metric determined using an intrusive assessment technique, but may be obtainable in real-time and/or near real time.
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Referring to , there is shown quality of experience process . For the following discussion, it is intended to be understood that quality of experience process may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, quality of experience process may be implemented as a server-side process, a client-side process, or a server-side/client-side process.
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For example, quality of experience process may be implemented as a purely server-side process via quality of experience process . Alternatively, quality of experience process may be implemented as a purely client-side process via one or more of client-side application , client-side application , client-side application , and client-side application . Alternatively still, quality of experience process may be implemented as a server-side/client-side process via server-side quality of experience process in combination with one or more of client-side application , client-side application , client-side application , and client-side application . In such an example, at least a portion of the functionality of quality of experience process may be performed by quality of experience process and at least a portion of the functionality of quality of experience process may be performed by one or more of client-side application , , , and .
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Accordingly, quality of experience process as used in this disclosure may include any combination of quality of experience process , client-side application , client-side application , client-side application , and client-side application .
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Referring also to , and as will be discussed in greater detail below, quality of experience process may determine a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. Quality of experience process may also determine a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. Quality of experience process may further derive a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores.
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Quality of experience process may be a server application and may reside on and may be executed by computing device , which may be connected to network (e.g., the Internet or a local area network). Examples of computing device may include, but are not limited to: a personal computer, a server computer, a series of server computers, a mini computer, a mainframe computer, or a dedicated network device.
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The instruction sets and subroutines of quality of experience process , which may be stored on storage device coupled to computing device , may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures (not shown) included within computing device . Examples of storage device may include but are not limited to: a hard disk drive; a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID device; an NAS device, a Storage Area Network, a random access memory (RAM); a read-only memory (ROM); and all forms of flash memory storage devices.
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Network may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g., network ), examples of which may include but are not limited to: a local area network; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example.
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Examples of client-side applications , , , may include but are not limited to, one or more of a voice-over-IP application, a video-over-IP application, a streaming media application (e.g., capable of receiving and/or rendering streaming media such as streaming audio and/or streaming video, e.g., IP television, etc.), a web browser, or a specialized application (e.g., an application running on a mobile platform). The instruction sets and subroutines of client-side application , , , , which may be stored on storage devices , , , (respectively) coupled to client electronic devices , , , (respectively), may be executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory architectures (not shown) incorporated into client electronic devices , , , (respectively). Examples of storage devices , , , may include but are not limited to: hard disk drives; tape drives; optical drives; RAID devices; random access memories (RAM); read-only memories (ROM), and all forms of flash memory storage devices.
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Examples of client electronic devices , , , may include, but are not limited to, personal computer , laptop computer , mobile computing device , notebook computer , a netbook computer (not shown), a server computer (not shown), a gaming console (not shown), a data-enabled television console (not shown), and a dedicated network device (not shown). Client electronic devices , , , may each execute an operating system.
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Users , , , may access quality of experience process directly through network or through secondary network . Further, quality of experience process may be accessed through secondary network via link line .
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The various client electronic devices (e.g., client electronic devices , , , ) may be directly or indirectly coupled to network (or network ). For example, personal computer is shown directly coupled to network . Further, laptop computer is shown wirelessly coupled to network via wireless communication channels established between laptop computer and wireless access point (WAP) . Similarly, mobile computing device is shown wirelessly coupled to network via wireless communication channel established between mobile computing device and cellular network/bridge , which is shown directly coupled to network . WAP may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, Wi-Fi, and/or Bluetooth device that is capable of establishing wireless communication channel between laptop computer and WAP . Additionally, personal computer is shown directly coupled to network via a hardwired network connection.
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In some embodiments, quality of experience process may communicate with, interact with, and/or include a component or module of a media application (e.g., communication application ). As is generally known, in some embodiments, a media application (e.g., communication application ) may generally facilitate audio and/or video communications between individuals as participants in a communication session. For example, communication application may facilitate voice over IP and/or video over IP communications between communication session participants. In various embodiments, a communication session may only include two participants, or may include more than two participants. In some embodiments, communication application may include, and/or may interact with, for example, an electronic meeting application, a web conferencing application, or a similar application. An example of communication application may include, but is not limited to, IBM® Sametime®. (Lotus and Sametime are registered trademarks of International Business Machine Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both).
In other embodiments, a media application may provide streaming media for consumption by end users. Examples of streaming media may include streaming video media and/or streaming audio media. An example of streaming media may include, but is not limited to, internet protocol television (e.g., IPTV). Various other forms of streaming media may be similarly utilized. While the present disclosure may generally be set forth by way of illustrative examples relating to communications between participants in a communication session, other embodiments involving the provision and/or consumption of streaming media will be appreciated.
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In an embodiment, the instruction sets and subroutines of communication application may be stored, e.g., on storage device associated with server computer , which executes communication application , and/or another suitable storage device. Further, users (e.g., one or more of users , , , ) may access communication application in order to participate in an electronic communication session (such as a voice call, a video call, an electronic meeting, or other communication session type). The users may access communication application via one or more suitable applications, such as client side applications - (e.g., which may include a voice-over-IP application, a video-over-IP application, a web browser, a client electronic meeting application, or another application) and/or via a different application (not shown). As generally discussed above, a portion and/or all of the functionality of quality of experience process may be provided by one or more of client side applications -. For example, in some embodiments quality of experience process (and/or client-side functionality of quality of experience process ) may be included within and/or interactive with client-side applications -, which may include client side electronic communication applications, web browsers, or another application. Various additional/alternative configurations may be equally utilized.
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As generally discussed above with reference to , quality of experience process determine a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. Quality of experience process may also determine a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. Quality of experience process may further derive a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores.
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As generally discussed above, quality of experience process may allow relationships between the results of intrusive testing and the result of non-intrusive testing to be determined. The relationship may be represented as a derived quality of experience coefficient that may be utilized to correcting non-intrusive quality of experience assessments to provide an accuracy that may, in some implementations, be similar in accuracy to quality of experience assessments achieved utilizing intrusive quality of experience assessment techniques.
FIG. 3
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Referring also to , quality of experience process determine a plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. For example, a communication session (or other media transmission) may be established, e.g., between a transmitter side (e.g., mobile computing device ) and a receiver side (e.g., notebook computer ) through a data network (e.g., network ). For example, the communication session may include a Voice-over-IP call between user and user , via mobile computing device and notebook computer , respectively. While the communication session may include a bidirectional audio transmissions, for the purpose of explanation, mobile computing device may be identified as a transmitter side device and notebook computer may be identified as a receiver side device. The communication session may be established utilizing a variety of ITU and/or non-ITU codec. For example, the communication session may be established using a non-ITU codec, such as SILK, SPEEX, ILBC, ISAC, or the like.
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During the course of the communication session, quality of experience process may determine a plurality of quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. For example, during the course of the communication session (and/or during the course of more than one communication sessions), quality of experience process may collect a plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. The plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples may include audio samples of the communications between user and user (e.g., via mobile computing device and notebook computer , respectively), which may be intrusively analyzed to determine a quality of experience score associated with each of the audio transmission samples. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of intrusive audio quality of experience scores may be represented as a mean opinion score (MOS), or other score, metric, or value that may be representative of a relative quality of experience for an end user (e.g., receiving user ) associated with each of the intrusive audio transmission samples.
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FIG. 3
Each of the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, a comparison of a transmitted audio signal and a received audio signal. For example, quality of experience process may determine each of the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores based upon, at least in part, a degradation between the transmitted audio signal an the received audio signal. For example, as shown in , during the course of the communication session, an audio signal may be transmitted from mobile computing device to notebook computer via network . Additionally, the transmitted audio signal from mobile computing device may be sampled, or recorded, by audio recorder . The recorded signal from mobile computing device may be an original, or transmitted signal, e.g., which may be recorded without being transmitted through network . Additionally, the audio signal received by notebook computer (e.g., after having been transmitted through network ) may also be recorded by audio recorder . The transmitted audio signal may be degraded as a result of network conditions, such as packet loss, jitter, latency, burst ratio, etc., associated with network . As such, the audio signal received by notebook computer may be of a lower quality than the audio single transmitted from mobile computing device . The recorded original, or transmitted signal, from mobile computing device may be compared, by intrusive analysis , to the recorded received audio signal from notebook computer to determine a degree of quality change or degradation between the original audio signal an the received audio signal. Various metrics, such as MOS, may be utilized to represent the intrusive quality of experience score.
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Various algorithms and/or techniques may be utilized by intrusive analysis for measuring, or determining, a quality of experience score for the transmitted audio received by notebook computer . An example technique for intrusive analysis of the intrusive audio transmission samples may include the ITU-T P.862 Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) methodology. Other intrusive analysis techniques may equally be utilized. Examples of other such methodologies may include, but are not limited to, Perceptual Speech Quality Measure (PSQM), MNB, and PAMS.
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The plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions. The plurality of different network conditions may include, for example, but are not limited to, different packet loss rate, different jitter, different delay, etc. In an illustrative example, network may include a controllable environment, and the packet loss rate for network may be varied between 0% to 40% in 0.5% increments. An intrusive quality of experience score may be determined for each packet loss rate established for network , in a manner as generally described above (e.g., recording a transmitted audio signal and recording a received audio signal, and comparing the transmitted audio signal with the received audio signal). In other embodiments, e.g., in which network may not include a controllable environment, a network condition may be determined associated with each determined respective intrusive quality of experience score. Over time, the variation in network conditions may allow intrusive quality of experience scores to be determined for a range of network conditions. Intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for variations in network conditions in addition/as an alternative to packet loss rate.
FIG. 4
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Referring also to , quality of experience process may also determine a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples. In a similar manner as discussed above, a media transmission (such as the communication session between mobile computing device and notebook computer ) may be established via network . Quality of experience process may determine a plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores associated with a plurality of transmission samples, for example, associated with a plurality of audio transmission samples taken during the course of the communication session between user and user . In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined during one or more separate communication sessions, or other media transmission instances.
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Each of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be based upon, at least in part, identified network conditions. For example, for each non-intrusive transmission sample, one or more network conditions may be determined, e.g., by non-intrusive analysis . Non-intrusive analysis may utilized one or more non-intrusive techniques or algorithms to determine each of the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores. An example of a non-intrusive quality of experience technique may include the ITU-T G.107 method, which may also be referred to as the E-model method. In some implementations, non-intrusive quality of experience techniques may generally provide measures of quality of service associated with the network, which may not always be accurate indicators of actual quality of experience realized by an end user (such as user , as a receiving participant of a portion of a communication session). Other non-intrusive quality of experience methodologies based upon, at least in part, one or more network conditions, may equally be utilized. Examples of network conditions that may be analyzed for determining the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may include, but are not limited, packet loss rate, jitter, delay, etc., associated with network .
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The plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for a respective plurality of different network conditions. The plurality of different network conditions may include, for example, but are not limited to, different packet loss rate, different jitter, different delay, etc. In a similar illustrative example as described above, network may include a controllable environment, and the packet loss rate for network may be varied between 0% to 40% in 0.5% increments. A non-intrusive quality of experience score may be determined for each packet loss rate established for network , in a manner as generally described above (e.g., determining one or more network conditions and implementing a non-intrusive analysis technique). In other embodiments, e.g., in which network may not include a controllable environment, a network condition may be determined associated with each determined respective non-intrusive quality of experience score. Over time, the variation in network conditions may allow non-intrusive quality of experience scores to be determined for a range of network conditions. Non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be determined for variations in network conditions in addition/as an alternative to packet loss rate.
The plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples may be obtained during the same communication session, or during a different communication session, than the plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples. In an embodiment in which the plurality of non-intrusive audio transmission samples may be obtained during the same communication session as the plurality of intrusive audio transmission samples, each non-intrusive audio transmission sample may be obtained at a generally similar time frame as a corresponding intrusive audio transmission sample. Other configurations may equally be implemented.
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FIG. 5
Quality of experience process may further derive a quality of experience coefficient based upon a relationship between the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores. For example, and referring also to , quality of experience process may derive the relationship between the quality of experience score determined by intrusive analysis and the quality of experience score determined by non-intrusive analysis (e.g., which may provide the main network quality of service factors that may effect quality of experience) for the different network conditions. In an embodiment, deriving the relation between the intrusive testing and the non-intrusive testing may utilize curve fitting techniques, such as by an approximation of a non-linear regression model.
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The derived quality of experience coefficient may be a codec specific coefficient. Continuing with the above example in which a quality of experience associated with a communication session may be determined , , as discussed above the communication session may be established utilizing a given codec (e.g., an ITU codec and/or a non-ITU codec, such as SILK, SPEEX, ILBC, etc.). Accordingly, the plurality of intrusive quality of experience scores and the plurality of non-intrusive quality of experience scores may be relevant to the codec utilized for the communication session. Further, the derived quality of experience coefficient may be relevant to the same codec, giving rise to a codec specific coefficient. Accordingly, the same process as generally described above may be carried out for a variety of different codecs, thereby providing a corresponding variety of codec specific coefficients.
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Quality of experience process may allow the derived quality of experience coefficient to be utilized determine the quality of experience associated with streaming media, such transmitted audio of a communication session. As generally described above, in some implementations quality of experience process may also the quality of experience associated with streaming media to be determined in real-time and/or near real-time. In an illustrative example, as shown in , users and may participate in a communication session, e.g., via notebook computer and mobile computing device respectively. Quality of experience process may allow a quality of experience, as observed by an end user (e.g., a participant in a communication session, such as user and/or user ) to be determined at any point in time during the communication session. For example, quality of experience process may determine a non-intrusive quality of experience associated with an audio transmission, e.g., via non-intrusive analysis . Quality of experience process may determine the non-intrusive quality of experience intermittently and/or periodically. An interval for intermittently determining the non-intrusive quality of experience associated with the communication session may be determined, for example, to provide relatively low additional demands on network . As such, determining the non-intrusive quality of experience associated with the communication session may typically not negatively impact network , which could thereby degrade the quality of experience associated with the communication session. For example, quality of experience process may determine the non-intrusive quality of experience associated with the communication session every 1-20 seconds. It will be appreciated that other time intervals may equally be utilized.
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Quality of experience process may apply the codec specific coefficient to the non-intrusive quality of experience score to obtain a corrected quality of experience metric. The codec specific coefficient may correspond to the codec that is utilized for conducing the communication session between user and user . As such, a codec specific coefficient may be applied that may represent the relationship between a non-intrusive quality of experience score associated with the communication session (which may utilize the specific codec) and a quality of experience that may be observed by an end user. As a result of applying the codec specific coefficient to the determined non-intrusive quality of experience score, a corrected quality of experience metric may be provided, which may relatively accurately indicate a quality of experience for the communication session as may be observed by a participant in the communication session (e.g., by user and user in the illustrated embodiment).
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Accordingly, in some embodiments, quality of experience process may provide a single metric to quantify a quality of experience associated with streaming media, such as audio in an communication session, or the like. The single metric may be non-intrusively obtained, and may provide a real-time and/or near real-time measure of the quality of experience, e.g., as may be observed by an end user, such as a participant in a communication session (e.g., user , in the illustrative example). The single metric may allow, for example, real-time and/or near real-time dynamic resource management and/or tuning of the network and/or communication session attributes (such as error correction, etc.) during the course of a communication session. In some embodiments, quality of experience process may be implemented as a plug-in, or feature of, a softphone application, or other communication application.
FIG. 7
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Referring also to , there is shown a diagrammatic view of computing system . While computing system is shown in this figure, this is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure, as other configuration are possible. For example, any computing device capable of executing, in whole or in part, quality of experience process may be substituted for computing device within , examples of which may include but are not limited to client electronic devices , , , .
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Computing system may include microprocessor configured to e.g., process data and execute instructions/code for quality of experience process . Microprocessor may be coupled to storage device . As discussed above, examples of storage device may include but are not limited to: a hard disk drive; a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID device; an NAS device, a Storage Area Network, a random access memory (RAM); a read-only memory (ROM); and all forms of flash memory storage devices. IO controller may be configured to couple microprocessor with various devices, such as keyboard , mouse , USB ports (not shown), and printer ports (not shown). Display adaptor may be configured to couple display (e.g., a CRT or LCD monitor) with microprocessor , while network adapter (e.g., an Ethernet adapter) may be configured to couple microprocessor to network (e.g., the Internet or a local area network).
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As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied as a method (e.g., executing in whole or in part on computing device ), a system (e.g., computing device ), or a computer program product (e.g., encoded within storage device ). Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium (e.g., storage device ) having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.
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Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium (e.g., storage device ) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may also be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to the Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.
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Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, C#.NET, PHP, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network/a wide area network/the Internet (e.g., network ).
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The present disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor (e.g., processor ) of a general purpose computer/special purpose computer/other programmable data processing apparatus (e.g., computing device ), such that the instructions, which execute via the processor (e.g., processor ) of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
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These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory (e.g., storage device ) that may direct a computer (e.g., computing device ) or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
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The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer (e.g., computing device ) or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures may illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
Having thus described the disclosure of the present application in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosure defined in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a diagrammatic view of a distributed computing network including a computing device that executes a quality of experience process according to an implementation of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2
FIG. 1
is a flowchart of the quality of experience process of , according to an implementation of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3
FIG. 1
diagrammatically depicts an implementation of the quality of experience process of , according to an example embodiment;
FIG. 4
FIG. 1
diagrammatically depicts an implementation of the quality of experience process of , according to an example embodiment;
FIG. 5
FIG. 1
diagrammatically depicts an implementation of the quality of experience process of , according to an example embodiment;
FIG. 6
FIG. 1
diagrammatically depicts an implementation of the quality of experience process of , according to an example embodiment;
FIG. 7
FIG. 1
is a diagrammatic view of the computing device of , according to an implementation of the present disclosure. | |
You will recall that in the absence of any work interactions (such as electric resistance heating), the conservation of energy equation for the steady flow of a fluid in a tube can be expressed as (Fig. 19–23) .
where Ti and Te are the·mean fluid temperatures at the inlet and exit of the tube, respectively, and Q is the rate of heat transfer to or from the fluid. Note that the temperature of a fluid flowing in a tube remains constant in the absence of any energy interactions through the wall of the tube.
The thermal conditions at the surface can usually be approximated with reasonable accuracy to be constant surface temperature (Ts = constant) or constant surface heat flux ( · = constant). For example, the constant surface temperature condition is realized when a phase change process such as boiling or condensation occurs at the outer surface of a tube. The constant surface heat flux condition is realized when the tube is subjected to radiation or electric resistance heating uniformly from all directions.
where hx is the local heat transfer coefficient and Ts and Tm are the surface and the mean fluid temperatures at that location. Note that the mean fluid temperature Tm of a fluid flowing in a tube must change during heating or cooling. Therefore, when hx = h = constant, the surface temperature Ts must change when qs = constant, and the surface heat flux qs must change when Ts = constant. Thus we may have either T = constant or · = constant at the surface of a tube, but not both. Next we consider convection heat transfer for these two common cases.
in the flow direction (As is equal to the perimeter, which is constant, times the tube length).
where h is the average convection heat transfer coefficient, As is the heat trans- fer surface area (it is equal to pDL for a circular pipe of length L), and !JTave is some appropriate average temperature difference between the fluid and the surface. Below we discuss two suitable ways of expressing !JTave.
where Tb = (Ti + Te)/2 is the bulk mean fluid temperature, which is the arithmetic average of the mean fluid temperatures at the inlet and the exit of the tube.
This relation can also be used to determine the mean fluid temperature Tm(x) at any x by replacing As = pL by px.
Note that the temperature difference between the fluid and the surface de- cays exponentially in the flow direction, and the rate of decay depends on the mensionless parameter is called the number of transfer units, denoted by NTU, and is a measure of the effectiveness of the heat transfer systems. For NTU > 5, the exit temperature of the fluid becomes almost equal to the surface temperature, Te = Ts (Fig. 19–28). Noting that the fluid temperature can approach the surface temperature but cannot cross it, an NTU of about 5 indi- cates that the limit is reached for heat transfer, and the heat transfer will not in- crease no matter how much we extend the length of the tube. A small value of NTU, on the other hand, indicates more opportunities for heat transfer, and the heat transfer will continue increasing as the tube length is increased. A large NTU and thus a large heat transfer surface area (which means a large tube) may be desirable from a heat transfer point of view, but it may be unacceptable from an economic point of view. The selection of heat transfer equipment usually reflects a compromise between heat transfer performance and cost.
is the logarithmic mean temperature difference. Note that !JTi = Ts – Ti and !JTe = Ts – Te are the temperature differences between the surface and the fluid at the inlet and the exit of the tube, respectively. This !JTln relation appears to be prone to misuse, but it is practically fail-safe, since using Ti in place of Te and vice versa in the numerator and/or the denominator will, at most, affect the sign, not the magnitude. Also, it can be used for both heating (Ts > Ti and Te) and cooling (Ts < Ti and Te) of a fluid in a tube.
An NTU greater than 5 indicates that the fluid flowing in a tube will reach the surface temperature at the exit regardless of the inlet temperature.
The logarithmic mean temperature difference !JTln is obtained by tracing the actual temperature profile of the fluid along the tube, and is an exact representation of the average temperature difference between the fluid and the sur- face. It truly reflects the exponential decay of the local temperature difference. When !JTe differs from !JTi by no more than 40 percent, the error in using the arithmetic mean temperature difference is less than 1 percent. But the error in- creases to undesirable levels when !JTe differs from !JTi by greater amounts. Therefore, we should always use the logarithmic mean temperature difference when determining the convection heat transfer in a tube whose surface is maintained at a constant temperature Ts. | http://machineryequipmentonline.com/hydraulics-and-pneumatics/forced-convectiongeneral-thermal-analysis/ |
compounds that contain a carbon-lithium bond, R—Li. Aliphatic organolithium compounds are colorless crystalline substances (R = CH3, C2H5, tert-C4H9), nondistillable viscous liquids (R = n-C3H7— n-C12H25), or low-melting waxlike substances (R = higher alkyls) that are readily soluble in hydrocarbons (except CH3Li) and ethers. Aromatic organolithium compounds are white or yellowish crystalline substances, insoluble in hydrocarbons but soluble in ethers.
Organolithium compounds are usually produced by the reaction of metallic lithium and chlorous or bromous alkyls or aryls in a hydrocarbon or ether medium:
RX + 2Li → RLi + LiX
The solutions produced are used directly in the synthesis of various classes of compounds. Solutions of organolithium compounds that do not contain a lithium halide are formed by heating lithium with organomercury compounds (also in a hydrocarbon medium). Individual organolithium compounds can be extracted from these solutions.
Organolithium compounds take part in the same reactions as organomagnesium compounds but considerably surpass them in reactivity. Organolithium compounds are extremely sensitive to the action of oxygen, moisture, and carbon dioxide; therefore, all operations carried out with them require an atmosphere of dry inert gas (nitrogen or argon). With lithium bromide and ether, organolithium compounds form complexes of the type 2RLi. LiBr. (C2H5)2O.
Organolithium compounds are widely used in organic synthesis, particularly in those cases where the corresponding Grignard reagent is insufficiently active; in industry, these compounds serve as catalysts in the manufacture of butadiene and isopropene rubbers. | https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Organolithium+Compounds |
Objectives: To evaluate potential confounding of the association between beryllium and lung cancer in a reanalysis of data from a published case–control study of workers at a beryllium processing facility.
Methods: The association of cumulative and average beryllium exposure with lung cancer among 142 cases and five age-match controls per case was reanalysed using conditional logistic regression. Adjustment was made independently for potential confounders of hire age and birth year. Alternative adjustments to avoid taking the logarithm of zero were explored.
Results: Adjustment for either birth cohort or hire age (two highly correlated factors) attenuated lung cancer risk associated with cumulative exposure; however, lung cancer risk was significantly associated with average exposure using a 10-year lag following adjustment. Stratification of analyses by birth cohort found greater lung cancer risk from cumulative and average exposure for workers born before 1900 than for workers born later. The magnitude of the association between lung cancer and average exposure was not reduced by modifying the method used to take the log of exposure.
Conclusion: In this reanalysis, average, but not cumulative, beryllium exposure was related to lung cancer risk after adjustment for birth cohort. Confounding by birth cohort is likely related to differences in smoking patterns for workers born before 1900 and the tendency for workers hired during the World War II era to have been older at hire.
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Footnotes
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Competing interests: None.
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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. | https://oem.bmj.com/content/65/6/379 |
The Wildflower Center's Seed Bank was established in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Seeds of Success (SOS) program in concert with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Millennium Seed Bank Program (MSBP). The purpose of the Seed Bank is to collect, conserve, and develop native plant materials for stabilizing, rehabilitating and restoring lands in Texas and the United States.
Search Seed Bank
To request seed from the Wildflower Seed Bank, please contact the Conservation Program Manager.
NPIN Data
Parietaria pensylvanica
Parietaria pensylvanica Muhl. ex Willd.
Pennsylvania pellitory, Pennsylvania cucumber plantUrticaceae (Nettle Family)
USDA Symbol: PAPE5
Accession Data
Accession Number: LBJWC-0102Field Data Form:
Collection Date: 2007-05-29
Accession Number: LBJWC-0102
Collection Number: 0102
Organization: LBJWC
Collector(s): Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Collected with: Hermann, M.
Location DataCountry: US
Phytoregion: 29N
Phytoregion_full: Edwards Plateau
State: Texas
County: Travis
Municipality: Austin
Location: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Latitude: 30.183050
Longitude: -97.876380
Georeference Source: GPS
GPS Datum: NAD83 Altitude: 277 M
Elevation in M: 277
Habitat DataAssociated Taxa: Quercus virginiana, Juniperus ashei, Mahonia trifoliolata, Nassella leucotricha
Geology: Limestone
Soil Texture: Speck clay-loam, brown
Collection DataPlants Sampled: Area sampled: 1-50 sq. m. 100 plants sampled. | http://www.wildflower.org/conservation_seedbank/show.php?id=4 |
May 12, 2014· The Pros and Cons of Manufactured Sand. Posted on May 12, 2014. Before we get into the advantages and disadvantages of manufactured sand, what exactly is manufactured sand? Manufactured sand is sand produced by crushing rocks, quarry stones or larger aggregates pieces into sand-sized particles. Natural sand, on the other hand is the naturally ...
May 28, 2017· SAND EQUIVALENT TEST SET تست ارزش ماسه ای
Sand Equivalent Test Sets are used to indicate the relative proportions of clay-like fines in granular soils and fine aggregates. Gilson sets include everything required in ASTM and AASHTO test methods to conduct the test except the shaker.
(a) Sand equivalent (SE) requirement will be waived if material finer than No. 200 sieve does not exceed 5 percent when tested in accordance with AASHTO T 11. (b) When material has satisfactory serv ice record of at least five years, soundness test will be waived (c) Parent material of fine aggregate manufactured by crushing shall
ASTM D2419-14, Standard Test Method for Sand Equivalent Value of Soils and Fine Aggregate, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2014,
6 Manufactured Sand – Research Report January 07 COnCLuSIOnS And reCOMMendAtIOnS grading The research demonstrated that product with wide range of grading could be used successfully as manufactured sand. It is therefore impractical to specify an acceptance envelope without the specification becoming meaningless.
Manufactured sand or manufactured fine aggregate (MFA) is produced by reducing larger pieces of aggregate into sand-sized aggregate particles. Manufactured sands tend to be used in mixtures in areas where natural sand is not available or not cost effective to be hauled to the needed location.
Sand equivalent (SE) is done by shaking fine aggregate in a clear graduated cylinder containing a flocculant and preservative solution. After shaking, the particles are allowed to settle for 20 minutes and the SE is taken as the ratio of the height of the sand column to the height of the sand and flocculated clay multiplied by 100.
Superpave Mix Design 48 Determining the Design Asphalt Content • The selected trial blend becomes the design aggregate structure. • Batch, mix, and compact more samples with this gradation with four asphalt contents. • Determine volumetric properties • Select P b at 4.0% air voids and check other volumetric properties.
Guide to the Specification and Use of Manufactured Sand in Concrete. Effects of manufactured sand on the properties of concrete. 10 ... sands in portland cement concrete. ..... either the Sand Equivalent test (AS 1289.3.7.1), the.
The wide range of Sand Preparation Equipment finds applications in diverse industries. These are manufactured utilizing high grade material and are thoroughly tested before sending at the client's end. Our range is offered in various technical specifications and can also be customized in terms of dimensions as per the needs
Motorized sand equivalent shaker. 230 V, 50 Hz, 1 ph 47-T0056/BY Motorized sand equivalent shaker. 220 V, 60 Hz, 1 ph 47-T0056/BZ Motorized sand equivalent shaker. 110 V, 60 Hz, 1 ph 47-T0056/C Motorized sand equivalent shaker with safety cover, conforming to CE directive. 230 V, 50 Hz, 1 ph
47-T0056/B Motorized Sand Equivalent Shaker STANDARD:EN 933-8 ALSO CONFORMING TO NF P18-598, UNI 8520-15, UNE 83131, CNR NO. 27 The motorized sand equivalent shaker features two separate electronic timers (one preset at 45 seconds and the other preset at 10 minutes) to increase accuracy and ease of operation compared to a spring-type timer.
Apr 30, 2011· Sand Equivalents According to Caltrans' test method 217-Sand Equivalent, "The sand equivalent test provides a measure of the relative proportions of detrimental fine dust or clay-like material in soil or fine aggregates." Fine dust (#200s and smaller) and clay material in aggregates can be detrimental to the performance of hot mix asphalt for a ...
Jun 02, 2016· Manufactured sand differs from natural sea and river dredged sand in its physical and mineralogical properties. These can be both beneficial and detrimental to the fresh and hardened properties of concrete. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study in which manufactured sand …
Sand Equivalent Shakers are available in motorized and hand-operated models for determining the portion of undesirable clay-like fines in granular soils and fine aggregates. Sand Equivalent Test Sets are sold as complete kits or separate components to measure proportions of …
Furnish structural backfill for 603 bedding and backfill consisting of CCS, gravel, natural sand, sand manufactured from stone, foundry sand, ACBFS, GS, or RPCC. Furnish ACBF Slag according to Supplement 1027. Furnish granulated slag according to 703.08. Do …
Rajasthan studies if sand could be manufactured from mine waste The Supreme Court had imposed a ban on river sand mining in November last year following which construction works have been badly ...
Feb 04, 2014· North Dakota T 176. Produced in cooperation with the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at NDSU
pared to a sand with additional fines at an equivalent rate. By using Lafarge's Septic Sands you are supporting a BC pro-duced product that is available to meet your construction needs year-round. Our clean, non-leaching, environmentally sound sands are available, delivered to your project by truck or …
higher in manufactured sand when compared to the natural sand, which may reduce the workability and strength of the concrete. 3.3.2 Laser Particle Size Analysis Particle sizes of natural sand and manufactured sand less than 75 microns are depicted in Figures 3.6 (a) and (b).
Where manufactured sand is used in lieu of natural sand, the percent retained on the No. 200 sieve shall be 94 to 100. Where the sand equivalent value is greater than 85, the retainage on the No. 50 sieve may be 65 to 94 percent. Fine aggregate will be subjected to the Sand Equivalent Test (Test Method Tex-203-F). The sand
Uncompacted Voids of Fine Aggregates, Sand Equivalent Test, Binder Viscosity Part B – Uncompacted Void Content Aggregate Type Trial No. Volume of Measure, cc Mass of Measure, g Mass of Measure + Sand, g Natural Sand 1 100 2 3 Manufactured Sand 1 100 2 3 Part C – Sand Equivalent Test Specimen Clay Reading Sand Reading
The sand equivalent test quantifies the relative abundance of sand versus clay in soil. It is measured by standardized test methods such as ASTM D2419, AASHTO T176, and EN 933-8. The test is used to qualify aggregates for applications where sand is …
Sand manufactured from synthetic aggregate meeting the requirements of Section 800 may be blended with natural sands or manufactured sands made from crushed stone or gravel for use in miscellaneous concrete as described in Section 441. Blend at least 50 percent natural sand or manufactured sand made from crushed stone or gravel. 4. Concrete ...
Sand equivalent stock solution, 125 cc bottle. Pack of 20. 47-T0050/8 Clamp stand set. Holds siphon assembly in place during the test. Sand equivalent shakers Spare parts 47-T0050/1A Measuring cylinders, EN 47-T0050/2C Measuring cylinders, ASTM/AASHTO 47-T0050/2 Rubber stopper 47-T0050/3 Measuring can 47-T0050/4
The sand equivalent apparatus tests the fine aggregate purity degree by testing the cohesive soil and impurity content. It's suitable to test the asphalt mixture, concrete, natural sand, manufactured sand, aggregate chips, the aggregate maximum diameter shouldn't over than 4.75mm. It's a kind of common aggregate testing instrument.
Natural Sand 2NS and 2MS. Fine, clean, hard, durable, uncoated particles of sand free from clay lumps, and soft or flaky granular material resulting from the natural disintegration of rock, and used in concrete mixtures, mortar mixtures, and intrusion grout for pre-placed aggregate concrete. Stone Sand 2SS. Sand manufactured from stone sources ... | https://www.jokevandenabeele.be/2020/Mar-17/sand-equivalent-for-manufactured-sand/ |
....and other life lessons learned from quilters. Makers have stories! In these casual interviews, my guests talk about the joy, hope, and even healing that can be found in the process of creating something beautiful.
Lorinda Davis loves making pretty things, but she also loves being organized.
We chat about her journey into the art of quilting - the first time she tried it she thought "that's not for me!" but eventually she was drawn in in an unexpected way.
And then we explore the wonderful world of planners...organizers...checklists, and how writing things down helps us keep balance and priorities in our lives. And of course, it&...
Courtney Kimball first learned to sew in special some one-on-one time with her grandmother, and she's been "making" ever since.
In 2017 she and her husband and family moved to Honduras to develop their existing business. And over time, Courtney became acquainted with the desperate needs in the slums right next to their apartment complex. It began by meeting and learning to know one woman, Jocelyn, and exploring her cir...
Courtney Kimball first learned to sew in special some one-on-one time with her grandmother, and she's been "making" ever since.
In 2017 she and her husband and family moved to Honduras to develop their existing business. And over time, Courtney became acquainted with the desperate needs in the slums right next to their apartment complex. It began by meeting and learning to know one woman, Jocelyn, and exploring her cir...
Pat Sloan - designer, author, and YouTuber truly has a deep passion for making quilting fun for herself and everyone around her. She's made over 800 quilts!! Pat has a vast experience of all aspects of quilt making and design, from patterns and sewalongs, to fabric design and teaching online.
We chat about some of her most favorite things about creating, and some of the less-favorite. Pat gives some tips for contributing design...
Darlene Girton has been making pretty things from fabric for a lot of years, but these days she has fallen in love with Singer Featherweight sewing machines. They have some unique qualities that make them beloved by quilters all over North America and beyond. Truly they are time capsules that we get to use and appreciate nearly 90 years later.
Darlene does some surprising things on her Featherweights, like freehand quilting, and eve...
Leisha Farnsworth has been machine quilting for over 17 years! Many, many quilts were done completely freehand, but she now shares her skills and creativity by creating digital quilting designs. She's also developed a set of rulers, born directly from a need she saw, as well as an online course and on-demand classes.
Leisha has some excellent tips to share regarding building a business and brand, and setting yourself up for long...
Bethanne Nemesh is a classically trained artist with degrees in art and art therapy. She's been mastering the art of machine quilting and creating for over 23 years. She has extensively shown her quilts and won many major awards at national and international levels. Her deepest love, though, is teaching. Bethanne has taught quilters all over the world to love quilting, and to find their own voice of creative expression through...
In Ann's words - "For 40 years I have been making original quilts that use color, fabric and tradition to create abstract landscapes of the imagination."
Ann's creations are made one strip of fabric at a time, and are so evocative of wide open outdoor spaces. They range from eyeglass cases to a 140-ft series. She gives us a little tour through her studio (open to the public!) and even her village in Massachusetts, wh...
Karlee Porter is an artist! In her own words: "I excelled in the clay pencil holders of elementary school; I dominated the 10 minute drawing warm ups of my inner city middle school art class; and, against my mother’s most polite wishes, I skipped most of my high school core classes to escape to the art studio on the 3rd floor of my art-deco-from-the-great-depression high school."
Happily for us, these days she considers fab...
Jenny Kae Parks came to this (audio only) interview in clothes coordinating with the quilt behind her. That's how passionate she is about color and its appeal!
Jenny Kae home-schooled for many years, and has honed those teaching skills to now teach quilters to develop their own eye for color and style. In Jenny Kae's words: "Don't stop until the combination is something you LOVE."
We chat about the difference bet...
Tiffany Groff's words about herself: "Insomniac Quilter, Random Conversations, Disabled living with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and still LOVE & LIVE Life!"
Tiffany knows all about the therapeutic qualities of quilting. She has MS, and at one point was wheelchair bound. Quilting became her passion, her motivation, and her joy, and these days she shares all of these on her YouTube channel, Tiffany's...
Sue Heinz is a gem of a teacher, but WHAT she teaches is equally remarkable. Her quilting tools and designs are in a class of their own.
Sue shares some rich (and maybe never-before-heard?) stories about personalities and history in the quilting industry. We chat at length about the value of giving credit where it's due, and the life-changing power of connections.
Plus we give a good plug for Elmer's sticky stuff (NOT glue, ...
Audrey Esarey is an artist - no doubt about it! Her quilts are graphic, highly original, layered in interest and details, and, well....just a feast for the eyes.
Audrey and I chat about her journey from her first quilt class to here - how that involved exploration, and trying out new skills, and even a complete hiatus for some years. But all those things served to clarify and refine her esthetic. And who knows what other new things ...
Christa Watson's quilting accomplishments are enormous! Pattern writer, fabric designer, quilting TABLE designer, and now host of ChristaQuilts.TV. Her enthusiasm, and heart for teaching and sharing is so evident in all she does.
We chat about...so many things! How to chase your dreams. How to take a quilt from bright idea to finished product. How to build a business as a couple. How to refine your quilting style. How to mask mi...
PJ Jacobsen is a quilter with a story! She's been a lot of places in her life, but a massive medical emergency resulted in a complete start-over for her and her husband. They purchased an abandoned church from Ebay, and set out to build a home for their family, and then a quilting retreat, with their own hands.
These days the Crazy Quilter Retreat Center (in central Washington state) hosts up to 20 crafters with all kinds of lov...
Tammy Thielman has a remarkable clinical practice - she offers counselling on her farm in southern British Columbia, Canada. Animals...corrals...forest trails...toy herds...quilts...cabins...fireside armchairs...all these are part of her multi-faceted approach to therapy.
Tammy and I chat about these points of connection, and also about how quilting and creating helps fill up HER mental cup. It's so true, the value in creating h...
Brett Lewis (of Natural Born Quilter) is a very talented fabric designer, and a fellow northern Canadian. His fabric collections are rich with flora and fauna from his life and travels, and even family mementos and stories. And color! Lots of gorgeous color!
In this episode we chat about the process of creating fabric, from concept to sketch to color, and the "roses and thorns" of being a quilt and fabric designer.
Brett'...
Connie Kincius Griner is a quilt artist with a twist. Word play, puns, and many pi references are the hallmarks of her signature style. She is so gifted at telling a story, or indeed a joke, in her original designs. Even her labels and show ribbons continue the narrative.
So we chat about how Connie got started making quilts, where some of her ideas spring from, and her love of quilt shows and the connections that are formed there.
T...
Shereece Spain combines her love of sewing, crocheting, and pirates in her business name - such an impressive play on words!
We talk about all these loves, and how they've grown to provide a source of income for Shereece's family, allowing her to stay closely involved in her kids' lives, and to have them involved in her business too. Her upcoming pattern release was in fact inspired by a Shrek marathon with the kids. Wha...
Linzee McCray has a deep love for textiles of all kinds, and feedsacks in particular. She shows them...speaks about them...and has written a book about them with 850 gorgeous images!!
Linzee has stories galore, both about her experiences and opportunities as a writer, and about the people and circumstances which made feedsacks the collectible fabric they are today. And bonus connection - she learned to sew on a treadle sewing machin...
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CAREER PROFILE
Finance candidate experienced in Excel, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Organized and creative thinker and exceeds expectations through leading by example, and working hard in any circumstance. Strong communicator and makes concise and accurate decisions. Can work under extreme pressure, enjoys taking on a challenge, and accomplishes projects in a timely manner.
EDUCATION
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY - Waco, Texas Graduation May 2023
Bachelor of Business Administration
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Finánce /Journalism; GPA 3.84
EXPERIENCE
Division I Baylor Equestrian Team
The Baylor Equestrian Team is an NCEA approved sport that competes at a national level.
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Taught teamwork skills and how to work with women from diverse backgrounds to achieve a common good
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Acquired time management skills while balancing practice and academics
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Improved communication skills by effectively communicating with coaches and teammates
Traverse City Horse Shows and American Gold Cup Summer 2020
Traverse City Horse Shows is an Internationally ranked equestrian competition that comprises of Olympic level athletes to amateur riders. | https://www.brookeagiacin.com/contact |
IT is impossible to lay down à priori definitions concerning the actions and dispositions of sinless beings. It would be but a perverted manner of treating the subject, to insist upon a series of abstract requirements in all special cases, and then to measure an actual character by such a standard. The right way of proceeding is, on the contrary, to ascertain from an actual character, how sinless perfection, where it really existed, was manifested in the several features of the life. And yet it is both possible and necessary first to state, at least by a few fundamental definitions, what we conceive to be essential under all circumstances to the notion of sinlessness. Alter what has been already advanced, a short discussion will, however, suffice.
The idea of sinlessness—anamartesia—does not in itself exclude the possibility of sinning. On the contrary, it is only where this possibility is in some manner presupposed, that sinlessness, properly so called, can be conceived. Absolute impeccability exists only in Him who is infinitely removed from evil, who never can be tempted with evil,—that is, in God.2121 Jas. 1. 13. But wherever there is human nature, and consequent liability to temptation, there is also, by reason of this very nature, the possibility of sin. In this case sinlessness consists in the fact that the basis from which the whole moral life is developed is a pure and energetic one; that in this development, moreover, no deviation from the divine order of life occurs, but that all which approaching from without would seduce to sin, is completely overcome by the victorious power within. He, then, of whom it may be said that by 34reason of his nature sin was possible to him, and yet by no special condition thereof necessary,—that he was, on the contrary, capable of abstaining from sin, and did actually continue to do so,—is a sinless being.2222 In applying to Christ the well-known formula, it is self-evident that sinlessness excludes the non potuit non peccare, since any kind of necessity to sin would make the remaining free therefrom à priori inconceivable. On the other hand, the fact of sinlessness directly involves not only the potuit non peccare, and the non peccavit,—the possibility of remaining free from sin, and the actual freedom therefrom,—but also demands, at least as the postulate of the whole moral development, the potuit peccare. Without this the temptation of Christ would be devoid of reality, and His example would lose an essential element of its importance. How far, however, when we take into account His office of Redeemer, and other circumstances, together with the potuit peccare—the possibility of sin, and the total abstinence therefrom—the non potuit peccare, and therefore a higher necessity of not sinning, might be predicated of Him, is a question which, as appertaining to the province of dogmatic theology or speculation, it is beside our purpose to discuss. Compare Steudel, Glaubenslehre, p. 241, and J. Müller, Lehre von der Sünde, ii. 225 and 226.
The meaning of the term sinlessness is, first of all, a negative one. But it is not applied in this sense to a single act of the will, or to the outward act. In such cases we employ the expressions ‘irreproachability’ or ‘guiltlessness.’ When, on the contrary, the far deeper term sinlessness is used, we always have in view the entire moral condition, and we contemplate this in its inmost nature. It is, however, also evident that here, too,—as in our definition of the nature of sin,—we cannot stop short at a mere negation. Sinlessness is indeed a notion which can be applied only to personal beings, called upon to will and to act as moral agents, and in whom, consequently, the very omission of such willing and acting is a violation of the divine order of life. This, in itself, requires the positive choice and practice of what is good. But this becomes still more decidedly the case, from the fact that sinlessness has to be maintained in a world that lieth in wickedness,—a world in which evil has become a ruling power. At the first commencement of the development 35of the human race, we might indeed conceive of sinlessness as a mere abstinence from sin,—as mere innocence not yet intermeddling with the opposition between good and evil. But after sin has entered and taken possession of human nature, the leading a sinless life becomes inconceivable apart from a most decided struggle against evil, even to its most hidden and deepest roots. And this fight for life and death,1 is no matter of mere childlike purity and innocence, but one demanding the most intense activity of the fully matured moral powers, and therefore something supremely positive,—the work accomplished by the moral personality; a work everywhere manifested by acts, and in which even endurance must become action.
What this involves in the case of an individual, will be evident if we bear in mind those main features of the nature of sin already stated. We saw that sin was disobedience to the Divine order of life,—a disobedience at first internal, but afterwards appearing in external actions; that it was, moreover, a severance, through lack of faith and love, from the Divine Ruler of the world Himself; from God, the only true centre of life, and at the same time a setting up of the false one Self and the world; which, instead of the satisfaction sought therein, yields only discord, disorder, and ruin, whether to individuals, or to the whole sin-possessed community. In contrast to this, we should regard as sinless, one who should render obedience to the Divine law in the whole extent of its requirements,—an obedience not only maintained under all, even the most difficult, circumstances and conditions, but itself a fundamental fact of the character. Hence the moral life resulting from this obedience is no patched and piecemeal product, but a tissue woven of one material throughout,—an inseparable, undivided whole. Nor will this obedience be rendered merely to the law as such, but through this to its holy Author. The life will consequently 36be an uninterrupted acquiescence in the Divine will, a walking before God, a walking with God; and the whole constitution of the moral choice and action, together with personal surrender to God, faith, and vital piety, will form an indivisible, harmonious whole.
Such a being is inconceivable, except as perfectly free, peaceful, happy, repelling all defilement and obscurity from the mental and corporeal life, and exercising, under all circumstances, a perfect self-control. From such a one, united by the band of perfect love to both God and man, might be reasonably expected the possession of an ‘incalculable power, both to conquer sin in general in the human race, and, in spite of all the might and authority of evil, to call into existence a moral and religious community, in accordance with the Divine purpose towards the human race.
It is in this its essentially positive as well as in its negative sense, that we apply the epithet sinless to the Lord Jesus. We view Him as the sinlessly Perfect, the absolutely Holy One, ever filled with the spirit of obedience, faith, and love, and so constantly and under all circumstances acting up to this spirit, that sin had no place in His life. It is self-evident that such a life could only have been developed from a pure basis: no original sinful tendency, no naturally evil inclination, is here conceivable, but only a fulness of moral power, perfect and inviolable even in its first rudiments. This, however, is not the point from which we start, but the conclusion at which we shall arrive in the course of . our discussion. Our starting-point is simply the historical manifestation of Jesus Christ, the actual facts presented by His human life; and our task is in the first instance to prove from these His sinless perfection.
In the fulfilment of this task, however, we are conscious of the limits imposed upon us by the nature of the subject.
Truths of the highest nature, especially those religious 37and moral truths which afford to our inner life its ultimate repose and inward satisfaction, are neither ascertained by the medium of the senses, nor are they susceptible of a demonstration which, like logical and mathematical axioms, possesses the quality of being utterly incontestable. The very nature of these truths places them beyond such means of proof, and this incapability is to be regarded, not as a defect, but as a mark of superiority. The region of moral and religious truth is a free one, and the supreme blessing which it offers can; only be appropriated by free and trusting acquiescence, i.e. by faith. Now faith—which, however decidedly it may be referred to a divine operation, must yet at the same time be ever regarded as a moral act—would forfeit its most essential nature if it were compelled by force of demonstration. All that can be shown is, that faith is the more reasonable and moral part, and that it answers to the requirements of human life infinitely more than its opposite.
This, too, is the case with the sinlessness of Christ. As all moral greatness appearing in human form may be denied, or, where its manifestation cannot be contested, may at least have a doubt cast upon its inward motive, so also may the moral dignity and purity of Jesus. Doubt and opposition cannot even here be absolutely excluded or refuted, and, least of all, where there is an absence of all susceptibility for receiving impressions from purity and elevation of character, and of a capacity to appreciate them, unless manifested in a striking and brilliant manner. What is wanted is a willing and joyful confidence in Him who is exhibited to us as so exalted and so unique a Being,—an elevation of our own minds when approaching one so elevated,—a moral soaring towards that height which He occupies. Such a confidence, such an exaltation, may, however, be justified it can be shown that they are based upon the soundest external and internal evidence, and that their opposites would involve us 38in a maze of contradictions, and especially in such as are of a moral kind.2323 Theologians, says even De Wette, must not, when bringing forward historical proofs, overlook the importance of faith, nor commit themselves to the vain effort of demonstrating, as evident, palpable truth, that which is to be apprehended by the faith which, though it does not see, yet seeing not, believes. Compare my article, ‘Polemisches in Betreff der Sundlösigkeit Jesu,’ Stud. und Kritik. 1842-3, p. 687, etc.
In this sense, then, we now proceed to prove, in its special reference to the person of Jesus Christ, the existence of that sinlessness of which we have hitherto spoken only according to its general features.
22 In applying to Christ the well-known formula, it is self-evident that sinlessness excludes the non potuit non peccare, since any kind of necessity to sin would make the remaining free therefrom à priori inconceivable. On the other hand, the fact of sinlessness directly involves not only the potuit non peccare, and the non peccavit,—the possibility of remaining free from sin, and the actual freedom therefrom,—but also demands, at least as the postulate of the whole moral development, the potuit peccare. Without this the temptation of Christ would be devoid of reality, and His example would lose an essential element of its importance. How far, however, when we take into account His office of Redeemer, and other circumstances, together with the potuit peccare—the possibility of sin, and the total abstinence therefrom—the non potuit peccare, and therefore a higher necessity of not sinning, might be predicated of Him, is a question which, as appertaining to the province of dogmatic theology or speculation, it is beside our purpose to discuss. Compare Steudel, Glaubenslehre, p. 241, and J. Müller, Lehre von der Sünde, ii. 225 and 226.
23 Theologians, says even De Wette, must not, when bringing forward historical proofs, overlook the importance of faith, nor commit themselves to the vain effort of demonstrating, as evident, palpable truth, that which is to be apprehended by the faith which, though it does not see, yet seeing not, believes. Compare my article, ‘Polemisches in Betreff der Sundlösigkeit Jesu,’ Stud. und Kritik. 1842-3, p. 687, etc. | http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ullmann/sinlessness.iv.iii.html |
One thing that always bothered me with many math textbooks and curriculum maps was the idea that math instruction is best done in “blocks”–3 weeks of geometry. 2 weeks of addition. 4 weeks of fractions. You know as well as I do that students need far more repetitions of math concepts that this arrangement allows. That being said–I have no problem with intense units on different math concepts. Heck, my fraction unit is pretty involved and intense!
That being said, I make sure I deliberately plan to keep weaving other concepts into my instruction no matter how involved we are with our current units. The simple truth is, if we don’t continue to review and reinforce and reteach skills, our students simply don’t solidify those synapses to make that learning permanent. So…how can we work this into an already packed math class?
I have a few ideas for you!
1. Math warm ups
Whether you throw a problem under a document camera or print problems off for students to glue into their math notebooks, warming up with problems from previous units is a great way to keep them fresh. This can help students understand that topics aren’t learned and forgotten (think weekly spelling lists!). It can also really help us as teachers see who is continuing to struggle. In fact, I often will throw an “entrance slip” in as a warm up–and it’s rarely on the content we are currently studying (unless I am trying to judge how instruction is going) but is often revisiting a skill from a previous unit to see if it “stuck”–and who might need more review.
2. Practice activities during math workshop
If you teach in a “math workshop” or guided math format, students’ independent work time is a great way to spiral past instruction. Whether you have some review sheets that you didn’t get to, workbook pages you skipped for whatever reason, games or other activities related to past units, or other practice activities–providing students with opportunities to use those skills on a regular basis is so important. I often have students work in partners to do this kind of work to serve as a sort of “checks and balances”…they can refresh each other’s memory along the way. I love to use resources like THIS and THIS that are a little more open ended so all students have the chance to practice skills at a “just right” level.
3. Intervention groups
As I move from topic to topic, I keep a list of students who need continued work. I don’t know about you, but I feel there is a constant battle in my mind of “Should I move on because MOST students get it?” or “Do I need to spend another few days on this concept?” Know what I mean? The best solution I have found is to be constantly on top of which students are the “getters” and which are the “needers”–and I move on with the class and focus the “needers” in small group work. After all, if they aren’t getting it with whole class instruction, another few days of it probably won’t help either–they need more targeted help. I use formative assessment resources for this constantly so I always know where my students stand. Here is an example of how I keep track of this…
|This is from my Area/Perimeter Formative Assessment Toolbox…|
4. Games!
If you have followed me at all you know that I am a firm believer in using games as a way to review skills. I have games in circulation at all times that help reinforce a variety of skills…and I work very hard to help students recognize the different value of playing games and how to choose the best games to build fluency and accuracy. Check out THIS POST for more details! | https://theteacherstudio.com/the-benefits-of-spiraling-math/ |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the control of a continuously variable transmission for a vehicle power train and, more particularly, to the control of clutch slippage in the power train of a vehicle in response to an abrupt increase in demanded power.
2. Description of Prior Art
A continuously variable transmission (CVT) control system typically utilizes a pair of adjustable pulleys, each pulley having at least one sheave that is axially fixed and another sheave that is axially movable relative to the first and a flexible belt of metal or elastomeric material that intercouples the pulleys. The inner faces of the sheaves of the pulley are bevelled or chamfered so that as the axially displaceable sheave moves relative to the fixed sheave, the effective pulley diameter may be adjusted.
Each displaceable sheave includes a fluid constraining chamber for receiving fluid to move the sheave and thus change the effective pulley diameter. As fluid is exhausted from the chamber, the pulley diameter changes in the opposite sense. Generally, the effective diameter of one pulley is moved in one direction as the effective diameter of the other pulley is moved in the other. This enables the ratio between the pulleys to be adjusted. The output of the secondary pulley drives the drive train of the vehicle which in the preferred embodiment is connected to the secondary pulley through a clutch. Reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,594 entitled "Variable Pulley Transmission" assigned to the assignee of this application provides further information in relation to CVTs and is incorporated herein by reference.
Swift vehicle acceleration in response to an abrupt increase in demanded power is a highly desirable characteristic in all vehicles, including those incorporating a continuously variable transmission. To achieve swift acceleration, it is necessary to be able to quickly increase the fuel and air content in the combustion chambers of the engine and also to promote the swift increase in engine speed and enable this to be transferred rapidly to the drive train output.
Vehicles with transmissions having a wide ratio spread, such as continuously variable transmissions, tend to be operated at relatively low engine speed and relatively open throttle. Therefore, although fuel and air can be increased in the engine on demand, the amount of increase available is relatively small. As a consequence, immediately after an abrupt increase in demanded power, the actual engine power increase depends mainly on the rate at which the engine speed can be increased. Also, an engine will be forced to operate under high-torque low speed conditions that can cause surging, uneven firing and excessive exhaust emissions.
A typical response to the problem of high-torque and low speed engine output in CVTs is to provide a control system to vary the ratio in the variable speed component as quickly as possible towards a low ratio. During abrupt increases in the demanded power, the rate of rotation of the CVT output shaft is slowed down transferring some kinetic energy from the vehicle mass to rotation of the crankshaft. In some instances, the ratio can be decreased so fast that in response to an increase in demanded power, the vehicle is suddenly decelerated.
Changing the ratio to remove the problems encountered with surge and uneven firing associated with abrupt increases in power demand, requires an auxiliary control system. However, in many transmission control systems it is difficult to achieve an adequate rate of change without imposing unacceptably high parasitic losses under other operating conditions, such as the steady state. As the periods of operation during which abrupt increases in power are demanded are likely to be comparatively short, the use of such an auxiliary control system can result in a parasitic power loss during the majority of the operating cycle.
It is desirable therefore to provide an alternative manner of improving a vehicle's responsiveness during abrupt changes in demanded power for vehicles having continuously variable transmissions so as not to produce initial vehicle retardation and not to precipitate parasitic power loss during other operating conditions.
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Apr 10, 2017
Amidst the furor earlier in the year about the company practice of penalising employees for taking medical leave, many organisations have also come forth to share their practice of rewarding staff for keeping healthy with goodies such as vouchers. This comes as no surprise at a time when employers are increasingly recognising the value of investing in employees’ health to improve productivity levels, boost employee engagement and retention, and keep staff healthcare costs low.
In fact, organisations with effective wellness programmes are 50% more likely to report lower turnover rates in comparison to competitor companies, research has found.1 The challenge, however, lies in ensuring that the corporate wellness programme remains sustainable for any business to gain the returns on investments into employees’ health for the long term.
A question I am often asked by companies is this: “We put in a significant investment to implement a wellness programme at work and we had some participation at the beginning. But now, the take-up rate has gone down instead of going up. What did we get wrong and how do we fix it to make this a worthy investment?” The answer is simple: Make it relevant, easy, and rewarding for staff to integrate the programme into their everyday life. Here’s how.
Customised and targetted approach
Just as companies use data to identify target consumer segments which informs your business strategy, data analytics can be extremely valuable to customise a wellness programme for staff because a “one size fits all” approach will not work. With data analytics, you will be able to create a targetted wellness programme by: 1. Identifying key drivers that would motivate employees to participate, whether its monetary rewards or opportunities to get to know and bond with colleagues, for example; 2. Segmenting your workforce based on factors such as health risks they are exposed to and the kind of support the company can provide; 3. Monitoring the level of employee engagement, health, and efficiency provides insights on which components of the programme staff value or those that need to be reconsidered because they are under-utilised. This allows you to regularly refine the programme to ensure its continued relevance and effectiveness for the long term.
An annual survey amongst employees to seek inputs on their everyday choices, behaviours, and state of health is a simple way to collect data for analysis. To kickstart these efforts, AIA Singapore is providing this analysis to companies complementary as part of our inaugural Singapore’s Healthiest Workplace by AIA Vitality survey. Each participating organisation will receive a customised report which provides them with a deeper understanding on their organisation’s health so that they can implement effective strategies to improve employees’ well-being.
Digital integration
Integrating corporate wellness initiatives digitally to encourage employees to cultivate better eating and exercise habits is critical for you to get employees engaged because of how attached Singapore’s population is to their mobile devices. It’s not surprising then that about 4 in 5 (78%) individuals in Singapore check their device upon waking up and approximately 3 in 10 (26%) use their mobile phone more than five hours daily.2
One easy way to do this is by sharing simple tips with employees via their mobile phones throughout the day on how they can make healthy choices at every turn. For example, a reminder at 10am to walk to the pantry for a glass of water, and an alarm at 4pm to step away from the office desk to rest their eyes and do some basic stretching before starting work again.
Another way is by making it into a game where they use their phone to track points they are accumulating for completing health-related tasks which are easily trackable on the device – such as completing a minimum number of steps daily – and they can redeem rewards digitally for hitting certain targets. This is evident in the popularity and success of our AIA Vitality Weekly Challenge app where AIA Vitality members are taking more than 7,500 steps daily on average to score 250 points weekly, and get rewarded with S$5. Nearly S$100,000* worth of active rewards have been earned by AIA Vitality members who completed the AIA Vitality Weekly and Group Challenge a month following its launch in January.
Leveraging behavioural science
Countless excuses such as lack of time, lack of motivation, and high costs surface when asked why we don’t do more to take control of our health. This can be changed.
Behavioural economics studies have proven that external motivators such as financial incentives can drive behavioural change. The Vitality Institute, a global research organisation, conducted a study that showed discounts on healthy foods resulted in significant increases in healthy food purchased at the supermarket, as well as decreases in less healthy food purchases.3
When it comes to wellness programmes, employers can incentivise healthy living practices that are easy to adopt, starting from the workplace. By encouraging and making it easy for staff to make healthier choices, this behaviour, done repeatedly, becomes a habit which eventually translates into a healthier lifestyle amongst staff.
Implementing effective wellness programmes to meet health needs of employees and customising based on their current health is critical in ensuring the sustainability and value of investing in employees’ health.
1Willis Towers Watsons’ 2015/2016 Staying@Work – Asia findings
2Singapore perceive digital advancement and e-government favourably: EY
3Vitality Data – South Africa, 2016
*Figure as at February 2017
At AIA Singapore, we have been serving the community since 1931.
As The Real Life Company, we help families lead longer, healthier, and better lives. We aim to make insurance easier for everyone – with quality financial advice and innovative products and services. We listen to customers to make sure we give them the financial security they really want.
AIA Group’s Vision is to be the pre-eminent life insurer in Asia-Pacific and we are committed to be Singapore’s pre-eminent life insurer, admired for our excellent service and best practices. | https://sbr.com.sg/solution-center/aia-singapore-doing-right-thing-in-right-way-right-people-and-results-will-come/sust |
Tools to increase freelance productivity
Since I'm thinking about how to relearn good productivity now that I'll be freelancing full-time -- at least for the time being, as I still haven't decided about the long term -- I've also been thinking about tools to help me increase my freelance productivity. Freelancing is going to be more of a numbers game for me this time, since I can't depend on my husband's income to fill in the gaps in mine. I'm going to have to be more productive so that I can be more self-sufficient.
Here are a few ideas I've come up with for tools I can use to help me increase my productivity.
Here are a few ideas I've come up with for tools I can use to help me increase my productivity.
- Timer app: I have an app on my computer that I downloaded years ago. I've used it for all sorts of things over the years, but I originally downloaded it as a productivity app. I intend to start using it again to schedule breaks, limit social media time, and keep me focused throughout my day. If I allow myself a certain amount of time for admin tasks, or blogging, or a client project, having a timer app snapped to the far side of my screen will help keep me on track.
- Site blocker plug-in: I am well aware that Facebook is a hug time suck for me, less because of the social status updates and more because I'm addicted to educational news headlines. Space, dinosaurs, child development, you name it -- I see the headline pop up and I'm hooked. Unfortunately, this also means lots of time wasted on Facebook and reading articles referred to me via Facebook. I'm planning to use a plug-in to limit how distracted I can let myself get, but I have to do some more research to decide which one I want to use, and whether I want to abandon Firefox and switch over to Chrome.
- Timekeeping: I used to have a time sheet I filled out every day, with a list of tasks to do and my time spent doing everything, whether it was personal or work-related. I filled out the to-do list part the night before, and kept track of my time on each task. When I got my new computer a few years ago, I switched to a timekeeping app, but eventually abandoned it and stopped keeping consistent track of anything at all. (Amusingly, I just opened the app and realized it's been counting my time every since as blogging work. Oops.) I don't know yet which method I'll use, as both have distinct and separate advantages, or if I'll decide against both and just use a simple spreadsheet, but in any case, I plan on going back to some sort of timekeeping system. | http://blog.katharineswan.com/2016/01/tools-to-increase-freelance-productivity.html |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Financial Services Commission (FSC)?
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is an integrated regulator of financial services brought into existence by the Financial Services Commission Act, August 2001. It administers the Insurance Act, Securities Act, Unit Trusts Act and Pensions (Superannuation Funds and Retirement Schemes) Act. The FSC is currently responsible for supervising and monitoring a total of 1,980 licensees and registrants as well as 522 pensions funds and retirement schemes.
Why was the FSC established?
The FSC was established against the background of a comprehensive set of legislative and institutional reforms since the financial sector crisis of the mid-1990s. As a statutory agency, the Commission was setup to ensure the adoption of international best practices, a risk-based approach to management and enforce strict monitoring and supervision standards for the sectors it regulates.
Who does the FSC license and register?
Licenses and registration are issued for the following: securities and insurance companies, agents, brokers, securities dealers, retirement schemes, pension fund administrators, trustees, mutual funds, unit trusts, investment managers.
What are the duties and powers of the FSC?
- Grant, refuse, suspend or cancel licences
- Assume temporary management of supervised entities
- Verify the competence and integrity of senior officers in keeping with fit and proper criteria
- Wind up insolvent companies
- Introduce measures to reduce the threat of fraud or money laundering
- Suspend trading in a security in the public’s interest
- Review annual returns, corporate data, partnerships and business practices
Does the FSC regulate banks, credit unions or building societies?
The FSC does not license or register merchant or commercial banks, credit unions, building societies or micro finance companies.
How does the FSC supervise and monitor its licensees?
- Register and approve all securities, insurance products and pensions plans.
- Examine company records at least annually to ensure compliance with regulations.
- Investigate complaints from aggrieved persons including investors.
- Impose sanctions or penalties including fines or other corrective action when breaches or irregularities have been identified.
- Co-ordinate public education programmes and industry workshops to discuss, introduce, amend or highlight regulatory requirements and matters.
What are the licensing requirements for companies or persons registered by the FSC?
The requirements for licenses and registration vary, guidelines, document checklists and application forms can be found online at www.fscjamaica.org by clicking on the Registration Information link under each Division tab on the left of the Home page.
How do I file a complaint?
Contact the FSC after you have made a complaint to the company. If you are unable to resolve the matter, obtain a letter stating the company's final position on the complaint. Then, contact the FSC to file your complaint by calling: 1-888-327-4357 or submit a written complaint by mail to: Complaints Coordinator, Financial Services Commission, 39-43 Barbados Avenue, Kingston 5 or email: [email protected]. | http://www.fscjamaica.org/faqs/ |
Join us for our Makers House Summer Showcase in the Milliken showroom, from 25th - 27th July we will be presenting the work of talented designers as well as providing workshops and talks over the three days.
On Friday 26th July we invite you into the Milliken showroom to view the work on display and discover the colour stories behind the products. Throughout the day we will also be running a free block printing workshop where you can come and experiment with making your own colour stories using a variety of blocks, fabrics and inks.
You will leave with a bundle of block printed fabrics and instructions on how to use the fabrics you have printed, from advice on framing to patchwork instructions this drop in class will give you a brilliant insight into the world of textiles and colour mixing. | https://www.makershouse.co.uk/upcoming-events-2019/2019/7/9/colour-stories-block-printing-workshop-drop-in-amp-free |
Experimental Precipitation of Carbonate Minerals: Effect of pH, Supersaturation and Substrate
Tetteh, Abednego
Master thesis
View/
Open
No file.
Year
2012
Permanent link
http://urn.nb.no/
URN:NBN:no-33679
Metadata
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Appears in the following Collection
Miljøgeologi og naturkatastrofer
Abstract
Understanding the controlling factors and elucidating the requirements and conditions necessary for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage by mineral trapping (or carbonation) is of paramount interest for any technical application as a means for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). The effect of pH, supersaturation and substrate has been studied using non-stirred batch reactors at initial constant temperature of 150 oC. These conditions are relevant for mineral trapping. A set of experiments was conducted, where solid carbonate were precipitated from a range of solution compositions. Saturation state and composition of experimental solutions were calculated using the numerical code PHREEQC-2. Two main aqueous inlet solutions containing MgCl2 and Mg(CH3COO)2 with incremental changes in concentration were reacted on feldspar and basalt separately. The substrates used in the experiment, as well as secondary mineral phases that were formed from the experiments were identified using Raman spectroscopy analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. Results from the experiments show that the growth of secondary carbonates is highly connected to the reactivity of the substrate surface, and that the spatial distribution (number and crystal sizes) of the secondary phases on the surface is highly heterogeneous. Moreover, growth of the magnesian carbonates is highly dynamic with phases being formed and dissolved in a sequence of reactions controlled by the kinetic and thermodynamic stability of the minerals, and by local chemical gradients given by the substrate dissolution. SEM observations also confirmed that acetate was an excellent inhibitor to magnesian carbonate formation in general, with the exception of magnesite at higher pH. This work provides a starting point for future experiments that will more accurately elucidate the solid-solution relationships of carbonates, and provide a template upon which the origin of magnesian carbonates of similar chemistry may be reconciled. | https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/35142 |
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to conveyance of information and more particularly to controlling the release of time sensitive information.
Conveyance of data between parties is known. Such conveyance may be done over wireline transmission paths such as telephone lines, the Internet, etc., and done between data devices such as facsimile machines, computers, etc. Additionally, conveyance of information may be done over wireless transmission paths between wireless communication devices such as portable radios, portable computers that include an RF transceiver, personal digital assistance (PDA), etc. The information conveyed between parties, whether over a wireless communication path or wire line communication path, may be transmitted in a secure manner utilizing encryption and decryption algorithms or may be transmitted in clear text.
For secured conveyances of data, the sending party encrypts the data using an encryption algorithm and a particular key. The key may be a public encryption key of the intended recipient or a unique key for this particular communication. Having encrypted the information, the sending party transmits the encrypted data along with an indication of the particular key to the recipient party. Upon receiving the encrypted data, the recipient obtains, or recaptures, the key and subsequently decrypts the data.
If such data, whether in clear text or in a secured manner, is transmitted to multiple parties, each of the receiving parties may receive the data at different times. For example, if a company is releasing internal information as to a reorganization, the employees at the corporate headquarters, where the message was originated, would most likely receive the message considerably sooner than employees stationed in other parts of the country and/or world. Such information could be considered to be time-sensitive if the releasing party wants the recipients to have access to the data at the same future time.
Currently, if the releasing party is releasing time-sensitive information, the releasing party has to rely on the recipients to access the information only when requested to do so. In other words, the releasing parties has to rely on the integrity of the recipients not to access the information before requested. While most people would honor the request, some would not. Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides the releasing party with automatic control over the releasing of time-sensitive information.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
illustrates a schematic block diagram of a local area network or wide area network which is in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2
illustrates a graphical representation of a calculation for a release of time sensitive information in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3
illustrates a logic diagram for controlling release of time-sensitive information;
FIG. 4
illustrates a logic diagram for encrypting time-sensitive information and subsequently releasing information such that the time-sensitive information may be decrypted in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5
illustrates a logic diagram that may be used by an end-user to prepare time sensitive information and also to receive time-sensitive information in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 6
illustrates a logic diagram for preparing time-sensitive information in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Generally, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling release of time-sensitive information. This may be accomplished by a server establishing access information for a specific future time which only becomes available once the specific future time has passed. When the specific future time has passed, the server releases the access information such that an end-user or end-users may utilize the access information to obtain time-sensitive information. The access information may be a random number which can be used to calculate a decryption key and an encryption key. The encryption key can be released by the server at any time such that an end-user may encrypt time sensitive information for release at the specific future time, but the random number is not released until the specific future time has passed. When the random number is released, end-users may generate the decryption key and subsequently decrypt the time-sensitive information. With such a method and apparatus, time-sensitive information can be released at any time and accessed only at a specific future time based on the release of access information relating to the specific future time.
1
6
10
12
14
22
14
22
26
34
12
23
24
24
23
23
12
12
22
12
14
22
FIG. 1
FIGS. 3 through 6
The present invention can be more fully described with reference through . illustrates a wide area network (“WAN”) or local area network (“LAN”) that includes a server and a plurality of end-users -. Each of the end-users - include memory -. Such memory may be random access memory, read-only memory, hard drive, disk drive and associated disks, or any other means for storing digital information. The server includes a processing unit and memory . The processing unit may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, microcomputer, digital signal processor or any other device that manipulates digital information based on programming instructions. The memory may be read-only memory, RAM, magnetic tape, hard drive, CD ROM, disk drive and associated disks, or any other means for storing digital information. Typically, the memory will store programming instructions such that, when read by the processing unit , causes the processing unit to perform the functions illustrated in one of, or all of, the logic diagrams of . Note that the server and the end-users - may be personal computers, work stations, or any other device that manipulated digital information based on programming instructions. Further note that the server may be incorporated in one or more of the end-users -, but, for the convenience of this discussion, will be discussed as a separate entity.
14
14
12
In an example of operation, assume that an end-user has time sensitive information that it desires to be released at some future point-in-time, where the time-sensitive information may be a press release, a corporate announcement, release of a combination for a bank safe, or any type of information that a user desires to release to a recipient or plurality of recipients at a specific future time. Having decided to release time sensitive information, the end-user sends a request for an encryption key to the server via the WAN or LAN, which may be the Internet, asynchronous transfer mode infrastructure, or any other means for conveying digital data between sites.
14
12
1
0
FIG. 2
Prior to granting the end-user's request, the server generates, at time T, a specific random number for a specific future time. For example, the specific future time may be 20 years from today's date. For this specific future time, a random number is generated. From this random number, iteratively using a one-way function, such as SHA-, secret numbers may be generated for any time prior to the specific future time and for any time interval. For example, secret numbers may be iteratively generated at hour increments dating back from the specific future time, which, as stated, may be 20 years from today's date. Thus, if a straight forward one-way function were utilized a 175,000 calculations of the one-way function would need to be performed to obtain the secret number of the first hour of today, which is the first hour of the first day of the first month of the first year of the time controlled releasing period. The discussion involving presents a technique for calculating secret numbers for any time within the time controlled releasing period using a maximum of 84 calculations for a 20 year period.
1
14
36
12
12
12
Continuing with the example, as mentioned, at T, end-user has time-sensitive information which it desires to release at some future point-in-time and has made a request to the server for an encryption key. The request identifies the future point-in-time when the time-sensitive information is to be released and may or may not contain the time sensitive information. If it includes the time sensitive information, the server will encrypt the information and release the encrypted information. If the request does not include the information, the end-user will encrypt the information and release the encrypted information. Upon receiving the request, the server calculates a secret number for the specified future point-in-time based on the specific future time, the specified future point-in-time specified, the random number, and the one-way function. Once the secret number has been calculated, the server generates a key pair. If the system is employing a Diffie Hellman or elliptic curved cryptic system, a private key can simply be the secret number with a corresponding public key being dependent thereon. If, however, the system is employing an RSA technique, the secret number is used to generate a unique private decryption key and a corresponding public encryption key.
12
14
14
36
36
2
3
Having generated the public encryption key, the server , at time T, sends the encryption key to the end-user . Upon receiving the encryption key, the end-user encrypts the time-sensitive information and transmits it to the network at time T. At this point, each of the recipient end-users will have a copy of the encrypted time-sensitive information . However, none of the recipients may decrypt the information until the specified future point-in-time has passed.
12
16
22
4
When the specified future point-in-time has passed, the server releases the corresponding secret number (“CSN”) at time T. At this time, each of the recipient end-users - receive the corresponding secret number and subsequently generates the private decryption key therefrom. As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the secret numbers corresponding to any future time must be keep confidential until the corresponding time has passed.
5
16
22
Once the decryption key has been obtained, at T, from the corresponding secret number, the recipient end-users - decrypt the time-sensitive information to obtain the clear text representation thereof. Thus, the present invention achieves time-released cryptography with the desirable properties that time-enforcement is done using a server which can be controlled and the server need not deal directly with data to be encrypted.
FIG. 2
y
m
d
h
illustrates a graphical representation of a calculation of a plurality of random numbers that correspond to a specific future release time or a specific future point-in-time. In this example, the specific future point-in-time is 11:00 PM, Dec. 31, 2000. For this specific future point-in-time, one random number is generated by the server and is the only independent number for the entire time release process. The random number may then be used to calculate any secret number relating to a preceding point-in-time using the one-way functions for years f(S), for months f(S), for days f(S), and for hours f(S).
y
y
y
m
m
m
1
1
1
In general, given a secret number (S) corresponding to the last hour of the last day of the last month of the last year to be handled by the server for the time release process, i.e., final point-in-time or the specific future point-in-time, the last hour of the previous year is obtained by utilizing the one-way function for years f(S). By performing f(f(S)), the secret number for the last hour of the next previous year is obtained. The secret number for the last hour of other previous years is obtained in the same manner. Within any given year upto and including the last year of the time release process, a secret number for the last hour of the last day of the next to last month may be obtained by utilizing the one-way function for months f(S), where S is the secret number corresponding to the last hour of the last day of the last month of the given year. By performing f(f(S)), the secret number for the last hour of the last day of the second to last month is obtained. The secret number for the last hour of the last day of other previous months within the given year is obtained in the same manner.
d
d
d
h
h
h
2
2
2
3
3
3
Within any given month of any given year, a secret number may be obtained for the last hour of any day by performing the one-way function for days f(S) as many times as required to obtain the desired day, where S is the secret number corresponding to the last hour of the last day of the given month of the given year. For example, by performing f(f(S)), the secret number for the last hour of the second to last day of the given month is obtained. The secret number for the last hour of other previous days within the given month is obtained in the same manner. A secret number for any hour in a given day of a given month of a given year can be obtained by utilizing the one-way function for hours f(S) as many times as required to obtain the desired hour, where S is the secret number corresponding to the last hour of the given day of the given month of the given year. For example, by performing f(f(S)), the secret number for the second to last hour is obtained. The secret number for other previous hours within the given day of the given month of the given year is obtained in the same manner.
h
ch
ch
Continuing with the general discussion, when a specific release time, or point-in-time, arrives, the server must release the secret number corresponding to the current hour such that the corresponding decryption key may be calculated by an end-user. The end-user may further use the secret number for the current hour, to calculate a secret number, and the corresponding decryption key, for any previous hour in the current day using the one-way function for hours f(S), where Sis the secret number for the current hour.
pd
h
pd
pd
d
pd
d
h
d
If the end-user desires to calculate a secret number for any hour during the previous day in the current month, the server must also release the secret number corresponding to the last hour of the previous day S. The end-user would then use the one-way function f(S) as many times as required to obtain the desired secret number. In, addition, from this secret number S, the secret number of the last hour of any preceding day of the current month may be determined using the one-way function for days f(S) as many times as required. From a secret number Scorresponding to a given day, a secret number may be calculated using the one-way function for hours f(S) as many times as required for any hour within the given day.
pm
m
pm
h
pm
d
pm
d
h
d
To calculate secret numbers for hours in preceding months of the current month within the current year, the server needs to release the secret number Scorresponding to the last hour of the last day of the previous month to the current month. To calculate the secret number for the last hour of the last day of a preceding month within the current year, the one-way function for months f(S) is used as many times as required. Using the secret number for a previous month of the current year, the secret number for the last hour of any day may be obtained using the one-way function for days. From these secret numbers for days, secret numbers for any hour in a given day can be calculated using the one-way function for days. To calculate the secret number for previous hours of the last day of the previous month, the one-way function for hours f(S) is used as many times as required. To calculate the secret number for the last hour of any day in the previous month, the one-way function for days f(S) is used as many times as required. From a secret number Scorresponding to a given day within the previous month, a secret number may be calculated using the one-way function for hours f(S) for any hour within the given day.
To obtain a secret number for any hour in a previous year, the server must release the secret number for the last hour of the last day of the last month for the previous year. From this secret number, any secret number can be determined for any hour using the one-way functions for hours, days, and months. As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, given a secret number that corresponds to a given time (specified in hours, day, months, and/or years), a secret number may be calculated for any given previous time.
FIG. 2
12
12
1
1
1
12
2
1
2
3
31
4
3
4
3
23
6
84
1
2
3
y
y
y
y
m
d
h
th
th
th
th
The example of has the specified future point-in-time for the release of time-sensitive information being Jul. 4, 1998 at 6:00 a.m. To obtain the unique secret number for this time, the server utilizes the random number for 11 PM, Dec. 31, 2000 and the one-way functions for years, months, days, and hours functions. To begin, the server calculates a secret number (S) for 11 PM, Dec. 31, 1998 by executing f(f(S)), where the nested f(S) provides the secret number for 11 PM, Dec. 31, 1999, and the outer f(S) provides the secret number (S). Using the secret number S, the server calculates the secret number (S) for the last hour of July, 1998 by performing the f(S) function five times. From S, the server then calculates the secret number S for the last hour of Jul. 4, 1998 by performing the f(S) function twenty-seven times (−). From S, the server calculates the secret number (S) for 6 AM, Jul. 4, 1998 by performing the f(S) sixteen times (− ). can then be used to generate an encryption key that is used to decrypt time sensitive information which was scheduled for release at 6 AM, Jul. 4, 1998. Note that S, S, and S are secret number components of the secret number for 6 AM, Jul. 4, 1998.
4
3
2
4
2
1
4
1
th
d
m
m
y
y
Given the secret number (S) for 6 AM, July 4, 1998 and secret numbers for the last hour of the previous day f(S) (or f(S) if S corresponds to the first day of the month), the secret number for the last hour of the previous month f(S) (or f(S) if S corresponds to the first month of the year), and the secret number for last hour of the previous year f(S), the end-user can calculate any previous secret number and the associated decryption key.
FIG. 1
As mentioned with reference to , if a 20-year span has been established for the time release period, the server would need to perform 175,000 calculations of a one-way function to obtain the secret number for the first hour of the first day of the first month of the first year of the release period. By using the technique described above to determine a secret number relating to a specific point-in-time, the maximum number of calculations to obtain any secret number for the 20 year period is down from 175,000 to 84.
FIG. 3
50
illustrates a logic diagram for accessing time-sensitive information. The process begins at step where a server establishes access information for a specific future time. The access information may be a random number which would be used for encryption and decryption purposes, a combination for a bank safe, or any other access controlling information which can be time-released. Note that the access information is for a specific future time.
52
54
56
Having established the access information, the process proceeds to step where a determination is made as to whether the specific future time has passed. If not, the process waits until the specific future time passes. Once the specific future time passes, the process proceeds to step where the server releases the access information. Upon release of the access information, the process proceeds to step where an end-user may utilize the access information to obtain time-sensitive information. Note that any time after the specific future time passes, the end-user may utilize the access information to obtain the time-sensitive information. For example, if the specific future time where Jul. 4, 1998 at 6:00 a.m., the end-user any time thereafter could utilize the access information to obtain the time-sensitive information.
FIG. 4
FIGS. 1 and 2
60
62
64
64
illustrates a logic diagram for encrypting time-sensitive information and subsequently decrypting the time-sensitive information once a specific point-in-time has passed. The process begins at step where a server establishes a random number for a specific future time. Such a process was discussed previously with reference to . The process then proceeds to step where a calculation is made to determine a corresponding secret number for a point-in-time. Such a calculation is based on the random number, a one-way function, the point-in-time, and the specific future time. Having generated the corresponding secret number, the process proceeds to step . At step , an encryption key is generated from the corresponding secret number. As previously mentioned for RSA, the corresponding secret number would be used to generate a public encryption key while for Diffie Hellman encryption, the corresponding secret number would be the encryption key.
66
68
70
70
66
72
1
The process then proceeds to step where a determination is made as to whether a request for the encryption key has been received. If so, the process proceeds to step where the server releases the encryption key. Once the encryption key is released, or no requests have been received for release of the encryption key, the process proceeds to step . At step , a determination is made as to whether the point-in-time has passed. If not, the process reverts back to step , where the system waits for either a request for the encryption key, or the point-in-time to pass. Once the point-in-time has passed, the process proceeds to step where the server releases the corresponding secret number. As previously discussed, once the corresponding secret number has been released, the recipient end-users may calculate a private decryption key from the corresponding secret number. As one skilled in the art will readily appreciate, by utilizing the one-way function such as SHA-, end-users cannot determine future secret numbers based on a current secret number. Thus, the one-way function ensures that only corresponding secret numbers of points-in-time that have passed can be used to generate decryption keys. By controlling the generation of decryption keys, only time-sensitive information for which the corresponding specific point-in-time has passed will be accessible to recipients.
FIG. 5
80
illustrates a logic diagram for an end-user to generate time-sensitive information and to obtain time-sensitive information. The process begins at step where, from time to time, the end-user requests an encryption key that is based on a secret number corresponding to a specific future time. The requests would indicate the specific future time such that the server could calculate the corresponding secret number utilizing a one-way function. From the corresponding secret number, the server could generate the encryption key where the encryption key may be a public encryption key if RSA is used.
82
84
The process then proceeds to step where the end-user encrypts time-sensitive information based on the encryption key. As previously mentioned, the time-sensitive information may be a corporate announcement, a press release, stock information, banking information, combinations for safety deposit boxes, safes, etc., or any other information that a transmitting party would want the designated recipients to receive at a given time. The process then proceeds to step where the encrypted time-sensitive information is provided to a network such that the recipients may receive the encrypted time-sensitive information.
86
88
90
The process continues at step where, from time to time, an end-user requests a secret number that corresponds to a second future specific time. The second specific future time relates to the time release for encrypted time-sensitive information. The process then proceeds to step where the secret number is received when the second specific future time has passed. The process then proceeds to step where a decryption key is generated from the secret number such that the encrypted time-sensitive information may be decrypted.
FIG. 6
FIG. 2
100
102
1
2
3
4
st
st
th
th
illustrates a logic diagram for utilizing a plurality of random numbers to represent a specific future time and intervening times. The process begins at step where a random number is established for a specific future time, i.e., the end of the time controlled releasing period. The process then proceeds to step where a plurality of secret numbers are calculated based on the random number, a point-in-time, the specific future time, and at least one one-way function. For example, referring to the example of where the point-in-time is Jul. 4, 1988 at 6:00 a.m., the plurality of secret numbers would be S for 11 PM, Dec. 31, 1998, S for 11 PM, Jul. 31, 1998, S for 11 PM, Jul. 4, 1998, and S for 6 AM, Jul. 4, 1998.
104
4
1
2
3
106
th
The process then proceeds to step where an encryption key is generated based on the second plurality of random numbers. In particular, the encryption key for the 6 AM, Jul. 4, 1998 release time, would be based on the secret number S, which is derived from the plurality of secret numbers S, S, and S. Having generated the encryption key, the process proceeds to step where the encryption key is released such that time-sensitive information may be encrypted using the encrypted key.
The preceding discussion has presented a method and apparatus for controlling release of time-sensitive information. The control is obtained by having a server establish a random number for a future given time and calculating, using a one-way function, corresponding secret numbers for points-in-time that occur prior to the future specific time. By utilizing a one-way function to calculate the secret numbers, only secret numbers that correspond to times that have passed can be calculated. As such, the release of time-sensitive information is done in a controlled manner with assurances that the recipients will not have access to the data prior to the specific release time. | |
There are many things to consider when choosing a wife. Many of the most important happen to be her physical attributes, her financial background, and her work habits. Other critical factors to consider include her emotional steadiness and self-indulgence. These elements will determine how well the relationship works out. Listed below are some tips that will help you choose a better half who will be a good in shape for you. This post will help you make the right decision.
First, consider the attributes of a good wife. Girls that enjoy food preparation and cleaning the house will not be ideal for men who does not like to prepare, but he may have various other preferences which can be worth considering. Remember, girls have different personal preferences, therefore it is best to talk about these issues prior to tying the knot. Although it can be hard to choose the right partner, it’s important to find somebody who shares the values and interests.
Second, make sure the girl you’re marrying shares almost all of your passions. If possible, look for a female who has identical interests to yours. This will help you connect and avoid disagreements down the road. They have vital that you remember that females have varying opinions, yet big details should be decided. Choosing a partner is a sophisticated process, and you ought to have an analysis with her about it just before tying the knot.
Think about a better half, think in advance. Don’t make the error of censoring your qualifications; leave room for transform. You should consider all the qualities you are looking for in a female before tying or braiding the knot. This lady should be able to make and clean without any help from you, mainly because it shows that you’re trusting her and appreciate her judgment. It’s also important to consider whether she will be cheerful cooking and cleaning or cooking.
Last but not least, it’s important to pick a woman who all shares your interests and has good opinions. Even though a female’s opinion varies from yours, it’s nonetheless vital to agree on big matters like religion and lifestyle. You may not desire to marry a woman just who cooks and like to prepare food. Rather, discover a woman who has a personality that fits yours. When you are looking for a better half who’s able to be both of these, this will help to you make the right decision.
Think about a partner, it’s important to satisfy consider mail order bride all of the characteristics that are critical to you. For instance, a woman are able to do many of the things you do not. It’s a good idea to go over these matters before you tie the knot. When a woman does not cook, is actually not a good thought to marry her. If you do, 2 weeks . good signal. | http://chuadaonhanthientu.com/choosing-a-wife/ |
The Accommodated Learning Centre is a member of the Student Services family operating within the Student Affairs department. If you have a disability that affects your learning and academic success and are looking for information on how to receive academic support, we are your connection to accommodation. We provide support to students with a wide range of disabilities so that they may feel supported and have equal access to a successful academic experience at our university.
To determine if you are eligible for the services at the ALC, we review the documentation you provide to us. The documentation must demonstrate that you have a condition or conditions that restrict your ability to perform activities necessary to participate in your studies at the university. It is expected that this condition will continue to affect you for your entire academic program.
If a student suspects learning challenges, our office can provide a suspected learning disability screening. It is through this process that our staff can appropriately refer students for further assessment/assistance.
In special circumstances, we may provide temporary accommodations for serious medical situations that negatively impact academics during a semester. These still require documentation from a medical professional and are reviewed on a case by case basis.
To learn more about how to register and other important information for new students, please read through the tabs on the left hand side of the page or contact us using the information at the bottom of the page.
Core services include: individualized learning plans, exam accommodations, assistive technologies, alternate format textbooks, funding assistance and general advising. We offer personalized supports through educational assistants, academic strategists, tutors and note takers.
Our office collaborates with students, staff, and faculty to increase opportunities for success at our great institution. The ALC promotes self-advocacy and increased independence among students registered with our office. Our aim is to assist and encourage you as you obtain tools and increased skills to successfully transition into the workforce.
For more information or to book an appointment please contact [email protected], call 403-329-2766 (not currently available) or see our office directory. | https://www.ulethbridge.ca/ross/accommodated-learning-centre/content/hello-alc-family |
This report details the findings from a main study which used a two group non-equivalent control group design to examine the application of clinical reasoning by nursing students who observed a high fidelity simulation to determine if the independent variable (clinical reasoning observation worksheet) was associated with the dependent variable (clinical reasoning). The pre-test post-test design surveyed participants to determine the impact of the clinical reasoning framework based observation task/approach on their perception of their clinical reasoning. Participants were evaluated before and after the intervention and control experience, using the ‘Nurses Clinical Reasoning Survey’ (Liou et at., 2015). The post-test included a sub-scale measuring active learning, from the Educational Practices Questionnaire (National League for Nursing, 2005). Simulation teaching staff (facilitators) were asked to complete a survey (Clinical Reasoning Facilitator Survey) regarding their perspectives of students’ clinical reasoning displayed and discussed in the debrief element of the high fidelity simulation (HFS). A random selection of simulations was observed by a member of the research team, documenting observations in field notes. Observation worksheets were found to increase clinical reasoning in simulation participants, yet facilitators of simulation did not observe, along with researchers that clinical reasoning was applied in its entirety by simulation participants.
DescriptionDr. Tutticci is a recipient of the 2017-2018 Sigma/Chamberlain College of Nursing Education Research Grant.
NotesThe Sigma Theta Tau International grant application that funded this research, in whole or in part, was completed by the applicant and peer-reviewed prior to the award of the Sigma grant. No further peer-review has taken place upon the completion of the Sigma grant final report and its appearance in this repository.
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The citations below are meant to be used as guidelines. Patrons must make any necessary corrections before using. Pay special attention to personal names, capitalization, and dates. Always consult appropriate citation style resources for the exact formatting and punctuation guidelines. | https://sigma.nursingrepository.org/handle/10755/20678 |
STEM and Arts-infused Learning is a U.S. Department of Education Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination grant for 2014-2018. The four-year project is a partnership of Puget Sound Educational Service District’s Arts Impact program, Seattle Public Schools, and local arts organizations. The project is integrating standards based dance, theater, and visual arts with STEM subjects. In addition, it is investigating the impact of Project Based Learning on student engagement and arts-infused teaching and learning.
Project Goals
- Increase teacher content knowledge and skills in the arts
- Integrate standards-based arts instruction with STEM subjects
- Expand the Arts Impact model to include professional learning on Project Based Learning and develop Project Based Learning Arts-infused STEM units
- Improve teacher effectiveness through the use of high-quality digital tools and materials
Project Design
SAIL uses a quasi-experimental design comparing teachers and classrooms that receive a technology-enhanced Arts Impact professional learning program with a group that does not. Initial differences between the two groups are controlled by random assignment where possible and by examining the characteristics of treatment and control schools for the percent of students eligible for free and reduced meals, student racial/ethnic diversity, staff qualifications, and staff access to technology. The evaluation design uses multiple measures and a mixed-methodology to provide formative and summative feedback for the project.
Quantitative measures include:
- Performance-based assessments (text version) of program lessons for teachers and students
- Teacher Arts Knowledge Test
- Student Arts Knowledge Test
- Autonomy Rubric for Teachers (A.R.T.) (text version)
- STAR Observation Protocol© assesses the presence of Powerful Teaching and Learning™ at the school level as evidenced by observation of students and teacher’s skills, knowledge, application, and relationships. For further information on the STAR Observation Protocol, go to www.bercgroup.com.
- Next Generation Science assessments
- Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium math assessments
Qualitative measures include:
- Teacher surveys assessing teacher dispositions to teach the arts
- Teacher interviews
- Artist Mentor interviews
Professional Development Components
SAIL is a 147-hour, three-year professional learning program. The following components will be provided annually over the course of three years: | https://arts-impact.org/research-projects/stem-and-arts-infused-learning/ |
A Colorado man has been sentenced to 76 years in prison for securities fraud over soliciting investments for insurance marketing organizations.
The Denver Post reported 59-year-old Kelly James Schnorenberg was sentenced last month after a Douglas County District Court jury convicted him in October on 25 counts of security fraud totaling $16 million.
According to the state Department of Regulatory Agencies, the Lone Tree man bilked 240 investors.
Schnorenberg solicited investments personally and also directed agents to solicit investments for his multiple insurance marketing organizations from 2009 to 2015.
He was also twice sued by the state Division of Securities from 1999 to 2005.
The department says Judge Paul King ordered the sentence after evaluating the evidence presented at trial and examining written victim impact statements from more than 90 victims who were defrauded. | https://asiainsurancepost.com/archives/1573 |
Vice President Kalla, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a great honor to be here today, with our esteemed government and private sector partners. I strongly believe that a good partnership between government and the private sector is vital for any country, including Indonesia, to achieve truly inclusive and sustainable development goals.
I therefore want to thank you for inviting the World Bank to join in this partnership.
At the World Bank we have two goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 – this is only 15 years from now. And promoting shared prosperity – making sure that the bottom 40 percent of every society benefit from economic progress.
To achieve these ambitious goals, rapid growth is critical. In fact, over the last 20 years, economic growth has helped to lift almost a billion people out of extreme poverty. But another billion people still live on $1.25 or less. 1.1 billion don’t have access to electricity. 2.5 billion people have no access to sanitation.
For these people, growth has not been inclusive enough.
In addition, this growth-success has come at the expense of the environment with major negative implications for future generations.
Yes, Indonesia has enjoyed tremendous growth. GDP has doubled in the last decade and poverty has halved, down to 11.3 percent in 2014. But not all are benefiting from these achievements and they come with a high price of environmental degradation.
One country very familiar with this cost is China.
China has grown by double digits for decades, but lost a staggering 9 percent of its expected GDP to ‘brown growth.’ In response, China is adopting green policies, and shifting economic activity to innovation and higher-value-added production. It now wants to be an early mover in the race toward green production processes.
Maintaining the status quo can reverse the gains of economic growth, because it quickly depletes natural resources which leads to more vulnerability to climate change or associated health risks.
While environmental degradation affects everyone, it hits the poor hardest. They are more vulnerable to violent weather and floods, and their livelihoods are more fragile. Poverty rates in Indonesia are highest amongst families living in environmentally degraded areas.
So if there is one major lesson development experts, policy makers, and institutions - like the World Bank - have learned over the last decades it is this: If we want to succeed in ending poverty, we cannot rely on growth alone unless it is inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
To put it simply: success will depend on how a country will grow, not just by how much.
The topic of today is ‘green infrastructure.’ As you all know well, infrastructure will be key to helping countries achieve their full potential. But the gap between aspiration and reality is vast. East Asia alone needs $ 8 trillion in infrastructure investment, to keep up with demand up to the year 2020. In Indonesia, as Vice President Kalla just pointed out, the needs are as great and urgent.
At the World Bank we are working hard on helping fill the gap that is keeping so many countries from achieving their full potential. We are encouraged by the renewed focus on infrastructure investment across the globe. We welcome the new players in this field – like the AIIB and the New Development Bank. We welcome all efforts to create bankable projects that are attractive investment opportunities and whose services are affordable to all citizens.
I would like to highlight three areas that are critical to ensuring that future growth is both green and inclusive.
First, the energy we produce needs to be clean and we need to use it efficiently.
Second, we need to manage natural resources responsibly.
And third, we need good policies, good governance, and leadership that isn’t afraid to tackle the status quo.
The energy sector has a very high potential for reducing poverty while making ‘green’ gains.
In fact, access to sustainable energy is a development goal in itself. Without electricity women and girls have to spend hours to fetch water, clinics can’t store vaccines, children cannot do homework at night, people cannot run competitive businesses, and countries cannot power their economies.
In Africa, the electricity challenge can be daunting. Take a country like Ethiopia with a population of 91 million people of which about 68 million people are living in the dark.
According to latest data, more poor people are gaining access to electricity at faster rate than ever before. While this is good news, almost 3 billion still cook with polluting fuels like kerosene, wood, charcoal and dung. Renewable energy generation and energy efficiency improvements will need to accelerate dramatically.
In Indonesia, coal accounts for more than half of the country’s energy mix. But the country also has 40 percent of the world’s potential geothermal resources. If tapped, this should help the government’s targets to double the share of renewable energy for power generation, to 23 percent in 10 years.
Improving the energy mix can also lead to reduced fiscal risks. Turkey and Thailand have seen the benefits for doing just that. Turkey drastically reduced the share of oil in favor of gas. Thailand has decreased its dependency on petroleum products, from two-thirds to a third. Natural gas now accounts for almost half of the energy mix.
The second critical area, is responsible resource management, where we see very high costs.
Indonesia’s tropical rainforests are the world’s third largest. It produces more palm oil and exports more coal than anyone else in the world. But this natural-resource-powerhouse relies on destructive and expensive ‘brown growth’. In 2009, the World Bank estimated that the country foregoes up to 10 percent of GDP annually due to environmental degradation.
Conversion of peat land to agriculture and timber plantations has led to more fires, polluting the air and leading to severe economic losses. Over three months in 2014, forest fires caused an estimated US$1 billion in damage.
This degradation as well as mining, have taken a toll. Three quarters of Indonesia’s rivers, and 15 of its lake eco-systems, are polluted. Lead and mercury contamination are amongst the highest in the world, posing serious health risks.
But there are also opportunities for smart and sustainable resource management: For example the fiseries sector.
A well-managed ‘blue’ economy can ensure food security, promote sustainable tourism, and build resilience. But degradation through overfishing and dumped waste exacerbates poverty and undermines food security globally. Ineffective fish stock management and illegal fishing waste $75bn—$125bn of global output annually.
Indonesia can do better. The archipelago’s marine and coastal natural resources can generate significant growth. Indonesia has more than 2.6 million fishermen, and 140 million Indonesians depend on marine and coastal ecosystems for their livelihoods. It is the world’s second largest producer of wild-capture fish.
The human cost is high. Average poverty rates in coastal areas are amongst the highest here.
Reversing these developments is essential. If Indonesia improves governance of the fisheries sector and invests in large scale maritime transport and trade infrastructure, it can double fish production by the year 2019.
Recent developments are encouraging. A moratorium on new fishing permits for large fishing operations can help revive fish populations. Ministry officials violating the ban are now being disciplined.
This is related to the third area which needs urgent attention if we want to end poverty in a sustainable way: that is, good governance. For many countries, this is their biggest challenge.
To give you one example: Every year, Indonesia loses some US$4 billion through illegal logging. Meanwhile, revenues from forestry licensing amount to only US$300 million per year.
This is a problem of governance, manifested in poor performance that impacts the implementation of existing regulations or design of better laws. And it is a global issue.
Conflicting legislation and regulations, overlapping mandates, unwillingness to enforce appropriate land use, elite capture, entrenched attitudes and lack of incentives to influence behavior are rife in many resource rich countries.
Like many countries, Indonesia can transform its decision-making system to be more transparent and inclusive, particularly on resource allocation and use. It can ensure that land is used efficiently. And Indonesia can raise public awareness on the negative impact of ‘brown’ growth, so that communities increase demand for change.
Another opportunity is improving transparency and monitoring of developments. Government agencies often don’t know the extent to which natural resources are being depleted. Quite simply, there is an information gap, which makes it harder to assess the basic sustainability of the various sectors.
The energy sector, for example, needs more and better data on simple energy use and emissions. This comprehensive ‘green accounting’ is currently lacking. The answer may be investments and technology – and global best practices exist that Indonesia can learn from.
But it is also a matter of leadership, building consensus, taking on vested interests and juggling trade-offs to make the shift from brown and exclusive to green and inclusive.
No single green growth model works for all countries. Policy and investment options should suit each country’s specific needs, under a comprehensive strategy.
There are many who fear that greening growth is too expensive, could slow output or should concern only high-income countries. But this fear is short-sighted. Sustainable growth is neither unaffordable nor is it technically out of reach.
But it comes with challenges, including large up-front costs and long-term financing of 15 to 25 years. Few developing countries have suitable capital markets or banking. Innovative financing is essential. While public-private partnerships can help and should be encouraged, these partnerships remain concentrated in a few middle-income countries and a few sectors.
Another challenge is cost recovery and the right policy environment that ensures we are not only building schools, but also improve education. No power station is of use, if the utility company is operating at a loss. Few infrastructure projects can charge at full cost. So we should find ways to ease cost recovery, while keeping services affordable for low-income families and communities.
From 2011 to 2012, investments in clean technology in developing countries increased by 19 percent, to $112 billion per year, creating jobs that are good for the environment and good for workers. Jobs in this sector tend to be more skilled, safer, and better paid. 90 percent of clean technology businesses increased their revenue even during the global economic downturn.
East Asia could lead on green development. We talked about China. Cambodia and Vietnam have integrated green growth plans into economic policies and market-based incentive mechanisms. Thailand’s most recent multi-year development plan includes green growth strategies, including the goal to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent by the year 2030. Malaysia has developed and implemented a law on climate change and a law to encourage renewable energy. Indonesia can learn from these experiences.
This summit reaffirms a joint commitment to accelerate investments in Indonesia’s vast infrastructure needs. You can turn this into an opportunity for ‘green’ and inclusive growth. By addressing energy needs in sustainable ways, by handling resources responsible, and by putting governance mechanisms in place that will benefit all Indonesians, including future generations. | http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2015/06/09/the-case-for-inclusive-green-growth |
Known for being intelligent and sensitive, elephants are social animals that will greet each other and display affection towards members of their herd. These magnificent creatures are strong and loyal, and though they will protect their herd from potential dangers, they can also be incredibly gentle. Habitat loss and poaching have threatened elephants in many parts of the world, but there are other human-caused actions that threaten and exploit this incredible and majestic animal.
In the documentary Gods in Shackles, director and producer Sangita Iyer uncovers the horrific abuse and torture of temple elephants in Kerala, India. It’s estimated that there are around 600 captive elephants in Kerala, and many are used by temples as part of the Hindu festivals that occur between December and May.
Entire communities partake in the festivities, where elephants are paraded around the temple and through the streets. The elephant is India’s heritage animal, and those who lead the festivals believe that using live animals is part of the culture and honors the gods. But as the film shows, behind the bright colors and festive attire lies a horrible truth of torture and neglect.
Animals Are Exploited in the Name of Tradition
During the festivals, elephants are adorned with enormous golden headpieces and colorful decorations. Through scorching heat, they’re forced to walk down crowded streets with up to four men riding on their back, slowly dragging their heavily shackled feet along the hot pavement as they’re prodded with sharp poles to keep them moving.
During one festival, Thrissur Pooram, the elephants are paraded around for 36 hours, with only a few short breaks for food and hydration. After an exhausting day in the heat, they’re forced to endure loud fireworks as the festival continues into the night. During the Umbrella Ceremony, elephants are placed in rows as men holding umbrellas stand on their backs and perform in front of cheering crowds.
Elephants are often rented out to other temples, and they will sometimes participate in up to three festivals per day. They’re given little time to rest between events, and they are forced to stand with shackles restricting their movement as people crowd around them and the sound of loud music fills the air. Highly sensitive to noise, the overwhelming atmosphere causes such distress that elephants sometimes bolt, destroying everything in their path and injuring people in the process.
In 2015, there were 3,082 incidents where elephants ran loose during a festival or event — between 2012 and 2015, these incidents resulted in the deaths of 73 people and 167 elephants. This behavior causes people to fear elephants and is used to justify the methods used to control them, but the reality is these actions are purely the result of an overwhelming and abusive environment.
A Life of Unimaginable Abuse and Suffering
Temple elephants spend their entire lives in chains that are sometimes so short they can hardly move. They receive just enough food and water to keep them alive, and to keep the elephants “trained,” handlers shock them and repeatedly hit their bodies with long poles and bullhooks.
“Over the last three years, more than 150 captive elephants have died due to torture and neglect.”
The beatings result in ripped ears and skin injuries, only adding to the pain caused by wounds from the shackles wound tightly around their ankles. In one horrific case, an elephant’s eye was injured by a bullhook, causing a painful injury that will likely result in blindness. And one young elephant was beaten so severely, he died a few days later.
Physically and mentally broken, the elephants spend their days swaying back and forth — a result of stress caused by a lack of movement and socialization. There’s no mercy, even for elephants that are elderly, blind, or injured. And this horrific cycle of abuse continues day after day, until they succumb to injury or illness, or are killed.
Working to Save the Temple Elephants
Conservationists and advocates in India are working hard to stop the illegal trafficking of elephants for entertainment. In 2015, the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center launched a case against states that use captive elephants and those who own them illegally. The local government granted amnesty to the owners, but the Supreme Court, in a case that remains ongoing, directed the amnesty to be withdrawn.
They’re also working to spread awareness about the abuse that occurs behind the festivals, and Iyer hopes that her documentary will help people understand that you can honor elephants and culture without keeping animals captive and forcing them to perform. The efforts have also led some Hindu priests to urge people to end the use of live elephants at temples, and an emphasis is being placed on activities that involve traditional human entertainment acts instead.
They know that changing traditions and beliefs takes time, but by educating people and encouraging them to seek other methods of entertainment, there will hopefully be a day where all of the elephants will be living the happy and free lives they deserve.
Watch Gods in Shackles, here. | https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/temple-elephants-are-suffering-tremendously/ |
The two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are “Notice that” and “What happens next?” Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts.
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Daryush is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC-S) and has a MEd in Community Health Education and a MA in Mental Health Counseling. For the last 24 years he has served in numerous clinical and supervisory capacities in the fields of trauma, dual diagnoses, mental health, substance abuse counseling; and clinical/supervisory positions. He has also served as Clinical Assistant Professor, and practicum supervisor in the Counseling and Human Development Program at Walsh University, specializing in Trauma, Motivational Counseling/Interviewing, Dynamics of Chemical Dependency, Dual disorder issues, and Psychological testing & assessment. He is the founder and chair person for the International Association of Somatic Therapies.
In working with clients with anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and relational issues, Daryush utilizes Motivational Interviewing, EMDR Therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and relational therapies, His main professional interests are training mental health professionals and working with clients in therapy from diverse backgrounds who present with personality disorders, dual diagnoses, and histories of complex trauma. He is also interested in the integration of research-based mindfulness, yoga techniques, and somatosensory/mindfulness practices into counseling, especially treatment of complex PTSD, dissociative and adult attachment related disorders. | http://www.renew-wellness-center.com/daryush-therapist.html |
What is rosacea? Rosacea (ro-ZAY-she-ah) is a long-term skin condition that causes reddened skin and a rash, usually on the nose and cheeks. It may also cause eye problems.
Scoliosis in Children and Teens
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/scoliosis
What is scoliosis? Scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine. Children and teens with scoliosis have an abnormal S-shaped or C-shaped curve of the spine. The curve can happen on either side of the spine and in different places in the spine. With treatment, observation, and follow-up with the doctor, most children and teens with scoliosis have normal, active lives.
Scleroderma
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/scleroderma
What is scleroderma? Scleroderma is an autoimmune connective tissue and rheumatic disease that causes inflammation in the skin and other areas of the body. This inflammation leads to patches of tight, hard skin. Scleroderma involves many systems in your body. A connective tissue disease is one that affects tissues such as skin, tendons, and cartilage. There are two major types of scleroderma: Localized scleroderma only affects the skin and the structures directly under the skin. Systemic scleroderma, also called systemic sclerosis, affects many systems in the body. This is the more serious type of scleroderma and can damage your blood
Ankylosing Spondylitis
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/ankylosing-spondylitis
What is ankylosing spondylitis? Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in certain parts of the spine. Over time, this inflammation in the joints and tissues of the spine can cause stiffness. In severe cases, this may cause the bones in the spine to grow together, which can lead to a rigid spine that is difficult to bend. Many people with ankylosing spondylitis have mild episodes of back pain and stiffness that come and go. But others have severe, ongoing back pain and stiffness. Other symptoms also may develop if other areas of the body are affected
Psoriatic Arthritis
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/psoriatic-arthritis
What is psoriatic arthritis? Psoriatic arthritis is a condition that causes swelling and pain in joints and the places where tendons and ligaments attach to bones. Most people who develop psoriatic arthritis already have psoriasis (a skin disease), but a small number have joint pain before the skin rash. | https://www.niams.nih.gov/search?search=What%20is%20Raynaud%E2%80%99s%20Phenomenon%3F&type=All&media=All&f%5B0%5D=archived%3A0&f%5B1%5D=audience%3A50&f%5B2%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A176&f%5B3%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A192&f%5B4%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A196&f%5B5%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A206&f%5B6%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A239&f%5B7%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A246&f%5B8%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A302&f%5B9%5D=diseases_and_conditions%3A310 |
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Following the release of its Fintech Strategy in May 2019, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is releasing information regarding each of the six pillars and focusing on the implementation of the strategic objectives.
Through the first pillar, Regulations, the MFSA published a consultation document:
Recently, several jurisdictions established Regulatory Sandboxes - environments that support and facilitate innovation whilst safeguarding consumer protection, market integrity and financial soundness.
Malta is already offering a business environment conducive to financial technology innovation, especially in the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) sphere as evident from the implementation of the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Framework. The MFSA is now proposing to set up a Regulatory Sandbox to further support technology enabled financial innovation.
The MFSA Regulatory Sandbox will provide the opportunity for participants to test the commercial and regulatory viability of their innovations for a specified period of time in a fully functional financial services environment, under a set of conditions, in order to strictly contain the associated risks to consumers and the financial system.
This testing environment will not only cater for financial services falling under the MFSA’s regulatory and supervisory perimeter, but also for those services that do not clearly fall under specific financial services legislation. Additionally, the Regulatory Sandbox will cater for other products and services which enable or facilitate the provision of such financial services, such as solutions pertinent to Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), RegTech and SupTech.
Therefore, the Regulatory Sandbox will be useful for both established financial services providers and new entrants, including start-ups, scale ups and technology firms, leveraging existing or new disruptive technology in an innovative way to provide or support the provision of a financial services offering.
Objectives
The primary objectives of the Sandbox are to support sustainable financial innovation and to reduce regulatory uncertainty.
These will be achieved through the following principles:
Scope & Applicability
It is being proposed that the Regulatory Sandbox will be open to all Fintech entities which is defined by the European Banking Authority (EBA) as “technologically enabled financial innovation that could result in new business models, applications, processes or products with an associated material effect on financial markets and institutions and the provision of financial services”.
Therefore, it is envisaged that three types of technology enabled financial innovation will be within scope of the MFSA Regulatory Sandbox:
Get in touch with BDO today to Learn More: | https://www.bdo.com.mt/en-gb/news/2019/mfsa-fintech-strategy-regulation |
Courtney Falato is the Smart Cities Relationship Director at The Ohio State University.Her current focus is to help facilitate Ohio State's role as the lead research partner ofthe Smart Cities grant awarded to the city of Columbus – a $40 million award that aimsto reinvent mobility in Columbus.
Ms. Falato's career has focused on education, research and technology, most recentlyserving as an administrator in innovative roles at two high-performing central Ohioschool districts. She most recently served as the first Chief Innovation Officer for DublinCity Schools, where she led the democratization of design thinking, computer scienceand career exposure experiences across a 15,000-student district. Prior to that, she wasReynoldsburg City Schools' first Director of Innovation, where she leading the work ofthe district's five STEM schools. There, she developed a district-wide maker educationprogram, established K12 career pathways and led the development andimplementation of a K12 work plan for computer science education.
Ms. Falato's career began in research an education researcher at the AmericanInstitutes for Research (AIR) in Washington DC. There, she managed $400 million ingrant submissions while also collecting, analyzing and synthesizing data for federalmonitoring reports for the US Department of Education. In 2008, she joined Ohio State'sBattelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy as the Associate Directorof STEM projects. While there, she was part of a national research team studying theimplementation, spread and sustainability of STEM school models across the country.While an Associate Project Director at the University of Chicago's Center for ElementaryMathematics and Science Education, Ms. Heppner began focusing on K12 computerscience education research, co-authoring a foundational report for the current computerscience education movement titled Building and Operating System for ComputerScience Education (2011).
Ms. Falato received her B.A. in Political Science from Ohio State and her M.Ed. fromthe University of Virginia.
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Contemporary western Paganism is now a global religious phenomenon with Pagans in many parts of the world sharing much in common - from a nature-revering worldview and lifestyle to a host of chants, invocations, ritual tools and magical practices. But there are also locally-specific differences. Local religious contexts, landscapes, histories, traditions, politics, values and norms all impact on local Paganisms. This is nowhere more evident than in a strongly Catholic society, where religion and culture are deeply entwined. Taking the Mediterranean society of Malta as a case study, this book invites readers inside the world of a small, hidden sub-culture. Showing what it is like being Pagan in a society where the vast majority of the population is Roman Catholic, and Catholicism permeates every sphere of public and domestic, social and political life, Rountree reveals that Paganism here is a unique brew of indigenous and global influences. Pagans employ both creativity and borrowing in constructing identities within a cultural context characterized by antagonism as well as continuity. This book explores the intersections of religious and cultural identity, the global and local, Paganism and Christianity, with insights grounded in rich ethnographic detail based on long-term fieldwork. Rountree makes invaluable comparisons with other studies of modern Pagans and their various worlds. | https://www.routledge.com/Crafting-Contemporary-Pagan-Identities-in-a-Catholic-Society/Rountree/p/book/9780754669739 |
Based on our previous works involving two 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (tacn)-based ligands Hno2py1pa (1-Picolinic acid-4,7-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) and Hno1pa (1-Picolinic acid-1,4,7-triazacyclononane), we report here the synthesis of analogues bearing picolinate-based π-conjugated ILCT (Intra-Ligand Charge Transfer) transition antenna (HL1, HL2), using regiospecific N-functionalization of the tacn skeleton and their related transition metal complexes (e.g. Cu2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+). Coordination properties as well as their photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated in order to quantify the impact of such antenna on the luminescent or relaxometric properties of the complexes. The spectroscopic properties of the targeted ligands and metal complexes have been studied using UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectrocopies. While the zinc complex formed with HL1 possesses a moderate quantum yield of 5%, complexation of Cu2+ led to an extinction of the luminescence putatively attributed to a photo-induced electron transfer, as supported by spectroscopic and electrochemical evidences. The [Mn(L2)]+ complex is characterized by a fluorescence quantum yield close to 8% in CH2Cl2. The potential interest of such systems as bimodal probes has been assessed from radiolabeling experiments conducted on HL1 and 64Cu2+ as well as confocal microscopy analyses and from relaxometric studies carried out on the cationic [Mn(L2)]+ complex. These results showed that HL1 can be used for radiolabeling, with a radiochemical conversion of 40% in 15 min at 100 °C. Finally, the relaxivity values obtained for [Mn(L2)]+, r1p = 4.80 mM-1·s-1 and r2p = 8.72 mM-1·s-1, make the Mn(II) complex an ideal candidate as a probe for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
RESUMO
Two trispicolinate 1,4,7-triazacyclonane (TACN)-based ligands bearing three picolinate biphotonic antennae were synthetized and their Yb3+ and Gd3+ complexes isolated. One series differs from the other by the absence (L1 )/presence (L2 ) of bromine atoms on the antenna backbone, offering respectively improved optical and singlet-oxygen generation properties. Photophysical properties of the ligands, complexes and micellar Pluronic suspensions were investigated. Complexes exhibit high two-photon absorption cross-section combined either with NIR emission (Yb) or excellent 1 O2 generation (Gd). The very large intersystem crossing efficiency induced by the combination of bromine atom and heavy rare-earth element was corroborated with theoretical calculations. The 1 O2 generation properties of L2 Gd micellar suspension under two-photon activation leads to tumour cell death, suggesting the potential of such structures for theranostic applications.
RESUMO
The first pyclen based ligand bearing two picolinate intra-ligand charge transfer transition antennae and one acetate arm organized in a dissymmetric manner was synthesized for Eu(iii) and Sm(iii) complexation. The europium complex presents an excellent brightness and biphotonic imaging of T24-cells has been performed using Eu(iii) and the less common Sm(iii) bioprobes. | https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/?lang=pt&q=au:%22Galland,%20Margaux%22 |
Can you recall every online service account you have? Maybe you signed up to access some content or because a friend asked you to, then lost interest. Many users simply stop logging in and don’t bother to delete their accounts. The accounts sit there, dormant, waiting to be hacked — but if they are, you won’t know about it anytime soon, if ever.
Abandoned account: What could go wrong
Does it really matter what happens to an unwanted profile, though? If it gets hacked, so what? You didn’t need it anyway. However, in some cases, an abandoned account can be exploited to gain access to resources and important information that you do need. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Social network accounts
Few people regularly check their accounts in all of their social networks. Say, for example, a person creates a Facebook profile, uses it to log in to Instagram and other services (handy, right?), and then realizes he doesn’t actually need Facebook — not an uncommon scenario. Sure, the social network continues to send e-mail notifications if the user didn’t bother to disable them, but they get filtered into a separate folder that he quit checking long ago.
Again, a more-than-plausible scenario. When the user receives an e-mail warning that someone logged into his account from an unknown device, he doesn’t see it. The cybercriminals who logged in have a free shot at the accounts linked to Facebook. They will also probably have time to sting some of the victim’s friends or followers on Facebook.
What to do
- Set up two-factor authentication. Lots of services offer it; here are our posts on setting up security, including 2FA, in Facebook and Twitter.
- Enable notifications about account logins from unknown devices — and pay attention to them.
2. Backup e-mail address
Many people set up a separate e-mail account for mailings and notifications so as not to clutter up their main mailbox, and use it for registering everything and anything, including profiles with important data. And no incoming e-mails there are from real-life people, so they don’t check it very often. Therefore, they may not notice for a long time that their backup e-mail has been hacked — at least not until they lose access to a very important account.
What to do
- Enable two-factor authentication for this account.
- Set up forwarding of messages from this mailbox to a separate folder in your primary e-mail account.
3. Password manager
What if you saved your account credentials in a password manager, and then decided to replace it with a different app? The profile in the old manager doesn’t go anywhere, and neither do the passwords in it (half of which you probably didn’t change). If someone gains access to this profile, they will be able to get into your accounts. And even if you do discover the theft of an account, it won’t be immediately obvious how the cybercriminal got hold of the password for it.
What to do
- Delete accounts in password managers if you no longer use them.
4. Online store account
Many stores invite you to link a bank card or online wallet to your account to make shopping easier. Some even do it automatically. If you are a frequent user, the temptation to do so is great. In addition, the profile is likely to contain your home or work address for delivery of goods, plus other valuable personal data.
But there may come a time when you stop using the service. If the account remains live and gets hacked, the cybercriminals will gain access to your data, which you will probably find out about only when they try to buy something in your name. Or just buy, without the trying bit, since not all services request an SMS code to confirm the transaction.
What to do
- Do not link a bank card to an online store account.
- If the service saves the card automatically, don’t forget to unlink it.
- Consider using a separate card with access to a small amount of money for online shopping.
5. Google work account
It is common to create separate Google accounts if you need access to Google Analytics and other services at work. Keeping personal and work profiles separate makes perfect sense. The problem is that many people forget to delete Google work accounts when they change jobs.
As a rule, company-created accounts are immediately blocked by IT security after the user departs. But they might miss ones that the former employee set up on their own, such as a Google account. The result could be one or more unclaimed accounts swimming around in the online ocean, offering passing sharks access to work documents and other confidential information. The hacking of such an account will be very, very hard to detect, because no one will even remember it exists.
What to do
- The outbound employee doesn’t need to take any additional steps.
- The company has to revoke access to all services and Google accounts used by said employee.
6. Phone number
To keep their main phone number out of spam databases, some users have a separate one for various services, loyalty cards, bonus programs, public Wi-Fi networks, and so on. And sometimes the same phone number is used for two-factor authentication as well. Although technically a number is not an account and cannot be abandoned in the full sense of the word, problems can still arise. On the one hand, a number of accounts are linked to this number. On the other hand, you are unlikely to use this number for calling or texting.
The bottom line for the telco, meanwhile, is that an unused SIM is unprofitable. If you need a number solely to receive SMS messages and never spend anything on the account, the carrier can block it in three months and then resell it.
Sometimes those numbers are snapped up instantly, so you may not have time to relink your accounts to the new SIM. The buyer, on the other hand, will be able to find your accounts in the respective online services — and if they change the passwords, recovering won’t be easy.
In particularly unfortunate cases, the new owner can even get access to bank accounts and online wallets linked to the number and spend your money before you have time to notify the bank. For example, a woman in California had her credit card charged after her operator recycled her number to another customer.
What to do
- Set a reminder to yourself to call or send a text from your additional phone number at least once a month.
- Always keep a positive balance on this phone.
How to avoid problems with abandoned accounts
As you can see, even an unneeded account can cause a lot of problems if hijacked. Preventing a problem is much easier than dealing with its consequences. Therefore, we recommend that you keep track of your accounts. Here are some general handy tips:
- Recall which online services you have registered for. Check which phone numbers and e-mails your accounts in social networks, online stores, banks, and other important services are linked to, and unlink all current profiles from inactive phone numbers and mailboxes.
- If you log in somewhere through Facebook, Twitter, or Google, or keep an additional e-mail or phone number for newsletters, public Wi-Fi, etc., check those accounts from time to time.
- If you decide to stop using a password manager, online store, or social media account, delete your accounts in these services.
- Turn on account login notifications in services that have this option — and review those notifications promptly.
- Use a security solution such as Kaspersky Security Cloud, which will notify you of leaks in services you use. | https://me-en.kaspersky.com/blog/do-not-abandon-your-accounts/14198/ |
Guided walking tour following Ferdinand Sertl´s footsteps.
Musical introduction to church prayer services. Organ music in Garsten, the Häusler Family Music in the Parish Church, vocal music in Christkindl.
Dates 2020:
4. + 11. + 18. + 25 Jan 2020
Start 1:00 pm
Duration 4,5 hours
End at 5.30 pm
Language German
Meeting Point:
Christkindl pilgrimage church
The Christkindl pilgrimage trail is marked along its entire route with white-green signs and is open all year round.
Information:
Tourist board
Steyr am Nationalpark
Stadtplatz 27, 4402 Steyr
phone +43 7252 53229 0
fax +43 7252 53229 15
[email protected], www.steyr.info
Prices
€ 10.- per person
Bookings must be made at least one day prior to the pilgrimage date via the Steyr Tourist Office! | https://www.steyr.info/en/city-culture/sights/trails-routes/pilgrimage.html |
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Declan McKenna Zeros
On his sophomore record, prodigal indie pin-up Declan McKenna offers a critique of hyper-consumerism from outer space.
On his debut album What Do You Think About the Car?, Declan McKenna immersed himself in the indie boy trope of tackling big topics through song. While his peers Sam Fender and Rex Orange County were writing about classism and mental health, McKenna was exploring the similar worlds of religion and gender. Zeros sees McKenna prolong this approach to writing. Yet this time round, his lyrics are symbolic instead of being literal rallying cries for change.
The opening track ‘You Better Believe!!!’ introduces the dystopian outer space universe which the album is set in. The jangly melody fittingly represents McKenna’s notion that this world is one where people find comfort in “impending doom”. The track describes an asteroid charging towards earth, leaving people with nothing but the hyper-consumerism triggered by capitalism. The following song, ‘Be an Astronaut’, sees McKenna take inspiration from early seventies Bowie - the crescendo of the piano particularly resembles ‘Life On Mars’.
Thankfully, Zeros refrains from becoming a Bowie rip-off by drawing inspiration from other eras. On ‘Rapture’ McKenna draws influence from the noughties electronic scene, with the track bearing similarities to The Chemical Brothers. While some may believe being so transparent with musical influences is a drawback, the record ultimately pushes the boundaries McKenna created for himself with his debut. Zeros shows that he’s far more diverse than the sea of other white boys with guitars who dominate the British indie scene. | https://manchester.nowthenmagazine.com/record-reviews/declan-mckenna-zeros |
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Hirose Electric EU Blog
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ZX62 Series: Micro yet Reliable
Posted by
t.adegoke
May 22, 2020
1
The ZX62 series is a micro yet reliable connector complying with the USB 2.0 electrical and environment standard requirements. Key Features Number of contacts: 5 Pitch: 0.65 mm Locking mechanism: Latch Rated voltage: AC 30 V Operating temperature: -30°C to +85°C Mating cycles: 10,000 https://www.hirose.com/product/series/ZX?lang=en ...
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This Application is a U.S. national phase application filed under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2010/062050, filed Aug. 18, 2010, designating the United States, which claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10 2009 042 968.9, filed Sep. 24, 2009, the complete disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
1
6
The invention relates to a method for measuring a contour of the ground by means of an acoustic transmitting and receiving arrangement attached to a watercraft of the type cited in the preamble of Claim and to a device for embodying the method according to Claim .
The invention has application to the measurement of a contour of the ground inside a predefined underwater area, or to the search for sunken objects, among other tasks. If the underwater area in front of the water craft is illuminated, this assists in providing collision avoidance and/or navigation, among other tasks.
In order to obtain a detailed object detection, a high angular resolution of the receiving arrangement is required. This is conventionally achieved by means of a receiving arrangement having a plurality of transducers and a beamformer connected down-stream. The beamformer processes the respective received signals of the transducers in such a manner that the receiving arrangement in a specified underwater area defines a fan formed of a plurality of directivity characteristics or beams, that are angularly offset with respect to one another. The receiving arrangements used can be implemented e.g. as a linear array or conformal array, or as horseshoes or cylinder arrays. DE 199 59 014 A1 shows, e.g., a method for determining depth values of a stretch of water with a fan echo sounder. In this method, for each echo fan for a sequence of fan beams, sound transit times are measured and the depth and contour values are calculated. Since the resolution of these transducer arrays corresponds to the beam-width however, a very high cost is associated with a sufficiently accurate angular resolution.
In addition to these methods based on a transducer array as the receiving arrangement, the resolution of which is limited by the construction of the receiving arrangement, so-called high-resolution methods for angle determination are known. These methods include the MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) method. The accuracy of the results with these methods however is also dependent on the number of transducers in the receiving arrangement. The more transducers the receiving arrangement has, and the longer the signal block to be processed, the more accurate are the results. The disadvantage of these methods is also their computational cost, which makes their use in real-time systems more difficult.
Alternatively, it is known to carry out the measurement of the contour of the ground by means of phase analysis of the sound waves received by the transducers. DE 10 2005 041 390 A1 discloses a method for generating a sonar image. To achieve this, a sonar carried by a watercraft is used that has a transmitting antenna for emitting sound impulses and a receiving antenna with a plurality of hydrophones. In one exemplary embodiment the generation of a three-dimensional sonar image using an interferometric measurement method is disclosed. To achieve this a second receiving antenna, preferably implemented identically to the first, is required. A depth value to be ascertained is determined by correlation of the received signals from both receiving antennas.
In the article “Signal Processing Strategies for a Bathymetric Sidescan Sonar” by Philip N. Denbigh in the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 19(3): 382-390, July 1994, principles of direct phase difference measurement in interferometric systems are described in more detail. With this type of interferometric technique a second transducer is required, working independently of the first. This delivers an additional received signal, which due to the different distances from the object, delivers a signal which is time-delayed relative to the first antenna. If the distance between the transducers is a multiple of the wavelength of the received sound waves however, the measured phase shift, which lies between 0 and 2π, indicates a large number of possible receiving angles. Such a multiple ambiguity in the angle determination is conventionally avoided by using multiple transducers which are located a suitable distance apart.
DE 1 548 452 A discloses a method for determining contours of the sea bed. The contours sought can be recorded directly by means of a special arrangement of the transmitting and receiving device. According to this arrangement, the transmitting and receiving devices are arranged at such a distance from one another that after reflection at the sea bed, waves that are emitted by the same transmitter and received by two receivers at a distance from each other, are received in phase. A disadvantage of this arrangement is the need to observe a particular arrangement relationship, which must be constantly adjusted. When using multiple transducers however, there is also the disadvantage of higher costs.
The problem addressed by the invention therefore is to provide an inexpensive method for measuring a contour of the ground, which by using phase analysis delivers unambiguous measurement results.
1
6
The invention solves this problem by means of the features of a method according to Claim and by means of a corresponding device having the features of Claim .
In these, by means of a transmitting arrangement pulsed sound signals are first emitted in a directed manner. The transmitting arrangement has a very narrow response characteristic along the direction of the heading, so that only the echoes from a narrow strip of ground are received.
In a plurality of N soundings from predefined positions with aspect angles and distances to the contour of the ground that are different from one another, a sound signal is emitted into the underwater area and the reflected components thereof are received by means of the receiving arrangement, wherein the receiving arrangement advantageously works with two separate transducers. The measurement of the contour of the ground is effected on the basis of the received signals from the two transducers by using a pure phase analysis and a subsequent density analysis of the measurements.
Depending on the distance of the transducers from the receiving arrangement and on the frequency or the wavelength of the emitted sound signals, a pure phase analysis may possibly deliver multiply ambiguous results. The method according to the invention however does not at first take account of this multiple ambiguity in the angle determination.
The multiple measurement of the contour of the ground from different positions of the transmitting arrangement arising from the ambiguous results of the phase analysis is used to unambiguously determine the contour of the ground by using a density analysis. In this method, for a plurality of predefined sampling times and for the N soundings from different positions a phase difference between two received signals delivers multiple ambiguous path differences depending on the distance from the transducers to the receiving arrangement. From these ambiguous path differences, for these sampling times and for the N soundings, associated angles of incidence and incidence coordinates can be determined. For the sampling times and the N soundings, a data density in a predefined region containing the incidence coordinate is determined for each of the ambiguous incidence coordinates. In the region at which the true ground point is located, the density of the measurements increases. The locations of the additional ambiguous incidence coordinates which are produced as a result of the phase analysis, have a lower data density and are marked as invalid. The method according to the invention therefore delivers a method for ascertaining which is the true incidence coordinate (x, y, z) on the contour of the ground.
The method according to the invention has the advantage that, in spite of a previously mentioned multiple ambiguity in the angle determination when using a receiving arrangement with only two transducers, unambiguous measurement results can be obtained by performing the measurement of the contour of the ground from different positions with aspect angles and distances to the contour of the ground that are different from one another, and then carrying out a density analysis of the measurement data.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the device according to the invention has the advantage that it can be produced by using a receiving arrangement with two separate transducers. The method according to the invention also delivers unambiguous measurement results of the contour of the ground when the distance between the transducers is greater than half the wavelength of the received signal, or of the received sound waves. Due to the preferably small size, such a receiving arrangement can also be carried for example by small, autonomously acting or remote-controlled underwater vehicles.
In a further embodiment of the invention, a transducer array is used as a receiving device. If the transmitting arrangement is not designed in such a manner that a directed emission of sound signals into an underwater area is possible, or if the transmitting arrangement has a broad response characteristic in the heading direction of the watercraft, then a receiving arrangement with a plurality of transducers and a downstream direction generator or beamformer, which generates a plurality of beams extending in a fan-like manner in the underwater area, has the advantage of increasing the resolution of the sonar system in accordance with the beam width.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the regions in which the density of the measurements is determined correspond to surface elements with a predefined size. These surface elements are of equal size for all incidence coordinates. Advantageously, the size of the surface element is specified in accordance with the computational cost and the required resolution.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the N positions of the N soundings that are different from one another are defined by a forward motion of the transmitting and receiving arrangement. This preferably corresponds to a forward motion of the watercraft. The advantage of an embodiment of this kind lies in the fact that the transmitting and receiving arrangements can be rigidly attached instead of being pivotable.
FIG. 1
2
4
4
6
4
2
shows a schematic illustration of a watercraft travelling in an area of sea with a forward-looking sonar system . This sonar system has a transmitting and receiving arrangement and an associated signal processing system for capturing data from a contour of the ground . The invention is not however limited to the exemplary embodiment based on a forward-looking sonar system . In addition, a sound emission e.g. via the stern of a watercraft is possible.
FIG. 1
4
In furthermore, the measurement geometry with the distance r from a ground point to the sonar system is shown. The distance r can also be determined via the transit time of the reflected sound signal. The sound pulse takes a certain time to reach the ground, to be reflected and after a further transit time to arrive at the receiving arrangement. Based on this measurable total transit time, by means of the known sound velocity the distance r from an object or from the ground point can be determined.
4
In addition, a reference height H and the aspect angle φ in the vertical direction to the sonar system are shown.
6
4
8
10
4
To measure the contour of the ground , pulsed sound signals are emitted by the sonar system into an underwater area in a directed manner and the reflected sound waves from a plurality of individual ground points (x, y, z) are received. The sonar system has a very sharply focussed sound emission transverse to the direction of travel and a broad directivity characteristic in the longitudinal direction of the craft. This means that only the echoes of a narrow strip of ground are received.
8
4
FIG. 2
The extent of the irradiated underwater area depends on the formation of the sonar system , which is shown in detail in .
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
FIG. 2B
4
4
A-B show a schematic illustration of the sonar system . A shows a side view of the sonar system and shows a plan view of the same arrangement.
20
22
8
22
24
26
The transmitting arrangement has a plurality of transducers arranged on an antenna support, which emit sound signals in the form of a transmitter beam into a predefined underwater area . The resulting transmitter beam in the form of an ellipse has a length and a width that depends on the beam width of the response characteristic associated with the transmitting arrangement.
20
6
8
4
4
2
4
6
8
28
1
2
3
4
N
N
N
1
2
3
4
N
1
2
3
4
N
FIG. 3
By this transmitting arrangement , with a plurality of N soundings from predefined positions P, P, P, P, . . . , Pwith aspect angles φthat are different from one another and distances rfrom the contour of the ground , a sound signal is successively emitted into the underwater area , wherein the different positions P, P, P, P, . . . , Pof the N soundings preferably result from the forward motion of the watercraft . Alternatively, it is conceivable to pivotably attach the sonar system on the watercraft in order to generate the different positions P, P, P, P, . . . , Pof the N soundings directly by means of a corresponding motion of the sonar system . The components of the sound signal reflected by the contour of the ground within the underwater area are received via the receiving arrangement , which is shown in detail in .
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
28
6
28
28
30
20
shows a schematic illustration of the receiving arrangement . In order also to determine, in addition to the distance r a height h of the contour of the ground , a receiving arrangement with at least two transducers spaced apart from each other is required. In this exemplary embodiment of the invention the receiving arrangement consists of two separate transducers A and B, as are shown in . They are spaced a distance apart, which is greater than half the wavelength λ, of the sound signal emitted by the transmitting arrangement . This slight displacement in position of the transducers A and B results in significant transit time differences in the received signal, which can be precisely determined on the basis of phase measurements.
FIG. 2
2
28
It is, however, equally possible to use an existing set of transducers, from which two transducers are selected. The method according to the invention can also be carried out with two transducer arrays which are arranged one above the other according to . If the nature of the construction of the watercraft requires it, then the transducers can also be arranged slightly offset. The geometry of the receiving arrangement is taken into account accordingly in the signal processing of the received signals.
A
B
0
0
B
1
28
h=H−r
The transducer A delivers a received signal which is time-delayed by the different distances rand rfrom the ground point xrelative to the transducer B. The components of the emitted sound signal reflected from the point xreach the transducer B first and then, delayed by Δt, the transducer A. From the phase difference in the associated received signals a height h can be determined, which is relative to the reference height H in the vertical direction below the receiving arrangement . The calculation follows from the geometry of the measurement arrangement:
cos θ
FIG. 4
N
N
36
38
shows a flow diagram for describing an exemplary embodiment of the sequence of the method according to the invention, which is based on a multiple measurement of ground elements from different distances rand aspect angles φ. After an initialisation block , a counter variable is assigned the value 1 in block .
40
20
1
To measure the contour of the ground, according to block a sound signal is emitted from a pre-defined position Pby means of the transmitting arrangement into an angular region which is preferably narrow in the heading direction and broad in the vertical direction.
42
The sound waves reflected from the ground or object are received by two transducers A and B, which each generate a received signal therefrom which in block is sampled, digitised and stored at predefined sampling times.
44
30
FIG. 5
Then in Block , the respective phase difference between the received signals of the two transducers for the sampling times is determined. Depending on the distance between the two transducers A and B however, an ambiguity occurs. This is shown in detail in .
FIG. 5
64
30
64
30
1
2
3
shows a schematic illustration of a sound wavefront incident on the transducers A and B. If the distance between the two transducers A and B is greater than half the wavelength λ of the received sound wavefront , then multiple ambiguities occur. This means that the determined phase difference of the received signals between the transducers A and B is ambiguous and thus delivers, depending on the distance between the transducers, a number of ambiguous path differences Δx, Δx, Δx.
FIG. 5
3
3
30
In this exemplary embodiment according to , Δxcorresponds to the true path difference in the received signals between the transducers A and B. This path difference Δxproduces, in combination with the distance between the transducers, an associated receiving angle.
46
48
50
FIG. 4
In Block according to , all ambiguous path differences are calculated for the previously determined phase differences. Then, in a further block for the respective path differences all angles of incidence resulting from these path differences are calculated, from which in block the associated incidence coordinates are determined. For each incidence coordinate, the sampling time and the position or sounding are stored.
52
54
40
56
Then in block the counter variable i is increased by a value and tested in the following block , as to whether the counter variable has reached the value N of the number of soundings to be carried out. If this is not the case, a jump is made back to the instruction in block in a loop, in order to determine the incidence coordinates for a following sounding from another position. If the counter variable i has reached the value N however, in block a data density is determined about the incidence coordinates. The data density is a measure of the number of data points collected within a predefined region containing the respective incidence coordinate.
58
60
62
The determination of the data density is performed for a plurality of N soundings and for all sampling times of these soundings under consideration and for each of the ambiguous incidence coordinates. In block a maximal data density is determined from these. At a maximum, the particular incidence coordinate at which the data density is greatest is output as valid and used to determine the contour of the ground . All other ambiguous incidence coordinates for this sampling time are marked as invalid in block and discarded.
FIG. 6
FIG. 4
shows a block circuit diagram to describe the device for carrying out the method according to .
70
70
70
72
72
72
74
74
74
1
2
N
1
2
N
1
2
N
The transducers A and B each deliver for the N soundings an electrical received signal , , . . . , or , , . . . , , the further signal processing of which for the N soundings takes places according to blocks , , . . . , .
74
The remainder of block is described based on the first sounding. The statements also apply to the further two to N soundings.
70
72
76
1
1
1
The electrical received signals and of the transducers A and B are each sampled and digitised in a processing block at predefined sampling times.
78
70
72
1
1
1
In the calculation unit , for a plurality of the sampling times both the phase difference between the signals and and the transit times of these signals are determined.
80
82
1
1
FIG. 5
In a further calculation unit for the previously determined phase differences for the sampling times, explained as before using , the associated ambiguous path differences are determined. For these ambiguous path differences, in a further calculation unit by means of the signal transit times and the receiving angles, the associated ambiguous angles of incidence and incidence coordinates on the contour of the ground are calculated for the sampling times.
84
By this means, for a plurality of the sampling times and for N soundings, the ambiguous incidence coordinates on the contour of the ground are determined. These ambiguous incidence coordinates of the N soundings, together with the values of the associated sampling times, are forwarded to a further calculation unit . There, for each sampling time, for each of the N soundings and for each of the ambiguous incidence coordinates, a data density in a predefined region containing the incidence coordinate is determined. The data density is thus a measure of the number of data points collected within the surface element. The incidence coordinates of the same soundings are not included when determining the density, however.
This predefined region is preferably a surface element, the size of which is sufficiently small and is specified according to the computational cost. It is, however, equal in size for all incidence coordinates.
86
A maximum detector determines the maximum data density for the sampling times. At each sampling time the particular incidence coordinate the associated surface element of which has a maximal data density, is marked as valid and therefore corresponds to the true ground point (x, y, z). The other ambiguous incidence coordinates are marked as invalid.
26
22
The incidence coordinate (x, y, z) is composed as follows: the x-coordinate can be determined at each sampling time using the laws of trigonometry, the y-coordinate is depends on the width of the transmitted beam and the z-coordinate corresponds to the height h determined from the transit time difference determined between the transducers A and B.
2
4
The coordinate system is in this case fixed relative to the watercraft or to the transmitting and receiving arrangement . It is however also possible to use an absolute coordinate system for carrying out the method, if it is appropriately taken into account in the signal processing stage.
28
The above described method can varied to the effect that instead of two separate transducers being used, a transducer array is used as the receiving arrangement . A direction generator or beam former is connected downstream of the receiving arrangement, which delays the received signals from the transducers and adds them to form grouped signals, so that a fan of directivity characteristics or beams is swept over the underwater area. The horizontal width of a beam is defined by its horizontal opening angle. This enables a higher resolution in the y-direction, for the case that no sufficiently high focussing of the transmitter beam is possible.
All features cited in the above description of the figures, in the claims and in the introduction to the description can be used both separately and also in any desired combination with one another. The invention is therefore not limited to the feature combinations described or claimed. Rather, all feature combinations are to be regarded as disclosed.
Further advantageous embodiments result from the dependent claims and from the exemplary embodiments explained with the aid of the attached drawings. They show:
FIG. 1
a schematic illustration of a watercraft with the underwater area to be scanned;
FIG. 2
A-B a schematic illustration of the sonar system,
FIG. 3
a schematic illustration of the receiving arrangement;
FIG. 4
a flow diagram of the method according to the invention;
FIG. 5
a schematic illustration of a sound wavefront incident on the transducers;
FIG. 6
a block circuit diagram of the device according to the invention for carrying out the method. | |
The Weekly Analytics Report contains an easy-to-review summary of the chats your agents have had over a one-week period. It's emailed to admins once a week.
The screenshot below is an example of how the Weekly Analytics Report might look:
This report includes the following statistics about your chats and group of agents:
- Page views: The number of page changes detected by the widget across the website.
- Total visits: The number of visitors who have already previously visited the site.
- Unique visitors: The number of visitors who have never visited the website before (newly registered by the widget)
- Total chats: The number of chats initiated.
- Offline messages: The number of offline messages sent via widget during the time period.
- Chats completed: The number of chats which end with a reply from an agent.
- Chats dropped: The number of chats which end with an visitor message that remains unanswered by the agent.
- Chats missed: The number of chats where the agent does not answer the incoming chat request and the visitor subsequently leaves.
- Conversions: The total number of conversions (unattributed and attributed) recorded during the time period.
- Average wait time (Served): The average length of time for all chats an agent participated in.
- Average wait time (Missed): The average duration of chats that were not answered by an agent (from initiation by visitor to drop by visitor).
- Average resp time: The average time it takes for an agent to respond to messages in a chats.
- Average chat duration: The average total length of time for chat sessions. Chat duration is calculated by subtracting the timestamp of the first message from the timestamp of the last message.
- Acceptance: The percentage of chats accepted by agents.
- Satisfaction: The average satisfaction rating by visitors.
The report also shows individual agents ranked by performance metrics, such as those with the most chats, shortest response times, or fewest dropped chats. | https://chat.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/217784088-Using-the-Weekly-Analytics-report-Professional-and-Enterprise- |
Malignant melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. It arises from the melanocytes which in turn originate from neural crest cells. The overall survival at 5 years depends on the extent and stage of the disease at diagnosis. Patients with advanced-stage melanoma are more likely to develop metastasis. This topic will discuss the distant metastatic disease of malignant melanoma involving the central nervous system (CNS).
Multiple etiologies were proposed for melanoma. The common etiologies are:
Risk factors for CNS metastasis in Melanoma:
The incidence of melanoma is increasing worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer in men and women in the United States. Even though the incidence of melanoma is increasing, the mortality rates are beginning to decrease likely due to screening measures. Melanoma is rare in children and adolescents and the incidence continues to increase with age. Melanoma is more common in Whites than in Blacks or Asians.
Brain metastases (BM) is a common complication, especially with advanced-stage melanoma. Melanoma accounts for almost 10 percent of BM and the third leading cause after lung and breast cancer. In a large multi-institutional adjuvant study, the incidence of BM is about 15 percent in Stage III melanoma, which predominantly occurred in the first 3 years after surgery. The majority of the BM are supratentorial, with about 15 percent infratentorial.
BM has a highly variable clinical presentation. It should be suspected in a malignant melanoma patient with neurologic symptoms or behavioral abnormalities. The most common cause of the symptoms is due to the enlarging metastases and inflammatory edema surrounding the lesions in the brain. It is important to remember that the majority of patients initially can be asymptomatic.
Headache is the most common presentation in BM and occurs in about 40% to 50% of patients. Associated symptoms of nausea, vomiting, abnormal neurologic exam, and positional change are suggestive of a possible BM. Focal neurologic symptoms are presenting symptoms in about 20-40 percent of the patients. Cognitive dysfunction, stroke, seizures are other symptoms. BM in melanoma also has a higher propensity for spontaneously bleeding.
BM must be distinguished from primary brain tumors. Imaging studies are very useful to further evaluate the symptoms, but rarely some patients may need a definitive brain biopsy for diagnosis. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis of BM. Non-contrasted MRI or CT scans are less sensitive compared to the contrast MRI.
Radiological features help differentiate BM from other CNS lesions. The following features are helpful to accurately characterize the BM
The multidisciplinary approach is the cornerstone for the optimal management of patients with BM in melanoma and is strongly recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Conventional treatment for BM consists of the use of whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for multiple metastatic lesions in the brain and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for a limited number of lesions. Although CNS has been thought to be a sanctuary site for traditional systemic therapy options, recent data suggests it is not the case and systemic therapy modalities are being considered for disease control in the CNS.
Advances in the neurosurgical techniques and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) along with systemic therapy options of immunotherapy and BRAF with MEK inhibitors have led to the major improvement in control of the BM and also improved the OS in these group of patients. SRS also has the ability to treat lesions that are not amenable for surgical resection.
The key factors to consider in a patient with a new diagnosis of BM are:
Thus, the treatment is individualized depending on patient characteristics.
Patients with new untreated BM and who are naive to systemic therapy, the initial therapy depends on the size of the lesions as well as if the patient is symptomatic. Patients with small, usually <1cm and minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic lesions, locoregional therapy (SRS or surgery) can be deferred and patients started on systemic therapy. A careful monitoring plan for intracranial progression is required. The choice of systemic therapy depends on if the melanoma harbors BRAF mutation. In BRAF – mutant tumors, both the targeted therapy with BRAF with MEK inhibitors as well as immunotherapy combination nivolumab with ipilimumab is effective. In tumors that do not harbor the BRAF mutation, combination immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab is a reasonable option considering patients can tolerate the medications. Rare patients with isolated BM SRS or surgery are still a reasonable front-line option.
For patients with large, symptomatic lesions, local control is a high priority, thus SRS or surgery is considered as front-line prior to systemic therapy. These patients also will need supportive measures like the use of high dose steroids, to control the edema. Patients who are not surgical candidates, RT alone, usually SRS or WBRT depending on the number of lesions is reasonable. For patients with new brain metastases but on current or prior systemic therapy, the options for systemic therapy are more limited, and thus local control is best achieved by SRS or surgery. Also, patients who are not eligible for systemic therapy with intracranial efficacy, locoregional therapy is offered.
Imaging surveillance with brain MRI or contrast-enhanced CT of the head is critical for the follow-up of the brain metastases. The duration between scans depends on if loco-regional therapy was deferred or not. In patients who didn't receive loco-regional therapy, a scan every 8 to 12 weeks is recommended. In patients who received loco-regional therapy, a scan every 12 weeks is reasonable.
About 10% of mass lesions in the brain in patients with a history of cancer are not metastases. The differential diagnosis for a BM includes:
Advances in neurosurgical techniques over the years have contributed to improvement in the management of the BM. Surgical resection is usually preferable for patients with a large lesion (usually > 3cm), solitary or very limited number of brain lesions, superficial lesions in areas where surgery do not lead to an unacceptable loss of function, posterior fossa metastatic lesions causing complications like brain herniation and with Karnofsky performance status 90 to 100 percent. Post-surgical management usually involves SRS to the resection cavity to decrease the local recurrence. Even though no randomized controlled trials have been conducted, observational studies showed an increase in local control rates with SRS to the tumor bed.
SRS is gaining importance in the management of the BM in Melanoma. Compared to Whole Brain Radiotherapy (WBRT), SRS has better long-term safety and a decline in the neurocognitive function. SRS may be administered by itself as a primary treatment to control the BM or as adjuvant therapy after surgical removal of the brain lesions as discussed above. WBRT is not recommended as adjuvant therapy.
SRS is often given as a single fraction SRS or given over two – five fractions. Usually, SRS is limited to patients with 3 -5 lesions, but recently some clinicians are using the SRS in patients with a higher number of lesions. On one study in patients with melanoma and BM, local control at 6 and 12 months was 87% and 68% respectively in patients treated with SRS.
Immunotherapy including ipilimumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab and targeted therapy with combination BRAF and MEK inhibitors are the first-line therapeutic options recommended for advanced melanoma. These groups of medications provided significant advances in the management of melanoma patients with untreated BM.
Immunotherapy
Since 2011, multiple immunotherapy medications were approved in patients with melanoma. Ipilimumab, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor and programmed cell death-1(PD-1) inhibitors nivolumab, and pembrolizumab are currently approved in advanced melanoma.
The combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab has an approximately 50% response rates in patients with asymptomatic BM. CHECKMATE – 204 is a phase II trial that enrolled melanoma patients with asymptomatic BM. Patients were given ipilimumab 3mg/kg every 3 weeks for 4 doses in combination with nivolumab 1 mg/kg. After the 4 doses, a maintenance nivolumab was given 3mg/kg every 2 weeks. The intracranial response rate was 55% with 29% complete response rates. The estimated OS at 18 months was 75%. ABC trial, another phase II trial similar to CHECKMATE -204, compared ipilimumab with nivolumab to single-agent nivolumab.
Combination therapy was noted to show a significantly higher intracranial response of 46% compared to 20% with single-agent nivolumab. A meta-analysis of patients with melanoma and BM showed the combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab was associated with improved PFS and OS. Pembrolizumab as a single-agent demonstrated intracranial response rates of up to 26% and nivolumab up to 20% in patients with untreated BM in melanoma.
In symptomatic patients, there is limited data on the efficacy of immunotherapy as a sole initial therapy. Usually, these patients will require steroids with/without local CNS therapy before systemic therapy. It is recommended to decrease the dose of steroids to minimal or even discontinue them prior to the start of immunotherapy due to decreased efficacy of immunotherapy in combination with steroids.
BRAF and MEK Inhibitors
Approximately 40% of melanomas harbor a BRAF mutation which is a component of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and activates the downstream MEK protein. By the use of molecularly targeted agents that inhibit the BRAF and MEK, the treatment of metastatic melanoma has improved significantly. The most common BRAF mutation is the V600E, but there are other mutations noted within the BRAF protein. Three combinations of BRAF plus MEK inhibitors are currently available which include dabrafenib plus trametinib, vemurafenib plus cobimetinib, and encorafenib plus binimetinib. To determine the efficacy of the combination of BRAF plus MEK inhibitors, a phase II COMBI-MB study evaluated dabrafenib and trametinib in multiple subsets of melanoma patients with BM. In the subset of patients with asymptomatic and no prior therapy to the BM with associated BRAF V600E mutation, intracranial response rates were about 60% with a median PFS of about 6 months.
Similar responses were also noted in other subsets of patients who received prior local therapy to the BM, harbor other BRAF mutations, and in symptomatic patients. Due to radiation sensitization with BRAF inhibitors, it is recommended to hold the treatment with BRAF inhibitors with or without MEK inhibitors one to three days prior and one day after radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy
Cytotoxic chemotherapy didn’t show any efficacy in patients with BM alone or in combination with RT and has no significant role in the management of these patients.
Currently, the eighth edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) is used to stage Melanoma. This is based on the evaluation of the primary tumor, regional lymph nodes, lymphatic drainage, and distant metastases. A separate distant metastases (M) category was created in the eighth edition of the AJCC staging based upon the presence of CNS metastases. Patients with CNS metastases with or without the involvement of the other sites are staged as M1d.
Melanoma patients with BM historically had a dismal prognosis. Before 2000, the median survival was 3 to 4 months with one-year survival <10%. Significant advances made in the last two decades with radiation therapy in BM as well as systemic therapy in melanoma has significantly improved the prognosis. One study enrolled 179 patients with BM secondary to melanoma who are subsequently treated with SRS and systemic therapy involving immunotherapy or targeted therapy. The one year and two-year OS were 50% and 27% respectively. A variety of tools were developed for prognostication in individual melanoma patients. These include the Basic Score for Brain Metastases (BSBM), score index or radiosurgery in BM, and a diagnosis-specific graded prognostic assessment tool for patients with melanoma brain metastases.
Seizures, stroke, cognitive dysfunction, hemorrhage into the brain, obstructive hydrocephalus, spinal cord compression, and death are some of the complications related to the metastasis to the CNS.
Patient education is paramount to the appropriate management of malignant melanoma prevention as well as after diagnosis. Skin cancer preventative education for patients as well as their families is important. Proper precautions, as well as regular sunscreen use, may diminish the incidence of subsequent melanoma. The diagnosis of metastasis to the CNS in melanoma patients is a difficult discussion and constitutes the incurable nature of the disease.
Education should be given regarding the multi-disciplinary care and involvement of surgical oncology, radiation oncology, and medical oncology along with other allied health professionals. Educating patients regarding the goals of treatment, available treatment options, side effects associated with the various treatments help them choose their care according to their goals and beliefs with emphasis on compliance with follow up visits and surveillance scans. Education and resources regarding the end of life care should be provided to the patients and their families.
Management of metastatic melanoma to the CNS is complex and needs a multidisciplinary team approach involving surgical oncologists, neurosurgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, dermatology, pathologists, and radiologists. It is recommended these complex patients discussed in a multidisciplinary tumor board for a consensus treatment plan. This approach will facilitate optimal patient care, individualized treatment decisions, and also improve enrollment in the clinical trials. Medical oncology and radiation oncology play a critical role in the management of CNS metastases. Appropriate histopathologic diagnosis with associated harboring mutations helps direct targeted therapies to control the disease/ Medical oncologists make treatment decisions and oversee the administration of systemic medications like immunotherapy and targeted therapies. | https://statpearls.com/ArticleLibrary/viewarticle/24930 |
If you have experienced stigma and discrimination due to mental health problems then it's likely to have had a profound impact on your day to day life because things that other people take for granted are harder to deal with.
It can be difficult to talk about your own mental illness and when people do speak out they often feel that they are let down and misunderstood by family, friends, health professionals and work colleagues. Whilst recognising that this is often unintentional, it can have a big affect on being able to deal with your illness.
Stigma and discrimination can make you feel like you don’t matter and it can be frustrating to think that others view a mental health diagnosis as a more important part of your personality than the person themselves. The impact that the actions and reactions of others have on an individual should not be underestimated. Stigma and discrimination can leave you feeling isolated and can affect your day to day life.
Common issues that people face
- Difficulty in finding and keeping a job
- Isolation from friends, family and daily activities
- Harder to stay in stable long-term relationship
- Fear to open up to professionals, family and friends about mental ill health
- Anxiety about health due to overwhelming belief of not being listened to
- Avoiding speaking to doctors about mental health concerns which means treatment and care is not given. This can also have a knock on effect on recovery
- Making excuses for not going out places due to the fear of just telling people about feeling unwell mentally
- Low self esteem from believing the stereotypes portrayed about mental ill health
- Physical health can be affected too
- Negative experiences makes it harder to ask for help
Where does stigma and discrimination occur?
Anyone can be stigmatised at work, university, by a friend or sitting behind their keyboard chatting on social media. In reality, we're not immune from stigma and discrimination anywhere. That's why we all need to be prepared to challenge stigmatising behaviour and discrimination wherever we come across it: | https://www.seemescotland.org/stigma-discrimination/experiencing-stigma-and-discrimination/ |
Published at Friday, March 29th, 2019 - 06:06:58 AM. Wedding Invitation. By Bernard Masson.
The invitation that you send out to your guests not only inform of the date, time, and location of the event, but they convey the mood and feeling of your special day. Send the right message by choosing wedding invitations that reflect you as a couple.
You will be able to check the reputation of the chosen designer. After you have chosen a design for your wedding invitation, the final step before ordering from a website is to request for a sample. This way, you will be able to see and touch the invitation and decide finally if you liked it.
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The intervening week can be used for reflection, collaboration and an opportunity to share with colleagues the learning from the first session to review some of the valuable resources and materials that will help to shape future planning.
OFSTED's new handbook is now being used to inspect schools across England. This one-day training course focuses on the strategies that will ensure all staff are working together within phases, across year groups and as part of subject specific learning to deliver a deep and rich curriculum that inspires all pupils to learn and achieve their full potential.
- Creating a consistent whole school strategy that celebrates what is working well and how new approaches and innovations can enrich the curriculum offer
- Defining the key factors that will support a collaborative approach to subject specific, skills focused, conceptual and cross-curricular learning
- Developing an in-house focus on continuing professional development and support using well-researched resources and activities from this training that can be used with teams or as part of whole school INSET so that delegates can share and cascade their learning with others
Inspectors will explore:
- "how carefully leaders have thought about what end points the curriculum is building towards, what pupils will be able to know and do at those end points, and how they have planned the curriculum accordingly".
- "how leaders have sequenced the curriculum to enable pupils to build their knowledge and skills towards agreed end points".
- "how leaders have ensured that the subject curriculum contains content which has been identified as most useful, and ensure that this content is taught in a logical progression, systematically and explicitly enough for all pupils to acquire the intended knowledge and skills".
Have a look at some testimonials for this course
This online training course will focus on:-
- A review of the quality framework that has clearly defined strategies for change linked to current research and good practice in curriculum design and delivery
- A focus on curriculum intent, rationale and ambition and how this is consistently translated into a deep and rich offer by those planning a sequential, knowledge rich and skills focused curriculum
- Building a consensus on what defines successful pedagogy that will deliver highly interactive and independent learning to ensure pupils learn the curriculum
- A close look at how senior, middle and subject leaders can assess the successful and consistent implementation of the curriculum through highly effective use of interactive lesson observation, feedback and opportunities for reflection with teachers, support staff and pupils
- An in-depth look at the need to foster highly interactive professional learning conversations. We look at the how using coaching techniques will ensure the management of change and consistency of purpose is highly visible and effective
- Defining how to manage an in-house continuing professional development strategy that will support all staff. We provide a wealth of resources to support a sustained CPD plan
All our training is designed so that those who attend can take their learning back to school and share it with others. We provide all our resources for use on the day and then electronically afterwards so that they can be used for other training or as part of ongoing team building.
Have a look at the list of 'deep dive' questions we have compiled from our research into curriculum planning and implementation. Read Glynis's newspost about 'deep dive' questioning and how to immerse yourself in having answers to them.
Who is it for?
Headteachers, Deputy Headteachers, Assistant Heads and subject leaders who are responsible for curriculum planning and the on-going quality of teaching and learning. It will also be useful for the person in school who is responsible for continuing professional development (CPD) of all staff. This event may also be useful for those involved in the transition process from Key Stage to Key Stage where a continuum of learning is essential to ensuring progression and a continuum of learning.
All our events are centrally located. Registration and refreshments are available from 9.30am for a 10.00am start and we finish around 3.30pm to 4.00pm.
We also offer this event as an INSET or for groups of senior leaders to work together to build collaborative approaches to curriculum planning and delivery for the whole school.
Mapping the Science Curriculum from Early Years to Key Stage 3
Prices:
First Delegate:
£195 +VAT
Second or Subsequent Delegate Price: | https://www.learningcultures.org/training-courses/curriculum-teaching-learning-courses/course/53:implementing-a-visionary-primary-curriculum-two-live-webinar-sessions-to-focus-on-a-deep-dive-into-how-to-ensure-delivery-of-the-primary-curriculum-has-depth-breadth-and-delivers-seamless-learning |
The world's most powerful camera will spend a decade staring at the southern sky. Its survey will find near-Earth asteroids, faraway exoplanets, brightly exploding stars, and distant galaxies. Taking nightly pictures, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and its 3.2-gigapixel camera will produce a volume of data that's hard to comprehend.
The project just got its official approval from the Department of Energy, meaning this ambitious mission is a step closer to getting under way. With the approval of the DOE, the LSST can start fabricating parts and begin construction of the camera in the Andes Mountains of Chile. The construction is managed by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and sponsored by private donations, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy, the LSST needed the final go ahead from the Department of Energy before full construction of the camera could begin.
Thousands of pictures of the entire sky
When it goes online in 2019, the telescope will use an 8.4-meter mirror to gather light from the sky. From there, roughly every 30 seconds it will take a picture of about 10 square degrees of the sky before moving along to the next ten square degrees. (Ten degrees is about the size of a balled fist held at arm's length, or the apparent distance between the top two stars in the "cup" of the Big Dipper.) Altogether it will take on the order of 100 pictures per hour, and 800 pictures per night covering a little over 8,000 square degrees. Every third night, it will return roughly to the same spot and take another picture.
"What's really new and unique about LSST is resolution is not taking finer pictures," Steve Kahn, director of the LSST project, said in a phone interview. "What's really new and unique is covering the entire sky."
That all translates to 20 terabytes of data per night, and hundreds of petabytes of data by the end of the decade-long survey, creating a massive trove stored across a network of computers that astronomers will be able to query. As the information comes in, computers will sort through it, looking for interesting events and creating alerts that can then be sent to researchers working in particular fields within astronomy.
The goal is to find not just new objects, but evidence of movement and change. A picture of one part of the sky on one night will be compared to the same area of sky on another night. Objects that move will be cataloged against existing knowledge of solar system objects to determine asteroids, comets, or dwarf planets, including near-Earth asteroids that could pose a danger. This will help to create a catalog of near-Earth objects—from 70 to 90 percent of all asteroids and other large orbital debris. By tracking them over time, LSST will establish their orbits and figure out if an asteroid is a danger to the planet.
"LSST will make a major dent in finding near-earth asteroids, objects that could potentially impact the earth," Kahn says.
Stars that change in brightness can be studied more in depth. Changes in brightness could indicate a transiting companion (planetary or otherwise), variable-brightness stars, gamma ray bursts, or even the beginning of a supernova. "We'll find whole new classes of variable phenomena in the universe," Kahn says.
Finding a primordial mystery
In addition to tracking stars, planets, and asteroids, the telescope will be able to hunt for ancient galaxies. While it won't have the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope (because it has to look through the Earth's atmosphere), LSST will have an advantage over Hubble: covering the entire sky rather than simply a portion, a drawback of many of NASA's space telescope projects. That's another way LSST may find transiting planets that the Kepler Space Telescope couldn't, since it looked at only one small area of the sky.
LSST can even hunt for dark matter and dark energy, the mysterious force in the universe that contributes to its expansion while hiding from direct detection. By analyzing galaxies over time and taking small and subtle but detectable measurements, the telescope could indicate more of the behavior of dark energy and give a clue to its origins.
"One of the mysteries of modern physics is to understand why the universe is expanding, and one way to understand that is a survey of all of the galaxies in the universe," Kahn says.
Minor limitations
There are some things LSST won't be able to find. Mike Brown, the Caltech astronomer who discovered a large volume of dwarf planets and other Kuiper Belt Objects, believes there are no bright objects left to find in the "third zone" of the solar system—the region out beyond Neptune where Pluto and other Kuiper Belt objects live.
This means LSST is unlikely to discover any new dwarf planet candidates,and any large planets hiding in or beyond the Oort Cloud are unlikely, as the survey won't be scanning in infrared. (The spectrum runs ultra-ultraviolet to near-infrared, with different color filters on the camera.) It also won't be able to find long-period exoplanets (those that have orbits more in line with our solar system, where orbits are months long instead of days or weeks), or exoplanets much smaller than gas giants.
While the survey won't take the highest-resolution images of the cosmos, but it will take one of the most comprehensive pictures of half of the visible universe. The data taken by LSST will be used by astronomers around the world for follow-up observation. So for example, should LSST discover a new exoplanet, a future telescope like James Webb, TESS, or the 30 Meter Telescope could make follow-up observations of the solar system to find others. Should it detect a distant galaxy from the early universe, the European Extremely Large Telescope can try to get a close-up and hunt for its origins.
In other words, the LSST will be a pathfinder for our knowledge of the cosmos in the coming decades.
"LSST will detect everything that moves in the sky and everything that changes brightness in the sky," Kahn says. "So we'll see lots of interesting events." | https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/telescopes/a17259/lsst-construction/ |
Cobwebs is a good start to this mini-season. The set-up is decently spooky: the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough encounter Nyssa - for whom many years have elapsed since she left the Tardis - on a deserted space station filled with, well, cobwebs, also robots and a deranged computer. The plot develops into a tale of cures for space plague and temporal paradoxes, and impressively manages to wrench two of the three cliff-hangers from what is apparently the same situation viewed from different time periods. I wasn't quite sure that the temporal paradox was satisfactory in the end - to what extent did the Doctor cause his own involvement in the situation? - but perhaps this will be resolved in the two sequels - the loose ends here seem to indicate that the three stories will be linked.
What makes it of course is that the core cast are obviously having a whale of a time getting back into the spirit of '83. Tegan if anything is more spiky than I remember her - did she ever have a go at Nyssa in the original series? She lets fly at everyone here. Of the cast of creepy scientists and others, Raymond Coulthart stands out as the various artificial intelligences, though the other guest cast (all moderately well-known actors) are decent as well.
After the increasingly fannish progression of the last mini-season (Legend of the Cybermen would be pretty impenetrable to listeners who had not seen a particular Second Doctor story, though very enjoyable to those in the know) I'm glad to say that Cobwebs would probably be accessible to listeners with only a vague knowledge of Who (basically, that it's about this guy who travels in time), and probably a good starting point for Big Finish newbies. Recommended. | https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1484921.html |
Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List of Birds
Last reviewed in 2009, the fourth update of the status has been completed, showing a large movement of species, unfortunately mostly for the worst. 244 species across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, were assessed using standard criteria, and assigned a ‘Green’, ‘Amber’ or Red status. Results are obtained using the most up to date evidence available, mostly from monitoring systems; BTO, JNCC, RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, general bird surveys and sea bird monitoring. Evidence of historical decline, population trends, range, rarity, localised distribution and international importance are all used within the assessment process.
Some Big Movers
There is a great deal of movement within the listings some moving positively down the list to Green status; however, unfortunately more are moving up to the Red status. 19 species were ‘Red Listed’ for the first time, mostly due to declines in their population status. The past six years have seen an increase in declining breeding bird populations including; Curlew, Nightingale and Mistle Thrush. Puffins were Red Listed due to their global assessment as Vulnerable and the Merlin returned to the Red List after population declines. Overall the Red List has increased to 67 species, which makes more than 25% of all species assessed part of this group. In total 20 species moved onto the Red List and only 3 left and became Amber Listed. This means there are more species on the Red List than ever before. Possibly the saddest case is the Wryneck, which has become the first once widespread breeding species to be lost from the UK in nearly 2000 years! Adding to the bad news, farmland bird species are still of major concern with populations of species such as the turtle dove, decreasing at an alarming rate. That said, woodland birds still hold the not so glamorous title as the habitat to have the most bird species Red Listed.
Possible reason behind these catastrophic result may be due to climate change creating changes within habitats and altering bird behaviour. Changes in the marine food chains have been noted and these are thought to be having detrimental effects on sea bird populations due to low prey abundance. Suitable breeding habitat is thought to be moving north, due to the change in air temperature. This means habitats are no longer apparent within the UK, thus reducing the breeding bird populations. Weather conditions and air temperature are also thought to be effecting migrant flyways, resulting in higher mortality during migration.
A Deeper Insight
A closer look into the movement of species reveals two species, White-fronted Goose and Long-tailed Duck, move from the Green list straight to the Red List. Both for different reasons, however, a large jump to make. The White-fronted Goose became Red Listed due to a decline within the non-breeding population and the Long-tailed Duck due to its Globally Threatened classification. Three species hit the Red List for the first time; Red-necked Grebe, Ringed Plover and the Pochard. All of which showed marked decline in their wintering populations. Woodcocks have also experienced severe declines in breeding ranges.
Broken down into habitats gives an understanding of possible reasons for declines and, perhaps where conservation should be focussed in the coming years:
Farmland Birds
No new farmland birds have been added to the Red List, however, our forever vulnerable farmland birds still hold the highest percentage on the Red List with 12 out of 26 species present.
Lowland Birds
Lowland birds take up the smallest percentage with only four out of 31 species present.
Upland Species
Sadly five species of upland species were added to the Red List including; Curlew, Dotterel, Grey Wagtail, Whinchat and Merlin. Bringing their total to 12 species on the List.
Woodland Species
Three species of woodland birds were added including; Woodcock, Nightingale and Pied flycatcher, bringing the total number of woodland species of the Red List to 16.
Sea Birds
Sea birds have experienced the biggest change, with the number of species on the Red List almost doubling. Kitiwake, Shag, Puffin and four of the UKs Sea Ducks all found themselves with a firm place.
Urban Species
It seems even urban bird species are not safe with two species; House Sparrow and Black Restart finding themselves on the Red List also.
To add to the list; eight Globally Threatened species, 16 species of long distance migrants, three out of four of the UKs game birds and five out of six of the UKs larger thrushes all became part of the Red List statistic.
It’s Not All Bad News!
Just when you were feeling completely deflated, a happier note revealed some bird species are moving in a positive direction as well! Marked improvements were noted in several species population statuses, largely due to sustainable forest management and targeted conservation action. The Bittern and Nightjar have both experienced targeted conservation and funding, resulting in habitat creation as well as habitat management schemes, both governed by action plans. This system has resulted in these two species moving from the Red List to Amber.
The good news continues with 22 species moving onto the Green List. Although nine of these were due to changes in the assessment guidelines, 13 were due to improving population statuses. One of these, due to vast conservation efforts, is the Red Kite, previously Amber Listed. This is great news and indicates a real success for bird conservation. So although the Red List is growing, all is not lost. With the Red Kite as evidence, when conservation efforts are centred in the right places, real triumphs can be achieved. Who knows, following this example, perhaps the next BOCC Update will show our bird populations moving in a better direction!
Assessment criteria is set out below (taken from the RSPB web site):
Red List Criteria
- Globally threatened
- Historical population decline in UK during 1800–1995
- Severe (at least 50%) decline in UK breeding population over last 25 years, or longer-term period (the entire period used for assessments since the first BoCC review, starting in 1969). | http://ecosulis.co.uk/blog/birds-conservation-concern-bocc-update-%E2%80%93-ever-growing-red-list |
The unexpected lifespan of Moore’s Law seems to be coming to the end, soon programmers will no longer be able to rely on increases in individual processor speed to power increasingly complex software . Fortunately at the same time multicore and multithreaded technology is on the rise. Imperative languages with their implicit global state and low level concurrency primitives make writing concurrent programs very difficult.
Functional programming languages offer solutions to these problems. However computer science education is predominately based around imperative languages. In 2014, of the 39 top undergraduate Computer Science programs only five taught a functional programming language to their first year students and more specifically in the UK under 10% of surveyed universities teach functional programming as the primary paradigm in their introductory courses . Many learners are turning to alternative education platforms to discover functional programming.
1.1 Erlang
Erlang111Named after the Danish mathematician Agner Krarup Erlang the inventor of queueing theory. is a functional programming language designed to be massively scalable and highly fault tolerant . It was originally developed in 1986 by Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding, and Mike Williams at the Computer Science Laboratory at Ericsson Telecom AB . Erlang’s core design tenets include lightweight processes, that communicate through message passing. Erlang also boasts a “let it fail” error handling strategy, where processes either succeed or fail and other specialised processes handle the error .
1.2 Erlang at the University of Kent
Though the University of Kent’s introductory programming modules are taught using Java, “Functional and Concurrent Programming” is a mandatory stage 2 Spring term module taught since 2014. CO545’s principle language is Erlang, however Haskell is also covered to a reasonable degree towards the end of the course. Erlang was chosen as the principle language because of its relatively small syntax and its message passing concurrency makes a stark contrast to Java’s threads.
Additionally since teaching Erlang to undergraduates is a fairly unique offering, Kent’s students are not only well trained in principles but are also capable of working with Erlang during their year in industry placements. Some companies have begun taking our students for this reason222The web security company Alert Logic for example: https://www.alertlogic.com/.
In early 2017 the authors had the opportunity to supervise two massively open online courses (MOOC) on the online learning platform FutureLearn, Functional Programming in Erlang 333https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/functional-programming-erlang/1 which took place from February 20 to March 10 2017 and Concurrent Programming in Erlang444https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/concurrent-programming-erlang/1 (April 3 to April 21 2017). This paper will describe our curriculum and approach to teaching functional programming in a MOOC context in section 2. It will also cover our experiences teaching the courses and who participated.
2 Curriculum and Pedagogy
Our first attempt at teaching a MOOC happened in the Spring of 2015 as part of the University of Kent’s “Beacon Projects”555https://www.kent.ac.uk/beacon/about.html which were a part of the University’s 50th anniversary celebrations. We ran a three weeks long pilot program, hosted through the University’s Moodle site. The pilot course’s materials were adapted from the first part of CO545. The pilot course involved short, two to twenty minute video lectures, along with assignments for students to complete. We also brought in Joe Armstrong co-creator of Erlang, and Francesco Cesarini the technical director of Erlang Solutions to produce “master classes” which focused on describing how Erlang was used in the real world. The master classes were made available to the students at the end of the pilot course666See: https://goo.gl/WxDHiB, https://goo.gl/RITxtd, and https://goo.gl/Wazkuc.
We recruited participants in the pilot MOOC from the University’s current computing students and through social media associated with the Erlang community. Overall over five hundred people signed up for this pilot course. At the end of the pilot course a few things became clear based on feedback we had from our learners. Moodle, though not designed for the delivery of MOOCs did an adequate job. Most of the people we surveyed were interested in taking another MOOC course on Erlang regardless of what platform it was delivered on. At the same time learners indicated that social learning via discussion was important and a dedicated MOOC platform would have more features to support this type of learning.
Based on our experience giving this pilot MOOC we decided to develop a further three weeks of material and move our courses onto the FutureLearn platform.
Functional Programming in Erlang, the first course on FutureLearn, covered the same materials as the pilot course but we were able to expand it to use FutureLearn’s support for quizzes, tests, and peer assessments. We also developed a second three week group of material, meant to follow the first course, about Erlang’s concurrency and fault tolerance features.
2.1 The curricula
Functional Programming in Erlang was designed for someone who was familiar with at least one other programming language though not necessarily a functional one. Our goal then for this first course was to give someone unfamiliar with functional programming a basic introduction to Erlang and make them ready to tackle the second course on Erlang’s concurrency features.
The three weeks of the course are:
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Getting started with Erlang
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Lists in Erlang
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Advanced functional programming
The first week began by introducing Erlang in fairly abstract ways. We covered some of its history and the ways that Erlang (as well as many functional languages) differ from imperative programming, evaluating expressions and immutability, versus procedural steps mutating a global state. We then covered the basics of Erlang’s syntax, including its basic data types and how pattern matching occurred. The final activity in the first week introduced the idea of functions and recursion (both head and tail).
The second week was focused entirely on lists. Learners were first introduced to list syntax and how lists were constructed, pattern matched, and used in functions. Once they became familiar with the list syntax we looked at common strategies for defining Erlang functions. Finally they were tested on their knowledge with an assessment.
The final week introduced the learners to higher-order functions and the week’s second activity involved modelling the game rock-paper-scissors. The final activity of the course linked to the master classes so that people could continue their learning if they wanted and asked what people’s general opinion of Erlang was.
Following a three week break the second course on concurrency was run. Like the first course Concurrent Programming in Erlang was three weeks long. This course’s outline is:
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Concurrency - nuts and bolts
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Concurrency - making code robust
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Scaling it up
The first two weeks cover Erlang’s built in features and how these features affect the design of concurrent systems. The third week on scaling systems introduces the learners to the Open Telecom Platform (OTP) the set of middleware libraries for developing highly distributed systems that is included with Erlang .
The first week explained Erlang’s concurrency system, the actor model. Processes are lightweight to create and destroy and communicate with each other through message passing. Erlang’s messaging system is asynchronous, each process has a mailbox and will handle messages in the order they are received. The second week then covered Erlang’s unique error handling philosophy, “let it fail.” Erlang processes are expected to either succeed and if they can’t they should fail immediately without doing any error handling . Specialized supervisor processes should be designated to monitor other processes. When children processes fail the supervisors can then take the appropriate action, such as error reporting or simply restarting the failed process.
The course finished with a bit of material about OTP. Many of the concurrent design patterns we had our students implement in the first two weeks of the course are actually standard templates that OTP defines.
2.2 FutureLearn’s Course Creation
FutureLearn provides many ways to configure and deliver online courses. Every FutureLearn course is broken down by week, and each week is further broken down into “activities.” Each week is used to suggest the pace that learners should aim for, and activities organise steps. Steps are the smallest section of a course.
There are several different step types that a course is built from. Each step typically hosts some materials and a discussion section for learners to have a conversation about that step’s content. Broadly speaking steps can be divided into two different types which could be described as teaching steps and doing steps. A teaching step’s primary purpose is to convey information to the learners, textual articles and audio/video steps are examples of this. Doing steps are more interactive. They actively work to engage learners to do something, whether that be participate in a discussion, take a multiple choice quiz or test777Quizzes allow for infinite attempts whereas learners only have three attempts at each test question
, do an exercise, or submit an assignment for peer review and review other learner’s work. Every step type is designed to support active learning. Doing steps requires some learner interaction to pass, however, in teaching steps the learner may optionally engage in the discussion but this isn’t required to complete the step.
3 Who participated
In the end 5,642 people enrolled in Functional Programming in Erlang and 1,965 people enrolled in Concurrent Programming in Erlang. The majority of the learners came from the UK and the USA but in total 149 countries were represented.
Where users were located was determined based on their IP addresses. A survey was also sent out to everyone who enrolled on the course and from the people who responded we can roughly determine the ages of our learners as seen in table 2.
3.1 Prior experience
Beyond the basic demographic information we prompted the learners to introduce themselves on the first step of each course and to briefly describe why they were taking the course what their previous programming experience was. From all the responses we discovered that our learners were familiar with over 40 different programming languages. The top ten languages that people claimed to have used before are shown in table 4888The percentages in table 4 sum to greater than 100% due to single respondents having experience with multiple programming languages..
Our learners’ experience seems very much in line with broader industry trends. Seven of the languages in table 4 also appeared in the ten most popular programming languages in the May 2017 TIOBE index . The three exceptions to this are Haskell, Erlang, and Scala who’s TIOBE ranks are 38th, 41st, and 31st respectively.
It makes sense that our learners would have a significant interest in functional programming languages prior to joining our course. Table 4 shows the number of people with experience in functional languages only. A very common reason why learners wanted to take our course was that they wanted to improve their understanding of functional programming techniques independently of the language the course was taught in.
4 What happened
This section describes our experience running both of these courses. We had previously ran the pilot MOOC so we weren’t completely new to the concept of MOOCs but this was our first time using the FutureLearn platform in particular and these courses were an order of magnitude larger than our pilot course.
4.1 Participation
If you don’t have experience running or taking an online course before it may seem unmanageable for two people to run a course with over 5,000 people in it, but of those people enrolled only a fraction even begin the course and a fraction of those finish it. FutureLearn categorises learners by how far they progress through and how they interact with the course. The categories are:
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Joiner - Total number of people enrolled on the course
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Learner - Joiners who have at least viewed one step
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Active Learner - Learners who have completed at least one step
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Social Learner - Learners who have left at least one comment
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Fully Participating Learners - Learners who have completed all tests and at least 50% of the steps
We have summarized how many people fit into each of these categories for our two courses in table 5.
Even though relatively few people comment it’s still too much for our small team to respond to every question. We actively encourage learners to answer each other’s questions and give informal feedback about each other’s exercises. We would only comment when something needed to be said about the course materials or there seemed to be a widespread misunderstanding though this was fairly rare.
One thing we noticed from the pilot MOOC is that it was difficult for us to participate in discussions without stopping the discussion999Maybe people felt that our comments “settled” the issue?. This time we decided that at the end of each week we would record a short video talking about issues that came up throughout the previous week. This meant that the discussion sections were for learners to interact with each other and our thoughts would come through a different medium.
4.2 Learner Feedback
After each exercise and assessment and in the final step of both of the courses we requested feedback so that we can continue to improve the materials for these courses and our approach to MOOC creation in general. People were more than happy to give us feedback at most opportunities.
4.2.1 Workload
Both of the course descriptions estimated that learners should spend about five hours a week to complete the course. It seems that most people spent a lot more time than that. Interestingly this was seen as a positive thing during the functional programming course but more of a negative thing during the concurrency course.
When designing the second course we wanted to make the exercises much more open ended so that learners could explore more. Many of the assignments and examples in the second course were centered around a “frequency server” example. The server would allocate and deallocate numbers when they were requested through message passing. Throughout the course the frequency server was expanded through both the video lectures and student’s exercises.
During the second week we wanted the learners to attempt to build their own version of a supervisor process that would clean up the system if the server failed. Up to this point we had spoken in fairly abstract terms about supervisors.
The feedback we got was that this exercise was much too open ended. Students were unsure what we really wanted and without previous concrete examples of supervisors they were left aimlessly trying things not sure what we wanted. One learner described their experience as:
“I wasted a colossal amount of time trying to come up with a ’hardened frequency server’. I wish there had been a warning, something like: ”Don’t spend more than 5 hours on this exercise”. I didn’t realise that there wasn’t going to be a good answer…’
This seemed to be the key difference between the workload feedback we received in both courses. The first course had a high workload but learners felt that they were always working on the right thing, it just took longer than expected (they just asked that we update our estimates). For the second course learners didn’t enjoy just trying things without knowing if what they had was a good solution which caused a great deal of frustration.
5 Conclusion
Overall people were very positive about their experiences with the course. This is of course tainted by survivorship bias because we hear from people who completed the course (or at the very least looked at the final step). The percentage of learners who ended up in each category from our courses was lower than the average all FutureLearn courses as seen in table 6.
Our courses had more people become learners (those that at least looked at a step) than FutureLearn as a whole but the number of people who went on to either complete a step (active learners) or comment at least once (social learners) was lower than FutureLearn’s averages. This may mean that the workload is turning people away.
5.1 Recommendations for other MOOC organisers
For other educators who are interested in teaching their own online courses I would offer a few recommendations in this section. The first recommendation is that setting the learners expectations is key. We were very upfront with learners that because there were only two educators working on the course we could not be relied upon to answer most questions. Instead we asked our students to help each other and we would chime in when we could. Being honest and up front with our students allowed us to
5.2 Future Work
The functional programming course was popular enough that many people requested we run it again. We have scheduled another three week offering of the course to begin on the 29th of May 2017.
A much requested addition to our course was more information on the OTP framework. Given that both our courses had high workloads we have begun planning a third course specifically about OTP. We are currently investigating developing this course along with an industrial partner and we are discussing with FutureLearn about incorporating these three Erlang courses into a single “program.”
Today functional programming is being seen, more and more, as a practical solution to design of highly distributed and concurrent programs. Many traditional educational institutions are still teaching imperative programming first and so people are turning to alternative opportunities to augment their knowledge. In this paper we have described our methodology and experience teaching two massively online open courses with the functional programming language Erlang.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mark O’Connor, Distance Learning Technologist at the University of Kent for his partnership throughout this entire enterprise. His advice and mentoring on preparation and recording as well as editorial and production help made these courses possible. We also would like to thank Claire Lipscomb our contact at FutureLearn for her dedication and prompt responses to our questions.
Finally we must thank all of the people who have participated in all of our MOOCs. Their hard work and honesty is much appreciated.
References
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- Joe Armstrong (2003): Making reliable distributed systems in the presence of software errors. Ph.D. thesis, The Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden.
- Joe Armstrong (2007): A history of Erlang. In: Proceedings of the third ACM SIGPLAN conference on History of programming languages, ACM, pp. 6–1, doi:10.1145/1238844.1238850.
- FutureLearn (2017): FutureLearn Partners. https://partners.futurelearn.com. Accessed: 2017-05-13.
- Philip Guo (2014): Python is Now the Most Popular Introductory Teaching Language at Top U.S. Universities. https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/176450-python-is-now-the-most-popular-introductory-teaching-language-at-top-u-s-universities/fulltext. Accessed: 2017-05-13.
- Fred Hebert (2013): Learn You Some Erlang for Great Good!: A Beginner’s Guide. No Starch Press, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Ellen Murphy, Tom Crick & James H Davenport (2017): An Analysis of Introductory Programming Courses at UK Universities. doi:10.22152/programming-journal.org/2017/1/18.
- Tom Simonite (2016): Moore’s Law Is Dead. Now What? https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601441/moores-law-is-dead-now-what/. Accessed: 2017-05-13.
- Ericsson OTP Team (2017): Erlang. http://www.erlang.org. Accessed: 2017-05-13.
- TIOBE: TIOBE Index for May 2017. https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/. | https://deepai.org/publication/teaching-erlang-through-the-internet-an-experience-report |
Join Patrick W. Crawford for an in-depth discussion in this video How to use the exercise files, part of OpenCV for Python Developers.
- [Instructor] If you have access to the exercise files for this course, you can download them to the desktop, as I have done here. The files are organized by chapter. And within each chapter folder, there is a begin and end state for each video. I've included all the files you'll need to follow along, as they demonstrate the capabilities of OpenCV.
AuthorPatrick W. Crawford
Released9/22/2017
- Installing and configuring OpenCV
- Data types and structures
- Image types
- Manipulating pixels
- Scaling and rotating images
- Using video inputs
- Creating custom interfaces
- Thresholding
- Object detection
- Face and feature detection
- Template matching
Skill Level Intermediate
Duration
Views
Related Courses
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Python: Programming Efficientlywith Michele Vallisneri2h 15m Intermediate
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NumPy Data Science Essential Trainingwith Charles Kelly3h 54m Intermediate
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Introduction
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Welcome56s
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1. Install and Configure OpenCV
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Install on Mac OS X5m 24s
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Install on Windows 74m 16s
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Test the install1m 51s
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2. Basic Image Operations
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Data types and structures7m 36s
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Blur, dilation, and erosion5m 50s
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Scale and rotate images5m 14s
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Use video inputs4m 33s
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Simple thresholding6m 15s
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Adaptive thresholding4m 38s
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Skin detection6m 8s
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Introduction to contours1m 38s
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Contour object detection4m 19s
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Object detection overview1m 59s
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Haar cascading1m 43s
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Face detection5m 7s
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Solution: Eye detection5m 26s
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Conclusion
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Additional techniques3m 35s
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Next steps1m 5s
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Encryption legislation is all the rage on Capitol Hill. The 105th Congress has accepted and embraced the new age of information technology, spawning a whole new genre of technology related legislation. Encryption, or the encoding of information and communications to protect them from unauthorized uses, is a volatile issue involving national security, private industry and privacy rights.
The seriousness of the situation has encouraged some “heavy hitters” to weigh in on the subject. Senator McCain (R-AZ), the Chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, is the sponsor of the Secure Public Networks Act (S. 909), which is cosponsored by Senators Kerrey (D-NE) and Hollings (D-SC). The Secure Public Networks Act seeks to facilitate the creation of secure public networks for the export of encrypted products, provide law enforcement with the tools to prevent illegal activity and protect the privacy of users.
The key word here is balance. Sen. McCain has attempted to build a middle ground upon which industry and law enforcement can meet. He has made it clear that although he supports a free market, he will not support any legislation which is contrary to national security concerns. During markup in June, the committee adopted a Sen. Kerry (D-MA) amendment creating an Encryption Advisory Board. The Board is to consist of industry and government representatives and will evaluate the market for stronger encryption (greater than 56 bit DES) and report their recommendations to the President. Also adopted was a Sen. Frist (R-TN) amendment requiring law enforcement to utilize a subpoena process to obtain key recovery information and mandating government systems to operate with key recovery systems (“key recovery” or “key escrow” is the provision of a copy of the encryption key to a third party).
Also pending in the Senate are the Encryption Communications Privacy Act (S. 376), sponsored by Sen. Leahy (D-VT) and the Promotion of Commerce On-Line in the Digital Era or PRO-CODE, Act (S. 377), sponsored by Sen. Burns (R-MO). These bills, unlike S. 909 which was reported out favorably by Senate Commerce in June, have not been marked up in committee. They seek to bar government mandated key recovery and provide computer users the freedom to choose any encryption method to protect the privacy of online communications and computer files. Accordingly, they call for a rollback on current export restrictions so industry can meet the demand for stronger encryption. Due to national security concerns, there are exceptions for military end-uses, terrorist activities and embargoed nations. Sen. Burns attempted to amend S. 909 with the text of his bill during markup, but his amendment was defeated.
The House encryption vehicle is H.R. 695 , Security and Freedom Through Encryption Act (SAFE) , sponsored by Rep. Goodlatte (R-VA) (see www.house.gov/goodlatte/ for statements and text of bill). SAFE has been marked up and reported out by no fewer than five committees (that in and of itself is testimony to the phalanx of issues involved here) and was placed on the House Calendar on September 29 of this year (once placed on the House Calendar a bill can be called up for consideration before the full House of Representatives). SAFE thus has the ambiguous distinction amongst the encryption legislation of having progressed the farthest legislatively, although in reality, it is still too controversial to be called up for a floor vote.
As introduced, SAFE proposed to loosen export and domestic restrictions on encryption products, prohibit the government from requiring a key recovery system, create criminal penalties for the unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a crime and modernize U.S. export controls to create a level commercial playing field for U. S. companies in foreign markets. The bill currently stands between the committees and the House floor and still must answer to the demands of law enforcement and industry. As amended, the law enforcement community says the bill provides for voluntary key recovery and therefore does not give them the desired access. The computer industry claims that although key escrow is facially voluntary, the constraints placed on the industry by the bill would render it mandatory in practice. Rep. Solomon (R-NY), the Chairman of the Rules committee, has stated that he will not allow H.R. 695 to the floor unless it contains the Reps. Oxley (R-OH)Manton (D-NY) language requiring key recovery for all encryption products.
The Administration position is best articulated by the testimony of Undersecretary for Export Administration, William Reinsch, before the House subcommittee on Telecommunications on September 4 (this testimony and other encryption related information can be accessed at www.bxa.doc.gov). The Administration does not support mandatory key recovery, but believes that the market will create a strong demand for key recovery on its own to reflect the varying uses of encryption in the commercial marketplace. Participation in key escrow would therefore be voluntary. Domestic users should have the freedom to select any type or strength of encryption. Guidelines for the release of escrow information to law enforcement must be developed. The misuse of keys and encryption to further crime must the criminalized.
Therefore, the Administration does not support H.R. 695. SAFE provides for export liberalization which is far too sweeping and the decontrol of encryption products place severe limits on government review, posing a risk to national security and law enforcement. However, the Administration supports the criminal penalties and the law enforcement provisions. At this point, the Administration is supporting the McCain bill, S. 909, as the most workable vehicle since it attempts to strike a balance between the needs of industry, law enforcement and national security.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, as the proponent of law enforcement in America, has taken a different stance than the Administration. This position is illustrated by the testimony of the Director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh, on the issue of encryption before the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Committee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information and Senate Judiciary Committee which are all available from the FBI homepage at www.fbi.gov (click on Congressional Affairs). In a nutshell, mandatory domestic key recovery would provide law enforcement agencies with the tools necessary to pursue criminal activity by being able to gain access to encrypted information. Therefore, H.R. 695 (SAFE)with the inclusion of the Oxley/Manton amendment mentioned above, would be supported by the FBI.
The industry has come out squarely behind SAFE (with a caveat) and against S. 909 (see SPA homepage at www.spa.org, click on Government Affairs, go to Encryption.). According to the SPA, S. 909 is not a compromise in any sense of the word, but a piece of legislation which panders to law enforcement and government restraints, sacrificing the privacy of industry and individuals. The caveat is that SAFE as amended and pending floor action may end up with mandatory domestic key recovery. In that case, the industry would be unable to throw its support behind the bill.
For additional legislation on privacy issues go to www.epic.org/privacy/bill_track.html. | https://www.llrx.com/1997/11/congressline-the-fall-of-discontent-the-encryption-controversy/?share=facebook |
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Welcome to Salsabor Dance Studio. We are proud to present you with a wide variety of Latin dance classes with the finest instructors in the local area. | https://www.danceus.org/studios-classes-events/lancaster-pa/ |
Despite their undeniable success in practical applications deep neural networks lack a thorough mathematical understanding. Important questions for neural networks, where we can hope to find mathematical bounds, are:
- What classes of functions can be efficiently approximated?
- How does this depend on the number of layers (i.e. the deepness)?
- How many samples are needed?
- How many training steps are needed for specific tasks?
- How sparsely connected can the network be?
- Can we give a meaning to filters in different layers?
- Are there provably better algorithms than regular gradient descent?
- What are problem classes where neural networks will not give good results?
These questions are relevant in practice if we don't want to rely on blind trust and heuristics and want to close the gap between practical success and theoretical understanding. This blog serves the following purposes:
- Give an easily accessible overview over the current state of mathematical understanding through our literature database and 'new-paper'-announcements on our blog.
- Advertise conferences and job opportunities related to the mathematics of deep learning on our blog.
- Collect ideas that could lead to further research.
- Highlight new publications that offer particular insight through featured articles on our blog.
If you are a researcher in this area, you are very welcome to contribute to this effort. For ways to do so, please see the contact page.
This website is maintained by members of the Applied Functional Analysis Research Group at TU Berlin. | https://www3.math.tu-berlin.de/numerik/www.deepmath.org/index.php/about |
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - This week, my breakdown will be all about cold fronts. In this breakdown, I am going to not just be talking about what they are but also how they can influence our weather and sometimes, it can be in a severe way.
We will also compare cold fronts to the other types of fronts. Let’s delve in for a look at this familiar weather occurrence and explore some of the things you maybe don’t know about cold fronts.
Cold fronts can cause dramatic temperature changes and can create severe weather.
A cold front is an area of cold or cooler air that moves towards warm air. When a cold front moves into an area, it will change temperatures and usually the current weather based on the strength of the cold front. Cold air is more dense or weighs more than that of warm air. The molecules in cold air are packed more tightly together making it more dense.
In advance of a cold front, there are usually signs that can be seen before it arrives. The barometer may fall because a cold front is low pressure. Sometimes you can even see a line of clouds along and ahead of a front, like the ones below.
Cold fronts can also be referred to as Blue Norther, Alberta Clipper, Alaska Blaster, Siberian Express and Saskatchewan Screamer. Check out some of the extremes, on November 11, 1911, one of the most extreme cold front since records have been kept was across parts of the Great Plains and Midwest. Kansas City, Missouri fell from 76° to 11° in just 12 hours, while Oklahoma City fell from 83° to 17° and in Springfield, Missouri from 80° to 13° officially all thanks to a potent cold front.
Cold fronts move the fastest in comparison to the other types of fronts. There are several severe weather events that occur due to cold fronts. The reason being is because winds will move towards each other along the front. The angle of a cold front is also greater than that of the other types of fronts, which creates more lift in the atmosphere vertically.
The bigger the difference of the air mass that it is moving into, higher dew points, temperatures, and upper level winds, the greater the threat for severe weather due to the differences between the air masses as they collide. On the flip side, if there is not a lot of moisture on either side there may not be any rain. A cold front doesn’t always spell rain or severe weather, it will of course depend upon what conditions are like on either side. | http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2018/10/01/breakdown-how-cold-fronts-differ-other-fronts/ |
YMCA Opening!
April 8, 2021
After over a year of Covid and the YMCA’s gym being closed, it has finally opened again! Of course, not at full capacity, but all areas of the gym are open for use. The only changes, even, are that there are less machines than normal, which is admittedly a big loss, and that there are towels to wipe down machines, etc. In fact, even the circus is open for practice! It’s a very normal experience to go there, which many people need at this time.
This isn’t just a good thing for those who have gone to the gym in the past and want to return, but it’s also an excellent opportunity to start going for the first time! If you’re 13 you have full access to the gym with adult supervision, and there are some things to do even if you’re not. Exercise is obviously very important, and most people could use more of it. The gym may be a better way to get it for some people, so give it a try and see if you’re one of them!
Harris is a co-editor for The Talon who enjoys traveling, speed typing, and chess. | https://thetalononline.org/10299/redlands/ymca-opening/ |
Responsible for the administration and management of the quality program for all product working through the plant including the management of internal/external relationships relative to quality, management of internal quality control systems, process critical control points, and quality performance improvement and awareness. The Quality Manager reports to the Plant Manager.
CORPORATE CULTURE
Manner Polymers is a flexible PVC compound manufacturer that continually strives for perfection. It is through hard work and pride by all associates that drives our success and is the foundation for a fulfilling and rewarding work environment. Our strong focus on preventive planning and error proofing aides in our drive for growth and success.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage QC lab technicians and assist with internal quality issues or questions.
- Manage finished good COA system.
- Troubleshoot production quality issues or quality abnormalities.
- Monitor quality objectives monthly and perform corrective actions when necessary if goals are not met.
- Handle customer complaints or quality inquiry’s and perform corrective actions when necessary.
- Manage current and new product processing conditions.
- Manage and monitor production sample trials.
- Maintain ISO9001 program; perform management representative duties during internal/external audits.
- Maintain UL, CSA, NSF, and 3A programs; perform management representative duties during audits.
- Maintain SDS’s for compounds and raw materials.
- Verify COA’s for incoming raw materials.
- Issue PPAP and PSW documentation for customers when required.
- Maintain IMDS system and issue new and revised IMDS requests to customers when required.
- Respond and issue regulatory documentation to customers when requested.
- Perform color match duties for new colors required by customers.
- Provide clear leadership and manage staff to achieve excellence and mentor as they develop new skills.
- Other duties as assigned.
REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor’s degree and/or related quality experience
- Excellent at troubleshooting
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Proficiency in MS Office
- Accuracy and attention to detail
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Strong work ethic and positive attitude
This job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. Other duties may be assigned, or this job description can be modified or amended at any time. | https://mannerpolymers.com/careers/quality-manager-qc-engineering-manager/ |
The department teaches, creates and disseminates knowledge in primary care, advancing the discipline of family medicine and improving health for diverse and underserved communities locally and globally.
Nom du producteur
Histoire administrative
The Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto, and in particular its Global Health Program, aims to leverage the widely recognized depth and richness family medicine in Canada to help achieve equity and improve health of vulnerable individuals and populations in Canada and abroad.
The Global Health Program has extensive experience in collaborative partnerships with academic institutions and organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We anchor our work in a collective commitment to respectful collaboration, partner-centered support and innovative learner-responsive education. Our activities bring together the vast expertise of our faculty in clinical practice, scholarship and research, knowledge support, education and health systems management. - from http://www.dfcm.utoronto.ca/about-global-health-program
Histoire archivistique
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
This fonds contains 6 accessions of records. See accession-level descriptions for more details.
Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation
Accroissements
Mode de classement
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
See accession-level description for details. | https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/university-of-toronto-department-of-family-and-community-medicine-fonds;isad?sf_culture=fr |
What is the importance of information in a democratic society? Thomas Jefferson summed up the answer in a single line – “Information is the currency of democracy”. Yes this is the currency which helps the democracy to prosper. It is the knowledge about the rulers and their policies, which help us to decide, whether we have to give them one more chance? It is as important to the society as the currency is to the economy, what will happen if we don’t know about the corrupt and destructive practices of the administration? Will we be able to select the right choice?
From ancient time onwards, information is considered as one of the most important component of governance. There are a lot of stories, about Kings and emperors walking around the cities and villages, in disguise, to know the living conditions and opinions of common people. Arthashastra made it more methodical. It gave a lot of importance for the creation and maintenance of spy networks - not only to gather information about enemy's activities, but to know the opinion of common people also. In those days countries were not democratic and gathering information helped the rulers to make the administration more efficient, and those who resist it invariable went to the black wells of history.
Just take a look at the history of civilizations, instead of reinventing the wheel, earlier civilizations tried to accept and assimilate different philosophies and technologies from their counterparts across the world. In those days trade and cultural exchanges provided a good platform for exchange. This unrestricted motion of ideas bring paper from China to other countries; number system from India to Europe through Arabian traders; progress in chemistry made by Arabian scholars reached other parts of the world etc. If I can state this in another way - globalization was there (more effective?) in the ancient days!!!
Information flow in modern day world
In these days, instead of making the world more open to ideas, are we walking towards a closed one? Instead of learning from each other, are we strengthening Huntington's fault lines and living in the cocoons created by our own hesitation to think and understand other's opinions?
In almost all autocratic (or similar administrations) information flow is severely restricted. There will always be some laws, linked to national security, to limit the flow of information. Even the slightest criticism may be termed as a threat to national security!!! This selective flow often leads to the distortion of public opinion and force people (in the closed world) to swallow administration's view. In such a situation, even a person/administration with a limited influence will be able to manipulate the public opinion to satisfy their wishes.
How the restriction of flow affects nations
US and War on Terror:
Just take the case of USA, US government is working with various governments across the world to achieve their targets. This collaboration is often friendly and creates mutual benefit. But US is failing to create the same the connectivity with common people in these countries. Just take the case of ‘War on terror’, US made a strong case for a global war against terrorism and spend more than once decade and a trillion dollar. But did they able to sell it to the common people of Asia (where they launched two full scale wars and several commando/surgical strike operations in other countries)? Forget about Asia did they able to sell the war in Europe, which remained as their ally for a long time? Moreover did they able to sell the war to their own people?
Now, when they killed the most important target in a commando operation in Pakistan, it was not perceived as such in Islamic world. Why? Is it only because of the mutual distrust between US and Islamic world? Well this may not be the case, US argued well in the international circles, but did they able to penetrate put forward their case deep in to these countries?
A case from East Asia:
Consider the case of North Korea, how many North Koreans know about the South Korea’s perspective of North-South relations? How many of them have the information/experience of life in democratic countries? If they know about democracy and political liberty, will they make efforts to go for it?
India and Pakistan:
How Anti-India feelings become a sellable commodity in Pakistan? It is true that we had fought many wars with Pakistan. When facing the eventuality of war, nationalistic feelings will be high among people they will ready to march behind the administration. But how this distrust sustained for such a long time? No one is hardwired to distrust others, then why? Did they able to analysis and understand the situation from India’s point of view? Did the common people in Pakistan ever have the information and analysis regarding to the numerous terror attacks in India, which killed thousands of common people, from India’s point of view? Of course these are not the attacks by freedom fighters as many in Pakistan would like to interpret.
More than that how far India was able to sell its point of view to the common people across th border? If we are not able to put forward our case deep in to Pakistan, conspiracy theorists will create their own interpretations for every event.
An African story - Nigeria:
Consider the case of Nigeria, when the explosion in deep water horizon was in the front pages for a long time, another country in the resource rich Africa was facing the same issue. In this case spills become part of their life; there was not enough press coverage for that and slowly and inevitably it ends up an everyday event. Will it be the same case if it happened in Europe or US, where information flows very fast?
Flower revolutions of North Africa and Middle East:
Now look at the case of flower revolutions in North African countries and Middle East, these countries are experiencing the chain flower revolutions started in Tunisia. There were revolutions before also, but this time the characteristics are different. Even if it reached almost all Arab and neighboring countries, there is no sign of such a revolution in democratic Turkey and even in Palestine areas. These revolutions armed with the information on what happening in the outside world and focused on democracy is essentially an outcome of connectivity with a global information highway. This is one of the reasons why many autocratic countries are so paranoid about Internet and add all type of online filtering. Do you think such a revolution will happen in Afghanistan, where most parts don’t have access to information, against Taliban?
Results of disconnect
This disconnect will force the countries to reinvent the wheel, spending millions (if not billions) of dollars in research and development, when the technology is already available. This is what happened when many countries imposed sanctions on India, especially the US sanctions on the transfer of cryogenic technology to India started early in the nineties. This not only created delays in space program but only results in spending of many valuable dollars, which may otherwise will go to some other program.
Consider the case of Malaria, this disease still remain as deadly to humans. According to WHO’s 2010 world malaria report, each year there are 225mn cases of malaria killing around 7,81,000 people. Irony of the fact is that, this not an incurable decease, vaccines and methodologies to prevent this disease are available in market, still this disease is reason for the 2.23% of total deaths!!! Will this be the situation if people know more about this disease? If they know about the vaccines wont they force their government to act on the issue? If international donors, realized the gravity of the crisis will it go on unchecked for these many years?
Problem of disconnect between common man and a valid information source is very dangerous for national security as well as global peace. This will help the autocratic rulers to manipulate public opinion according to their wishes, if nothing works they will be able to create an ultra nationalistic/ultra religious fever among people, and march all of them behind him/her. It may not be that much difficult to create an imaginary enemy and prepare people to fight against it.
Conclusion
It is important for the democratic governments to spread the values for which they are standing. They don’t have to forcefully ensure democracy in all countries, which is not a viable option anyway. But authorities should invest more on their diplomatic missions abroad and news agencies on home to provide information and ensure the quality of it. But freedom comes with responsibility, as information is a double edged sword; giving freedom to publishing houses doesn’t mean giving them the permission to glorify the people or organization they like and demonize the entities they don’t like. Regulators have to make sure that paid news (and the events related to newspapers described in Radia tapes) is no longer in circulation – this should come under advertisements not news.
As an independent body, UN can open some of the closed channels to some extent. We can't expect more that as most of closed world are part of UN itself. And matters related to press freedom can be interpreted differently in different parts of the world.
If governments are ready to allocate money to Foreign/State Department, with the same eagerness of funding Department of Defence, they may not have to face some of their current problems. If nations are unable to maintain a proper (proper doesn't mean 'only' the data favorable to government) flow of information to the common people, they will not be able to understand the gravity of various issues considering alternate opinions. To analysis the pros and cons and to reach a proper conclusion you need to have full access to global information highway. Let’s hope that, we will be able to establish this proper flow and connect all parts of the world to global information highway.
Sajeev. | https://www.searchforanidentity.com/2011/05/will-filtering-of-information-flow-make.html |
Disclaimer: The following article involves topics of a medical nature. This commentary is not supposed to take the place of advice given by a medical professional (midwife or doctor). It simply provides research information regarding the use of certain drugs and can only be considered general information, not specific advice for a given person.
Epidural. That one little word has the power to start wars. Well, not literally, but if you get women in a room together and get them to start talking about the issue of drugs during delivery, you’re bound to end up with your own small scale war. On the one hand, there are those who feel that epidurals are bad and shouldn’t be given to laboring women at all, on the other there are those who feel that it’s nobody else’s business what they do during their delivery and that if they want pain medication, no one should judge them for it. Then there’s a third hand which is where I stand. My view in a nutshell: The development of the epidural was a great scientific discovery that has the power to help women who NEED it in labor. It has its place in the world of childbearing, but it has also been VASTLY overused and many of those who opt for it have no idea what it is that they’re choosing to do. Most women are unaware of the risks associated with the epidural and though some would opt for it with that information, some might not and it is our duty to ensure women are aware of risks they are undertaking.
The biggest hurdle to overcome when trying to get people to educate themselves about drugs and childbirth is debunking the myth that whether or not one uses pain medication should be no one’s business but their own. The main argument is that their decision doesn’t affect anyone else so why should the rest of us care? Unfortunately for them, there is a couple of glaring fallacies to this argument. First and foremost, it does affect someone else – your baby. It continues to amaze me how some women consistently forget that there’s this tiny human who is completely dependent upon us to consider its needs (or even those that realized it throughout pregnancy seem to forget it during the birthing process); and because they forget, the needs of this tiny human are often ignored. Second, even if it did only affect you, if it can hurt you, then we as a society have the moral obligation to make you aware of it so you can make an informed decision.
(note: pitocin is the manufactured form of oxytocin, the natural drug that occurs in labor and helps keep contractions going) and because of that intervention, these women are also at a higher risk of requiring an emergency c-section.
The first factor is that once you get an epidural, you’re bed-bound. No moving, walking, etc. for fear that you screw up that spinal and really hurt yourself. And as any midwife will tell you, movement is key to getting baby out – gravity is your best friend during delivery. So when you force a woman to stop moving, you slow things down labor-wise. Second, epidurals (given when not needed ) weaken your contractions and, as I’m sure you’re aware, you need contractions to continue or, once again, you end up with even bigger problems. So if labor slows for either of these reasons, you need to make it faster, which is why you add in the oxytocin/pitocin (though I’ve heard of doctors starting with the pitocin just to speed things up—heaven forbid they miss a golf game—and the intense contractions require the epidural to slow it down again and kill the pain). Of course, the use of pitocin then results in even stronger contractions which can be too much for baby, meaning you end up with baby in distress and the need for an emergency c-section. Or if the pitocin doesn’t speed things up enough, you could end up with the emergency c-section for failure to progress. These three interventions are much more intertwined than many people realize.
Perhaps, though, you’re lucky enough to just have the epidural and avoid the pitocin or c-section. That means you’re in the clear, right? Wrong. You also get to worry about infection. The use of epidurals is also linked with moms getting an intrapartum fever and therefore needing antibiotics during delivery. The use of antibiotics during delivery is linked to higher rates of sepsis in newborns, requiring antibiotic treatment at birth. Intrapartum fever has also been related to various other adverse effects in newborns, including seizures. So even if you manage to avoid other maternal interventions, you run the risk of causing more harm to your newborn.
Still think the epidural is all fun and games? Hopefully not, but there’s one more thing to consider: The reason most women get an epidural is to kill the pain; however, have you actually thought about why there’s pain during childbirth? If there were no reason for pain in childbirth, there wouldn’t be any, so obviously it’s there for a reason. And while we may never know the exact reason (after all we can’t exactly ask evolution), we can hypothesize based on neonatal outcomes. One of those reasons is hypothesized to be a way to make sure mom stops what she’s doing and goes someplace safe. But really, there could be a way to do that without pain per se so it’s questionable how helpful the pain is for that aspect of birth. Another hypothesis, and one really worth thinking about, is that the pain is there to produce endorphins to help the baby through labor as well. It is believed that babies can’t produce their own endorphins and so require mom’s endorphins to help with the pain (in case you hadn’t considered it, babies draw an even shorter straw than mom does during this whole labor thing), and the use of an epidural, while killing pain for mom, means baby gets no pain relief during labor. That is also one possible reason why babies may go into greater distress, leading to the necessity of an emergency c-section, even without that intermediary, pitocin.
It’s time to make sure women are informed about the interventions in birth. So that women can take more responsibility for their birthing process, to make sure they know what they’re doing and what’s happening to them at each stage. It’s also time to start thinking of mom and baby as a unit again. Throughout history, mom and baby have been seen as one—co-dependent and in sync—yet in Western cultures we’ve lost this sense of connectedness. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy for doctors and mothers alike to avoid thinking about the side effects of many interventions. Not everyone will have or even opt for a drug-free labour, but women should at least be given the knowledge of what is happening and what risks are associated with it so they can make informed decisions.
Anim-Somuah, M., Smyth, R.M.D., Howell, C.J., 2005. Epidural versus non-epidural or no analgesia in labor. Cochrane Database Syst Rev Issue 4, Art No.: CD000332.
Eriksen LM, Nohr EA, Kjaergaard H. Mode of delivery after epidural analgesia in a cohort of low-risk nulliparas. Birth 2011; 38:317-26.
Greenwell, E.A., Wyshak, G., Ringer, S.A., Johnson, L.C., Rivkin, M.J., Lieberman, E., 2012. Intrapartum temperature elevation, epidural use, and adverse outcome in term infants. Pediatrics 129, e447-e545.
Mayberry LJ, Clemmens D, & De A. Epidural analgesia side effects, co-interventions, and care of women during childbirth: A systematic review. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2002; 186: s81-s93.
Newton ER, Schroeder BC, Knape KG, & Bennet BL. Epidural analgesia and uterine function. Obstetrics and Gynecology 1995; 85: 749-755.
Ramin SM, Gambling DR, Lucas MJ et al. Randomized trial of epidural versus intravenous analgesia during labor. Obstetrics & Gynecology 1995; 86: 783-789.
Howell CJ. Epidural vs non-epidural analgesia in labour. [Revised 6 May 1994] In: Keirse MJNG, Renfrew MJ, Neilson JP, Crowther C. (eds) Pregnancy and Childbirth Module. In: The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Database. (database on disc and CD-ROM ) The Cochrane Collaboration; Issue 2, Oxford: Update Software 1995 (Available from BMJ publishing group, London).
Morton SC, Williams MS, Keeler EB, Gambone JC, & Kahn KL. Effect of epidural analgesia for labor on the cesarean delivery rate. Obstetrics & Gynecology 1994; 83: 1045-1052.
Lieberman E, Lang JM, Frigoletto Jr F, Richardson DK, Ringer SA, & Cohen A. Epidural analgesia, intrapartum fever, and neonatal sepsis evaluation. Pediatrics 1997; 99: 415-419.
Lieberman E, Lang J, Richardson DK, Frigoletto FD, Heffner LJ, & Cohen A. Intrapartum maternal fever and neonatal outcome. Pediatrics 2000; 105: 8-13.
Do C-Sections Increase the Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?
Can Epidurals End Post-Partum Depression?
i posted your blog on my sight and i agree that making women more aware of what happens with an epidural is important but the beginning of you blog there seems to be a lot of judgment on women who chose to get the epidural saying even that it should be regulated. Being someone who is very much pro choice as well as a big birth activist i think it’s important both to educate about dangers but also trust women to make the best choice. no one person can predict a nothers ability to manage pain or experience with pain. refusing women who need the epidural because we think that they should be able to handle it could lead to PTSD for many women as well as lead to increase in PPD both of which can impact the baby as well. women need to know more about the effects of epidurals they also need to be trusted to make the best choice for themselves as well as their babies.
I think you misunderstood the beginning. I was saying that the regulation view is one that is out there, but that my personal belief is that it should be there for women who need it. How we define need is paramount – women who have much difficulty with pain will “need” an epidural and that will manifest itself throughout the labour. Understanding and being able to read a labouring woman’s signs is what trained midwives (and some doctors) are able to do. While this may involve limitations on it, I do believe those limitations would still need to include the trained decision of the professional involved who can take her/his particular client’s needs into consideration.
This article is ridiculous! It blows the risks of an epidural extremely out of proportion with the reality. In a hospital setting the risks of recieveing an epidural are greatly reduced as well as any risk of infection. And all risks are very clearly covered in any labor and delivery class. If the epidural is properly administered you can still feel, it just lessens the pain, for a c-section the dose is increased so that the mother will no longer be able to feel. The baby also is going through a lot getting shoved awkwardly through a small hole, that can’t be comfortable for the baby, if anything does go to the baby its probably only enough to help the baby relax. And if taking the drug harmed the baby then OBGYN’s wouldn’t want patients to take it and would strongly advise against it. And just because a baby is groggy does not mean that it’s because of the drug, that baby just went through a tramatic and tiring experience it is completely natural for the baby to be tired. And I have known many mothers who gave birth naturally to then have a very groggy baby, and I’ve known many mothers, myself included, who used some sort of pain relief and gave birth to very alert babies. It is entirely the mother’s choice and writing a very biased article is not going to change that.
I also want to address this idea that OBGYNs wouldn’t want patients to take it if it harmed them or their babies. I strongly suggest you read up on the history of what OBGYNs have offered women in the past and how they have managed to provide drugs and procedures to pregnant women that have had disastrous effects. Thalidomide being the most well-known case. It was a sedative that was given to women for morning sickness without research into how it might affect babies because doctors simply assumed that drugs couldn’t pass to babies in utero. Well, thousands of babies were born without limbs and a high percentage of them died as well. The fact remains that sadly doctors believe they know best and rarely do the testing necessary before administering new drugs or procedures (see how little has been done with vaccines – it’s how we ended up with mercury in them for so long and now questions are raised over aluminum). While I do believe no one intentionally goes out to hurt babies or their moms, whether it be ego or sheer ignorance, too often they do.
I had a baby about 3 months ago. I really wanted to avoid an epidural but after 20 hours of strong contractions every 2 or 3 minutes, I broke down and asked for one. Not long after, my baby was in distress and her heart rate was dropping so I had to have an emergency c-section. I had a long and painful recovery with several complications including infection. We also had a hard time with breastfeeding at first. Both baby and I are doing well now and breastfeeding well too.
Of course I can’t be sure that the epidural caused her distress and ultimately the c-section, but I have wondered about it. In future, I will avoid an epidural and would encourage women to let it be their last resort.
Anissa: I have had 3 children. My first I was completely numb from the waist down and did not feel a thing. I could not feel her move kick, no contractions, nothing. With #2 I was numb for the most part, The only thing I could feel was pressure when it was time to push. #3 was going to be my all natural baby. (I had pitocin and epidural with #1 and 2) I wanted a water birth, no drugs. I had placenta previa. I was so stressed out when I went in (my placenta was still marginally covering) and was to have a c-section (that was not technically needed) that they had me pumped full of all kinds of meds. I think the total was 5 or 6. Again, I was completely numb. The epidural was done correctly. I did not need it any of the times. I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the pain. I know if I was to have another baby, it will be at home. Drug free. 1st labor lasted from 5:30am-10:22pm(I was induced). 2nd Probably midnite (went into labor natural, pit to speed it up) until about 6pm (same day). With #3 I don’t remember much of anything. I look at the pictures from the OR and I don’t remember a thing. I will NOT have these experiences again.
Thank you for sharing your story Lindsay! I find it very sad how many women have the same experiences as you and truly regret their birth events. It’s supposed to be a wonderful thing to welcome a child into this world. No one said it should be pain-free though. I hope if you do go for #4 that you get the birth you want!!!
…Unbelievable judgement on your part. It’s usually those people who are the most “sure” of their opinions that are the most disconnected to the reality of others, and in this case, other women. Most women make themselves sick for 9 months worrying about every little twinge, about everything they put in their bodies, about which side of their body to sleep on, whether their bath water is too warm, about whether medication that keeps them healthy will harm the baby, about whether they will be good moms…and you think these women simply forget and ignore the needs of the life inside them at the moment of truth? With all due respect, how dare you?!
I’m afraid I have to disagree. As a practitioner I observe that it’s more likely to be one success story for every 10 ‘horror’ stories when it comes to the epidural. And with women who go natural ‘in a natural habitat for birth’ primarily home or failing that, a birth centre, for every 1 horror story there will be 10 success stories. Gather with a group of women who have recently birthed and see how many have an epidural story that ends up with them perky, alert, mobile, bonded, breastfeeding well and recovering quickly. Your more likely to hear about pitocin (the tragic side effects of which are only now coming to the fore), the fetal distress, the resus, the caesarean , the infection and then down the line the severe perineal trauma, the backpain and the incontinence. Yes mothers do consider their babies but they need to give consideration too to the way their child is born, the potential for bonding and how they are nourished because these factors have lasting impact on the person. So when considering the needs of their newborn it really ought to include some of the factors listed in the article like increased risk of infection and exposure to antibiotics, increased risk of ‘extracted’ birth with the associated trauma to neck and shoulders, increased risk of a fetal monitor being screwed into their scalp – and yes of course that hurts, why wouldn’t it – increased risk of being severed from their blood supply for ‘resus’, the likelihood that they are forced through a pitocin fueled birth without endorphin pain relief, the likelihood that because of the pitocin that tends to go hand in hand with an epidural, the baby will be starved of more oxygen than with natural oxytocin triggering contractions (described as like pushing them underwater then not lifting them out long enough to draw a breath before they’re back under again AKA fetal distress, or the lack of blood supply to the placenta caused by the epidural induced hypotension. The author has every right to raise these concerns as they are occurring thousands of times a day in the ‘developed’ world because people appear to only be concerned about epidural side effects for the woman and not the baby.
I’m a doula and a mother of 5. I had two hospital births with all the talked about negative side affects. I then had 2 unmedicated water births. What a different experience. Natural is better, period. (My 5th is due in 3 months and I have had to literally firght the medical community to have a birth the way I want because of the fear attached with water births and nonmedical interventions.) Our bodies were made for this. Animals do it without pain medication beucase they don’t have any other option.
I believe that the people who have had a medicated birth and then an unmedicated birth really understand the differences. Someone that has had an unmedicated birth and then chose an epideral comment and tell me that the medicated was better, under the “normal” birth circumstances. I usually hear so many people that are advocates of epiderals arguing for the epideral when that is all they’ve ever known. I don’t think I’d have much credibility about my opinion on what it’s like to be blind if I have my sight, just because it’s my opinion or because I read what it was like.
These statistics that most are ignoring are scientific and proven. Here’s another article below stating the effects of the epideral. Those of us with experience see it time and again, the less you interfere with birth the better. Once you introduce just one procdure, usually many more must follow, it’s a snowball affect. So obviously epiderals and medical interventions have their place, at the right time and under the right circumstances. What this article and others are trying to say is that you can’t argue with the statistics that are just now being uncovered. Educate yourself, birth is painful, it’s also temporary pain. These statistics and experience with negative outcomes are forever. I bet hind sight being 20/20, those that had a bad experience wish they could go back and just have the pain of labor versus a baby that now suffers forever because of bad decisions made during the painful moment.
chance of a normal delivery to less than 50% (Paterson et al.).
sit until the episiotomy has healed, in 2 to 4 weeks.
bladder, which can feel uncomfortable or embarrassing.
herpes in 15% of women (John Paull).
which is related to effects on the bodies heat-regulating system.
possibly antibiotics, until the results are available (Kennell et al.).
al.) suggest that these drugs have measurable effects on the newborn baby.
occasionally can lead to infection.
a mother and her young (Insel et al.).
during extradural analgesia for labour. Br J Anaesth 1991;67:565-568.
So just to be clear, as you kind of allude to but gloss over coming right out and saying it…. Did you or did you not have an epidural when you gave birth? Your ability to self justify and rationalize is impressive.
What do you mean “self-justify and rationalize”? I’m curious as to your thoughts on that. But yes, I had to have an epidural my first.
Hey Tracy, there’s a bit of a fallacy in the following: “If there were no reason for pain in childbirth, there wouldn’t be any, so obviously it’s there for a reason.” Not quite true. Pain doesn’t have to be selected for: One can reasonably argue that it’s an inevitable by-product of the considerable trauma the body has to go through to get a large-headed fetus to pass through a very narrow passage (plus necessary preparations, i.e. contractions, etc.). Because people don’t die of pain, the only reason why pain would be selected against is if it caused enough distress to mess up the labour process and therefore cause the death of the mother and/or baby (or harm either of their future reproductive outcomes). I have no medical knowledge on the topic, but one could say that the fact that mothers’ bodies produces endorphins at all is a sign that, to a certain extent, some natural protection against pain has been selected for – maybe just enough so that the pain itself doesn’t prevent labour from occurring normally in the vast majority of mothers. Sadly, evolution hasn’t come up with the miracle of making the whole thing entirely pain-free.
My baby was affected by the drug and her breathing stopped several times during the first week or so of her life. Thankfully, she didn’t need resuscitation and we were able to buy a baby monitor that bleeped when her breathing stopped.
I will NEVER use any drugs in labour again, aside from gas & air (maybe). No one clearly explained the dangers to my unborn child before I got that shot.
I hadn’t heard of pethidine – I don’t know if it’s offered here, but that’s crazy! How terrifying for that first week – I don’t blame you at all for not wanting anything again. I’m just so glad your daughter was okay in the end.
Pethidine is what we call in the U.S., Demerol.
Interesting article… I had an epidural with my first and had an incredible experience of childbirth with no ill side effects and a perfect baby who latched on immediately…. If I decide I need one for my next child (due in 6months) I will not hesitate to have another….information on this topic is important, respecting what IS a personal decision (one between a mother/father/doctor, etc who all have the the best of intentions) is equally important.
I am 22 years old and went into my labor planning to be drug free for many of the reasons noted in this article. A day into labor and I was unable to stay conscious. I was dialated 7cm and so close to the birth that I wanted but I was unable to do anything but vomit and pass out. I decided at that point (as much as a semi-conscious person can decide) to have an epidural. Within 10 minutes I was able to be back in the room. After another hour, it was time to push. I pushed for 10 mintues when the doctor came in and said I wasn’t progressing and she wanted to do a c-section. Shockingly, it was 15 after 5. My child’s father politely informed the doctor that I was not going to have a c-section and that she needed to stay in the room and actually be helpful. Not 5 minutes later I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. And right after that, a nurse tripped over my IV line, ripping it from my arm. Altogether, the experience was nothing like I wanted it to be. I must say though, were it not for the epidural, I probably would have been forced to have a c-section because I was unable to stay conscious long enough to push.
I know this article is going to be difficult for a lot of women to read, because understandably so, we have a tendency to get quite defensive about our birth experiences. Unfortunately, like just about every aspect of birth, epidurals are not an isolated issue. For example, if a woman chooses not to have an epidural, she also needs to have a good birthing support system. If you’re going to go natural, hiring a doula is helpful, knowing good natural pain relief techniques is imperative, good positioning is a must, etc.
Most importantly, you can’t convince women about the benefits of turning down an epidural when they don’t have faith and trust in their bodies. Women today are very, very scared of birth, and for good reason….we have made it into a horror show and women don’t want to “put themselves through all that”. The only remedy for this is to encourage all our pregnant friends to take a GOOD prenatal course, like BirthWorks or Hypnobirthing….a course that helps women explore their own beliefs about birth and builds their confidence to not only give birth, but make decisions that aren’t based in fear!
I find blogs like this to be psychologically harmful to women. Since when did women use the words regret and “my” when it came to giving birth? How can one “own” an experience? Having a baby is one of the most uncontrollable experiences that one may have. To tell a woman that it is something to own and that she should regret it if it doesn’t go the way she would like is ridiculous. It seems like those who have had a “natural” birth love to brag about it on the internet as if they have done something special. The only thing I regret about my birth experience is reading blogs that tell me I should regret it. Thanks….
Who on earth said you should regret anything?
I am definitely one of those women that regret everything about my birth experience. I had taken private hypnobirthing courses with a hypnotherapist for 5 months leading up to my due date. I did my visualization practices with my hubby every day and my own practice listening to the hypno cd every night. I had a vision board and talked positively about birth to anyone that would listen. I was excited, prepared, and so motivated to have my natural birth. I was absolutely looking forward to the challenge and ignored everyone that told me I was foolish to think “deep breathing” would get me through. 9 days past my due date, and no sign of baby, I was forced into an induction. 2 days into the induction with it going absolutely nowhere (4 doses of hormone gels, waters artificially ruptured, pitocin drip) I gave up my hopes of the hypnobirthing working and went for the epi. My contractions were SO intense and completely irregular, sometimes getting a handful in a few minutes with no break in between. It was so obvious my body was doing nothing naturally, and even though my baby wasn’t showing any signs of distress, nothing was happening. Finally, I was told a vaginal birth just wasn’t going to happen since my girl wasn’t even engaged, was in the stargazer position and hadn’t moved 1 iota down the birth canal. They knew this the entire time, but still tried to force her out that way, and gave me hope that my natural birth would happen, even though I truly believe it was always going to end up being a caesarean because she was not coming out on her own. I must say, being wheeled into surgery was the scariest experience of my life and I will never, ever forget the feeling of such intense fear. It was my worst nightmare. In a way, I resent the hypnobirthing, because it told me that whatever I envisioned for my birth experience would come true and that staying positive would equal success and thinking or even learning about negative birth experiences might cause my own to go in a similar direction. I was so unprepared for the opposite of what I wanted to actually occur. This was 14 weeks ago and I still get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about what I went through, especially when I hear other friends who did not prepare in the way I did talk about their successful natural labours. On the bright side, all the drugs seemed to not have an affect on my BFing and my daughter and I have a very successful relationship there.
I’m so sorry that was your experience. I’ve never done hypnobirthing, but I do hate when people say it’s all in your head. Sometimes it’s not and you shouldn’t be made to feel as though *you* failed simply because your birth was one of the few that truly wasn’t going to happen the way you planned. I am glad your breastfeeding relationship was good though – it’s always nice when something goes right, eh?
Every medical professional I encountered before and during my birth minimized the risks of the epidural. I was encouraged to have an induction four days after my due date, was pumped full of pitocin, and was actually encouraged to get the epidural. Now I am stuck with an incurable, extremely painful spinal disease called adhesive arachnoiditis, a nerve disease that involves symptoms similar to MS, all of which resulted from the epidural. It is clearly a dirty secret in the medical community, as women would never sign the consent form if it were on it, and epidurals are big money. I will likely never be able to have another child. So yes, there are VERY good reasons to go natural, and women NEED to be made aware of these reasons. Go to theaword.org to learn more.
While we are lucky to live in a country where pain relief is an option, and it absolutely should be there for those who need it, it should not be seen as necessary to get through labour. This does nothing to prepare women for the amazing process that is labour. Yes it hurts, but understanding that the pain is ‘good’ and not a sign that something is wrong really helped me get through things mentally. We should do more to educate women about the labour process rather than simply offering them a menu of pain relief. | http://evolutionaryparenting.com/to-drug-or-not-to-drug-the-epidural-debate/ |
The aim of this study is to demonstrate that there is nothing new or peculiarly Hesychastic in the hagiographie style employed by Patriarch Euthymius, and that this style of "pletenie sloves" was borrowed by him and other medieval Slavic writers from an earlier and long existing Byzantine tradition that predated the Hesychast Revival. In effect, this study attempts to disprove one of the basic assumptions of present scholarship of the period of the Second South Slavic Influence.
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Overlooking Lago di Orta in the foothills of the Northern Italian Alps, the Renaissance-era Sacro Monte di Orta (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is spectacle and hagiography, theme park and treatise. Sacro Monte di Orta is a sacred mountain complex that extolls the life of St. Francis of Assisi through fresco, statuary, and built environment. Descending from the vision of the 16th-century Archbishop Carlo Borromeo, the design and execution of the chapels express the Catholic Church’s desire to define, or, perhaps redefine itself for a transforming Christian diaspora. And in the struggle to provide a spiritual and geographical front against the spread of Protestantism into the Italian peninsula, the Catholic Church mustered the most powerful weapon it had: the widely popular native Italian saint, Francis of Assisi.Sacred Views of Saint Francis: The Sacro Monte di Orta examines this important pilgrimage site where Francis is embraced as a ne plus ultra saint. The book delves into a pivotal moment in the life of the Catholic Church as revealed through the artistic program of the Sacro Monte’s twenty-one chapels, providing a nuanced understanding of the role the site played in the Counter-Reformation.The Sacro Monte di Orta was, in its way, a new hagiographical text vital to post-Tridentine Italy. Sacred Views provides research and analysis of this popular, yet critically neglected Franciscan devotional site. Sacred Views is the first significant scholarly work on the Sacro Monte di Orta in English and one of the very few full-length treatments in any language. It includes a catalogue of artists, over one hundred photographs, maps, short essays on each chapel, and longer essays that examine some of the most significant chapels in greater detail.
Catholicism --- Saint Francis --- pilgrimage --- sacred architecture --- religious sculpture --- hagiography --- Christianity --- monasticism
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This book is an anthology with a difference. It presents a distinctive variety of Anglo-Norman works, beginning in the twelfth century and ending in the nineteenth, covering a broad range of genres and writers, introduced in a lively and thought-provoking way. Facing-page translations, into accessible and engaging modern English, are provided throughout, bringing these texts to life for a contemporary audience.The collection offers a selection of fascinating passages, and whole texts, many of which are not anthologised or translated anywhere else. It explores little-known byways of Arthurian legend and stories of real-life crime and punishment; women’s voices tell history, write letters, berate pagans; advice is offered on how to win friends and influence people, how to cure people’s ailments and how to keep clear of the law; and stories from the Bible are retold with commentary, together with guidance on prayer and confession.Each text is introduced and elucidated with notes and full references, and the material is divided into three main sections: Story (a variety of narrative forms), Miscellany (including letters, law and medicine, and other non-fiction), and Religious (saints' lives, sermons, Bible commentary, and prayers). Passages in one genre have been chosen so as to reflect themes or stories that appear in another, so that the book can be enjoyed as a collection or used as a resource to dip into for selected texts.This anthology is essential reading for students and scholars of Anglo-Norman and medieval literature and culture. Wide-ranging and fully referenced, it can be used as a springboard for further study or relished in its own right by readers interested to discover Anglo-Norman literature that was written to amuse, instruct, entertain, or admonish medieval audiences.
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La autora se propone analizar, en la literatura medieval castellana, la evolución del motivo de la profecía, concebida como un paradójico “conocimiento de lo incognoscible”. El estudio de las dos grandes tradiciones proféticas que se suceden en la Península, de ascendencia bíblica la una, merliniana la otra, permite deslindar un recorrido a la vez diacrónico y sincrónico, que indaga en una multiplicidad de textos las ramificaciones tanto cronológicas como genéricas del motivo profético. | https://doabooks.org/doab?func=search&uiLanguage=en&query=kw:%22hagiography%22 |
【Open hours】09:00-17:00 *till 18:00 Apr.-Aug.
【Closed day】None
【Admission】Free
Facilities/Services
Equipped with a nursing room, a diaper changing table for babies/toddlers and a multipurpose toilet. Wheelchairs available, too.
To group visitors
Food samples for tasting may run out due to excess number of visitors. Receiving a prior notice of the arrival of group visitors will help us prepare enough samples for them. Please feel free to call us ahead of time.
FAQ
Q: Is Iwakuni City the owner and operator of this building?
A: The building is owned by the city but its operation is entrusted to a Local Development Company.
Q: Is there a parking for this building and how much is it?
A: The building has no parking lot. Please use the Shimogawara riverbed parking about 100m away from here.
( Parking capacity: 300 cars. Seasonal parking fee may be charged.)
Q: Is it O.K. to just use the toilet?
A: It’s perfectly O.K.
Q: Is it O.K. to just rest here?
A: It’s perfectly O.K., too.
Q: Is it O.K. to bring a Bento (a packed lunch) and eat it in here?
A: Sorry, that’s not allowed here. Food and drink are not allowed to be brought in.
Q: Do you sell souvenirs here? Can I purchase some local specialties?
A: No sales here but we recommend nearby stores for you.
Q: Is this building visible from the Kintaikyo bridge? Is there any landmark near the building?
A: No. You can’t see this building from the Kintaikyo bridge, but there are signs posted in its vicinity. | http://honke-matsugane.jp/en/guide-available |
Philadelphia, Jan. 18, 2011: Passionate about wanting to help his constituents to improve their health and eating habits, Sen. Anthony H. Williams is partnering with the Philadelphia Housing Authority to co-host a free healthy eating lunchtime program for parents of Bartram Village in Southwest Philadelphia as a pilot program for what he hopes will develop into a broader community effort.
The five-week nutrition program will take place on Thursdays, Feb. 3 to March 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bartram Village Management Community Center, 5404 Gibson Ave. in Philadelphia.
“Our community suffers disproportionately from diabetes, hypertension, obesity and other preventable diseases,” Williams said. “Most of these chronic and deadly diseases are caused by poor eating habits, so learning how to eat and prepare healthy meals will literally save lives.”
A nutritionist and a chef will teach participants how to prepare healthy meals and provide tips for food and snack shopping. Free lunches will be provided and there will be giveaways at every session, as well as gift cards for completing the five-week program.
Mr. Chris Chong, owner/operator of seven Philadelphia-area McDonald’s, two of which are located in the senator’s district in Southwest Philadelphia, is a proud sponsor of this event, providing funding and healthy food options for the fast food eating portion of the program.
“I encourage parents to participate in this program,” Williams said. “It is crucial for their health and the health of their children.”
Participation is limited to the first 20 Bartram Village parents who sign up, so call the senator’s office at 215-492-2980 to reserve a spot. | https://www.senatoranthonyhwilliams.com/sen-williams-pha-co-host-free-healthy-eating-program |
In this study, we evaluated the protective functions of cloth sport shoes, including cushioning and lateral stability. Twelve male students participated in the study (mean ± s: age 12.7 ± 0.4 years, mass 40.7 ± 0;5.9 kg, height 1.50 ± 0.04 m). Cloth sport shoes, running shoes, basketball shoes, cross-training shoes, and barefoot conditions were investigated in random sequence. Human pendulum and cutting movement tests were used to assess cushioning performance and lateral stability, respectively. For cushioning, the running shoes (2.06 body weight, BW) performed the best, while the cross-training shoes (2.30 BW) and the basketball shoes (2.37 BW) both performed better than the cloth sport shoes (2.55 BW) and going barefoot (2.63 BW). For the lateral stability test, range of inversion-eversion was found to be from 3.6 to 4.9°, which was far less than that for adult participants (<20°). No significant differences were found between conditions. All conditions showed prolonged durations from foot-strike to maximum inversion (66-95 ms), which was less vigorous than that for adult participants (>40 ms) and was unlikely to evoke intrinsic stability failure. In conclusion, the cloth sport shoe showed inferior cushioning capability but the same lateral stability as the other sports shoes for children. | https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/Cushioning_and_lateral_stability_functions_of_cloth_sport_shoes/9627008 |
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