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Most international students and alumni desire to find a career in the United States for a myriad of reasons – salary, benefits, cultural landscape of the melting pot of the U.S., a grandiose opportunity, “the next chapter of life” and more.
On Thursday November 15 there will be a presentation that will provide different strategies and tips for tackling the job search process, as well as how to approach and apply to employers that are international talent-friendly. It will take place in College of Business Room 127 on the Daytona Beach campus from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Location-bound may be a factor in the job search. Do you want to be close to family and friends? Do you want to be in a large, urban city, a mid-sized, a small one, or somewhere in between? It is vital to recognize and assess your values, your progress in life, and where you want to be long-term both professionally and socially. Make a list of international talent-friendly companies and determine if each is a good match for your skills, values sand career goals.
Some employers have limited knowledge about the different visas and statuses of international students. Some may not hire because of the nature of their company’s work, finances or it can be a time-consuming process. It is important to be aware of those obstacles. Be prepared to stay positive and explain the hiring-of-an-international process to a potential employer.
Seek out opportunities through connections, campus jobs, volunteer opportunities, researching different companies and job portals. Attend company information sessions and tables in-person. Look on companies’ websites to gain knowledge about their projects, mission and vision statements. What buzz words or key phrases do they use? What are the particular company’s values?
One of the most important elements that doesn’t get as much recognition or appreciation. You may have applied online with your resume, and your name is in the system, but it goes a longer distance when you meet the representative in-person. Take the time to come out to a meet-and-greet or an employer info table or info session. Go out to career fairs. Visit employers at their location if possible. Continue to be persistent and stay proactive.
Employers look for the best candidates because they can do so, so aim to be the most holistic candidate. Be well-rounded by dedicating your time and effort to get involved in clubs and organizations, becoming a team lead of a project, volunteering and other outside-of-academics-activities. When meeting them in person at a career fair, develop and practice your elevator pitch. Follow up on applications through emails, snail mail and LinkedIn connection requests.
Market yourself in a positive manner. Be cognizant that you represent yourself, your family, your institution and your country. Get to know the U.S. work culture, the specific company culture and expectations of professional behavior.
GoinGlobal is an excellent resource that students can use to see which employers issued an H1B visa recently. The Aviation Weekly Intelligence Network is another tool that allows you to search for employers by different industry areas. Our own Career Services website has an area dedicated to the international student job search.
Close to the end there will be a representative from International Student & Scholar Services who will describe what Optional Practical Training (OPT) is and the process for it.
As always, be sure to schedule a one-on-one appointment with a Career Services program manager (if applicable) about the job hunt process for the international candidate. After all, each person and their situation is unique and circumstantial. | https://careerservices.erau.edu/blog/2018/11/08/job-search-strategies-international-candidates/ |
After breakfast,pick up from hotel & drive to Lachen (8,838 ft./120 km/6 Hours approximately). Arrive at Lachen by evening. Overnight stay. Note: 2 passport size photos and photocopies of any Govt. Photo ID Proof required for permits. For children, you can carry school IDs/Birth Certificate.
Early Morning drive from Lachen to Gurudongmar Lake (17,100 ft./3 hours drive). Return back to hotel for lunch & drive to Lachung (8,910 ft /2 hours drive) Arrive Lachung by evening. Overnight stay.
Early Morning, drive to Yumthang Valley (11,800 ft. Known as Valley of Flowers). Return back to the hotel for lunch and transfer to Gangtok and overnight stay. Zero point (Yumesamdong) 16,000 ft is not included in the package and is directly payable on the spot, if done.
After breakfast drive to Pelling (7,000 ft./120 km approx/5 hours drive). Check-in at the hotel & overnight stay.
Start sightseeing at Pelling covering Darap village, Khangchendzonga waterfalls, Sewaro Rock Garden, Rimbi waterfalls & Khecheopalri Lake, Pemayangtse Monastery, Rabdentse Ruins & Helipad. Overnight stay at Pelling.
Pelling to Bagdogra (IXB) Airport/NJP (railway station)/Siliguri to (130 km/5 hrs approx) for onward journey. | http://www.samyatratours.com/tour-packages/details/?view=Exotic%20Land%20of%20Hills&vid=SMY-18 |
All our connected sites are included in the main Portico search results to help you find what you need.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in its field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.
Drug & Alcohol Treatment Information System (DATIS)
DATIS supports the Province of Ontario's health care system with high-quality information. It contributes to understanding and enhancing problem gambling and addiction treatment through the ongoing development and maintenance of a comprehensive, province-wide client information system (Catalyst). DATIS collects, maintains, analyzes and reports on demographic, assessment and clinical utilization substance abuse and problem gambling data collected from participating agencies.
Evidence Exchange Network (EENet)
Evidence Exchange Network works to make Ontario's mental health and addictions system more evidence-informed.
Problem Gambling
Problemgambling.ca offers information, resources and tools for you and your family, and for professionals.
Training Enhancement in Applied Cessation Counselling and Health (TEACH)
The TEACH project strives to ensure that practitioners serving people who use tobacco have the specialized knowledge and skills to deliver effective, evidence-based cessation intervention. Research shows that health care professionals who undergo specialized training are more likely to provide smoking cessation counselling to clients and patients. As the community of trained practitioners grows, so does system capacity, giving smokers access to counselling and intervention programs. | https://www.porticonetwork.ca/connected-sites |
NICOLE KIDMAN has sold her Darling Point villa almost a year to the day since she listed it for sale with price hopes of about $20 million.
While secrecy shrouds the precise details, the sale price is about $6 million less than its listing price - a discount of 30 per cent.
Kidman, 41, received several offers on the Yarranabbe Road property during the past two weeks, including an offer of about $12 million from Michael Hannan, former owner of the Wentworth Courier newspaper. However, agent Bill Bridges confirmed that Mr Hannan is not the successful buyer of the house, which has been Kidman's Sydney abode since 1995 when she was married to actor Tom Cruise.
The Oscar-winning actress decided to sell the hillside property - which has no lawn and limited gardens - because it is not suitable for a small child.
After the birth of Sunday Rose, Kidman's daughter with country music singer husband Keith Urban, the pair splashed out $6.5 million for Bunya Hill, a 45-hectare rural estate at Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands.
The American-based couple's main residence in Nashville is on a farm. Last month, when Kidman and Urban flew to Australia with Sunday Rose for an Easter family reunion, they shunned the Darling Point residence and headed straight to Bunya Hill. | https://www.farah.net.au/?mod=news&id=2064 |
The Executive Director of ِAl-Hodhod Center for Archaeological Studies, Dr. Fahmy Al-Aghbari, has confirmed that the US-Saudi aggression has for the past seven years deliberately targeted archaeological sites with airstrikes and looting mercenaries.
Al-Aghbari said in a statement to Al-Masirah that the aggression targeted archaeological sites in which there could be no military forces, such as the Dhamar Historical Museum.
He added that the UAE plays a major role in looting Yemeni antiquities, presenting them in as Emirati artifacts, as well as being a corridor for smuggling stolen Yemeni antiquities to deliver them to the Zionist enemy.
He pointed out that the smuggling of Yemeni antiquities had been going on since 2011 and increased in 2015, with the beginning of the aggression and unjust UN resolutions.
He explained that what was monitored of stolen and smuggled antiquities, the US acquired the largest share of them, with more than 2,167 antiquities illegally sold inside the US.
He indicated that the list issued by the center is a starting point for the official judicial authorities to rely on in prosecuting the theft of antiquities.
Earlier, the center stated that more than 4,265 smuggled artifacts were sold in six countries: the US through five auctions, Britain through four auctions, France through 3 auctions, two auctions in the Zionist entity and an auction for Germany and the Netherlands. | https://hodhodyemennews.net/en_US/2022/11/19/saudi-led-coalition-deliberately-targets-historical-sites-in-yemen-for-destruction-and-theft-of-antiquities-report-says/ |
Map of the Collection System:
The map must show the locations of all lines and pump stations. Mapping parameters should include the following:
a) Line size
b) Slope (if available)
c) Pipe material
d) Approximate age
e) Flow direction
f) Manhole information
i) identification
ii) age
iii) materials
iv) type (number of inlets, etc.)
g) Pump station information
i) identification
ii) location
iii) pump type (model) and capacity
iv) number of pumps at station
v) back-up power source
h) Location of all tributary collection system connections
i) Number of active service taps
GIS is geographical and geospatial information about places on the earth’s surface. It gives knowledge of what is where and when it was put there. There are three S’s associated with GIS.
Systems- the technology
Science – concepts and theory
Studies – the societal context
Software systems with the capability for input, storage, manipulation and output of geographic data allow real world locations to be digitally represented and stored so that it can be presented in a map form. This data can also be manipulated to address specific problems. GIS systems usually contain two types of data, spatial and attribute data. Spatial data tells the where, the specific location and is stored in a shape file. Attribute data tells what, how much and when. It gives specific characteristics at that location. This data can be natural or human created and is usually stored as table data. These data types are usually joined in order to display it for analytical purposes.
Once the data is input it can be queried. This allows you to look for specific details or attributes. The data is stored in a database, and can be used for analysis, comparison, reporting, etc. Utilities have started taking advantage of this technology. The data collection provides a way to convert paper maps, AutoCAD files new data collected in the field and all of the information that employees have stored in their heads that has never been written down. Analyzing this data allows viewers to visualize, interpret, question and understand relationships patterns and trends in the data. Once the system is mapped, any attributes, parameters, infrastructure, appurtenances and other valuable things in the system can be added and most any vital information associated with it. It can be evaluated in the form of maps, reports and charts. This data can also be seen and share with operators, administrators, billing personnel as well as others that the information may benefit. This type of information can also be shared with public safety, planning and street departments. GIS also contains tools that can help with budgeting, planning, and managing your collection and distribution system. | https://wastewater101.net/2018/09/collection-system-study-time-discussion-6/ |
In this dissertation I explore characteristics which influence the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices of six post-secondary chemistry instructors in Colorado who report current use of these practices. The purpose of this study was to identify these characteristics to recognize areas of focus for future professional development. Knowledge and beliefs were also explored, as characteristics are often a culmination of these individual beliefs. Using a qualitative case study approach, a survey, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for this exploration. Instructors were observed using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) classes to identify if these beliefs aligned with their classroom practices. In this study I identified four main characteristics from patterns in these data using reflexive thematic analysis (TA) which revealed that instructors who do implement these practices have: intellectual humility, an equity mindset, a commitment to learning, and social awareness. Beliefs identified included: beliefs about instructor role, how learning happens, and the value and limitations to implementing evidenced-based instructional practices. These beliefs were found to be aligned with the transitional and studentcentered practices of participants in this study. These results suggest a need to explore larger concepts such as intellectual humility, rather than the individual knowledge and beliefs which contribute to these larger concepts. This approach would allow researchers to encapsulate varied experiences that all ultimately lead to the implantation of evidence-based instructional practices and to make suggestions for future teacher training and professional development opportunities.
Degree type
PhD
Degree Name
Doctoral
Local Identifiers
Morgan_unco_0161D_11039.pdf
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author. | https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/853/ |
Acting Navy Secretary Tasks Team to Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The memo accommodates as a framework for perpetual DEI efforts in the “Navy.” It directs the Chief Diversity Officer of the “Navy,” Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) Cathy Kessmeier, to lead a Strategic Planning Team and develop an action plan to promote DEI.
“Equal opportunity is the bedrock of our democracy and diversity is one of our greatest strengths; both are critical to the readiness of our Navy and Marine Corps team and, ultimately, to our mission prosperity,” verbally expressed Harker in the memo.
“Aligned with these guiding principles, it is the policy of the Department of the Navy (DON) to perpetuate making transformative and consequential steps that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our policies, programs, and operations across the enterprise. This review will examine both Navy and Marine Corps policies and build on subsisting efforts within both accommodations,” it verbally expressed.
The memo withal directs Kessmeier oversee and direct a 60-day review of contractors to identify ameliorations needed to “promote supplier diversity and ascertain congruous implementation of equal opportunity and diversity policies in contracts.”
She will withal oversee a 60-day review of policies and conventions of designating Navy and Marine Corps assets, “to identify measures to amend diverse representation.” She will oversee 90-day reviews of precepts for cull and assignment boards to remove potential barriers to diversity and diversity within the Senior Executive Service to “improve the pace of diversity and the vigor of the applicant pool, while remaining cognizant of the merit system principles.”
Furthermore, she will conduct 90-day reviews of Navy and Marine Corps grooming policies to apprise potential changes to policy, and to examine “an felicitous authoritative data environment for DEI.”
The Navy will relinquish the findings and actions it intends to take following the review periods. “Equal opportunity is the fundamental promise of the United States. The Department of the Navy is committed to rooting out inequities that have sometimes kept that promise out of reach for underserved and underrepresented communities,” Kessmeier verbally expressed in a verbal expression.
“We apperceive the desideratum to understand the barriers that face our workforce, and we require to ascertain our policies and processes are constructed to fortify diversity, equity, and inclusion for every officer, Sailor, Marine and civilian,” she verbalized.
“Advancing equity requires a systematic approach and the Strategic Planning Team will work to address inequities in DON policies and programs that accommodate as barriers to equal opportunity.”
The Biden administration has made diversifying the workforce at the Pentagon and in the military a major priority. Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on Twitter or on “Facebook. ”
Source: You can read the original Breitbart article here. | https://political-viewer.com/2021-05-18/acting-navy-secretary-tasks-team-to-promote-diversity-equity-and-inclusion |
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Albania Sales Tax Rate - VAT
2021 Data - 2022 Forecast - 2006-2020 Historical
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The Sales Tax Rate in Albania stands at 20 percent.
source: Albanian Taxation Office
Sales Tax Rate in Albania is expected to reach 20.00 percent by the end of 2021, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Albania Sales Tax Rate - VAT is projected to trend around 20.00 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.
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<iframe src='https://tradingeconomics.com/embed/?s=albsalestax&v=202107132317v20220312&h=300&w=600&ref=/albania/sales-tax-rate' height='300' width='600' frameborder='0' scrolling='no'></iframe><br />source: <a href='https://tradingeconomics.com/albania/sales-tax-rate'>tradingeconomics.com</a>
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Personal Income Tax Rate
23.00
23.00
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Corporate Tax Rate
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15.00
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Sales Tax Rate
20.00
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Social Security Rate For Employees
9.50
9.50
percent
Dec 2021
Social Security Rate For Companies
15.00
15.00
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Dec 2021
Social Security Rate
24.50
24.50
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Albania Sales Tax Rate - VAT
In Albania, the sales tax rate is a tax charged to consumers based on the purchase price of certain goods and services. The benchmark we use for the sales tax rate refers to the highest rate. Revenues from the Sales Tax Rate are an important source of income for the government of Albania.
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City staff will move forward with a plan to prevent owners of medallions — city-issued taxicab licenses — from losing those licenses if they are unable to find a qualified driver by the end of the month.
Currently, owners cannot renew their licenses if they are unable to secure a driver with a taxicab and vehicle insurance.
At an Administration and Public Works Committee meeting Monday, Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) supported a moratorium on the requirement that individuals will lose these licenses if they do not find a driver by April 30.
City manager Wally Bobkiewicz said because the staff planned to move forward with the moratorium, there was no need for a formal motion to be made.
Evanston regulates taxis operating in the city by issuing medallions and chauffeur driver licenses, as well as establishing taxi operational regulations, said Katie Knapp, the city’s transportation and mobility coordinator.
In the past, many medallion owners have relied on taxi drivers to provide a cab and insurance, which the holder could then identify when renewing his or her taxi vehicle license each year, Knapp said. But since the 2013 rise of ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft in Evanston, Knapp said medallion owners have had difficulty securing taxi drivers.
Before ridesharing companies became popular, there were as many as two drivers for every taxi vehicle license. Now, there are 140 medallions issued within the city and only 99 registered chauffeur drivers, Knapp said.
Additionally, Knapp said chauffeur drivers are in even higher demand within Evanston because new ridesharing service Via — which operates as a shuttle service and competes with buses as well as other public transit — exclusively hires individuals with chauffeur licenses.
“What’s happened to the taxicab industry is a really good example of technology changing a market at a stunning speed,” Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) told The Daily. “We want to figure out what are the problems happening to our taxi system because there are so many people who are not adept at using Uber and Lyft.”
Several community members and medallion owners spoke at the meeting, sharing how having the medallions rescinded would affect their livelihoods by taking away something they worked hard to purchase from the city.
“Everybody in the cab industry is almost bankrupt,” said Hassan Abdi, a driver with Norshore Cab. “I know I am. We don’t know which way to turn, so we’re here to plead our case.”
Several medallion owners expressed their willingness to pay extra money to hold onto their medallions rather than lose them at the end of the month.
The committee will consider an ordinance at its meeting on May 9. Bobkiewicz said by then staff would meet with the interested parties to put together recommendations. | https://dailynorthwestern.com/2016/04/26/city/aldermen-discuss-preventing-taxicab-medallion-owners-from-losing-licenses/ |
Carmarthenshire County Council’s recycling advisors are holding an action day to raise awareness and educate residents about the littering challenges we are facing in Llanelli Town Centre and the surrounding streets.
The advisors will be available on Monday, July 16, 10am – 2pm, outside Boots in Llanelli, handing out advice and freebies such as portable ash trays and gum wraps.
The aim of the action day is to engage with those who live, work and visit Llanelli, to ask them what they think about the environmental quality in the area, what they think could be done to tackle any litter related issues, and who they think the culprits are.
We will also be guiding the public on the correct use of litter and recycling bins, and how to report dog fouling and litter offences.
There will be the chance to sign up and volunteer to do community litter picks, leading to the opportunity to earn time credits which reward volunteers for every hour of time they give.
Cllr Hazel Evans, Executive Board Member for Environment, said: “An action day is a great way for us to engage with the community, and an opportunity for us to communicate crucial information and our methods to the public. Our residents will also get a chance to voice their concerns and suggestions.”
Link: | http://rlloydpr.co.uk/2018/07/14/action-day-planned-to-tackle-llanellis-litter-problems/ |
This invention relates to a process for making an elastically stretchable composite sheet and more particularly such a composite sheet offering a comfortable touch being suitable as an important component of disposable garments such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins and disposable gowns used in medical site.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 1995-37703 discloses a process for making a nonwoven elastic sheet comprising the steps of continuously feeding elastic web with a tension in a machine direction, placing a fibrous web on the upper surface of the elastic web, bonding them together by heat- or ultrasonic-sealing and relaxing the elastic web to contract so that the fibrous web may form gathers. The nonwoven elastic sheet thus obtained has an elasticity generated by the presence of the elastic web and a comfortably soft touch so that such nonwoven elastic sheet may be suitably used as cover material of disposable diapers or sanitary napkins.
According to the process of prior art, the elastic web is relieved to contract first after the fibrous web has been bonded with the elastic web still under tension. With a consequence, the process of prior art is necessarily accompanied with a problem that a basis weight of the fibrous web being fed inevitably increases as the elastic web contracts after the fibrous web has been bonded with the elastic web.
WO-A-9216371 describes an elasticised fabric. A creping or gathering process is performed on an elongatable but relatively non-elastic web which is subsequently joined to a non-woven elastic web to produce an elasticised gathered non-woven fabric. The fabric is then subjected to tension and stretched and elongated to remove most or substantially all of the gathers. Finally, the elasticised non-woven fabric is released from tension permitting some or all of the gathers of the non-elastic web to reform. Thus the basis weight of the non-elastic web in the finished product is greater than its basis weight prior to the gathering process.
This invention aims to provide a process for making an elastically stretchable composite sheet enabling the fibrous web in the finished composite sheet to maintain substantially its original basis weight and thereby to solve the problem in the processes of prior art.
a. continuously feeding the first web in the one direction;
b. continuously feeding the second web in the one direction so as to be placed upon the first web;
c. bonding the first and second webs placed upon each other together at first bond regions arranged intermittently at least along the one direction rather than in a direction which is orthogonal to the one direction;
d. stretching the first and second webs bonded together at least in the one direction rather than the direction which is orthogonal to the one direction within a critical elasticity of the second web and a critical breaking extension of the first web; and
e. elastically relaxing the stretched first and second webs to contract and then supplementarily bonding the first and second webs together at second bond regions arranged intermittently at least the one direction rather than the direction being orthogonal to the one direction and having a total area larger than a total area of the first bond regions to obtain the composite sheet.
the first web is made of stretchable synthetic continuous fibers having a breaking extension at least of 70% while the second web has its breaking extension higher than that of the first web and these first and second webs are bonded in accordance with the steps of:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an elastically stretchable composite sheet;
Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the steps of a process according to an embodiment of this invention for making the composite sheet; and
Fig. 3 is a diagram similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating steps of the process according to another embodiment of this invention for making the composite sheet.
According to this invention, there is provided a process for making a composite sheet comprising a step of bonding a first web made of thermoplastic synthetic fibers and having an inelastic stretchability in one direction to at least one surface of a second web made of thermoplastic synthetic fibers or a stretchable film and having an elastic stretchability at least in the one direction and thereby to obtain the composite sheet having an elastic stretchability in said one direction, wherein:
Details of a process for making the elastically stretchable composite sheet according to this invention will be more fully understood from the description given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An elastically stretchable composite sheet 1 shown by Fig. 1 in a perspective view comprises an upper layer 2 and a lower layer 3 bonded together at first and second bond regions 4A, 4B. The composite sheet 1 is elastically stretchable and contractable at least in a direction indicated by a double-headed arrow Y - Y rather than in a direction indicated by a double-headed arrow X - X which is orthogonal to the direction Y - Y.
The upper layer 2 of the composite sheet 1 is inelastically stretchable at least in the direction Y - Y rather than in The direction X - X. This upper layer 2 is an assembly of thermoplastic synthetic resin continuous fibers 6. Preferably, the fibers 6 are bonded together only at the first and second bond regions 4 but not in the remaining region defined around the bond regions 4. In the remaining region extending around the first and second bond regions 4A, 4B, the continuous fibers 6 may extend over the upper surface of the lower layer 3 so as to describe irregular curves. In response to stretching of the composite sheet 1 in the direction Y - Y and/or in the direction X - X, the continuous fibers 6 describing the curves are reoriented to extend in the direction Y - Y and the upper layer 2 is inelastically stretched. The continuous fibers 6 may be of synthetic resin such as polypropyrene, polyester or polyethylene.
The lower layer 3 of the composite sheet 1 comprises a sheet which is elastically stretchable in the direction Y - Y, preferably both in the direction Y - Y and in the direction X - X. This sheet has a stretch ratio of at least 200%, preferably at least 400% in the direction Y - Y and elastically contractable by less than 1.3 times of its initial length after stretched by 100%. Such sheet may be a card web made of elastic threads, a nonwoven fabric such as a thermal bond nonwoven fabric or a spun lace nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric all made of elastic threads, or a film made of thermoplastic elastomer.
2
While both the first and second bond regions 4A, 4B may be individually dimensioned to have an area of 0.1 - 2 mm, Fig. 1 exemplarily shows a case in which the first bond region 4A has its area larger than the area of the second bond region 4B. In the composite sheet 1, the second bond regions 4B are preferably formed so that a total area of the second bond regions 4B may be larger than a total area of the first bond regions 4A.
The upper and lower layers 2, 3 may be bonded together at the first and second bond regions 4A, 4B by heating them together under a pressure or by ultrasonic-sealing them with each other. If a technique of mechanical entanglement is also useful to bond the continuous fibers 6 of the upper layer 2 with the component fibers of the lower layer 3, such mechanical entangling effect may be achieved by means of needle punching, high pressure columnar water streams or the like.
A initial force required to stretch such composite sheet 1, for example, in the direction Y - Y substantially corresponds to a force required to stretch the lower layer 3. The upper layer 2 has little influence upon the force required to stretch the composite sheet 1 since no significant force is required for the upper layer 2 to reorient its continuous fibers 6. Further stretching the composite sheet 1 with the lower layer being elastically deformed causes the continuous fibers 6 of the upper layer 2 still describing the curves to be further reoriented to be straightened in the region extending around the bond regions 4 in which the continuous fibers 6 are bonded to the lower layer 3. To stretch the composite sheet 1 further from such condition, a force is required, in addition to the force required to stretch the lower layer 3, to stretch said straightened continuous fibers 6.
Fig. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a specific embodiment of the process for making the composite sheet 1. An endless belt 30 travels from the left hand toward the right hand as viewed in the diagram. On the left hand, there is provided a first melt blown fiber molder 31 above the belt 30 below which there is provided a suction mechanism 31A. The first molder 31 includes a plurality of nozzles arranged transversely of the belt 30 and adapted to discharge first melt blown continuous fibers 35 of non-stretchable thermoplastic synthetic resin substantially in unstretched state. The continuous fibers 35 are accumulated on the belt 30 along irregular curves to form a first web 41. A discharge condition of the first molder 31 and a travelling condition of the belt 30 are selected so that the continuous fibers 35 stacked one upon another in the first web 41 may be prevented from being bonded together or, even if bonded together, the bonded continuous fibers 35 may be easily separated one from another on the subsequent step. Such unstretched first continuous fibers 35 have a breaking extension of at least 70%.
On the right side of the first molder 31, there are provided a second melt blown fiber molder 32 and a suction mechanism 32A. The second molder 32 also includes a plurality of nozzles arranged transversely of the belt 30 and adapted to discharge second melt blown continuous fibers 40 of elastically stretchable thermoplastic synthetic resin. The second melt blown continuous fibers 40 are accumulated on the first web 31 along irregular curves to form a second web 42. A discharge condition of the second molder 32 is selected so that the second continuous fibers 40 stacked one upon another may be bonded together and thereby form a sheet having an elastic stretchability in the travelling direction of the belt 30, preferably in the travelling direction as well as in the direction being orthogonal thereto. Such second continuous fibers 40 have a breaking extension higher than that of the first continuous fibers 35.
2
The first and second webs 41, 42 placed upon each other are fed together to vertically paired embossing rolls 34, 34. The webs 41, 42 are thereby heated under a pressure at the first bond regions 4A arranged intermittently at least in the longitudinal direction corresponding to the direction in which the webs 41, 42 are fed rather than in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. In this manner, the webs 41, 42 are bonded together to form a first composite web 43. The first bond regions 4A are individually dimensioned, for example, in a range of 0.1 - 2 mm and spaced one from another by 3 - 30 mm in the longitudinal direction as well as in the transverse direction. The first composite web 43 travels through first and second pairs of stretching rolls 36, 36; 37, 37. A revolution speed of the first pair of rolls 36, 36 is lower than a revolution speed of the second pair of rolls 37, 37. A difference of the revolution speeds between the first and second pairs of rolls 36, 36; 37, 37 is adjusted so that the first composite web 43 may be stretched by a predetermined stretch ratio, preferably by 50 - 300%, which is less than a breaking extension of the first web and within a critical elasticity of the second web 42. In the first composite web 43 stretched in this manner, the second web 42 is elastically stretched in the region extending around the first bond regions 4A while the first continuous fibers 35 are reoriented to the web travelling direction in the region extending around the first bond regions 4A and stretched under their plastic deformation. On such step of stretching, except the bond regions in which the two webs are bonded together by the pair of embossing rolls 34, 34, it is desirable that any sealing or mechanical entangling possibly occurring among the first continuous fibers 35 forming the first web 41 may be substantially loosened or disentangled. It is also desirable that bonding effect possibly occurring between the first continuous fibers 35 and the second web 42 may be practically eliminated.
2
A revolution speed of a third pair of rolls 38, 38 is the same as that of the first pair of rolls 36, 36 and the first composite web 43 is elastically contracted on the course defined between the second pair of rolls 37, 37 and the third pair of rolls 38, 38 to its initial length. The third pair of rolls 38, 38 serves also as the pair of embossing rolls by which the first composite web 43 contracted to its initial length is partially embossed to form a second composite web 44 having the second bond regions 4B. While each of the second bond regions 4B is shown to have substantially the same area as each of the first bond regions 4A has, a total area of the second bond regions 4B per unit area of the second composite web 44 is preferably larger than a total area of the first bond regions 4A per unit area of the second composite web 44 and more preferably corresponds to at least 1.3 times of the latter. The first bond regions 4A are individually dimensioned, for example, in a range of 0.1 - 2 mm and spaced one from another by 0.5 - 5 mm in the longitudinal direction as well as in the transverse direction. It should be understood that this invention may exploit even with some of the second bond regions 4B placed upon some of the first bond regions 4A. The second composite web 44 is taken up in the form of a roll and subsequently is cut into a desired dimension to obtain the individual composite sheets 1. The first continuous fibers 35 in the second composite web 44 correspond to the continuous fibers 6 of Fig. 1 and the first web 41 comprising these fibers 6 corresponds to the upper layer 2 of Fig. 1. The second web 42 in the second composite web 44 corresponds to the lower layer 3 of Fig. 1. This invention may also exploit by using the third pair of rolls 38, 38 merely as a pair of feeding rolls just like the first pair of rolls 36, 36 and by providing a second pair of embossing rolls behind the third pair of rolls 38, 38.
On the starting step, the first continuous fibers 35 are discharged in their substantially or completely unstretched state onto the belt 30 and, on the subsequent step, the first continuous fibers 35 are stretched under a plastic deformation at a room temperature of 10 - 60°C, more preferably of 15 - 40°C. While such first melt blown fibers 35 are preferably used in this invention, this invention can be effectively exploit even using stretched threads in the place of the unstretched thread so far as the stretched threads are stretchable at the room temperature.
When the second composite web 44 obtained in this manner is stretched after the first and second webs 41, 42 have previously been bonded together at the first bond regions 4A, the component fibers of the first web 41 bonded together or entangled together are loosened. Thereby uneven distribution of the first continuous fibers 35 in the first web 41 due to such bonding or entanglement is eliminated and, with a consequence, the second composite web 44 offering an even touch is obtained.
In the course of the process for making the composite sheet, it is also possible to stretch the first composite web 43 in the transverse direction orthogonal to the direction in which the first composite web 43 travels. In this case, only the portion of the first continuous fibers 35 extending transversely of the first web 41 can be stretched since the first and second webs 41, 42 have previously been bonded together. In the second composite web 44, the second bond regions 4B function to bond the first web of which the unevenness of fiber distribution has been eliminated to the second web 42 so firmly that the two webs 41, 42 might be separated from each other even when the second composite web 44 is repetitively stretched.
Even when the second web 42 includes rubber-based material, the first web 41 may used so as to come in contact with the wearer's skin to prevent a poor slidability peculiar to rubber material from stimulating the wearer's skin. With the arrangement of the second composite web 44 in which, except the first and second bond regions 4A, 4B, the first continuous fibers 35 of the second composite web 44 are bonded neither with themselves nor with the second web 42, a relatively small force required to stretch the second web 42 alone is sufficient as an initial force required to stretch the second composite web 44. Accordingly, the easily stretchable soft sheet is formed by the second composite web 44 in spite of its two-layered construction. The process according to the embodiment of Fig. 2 allows the first and second webs 41, 42 of the second composite web 44 to maintain their respective basis weights immediately after they have been discharged from the respective molders 31, 32. Additionally, the second composite web 44 generally presents a high breathability since both the first and second webs 41, 42 comprise fibrous assemblies.
The steps of the process illustrated by Fig. 2 may be modified in various manners to exploit this invention. For example, it is possible to feed the second web 42 onto the belt 30 before the first web 41 is fed onto the belt 30. It is also possible to use, in addition to the pair of embossing rolls 34, 34, the other means such as needle punching or high pressure columnar water streams in order to bond the first and second webs 41, 42. Alternatively, a third molder is provided downstream of the second molder 32 so that non-stretchable third melt blown continuous fibers discharged from this third molder may form a third web similar to the first web 41 on the second web 42 and thereby form a three-layered composite sheet 1 comprising, in addition to the first and second webs 41, 42, a third web. The first web 41 and this third web may be either identical to each other or different from each other in type of resin, fineness, and appearance inclusive of color.
2
2
Fig. 3 is a diagram similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating another preferred embodiment of the process according to this invention. According to this embodiment, a film 52 made of thermoplastic elastomer and having an elastic stretchability in the travelling direction of the belt 30 is fed as the second web 42 from the left hand of Fig. 3 and the first web 41 comprising the first continuous fibers 35 is fed onto said film 52. The first and second webs 41, 42 travel to the pair of embossing rolls 34, 34 in the same manner as in Fig. 2, between which the webs 41, 42 are intermittently bonded together at the second bond regions 4B to form a second composite web 44. On the step of bonding the first web 41 with the second web 42 in the form of the film 52 to form the first and second bond regions 4A, 4B, the area of the individual bond regions 4A, 4B can be dimensioned as small as in the order of 0.03 - 1 mm without an apprehension that the first and second webs 41, 42 might be easily separated from each other. It should be understood here that the area of the individual bond regions 4A, 4B can be selectively varied in a range of 0.03 - 10 mm without departing from the scope of this invention.
The composite sheet 1 obtained by the process according to this invention is easily stretchable and offers a comfortable touch, so that the composite sheet 1 is suitable as cloth and/or elastic member in disposable garments such as disposable pants or disposable gowns used in medical site.
The process according to this invention for making the elastically stretchable composite sheet enables the fibrous web in the composite sheet to have a basis weight lower than that in the conventional composite sheet because the stretchable fibrous web is laminated in its unstretched condition with the elastically stretchable web. Furthermore, the process according to this invention enables the fibrous web to be evenly stretched since the process by bonding the stretchable web to the elastically stretchable web on two steps, i.e., before and after the step of stretching the composite sheet.
In the course of stretching the composite sheet, the component fibers of the fibrous web are stretched under a plastic deformation and, at the same time, undesirable bonding and/or entangling among the component fibers themselves in the fibrous web and undesirable sealing between the fibrous web and the elastically stretchable web are loosened. Therefore, a relatively small force required to stretch the elastically stretchable web alone is sufficient as an initial force required to stretch the composite sheet so that the composite sheet may be easily stretched and offer a comfortable soft touch. | |
One of the great questions for science and humanity is: Are we the only solar system with planets, and the only one with planets that could support life? The discovery of planets around other stars makes it likely that other planets exist capable of supporting life.
Of great importance to astronomers, the discovery of other solar systems lets them test their theories on the origin of planets and solar systems. The discovery of distant planets has fundamentally changed how we perceive our place in the universe.
In the sixth century B.C., Greek scientist Anaximander was the first to theorize that other planets must exist. In 1600 Italian priest and astronomer Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by the Catholic Church for professing the same belief. American astronomers were actively searching through giant telescopes for planets orbiting other stars by late the 1940s.
Michel Mayor was born in 1942 and even as a child was fascinated by stars and astronomy. With his collaborator, Antoine Duquennoy, he joined the many astronomers searching for small objects in the universe. But Mayor searched not for planets, but for brown dwarfs—cool, dim objects thought to form like stars, but which failed to grow massive enough to support hydrogen fusion and thus never lit up with starry furnace and fire. Too big for planets, too small to become stars, brown dwarfs were a galactic oddity.
Astronomers, however, had a problem: telescopes can’t see planets and brown dwarfs because they don’t give off light. Instead, astronomers searched for slight side-to-side wobbles in the motion of a star caused by the gravitational tug of a large planet (or brown dwarf).
Some tried to detect such wobble by carefully measuring the position of a star over the course of months or years. Others (Mayor included) looked for this wobble by using Doppler shift and measuring tiny shifts on a spectrograph in the color of the light coming from a star that would be the result of changes in the star’s motion toward or away from Earth.
Following the death of Duquennoy in 1993, Mayor teamed with graduate student Didier Queloz and developed a new, more sensitive spectrograph to search for brown dwarfs. Their new spectrograph was capable of measuring velocity changes as small as 13 meters per second, about the same as the wobble in our sun’s motion caused by Jupiter’s gravitational tug.
But everyone assumed that such massive planets would take years to orbit a star (as they do in our system). Thus the wobble from a planet’s tug would take years of data to notice. It never occurred to Mayor to use his new spectrograph and a few months’ worth of time on a telescope to search for a planet.
Beginning in April 1994, using the Haute-Provence Observatory in southern France, Mayor and Queloz tested their new spectrograph on 142 nearby stars, hoping to detect a wobble that would indicate a massive nearby object like a brown dwarf. In January 1995 one star, 51 Peg (the fifty-first brightest star in the constellation Pegasus) caught Queloz’s eye. It wobbled. It wobbled back and forth every 4.2 days.
They tested the star’s light to make sure it didn’t pulse. They tested to see if sun spots might create an apparent wobble. The tested to see if 51 Peg puffed up and contracted to create the appearance of wobble. Nothing could account for 51 Peg’s wobble except for a sizable orbiting object.
From the amount of 51 Peg’s wobble they calculated the mass of the object and knew it was too small to be a brown dwarf. It had to be a planet! They had discovered a planet outside our solar system.
By 2005, several hundred other planets had been located—gas giants speeding around Mercury-sized orbits; some rocky planets in cozy, not-too-hot-and-not-too-cold orbits; even some drifting free through space without a star to circle. Earth is certainly not alone. Mayor and Queloz were the first to discover proof of this spectacular reality.
If only one star in ten has planets (and current knowledge indicates that at least that many do), if the average star with planets has at least three, and if only one in every hundred are rocky planets in life-sustaining orbits (and recent discoveries indicate that to be the case), then there are at least 300,000 planets capable of supporting life in our galaxy alone. | https://zippyfacts.com/who-discovered-that-planets-exist-around-other-stars-in-the-universe-and-when/ |
Rochester Red Wings fall 2-1 in 10 innings to Buffalo
The Rochester Red Wings have played nearly three games in a two-day span with back-to-back extra-inning games, winning a 14-inning affair Tuesday before dropping a 2-1 game in 10 innings to the Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday.
Domonic Brown drove in Jon Berti, who put himself in scoring position by stealing second base, in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Southpaw Jason Wheeler was promoted to Rochester (8-11) from Chattanooga (AA) prior to the game. Wheeler had allowed 20 hits over 24 innings with five earned runs and a 1.88 ERA for the Lookouts so far this season.
On Wednesday, Wheeler was sharp - striking out three over seven innings while scattering six hits and allowing one earned run - in a welcome start by a fresh arm after the 14-inning tilt Tuesday.
Brandon Kintzler was charged with his first loss of the season after allowing three hits and the game-winning run. Offensively, Byron Buxton went 2-for-5 for the Red Wings after returning from Minnesota on Tuesday.
James Beresford went 3-for-5 and knocked in the only run when he singled home Heiker Meneses for the 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
Casey Kotchman’s solo home run in the bottom of the seventh tied the game for Buffalo.
The rubber match in the series is Thursday with Logan Darnell getting the start for Rochester in a 1:05 p.m. game Thursday.
The Red Wings return home Friday with a double-header against Scranton/Wilkes Barre. | https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/2016/04/27/rochester-red-wings-fall-innings-buffalo/83629454/ |
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VANGUARD is a collective of up and coming directors that are making waves at a young age. With Valiant’s guidance and production expertise, directors from Vanguard will be matched with clients to execute creative content from start to finish. | http://www.valiantpictures.com/about |
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Most students support randomized COVID-19 testing, technology-enabled contact tracing for 2020-21 academic year
Students support for routine testing, contact tracing in on-campus scenarios, key findings of survey results show
Most University undergraduate students expressed strong support for randomized COVID-19 testing and technology-enabled contact tracing in any on-campus scenarios for the upcoming academic year, according to the results of the Undergraduate Student Preferences Survey on 2020-21 Academic Year Scenarios.
Sent to all returning undergraduate students May 17, the survey garnered an 84 percent response rate, accruing 4,475 responses. Another 1,234 incoming first-year students — 70 percent — also gave responses.
The survey was developed to “gather information to guide and refine Brown’s plans for the fall in conjunction with a wide variety of additional factors, data points and considerations,” Provost Richard Locke P’18 wrote in a June 18 Today@Brown announcement regarding the key findings from the survey.
The University is still considering three options for the 2020-21 academic year: a tri-semester model in which students would enroll in two semesters out of the three offered; an entirely remote fall with a decision about the spring semester to be made during the fall; or a normal academic calendar allowing all students to return to campus — an “optimistic scenario that is largely dependent on broader progress in testing and treatment,” Locke wrote.
“Student preferences will serve as one factor in the complex effort to develop solutions that protect the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and the extended community, while maximizing teaching, learning and research operations to the greatest extent possible,” he wrote.
President Christina Paxson P’19 has committed to sharing an official decision on the University’s plans for the fall by July 15, The Herald previously reported.
For scenarios including an on-campus component, the University plans to conduct “surveillance testing” of COVID-19 to monitor any changes in the rate of infection on campus, according to the key findings report. This would include testing of several hundred randomly selected students each week.
On tracking the spread of the virus, Paxson previously indicated that the University would also pursue testing of all students and employees upon their return to campus and testing for all symptomatic students and employees throughout the year.
A full 88 percent of student survey respondents said that they believe random testing is “extremely” or “very important,” with just 10 percent believing random testing is “somewhat important” and only two percent saying it is “not important.” Nearly all respondents — 95 percent — said they would be willing to be tested if asked.
Most students also expressed support for “technology-enabled contact tracing,” which would require the installation of a mobile app that would alert students if they had been in close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 and track those with whom students have been in contact in case they test positive.
Over three quarters — 76 percent — of students said that it is “extremely” or “very” important to “make this technology available to all students, faculty and staff,” and 78 percent of students said they would be willing to install contact tracing technology on their mobile devices.
Beginning this summer, the University has contracted with life sciences and health care company Verily to “test all essential on-site and essential-special graduate students, faculty and staff” in a routine testing pilot program, Locke and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Barbara Chernow ’79 wrote in a June 14 Today@Brown announcement.
“We anticipate that what we learn from this summer pilot will provide essential information that helps to inform our public health testing strategy for the coming academic year,” they wrote. | |
This post is about efforts to conduct culturally diverse research with parents and families of emerging adults. Below I share a few experiences relevant to the topic and then ask for you to share your thoughts.
Laura Williams, a master’s student in cultural sustainability at Goucher College, contacted me to encourage discussion for pre-conference topics on how parents can better support children through emerging adulthood by using the research process itself. Through conducting interviews and focus groups with transnational and transracial adoptees, Laura has found that these participants in her research gained the confidence to engage their parents in difficult conversations about race and adoption, thus contributing to social change.
Ohad Nahum, a clinical psychologist from Israel, contacted me to encourage discussion for pre-conference topics related to working with parents of emerging adults who remain dependent on their parents. Ohad described these individuals as a distinctive subgroup of individuals who do not gain independence or maintain productive lifestyles. Such individuals may be underrepresented in the literature given the relative difficulty of connecting with them.
Psi Chi’s Network for International Collaborate Exchange (NICE; https://osf.io/juupx/) started a project titled Connecting Students and Faculty across the Globe to Study Cross Cultural Questions. I understand the goal of their group is to connect researchers with each other so that data may be collected across culturally diverse sites both nationally and internationally. Mary Rogers, a student working with me, submitted a proposal to NICE. We hope to investigate how the Olson (2000) Family Circumplex Model generalizes across cultures.
What practices or research are you conducting to consider these and other culturally diverse factors? What are your ideas about the current state of practice and research in addressing these factors? What more can be done to make further progress?
Please share your thoughts about our efforts to conduct culturally diverse practice and research with emerging adults and their parents and families by responding directly to this post or emailing me directly at [email protected].
-Cliff McKinney
Our lab researches psychological and physical maltreatment by parents against emerging adult children over the past 12 months, as reported by emerging adults using the Conflict Tactics Scale: Parent-Child Version (CTSPC; Straus et al., 1998). We are finding that emerging adult children are endorsing that their parents are committing psychological and physical maltreatment against them.
Sample characteristics include N = 2,374, 18-25 years old (M = 18.85), 67.9% female, 74.1% White, 20.5% African American, attending college, 80% two-parents living together, >50% mothers and fathers with > bachelor’s degree, and 95% reporting frequent parental contact.
Self-report is one of several valid methods of gathering data, with some researchers positing that perception is reality, although it is undoubtedly subject to limitations and biases (e.g., depressed children reporting more severe and more frequent negative occurrences) that must be considered.
With that caveat, what are your thoughts on the prevalence of items reported below? What other literature/citations are you aware of that investigates this topic in emerging adults?
Please send me your ideas for blogs, including sharing your own research!
Cliff McKinney, Associate Professor, Mississippi State University, [email protected]
My name is Jonathan Mattanah and I am a professor of psychology at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. I have been studying emerging adults in college for the past 15 years and have been particularly interested in understanding how students’ relationships with their parents, peers, and romantic partners affect their social-emotional adjustment to the campus. I am pleased to announce that I have recently completed an extensive review of the literature on students’ psychological adjustment to college, which is being published in a set of two books entitled College Student Psychological Adjustment, by Momentum Press.
I have published a number of articles in this area, including a major meta-analytic review paper in the 2011 issue of Journal of Counseling Psychology that reviewed over 150 studies examining links between parent-student attachment relationships and college outcomes. That review found that both mother-student and father-student relationships exert an enduring influence on students’ adjustment, especially in terms of students’ ability to separate smoothly during the college transition and develop satisfying relationships with peers. These patterns were stronger for students who lived on campus than for those who were commuting to school from home.
My two books being published by Momentum Press pick up where this review paper left off. The first book, College Student Psychological Adjustment: Theory, Methods, and Statistical Trends provides an overview of theoretical perspectives and research on the adjustment process. I provide the latest statistics on numbers of students attending college in the United States today and note trends in the diversity of students attending college. I also highlight some of the significant mental and physical health challenges students report while in college. I then review major theoretical perspectives on college development, including the work of Arthur Chickering, William Perry, Alexander Astin, Vincent Tinto, and, our own, Jeffrey Arnett, locating Arnett’s work in the context of a new developmental theory to capture many of the psychological dilemmas college student experience. The last two chapters of this book review college adjustment research, examining domains of functioning in college, methodological tools for studying the adjustment process, and examining adjustment outcomes for both majority and minority students. This book, due to be published by October of this year, is particularly valuable for students who may not know a lot about studying college students and who may be interested in designing their own study of college adjustment.
The second book, College Student Psychological Adjustment: Exploring Relational Dynamics that Predict Success has just been published and it focuses specifically on relational dynamics among college students. I examined five major relational figures that are important for all college students: (1) Parents, (2) professors, (3) roommates, (4) friends, and (5) romantic partners. For each of these relationships, I examine the ingredients that make the relationship successful and examine problematic patterns that may derail college student success. Just as an example, the chapter on parent-student relationships provides a detailed examination of the concept of helicopter parenting, reviewing the most recent research showing the ways in which it is problematic for college student development and adjustment. The final chapter of this book provides an overview of innovative, relationship enhancement intervention programs that have been tested on college students in hopes of improving students’ relationship functioning with peers and romantic partners, and thereby enhancing college adjustment.
I hope that you will check out these two books and find them of value to your scholarly and teaching efforts, especially in more advanced classes that focus on lifespan development
al. Here is the link to the publisher’s website, which provides more information about both books:
www.momentumpress.net
Also, the second book is available for purchase through the above website or through Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.com/College-Student-Psychological-Adjustment-Relational/dp/1606500074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471530205&sr=8-1&keywords=jonathan+mattanah
Finally, if you just have more questions or want to discuss these books or my work more with me, you can always email me at [email protected].
Thanks for reading this long post!
We are halfway through 2016, and so far it has been a great year for research on parents and family in emerging adulthood! Here is a summary of studies published this year that are of interest to our topic network. Click on the journal names below for a link to each study.
Do you know of any other studies that should be added to this list? If so, please email me at [email protected] and I will add them!
Written by Laura Padilla-Walker, PhD
Helicopter parenting during emerging adulthood – it’s a relatively hot topic the last few years. Especially in the news media. But what is helicopter parenting, how much of this hype is reflected in the research, and how common is this type of parenting during emerging adulthood?
Larry Nelson and myself have published a few studies in this area and are learning more about this construct, though still scratching our heads to some degree. Helicopter parenting can be simply defined as parental over-control – so an instance where a parent is solving problems for their emerging adult child that he or she could solve for themselves. So if a parent is calling her child’s college professor to debate a grade or setting up job interviews for her son, she may be a candidate for a parent who hovers a bit too much! We know from our research that helicopter parenting is a form of parental control, though it’s distinct from both behavioral and psychological control. There are at least three measures of helicopter parenting now in circulation (and probably more in the works), but most research outside of our lab suggests this form of parental control to be universally negative, while we find a somewhat more nuanced set of findings. We certainly can’t claim that helicopter parenting is a good thing, but we haven’t found it to be as bad a thing as all the excitement suggests. In addition, levels of helicopter parenting are similar to levels of behavioral control during emerging adulthood – which are generally quite low. So the visions we have of helicopter mothers and fathers rushing around college campuses or frantically following their children as they go to work and maybe even peering in the window to make sure their child is staying on task…may not be as rampant as the media sometimes lets on. In addition, our findings suggest it isn’t nearly as detrimental to the child’s well-being as other forms of control.
Because our first study suggested helicopter parenting may actually be related to a few things that are positive (e.g., EAs self-reported parental guidance and involvement), we sought to understand in a more recent study whether there may be some more positive forms of helicopter parenting. More specifically, we wondered if maternal warmth might moderate the links between helicopter parenting and outcomes, where the outcomes might not be so negative if the parent has good intentions and a good relationship with the child (as compared to the helicopter parent who just wants to maintain control). So in this recent study we looked at over 400 emerging adult college students from across the United States and examined the links between helicopter parenting and EA outcomes (e.g., self-esteem, risk behavior, etc) – moderated by parental warmth. Consistent with our other work, we didn’t find helicopter parenting to be directly associated with any outcome (other than a marginally negative finding with school engagement) – but we did find a few instances of moderation, though not necessarily in the expected direction. Turns out that high levels of maternal warmth aren’t overly protective, but lower levels of maternal warmth make a non-ideal situation worse (see Figures 1 and 2). More specifically, self-worth was lowest and risk behaviors were highest when helicoptering mothers were also low on warmth. So helicopter parenting in the context of a non-supportive parent-child relationship may be a much stronger recipe for negative outcomes than helicopter parenting alone. The take home message at this point in the research on helicopter parenting? It is a complex phenomenon that, fortunately, does not occur as much as we think (at least in the populations we’ve examined.) It certainly does have the potential to stifle young people’s development but usually only in conjunction with other negative aspects of parenting (e.g., low parental warmth). It isn’t the worst thing a parent can do but it isn’t the best either.
Figure 1. Two-way Interaction Predicting Self-Worth
Note. Simple slope follow-up analyses were significant at -1 standard deviation of maternal warmth and marginally significant at +1 standard deviation of maternal warmth
Figure 2. Two-way Interaction Predicting Risk Behaviors
Note. Simple slope follow-up analyses significant at both -1 standard deviation and +1 standard deviation of maternal warmth.
A couple of ideas on where the field needs to go next! First of all, we are always in need of non-college and longitudinal samples during this age period. The role of helicopter parenting on emerging adults who don’t attend college is a fascinating question that deserves future research, as it may look very different than it does for those who attend college. It will also be important to examine the long-term effects of helicopter parenting, which may significantly delay the transition to adulthood if gone unchecked through the first part of the third decade of life. We also suggest it will be important for future research to distinguish over-involvement from healthy involvement during emerging adulthood, as the last thing we want to do is to suggest that parents shouldn’t be involved in the lives of their children! We know from many other studies that parents continue to be important in the lives of emerging adults, but it’s unclear if this involvement is most helpful in the form of emotional closeness and warmth, or if it extends to other areas of involvement. More importantly, determining how much involvement is too much continues to be nebulous, especially when we consider how that might vary from child to child. We also think it will be important for research to consider helicopter parenting that is initiated by the parent versus that which is initiated by the child. Most of the hype assumes these are parents hovering over their children whom they just can’t seem to let go, but it is equally possible that there are children begging for their parents to keep solving problems for them even though they would grow much more by solving the problems themselves.
Clearly this is an interesting area of research with a great deal of room for growth! We hope that if any of you have ideas or data sets that would accommodate these types of measures, you will explore them and help us move the field forward in this regard!
For extra reading:
LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum, 31, 399–418.
Nelson, L. J., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Nielson, M. G. (2015). Is helicopter parenting
smothering or loving? Parental warmth as a moderator between helicopter parenting and emerging adults’ indices of adjustment. Emerging Adulthood, 3, 282-285.
Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Nelson. L. J. (2012). Black Hawk Down? Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1177-1190.
Schiffrin, H.H., Liss, M., Miles-McLean, H., Geary, K. A., Erchull, M. J., & Tashner, T. (2014). Helping or hovering? The effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23, 548-557.
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A., & Murphy, M. T. (2012). The association between overparenting, parent-child communication, and entitlement and adaptive traits in adult children. Family Relations, 61, 237–252.
Hello from Vermont! My name is Jamie Abaied, and I am an Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Vermont (UVM). I am also the co-chair of the Parents and Family Topic Network of SSEA. This week I’d like to share some exciting research we’ve been conducting in my laboratory on the role of psychophysiology in emerging adulthood.
Psychophysiology – what is it, and why does it matter for people studying families in emerging adulthood?
Psychophysiology refers to biological processes that underlie psychological phenomenon, such as attention, emotion, or cognition. Psychophysiological measures thus provide us with a window into how our bodies influence our development.
Pictured: An ECG waveform.
In the past decade, we have seen a huge wave of research that examines how children’s physiology shapes their reactions to their family environment. The goal of these studies is to understand why children exposed to similar family experiences show such a diverse array of outcomes. Psychophysiology may shed light on this process. In some cases, psychophysiology could be an underlying vulnerability that, when coupled with a stressful family environment, make it more likely that youth will have problems. Alternatively, some youths’ bodies may be more reactive to the outside world than others; as a result, these youth could be more at risk when things are bad but actually at an advantage when things are good (Pluess, 2015; Roisman et al., 2012). Psychophysiology could also shape which types of environments are ideal for certain people, also known as a “goodness of fit” perspective (Chess & Thomas, 1999).
At this point, we have quite a bit of data showing us that youth with distinct psychophysiological profiles also show distinct reactions to their environment (for reviews, see El-Sheikh & Erath, 2011; Obradovic, 2012). However, this research has been conducted almost entirely in samples of children and (to a lesser extent) adolescents. This begs the question – does psychophysiology continue to moderate the effects of the family environment in emerging adulthood?
The UVM Coping with College Life Study
My research group at UVM conducted a study designed to answer this question. We recruited a sample of 180 college students who completed a series of slightly challenging tasks and periods of rest, during which we measured their autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. They also answered questions about their family, their peer relationships, how they cope with stress, and their mental health. A subset of the participants also had one parent complete a brief survey.
Pictured: Me adjusting the settings on our bioamplifier.
We’ve explored how psychophysiology relates to three aspects of family environment so far: parent coping suggestions, parent depressive symptoms, and parent psychological control.
Parent Coping Suggestions
Parent coping suggestions, also known as socialization of coping, involve parents encouraging children to use particular types of coping strategies in times of stress. We know parent coping suggestions predict adjustment in kids and adolescents, but our study was the first to examine them in emerging adulthood (Abaied, Wagner, & Sanders, 2014; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0193397314000665)
We specifically examined respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the parasympathetic nervous system. When we are exposed to stress, typically RSA decreases, which allows our bodies to allocate resources to respond to our environment; many researchers view this as a sign of good self-regulation.
We found that parent coping suggestions were associated with emerging adults’ responses to stress but only among emerging adults who showed (a) decreased RSA in response to an interpersonal stressor (i.e., describing a recent stressful event in one of their relationships), and (b) increased RSA in response to a noninterpersonal stressor (a mirror-tracing task). These findings suggest that psychophysiology does play a role in how sensitive emerging adults are to parent coping suggestions, but the “most sensitive” profile depended on the type of task students were working on when we measured their physiology.
More recently, we examined how parent coping suggestions interacted with psychophysiology to predict heavy drinking in college. In this study (Stanger, Abaied, & Wagner, under review) we focused on skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR), an indicator of the sympathetic nervous system, to an interpersonal lab task. Blunted SCLR is thought to indicate lack of inhibition, and it is correlated with heightened aggression sensation seeking; thus, we anticipated that it would enhance risk for heavy drinking as well. We also examined the role of age of onset of alcohol use, as starting to drink alcohol early in life is a robust risk factor for later heavy drinking.
We found that in the presence of physiological risk only (blunted SCLR, late age of onset), engagement and disengagement suggestions buffered against heavy alcohol use. This suggests that for these youth, parent coping support was helpful even if parents encouraged disengagement from stress (which we typically think of as a bad thing). However, if both risk factors were present (blunted SCLR, early age of onset), engagement suggestions were problematic, predicting more heavy alcohol use among college students. Although engaging with stress is usually adaptive, it is possible that emerging adults who are otherwise at risk for drinking apply engagement suggestions inappropriately and increase their alcohol use.
Parent Depressive Symptoms
In another recent paper, I explored whether SCLR moderates the link between parent depressive symptoms and several aspects of emerging adults’ psychosocial well being (Abaied, 2015 http://spr.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/04/15/0265407515583170.full). I found that parent depressive symptoms predicted heightened depressive symptoms, maladaptive responses to stress, and insecure attachment in emerging adults, but only when emerging adults showed high SCLR to an interpersonal lab task. In contrast to blunted SCLR, high SCLR may indicate over-arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which could amplify emerging adults’ reactions to their parents’ depressive symptoms. Importantly, these findings are highly consistent with previous work done with children and adolescents, suggesting there may be some developmental continuity in the ways that SCLR shapes reactions to family environments.
Parent Psychological Control
Finally, we examined whether baseline RSA (i.e., RSA measured at rest) interacted with parent psychological control to predict disordered eating in emerging adults (Abaied, Wagner, Lafko, & Flynn, under review). Parents who are psychologically controlling undermine their child’s autonomy by manipulating thoughts and feelings, making affection contingent upon compliance, and inducing guilt or shame. Previous work in our lab (Abaied & Emond, 2013) and others suggests that psychological control is detrimental to emerging adults’ adjustment, and threats to autonomy are particularly relevant to disordered eating. We also examined how participants tended to respond to stress.
We found that in the context of maladaptive responses to stress and high psychological control, RSA predicted increased disordered eating over time (6 months later). However, in the absence of parent psychological control, high RSA was beneficial in most cases, even when individuals reported maladaptive responses to stress. This suggests that supportive parenting coupled with physiological self-regulation can help to prevent disordered eating, whereas controlling parenting can potentially cause physiological self-regulation to be inappropriately applied, yielding heightened eating pathology.
What is the Take Home Message Here?
Psychophysiology is highly relevant to our understanding of the impact of families in emerging adulthood. This seems to be true across different areas of family environment and different aspects of emerging adult development.
These relations are complex. These data tell an interesting story, but not a simple one. The role that psychophysiology plays in shaping emerging adults’ development depends upon a number of individual and contextual factors.
There is still a lot of work to be done. We need more studies with longitudinal designs and diverse populations of emerging adults to move this area of research forward.
Have questions or interested in hearing more? Please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I also hope to see you at the SSEA Conference in October 2015!
References
Abaied, J. L. (2015). Skin conductance reactivity as a moderator of the link between parent depressive symptoms and emotional adjustment in emerging adults. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. doi:10.1177/0265407515583170
Abaied, J. L., & Emond, C. (2013). Parent psychological control and responses to stress in emerging adulthood: Moderating effects of behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation. Emerging Adulthood, 1, 258-270. doi: 10.1177/2167696813485737
Abaied, J. L., Wagner, C., & Sanders, W. (2014). Parent socialization of coping in emerging adulthood: The moderating role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(4), 357-369. doi: 10.1016/j.appdev.2014.06.002
Abaied, J. L., Wagner, C., Lafko, N., & Flynn, M. (2015). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a predictor of disordered eating in college students: moderation by responses to stress and parent psychological control. Manuscript under review.
Chess, S., Thomas, A., 1999. Goodness of fit: Clinical applications from infancy through adult life. Bruner/Mazel, Philadelphia, PA.
El-Sheikh, M., & Erath, S. A. (2011). Family conflict, autonomic nervous system functioning, and child adaptation: State of the science and future directions. Development and Psychopathology, 23(02), 703–721. doi:10.1017/S0954579411000034
Obradović, J. (2012). How can the study of physiological reactivity contribute to our understanding of adversity and resilience processes in development? Development and Psychopathology, 24, 371-387. doi: 10.1017/S0954579412000053
Pluess, M. (2015). Individual differences in environmental sensitivity. Child Development Perspectives, n/a-n/a. doi:10.1111/cdep.12120
Roisman, G. I., Newman, D. A., Fraley, R. C., Haltigan, J. D., Groh, A. M., & Haydon, K. C. (2012). Distinguishing differential susceptibility from diathesis-stress: Recommendations for evaluating interaction effects. Development and Psychopathology, 24(2), 389-409. doi:10.1017/S0954579412000065
Stanger, S., Abaied, J. L., & Wagner (2015). Predicting heavy alcohol use in college students: Interactions between socialization of coping, alcohol use onset, and physiological reactivity. Manuscript under review.
To tide you over while we work on new posts about our research, check out this infographic on parent-child relationships in emerging adulthood over at the Oxford University Press blog!
Welcome to the SSEA Parents and Family Topic Network Blog!
In the coming weeks, we will post some new and exciting research exploring the complex role that parents and family play in emerging adults’ development. We also hope this blog can serve as a forum for researchers interested in this topic to discuss issues relevant to our field and stay connected.
We encourage others to consider contributing posts on their own research – if you are interested, please contact Jamie Abaied at [email protected].
For members of SSEA who are not yet members of this topic network, please join and contribute to this growing area of emerging adult development! We are in need of additional voices and research ideas. We are hoping to gather socially at the upcoming SSEA conference in Miami to discuss ways in which we can grow the network and increase collaboration and facilitate research. We look forward to seeing many of you in Florida! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions, ideas, or comments. | http://ssea.wildapricot.org/Parents-and-Family-Blog |
A collection of fifteen poems is presented that deals with mental fragmentation and the fluidity of meaning. The work is a contribution to contemporary poetry, and it cannot be aligned with a specific movement, neither is it a criticism of any previous works; it is generally reflective of postmodernist poetry and postmodern psychology.
Recommended Citation
Walton, Gwen Tredwell, "15 Relative Truths: Poetry and Fragmentation" (2014). University College: Arts and Culture Capstones. 89. | https://digitalcommons.du.edu/ucol_mals/89/ |
With warm acknowledgements to Peter Robinson, whos dialogues have been a fine whetstone for the sword of Gnosis.
During a discussion on the night of the 19th of September 1931, at Magdalen College, Oxford, with J.R.R Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and Hugo Dyson, Lewis said that, “myths are but lies breathed through silver“.
C.S. Lewis was vexed by an ancient question – whether the arts have any philosophic utility or relationship to ‘Truth’. This is an old debate. Plato seemed to believe that the poet does not speak truth. Instead of representing ‘knowledge’ (techne), arts express a kind of ‘divine madness’, or inspiration (psyche).
Art striving for an existential veracity, or ‘truth’, will be put upon a difficult and confusing road riddled with forking and branching pathways; between positivist and nominalist systems tending toward rationality (as in ‘ratio’, to measure), and on the other extreme something akin to decor, the enjoyment of a sensory object.
What we wish to seek here is a deeper meaning for the Arts, which puts the Sacred Arts upon an integral foundation, and frames in our understanding the great and important things of which it is truly capable.
The Reign of Quantity in the Modern Arts
Put simply, positivism refers to any system that confines itself to the measurable and replicable data and excludes metaphysical speculations. Nominalism is the doctrine that universals or general ideas are mere names, without any corresponding reality. Only particular objects exist. Properties, numbers, and sets are merely features of the way of considering the things that exist, and do not pertain to the ‘thing in themselves’.
Nominalism and positivism tend to Atomism – the quest for evermore fundamental elementary units through which the behaviour of the overall system may be built up from and thereby understood. This leads us to the high abstractions of mathematics and physics.
We can loosely class such approaches under the ‘Apollonian’, the rational, orderly, and self-disciplined aspects of human nature. The expression of such Apollonian traits in the visual arts comes through such things as geometry, systems of harmonic ratio, perspective and so on.
If art only acquires ‘truth’ through the application of such principles, then the current technology of 3d engineering and particle dynamics, within the digital space, would be holding fast to ‘Scientific Truth’ and expressing this understanding through the celebration of technical means; the creation of aesthetic structures achieved through cutting edge engineering principles, wherein ‘the medium is the message’.
From such a perspective of techne, there is nothing to really be done in the painting arts, because no two-dimensional image may achieve a mimesis, mimicry- isomorphism or correspondence to ‘truth’ as nominalist and atomist approaches would have it.
Metaphysic and mythic ‘truths’ are not truths in the scientific sense, therefore the depiction of the Bible, or the Greco-Roman classical pagan worldview are really no more than cartoons depicting narratives that are themselves mixtures and assemblages of cultural lore, oral and written tradition, fantastic scenarios, and moral/ethical/political value systems.
The question may then circle back around to C.S Lewis’s confoundment, and subsequently ask if bearing upon metaphysics, or sophiology, through art, is simply being quaint, sentimental, or giving up on the hard problem of scientific truth and rather, working more a kind of propaganda of one’s chosen worldview.
The consequences of the failure of a coherent framework for metaphysics in the arts results in the contemporary emphasis upon:
- technologic early-adoption prowess with engineering approaches at the forefront
- idiosyncrasy, individualism, eccentricity, novelty,
- fixation upon the figure of the ‘crazy artist’ or ‘genius’, exceptional colourful or profound personality
- subscription to ‘realism’ and traditional academic approaches of craftsmanship and representation
- art aware of itself as divorced from ‘veracity to truth’ and resigned to increasingly baroque edifices of self-referential ‘art theory’ and ‘art speak’ and ‘art arcanum’
- pornography, propaganda, kitsch/zombie-aesthetics
- preaching to the choir – niche ecosystems, hostage audiences, echo-chambers, fan bases
- imagery and productions leaning upon established pop cultural lore produced by centralised cultural production
- reciting of established cultural canon, whether ‘pop’ or ‘tradition’
- home decor and wall paint, interior design
- totems, symbols & dreamtime
It is these last three – totems, symbols and dreamtime, I wish to talk about in terms of paradigms of visionary art. But before we go there, we are going to add a very powerful ‘universal solvent’ into the discussion – Darwinian evolutionary algorithms.
Memetics
Nobody, anywhere, has ever really managed to create an all-encompassing definition of culture, perhaps because the best minds have deigned to attempt it. Sir Karl Popper repeatedly emphasized that definitions are not important, but rather that solving problems is: the key aim of (capital-S) Science.
Richard Dawkins proposed a theory in his book, ‘The Selfish Gene’, whereby we may understand ‘ideas’ in the same way as genes. Reproduction, mutation and selection processes are observable in the living world and result in the vast diversity and continuing change of organisms in the world.
An organism mates, reproduces its genes, the off springs however may contain small or great variations, and some of these variations will be beneficial because they have ‘fitness’ to the environment it lives within. This environmental terrain (the overall conditions, organisms and elements involved) defines which of the genetic variations go forward to reproduce and which ones are eliminated.
Memetics are not an established scientific truth or fact of nature – because there is no fundamental, nominalist ‘unit’ of an idea that can be produced, observed and manipulated – such as an elementary particle, a figurae of language or hachimoji bases of DNA. Although there have been proposals that one may one day discover neural correlates of memeplexes, this is so far hypothetical, and memetics may be nothing more than a kind of scientistic homily, a genetic metaphor for ‘culture’. It is nonetheless an extremely compelling and powerful metaphor.
Hyperspace – The Jewelled Web
Imagine a ‘space’ connected by the combined network effect of 7 billion human brains in continual, unbroken inter-relationship across the planet. Let us visualise processes of communication connecting each person, like nodes creating a network. Each node/body/brain/mind is a transducer (sender-receiver) of memes that it is host to.
When I ‘convince’ you of an idea, I educate or indoctrinate you, and that ‘meme’ has reproduced in your mind. If the meme/idea is weak, it will be subsumed by other more dominant memes. It may mate or recombine with other ideas producing hybrids in a kind of Hegelian dialectic process.
Through day-to-day conversation, versions of reality are spoken to one-another and so compared and adjusted. The versions of reality are shared and adjusted both passively and actively (e.g. watching television, going to church, reading a newspaper or book). The unspoken baseline reality assumptions that are implied in everyday talk also substantiate the subterrain of the memes, which are often beyond our ability to perceive and directly comprehend. These ‘proto-memes’ comprise abstract vector spaces or architectural elements that are in themselves inchoate to our rational mind, chthonic and ancestral, part of the primordial soup of memetic space.
Memeplexes are vast symbiotic and mutually reinforcing ideas that support each other’s survival. Memeplexes exist in relatively low-resolution in the individual, but highly complex and ‘edifice-like’ in collective manifestation. Although change in the form of the memeplex is inevitable, when many people in the network are involved in processes of comparing their ‘versions’ of the memes through reciprocal communication, a memeplex is buffered from degradation. When large memeplexes encounter each other, on the world stage it may look like a ‘clash of civilisations’ or ‘culture war’ – or, if organs of logic and consilience are brought to bear, a ‘dialogue of civilisations’ whereby host parties recognise the potential benefits of synthesis or ‘make love, not war’.
The Tower of Babel – The foundations of this tower rise from an ancient moraine of evolutionary history in a Faustian quest for knowledge and immortality. Its various floors and strata contain something akin to an ‘Akashic Record’ or Jung’s ‘species house’ of cultural memory. Its utmost spires tenuously weave rarefied threads and reach crystalline and needle-like into the starry voids. And occasionally, civilisational clashes, scientific innovation, natural disasters, or some cataclysmic event ‘undermines’ the integrity of sections of the tower, causing collapse – the ‘light’ of civilisation snuffed for a time amidst inchoate babble where we simply cannot understand each other.
We are in a sense ruled by ideas. The suicide bomber or the utopian idealist, both alike driven by emotion and emblazoned inwardly by the heraldry of religious and tribal visions. Finding ourselves within these invisible matrixes of memetic formations, progressive and revolutionary action characterises tradition as oppressive and will seek to transcend, and the opposing conservative pole will resist and will characterise radical change as disrespectful and diabolic (as in – to ‘throw apart’, to ‘dis-integrate’).
The force of conservation in opposition to revolution is not always ‘wrong’ – many inherited ‘traditions’ are part of what constitutes our more advanced humanity, and it is prudent to ‘conserve progress’. Ancient cultural forms that evolve with continuity and preservation of information may indeed bestow benefits, since our accumulated cultural lore also contains many knowledgeable and wise principles that empower and liberate, educate and enlighten, representing forms of human relating and systems of ‘The True, Good & Beautiful’.
The sense of the sublime, or numinous, in an artwork, may be the experience of ‘contact’ with a ‘civilisational edifice’ that feels bigger, deeper and richer than our individual knowledge and understanding. In this way ‘Great Art’ acts as ‘master nodes’ in the network. Such memeplexes are also older than the individual human being – some components and features of these palisades of memory are of great antiquity.
We could say, therefore, that listening to Vivaldi, reading Lord of the Rings, or absorbing ourselves in a painterly work of magnitude, is to enter a transpersonal space of a highly charged nexus of memetic referents that will, as it were, ‘vibrate’ or ring or chime into being like a struck bell, resonating in excitation when enlightened upon by conscious awareness/energy/attention.
Goddesses and Egregores of the Collective Consciousness
Memeplexes are ‘bigger’ than us, as we are but one jewel in the self-reflecting Web of Indra. Memeplexes are emergent, highly complex systems, and so they contain features not predictable or implied by the basic behaviour of semantic or semiotic units or figurae. Moreover, though many parts of the meme-pool of culture are consciously engineered, a much vaster reach is built upon an evolutionary and ancestral cumulation, geologic features and terrains, realms and domains of vast depths, heights, and intricacy. These structures are ‘organic’ and more akin to the geometrical organic orders of coral reefs than of skyscrapers and cathedrals.
We may discern the ancient primordial abiding structures that are deeply stable in our language and culture, and the more mobile, shorter lived, ‘active agents’ or ‘egregores’ created within this dynamic field of resonance. For example, the phenomenon of autonomous agency and ‘discarnate entities’, such as elves, angels, goddesses & demons and so on, that personify, we could say, certain memeplex.
Jung never was exactingly clear as to whether the archetypes of the collective Consciousness – for instance The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Tower, Water, and the Tree of Life – are in some ways genetically encoded or belonging to a transcendent dimension. In some of his works, Jung leans toward Mono-psychism, proposing that all humans share the same eternal consciousness, soul, mind and intellect.
But other times, Jung’s paradigm would sound more acceptable to evolutionary psychologists, that “certain structures and predispositions of the unconscious are common to all of us…[on] an inherited, species-specific, genetic basis”. Yet from the perspective of memetics, this space originates in neither the genes or a transcendent dimension, but rather is a complex emergent property or network effect of many human minds in connection.
It is from this ‘collective consciousness’ or meme hyperspace, this ‘primordial psychic moraine’, that recurring numinous motifs and archetypal symbols emerge in all times and places. Jung called this ‘Autochthonous revival‘. These archetypal symbols or highly charged memetic constellations can remain latent until ‘activated’ by a ‘releasing stimulus’.
Such ‘archetypes’ have immense power. Zeus’s paramour, Semele, was incinerated when she was tricked by Hera into demanding that her lover show himself to her in his full divine glory. The Greeks knew that the personal ego cannot always withstand direct contact with transpersonal energies.
Possession or encounter with an archetype is not necessarily always bad; it can be a source of archetypal power and inspiration (von Franz 1980, 29). Poets and philosophers invoke the Muses; lovers appeal to Aphrodite and Eros; theurgists call on Helios. The clearest and most relatable example is when the lover is charged by a numinous energy (in the eyes of the beloved). Much art seems to elude this intersection of the personal with this transpersonal dimension in human life. This recalls the divine madness of Plato.
Catharsis, Abreaction, Anagnorisis & Peripeteia
By regarding memes not merely as information but as strongly coupled with the emotional body and evolutionarily relevant behaviours, we move closer to understanding Arts’ relationship to phenomenological human experience. Jung described the alchemical process of ‘Amplification’ whereby imagery is used to create a meaningful context around a symbol needing examination. In subjective amplification, a dreamer, for example, uses active imagination to associate a dream symbol in order to grasp it better. In objective amplification, the analyst collects themes from mythology, alchemy, religion, and other sources to illuminate, or amplify, archetypal symbols produced in dreams or fantasy.
This process brings about Catharsis (from Greek κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning “purification” or “cleansing” or “clarification”), which Aristotle underlined is so important in the Arts. Related to catharsis, are processes of Abreaction– an artistic ‘re-telling’ of an event, in either ‘mythic time’ or in historical or living memory, ‘re-living’ the experience to purge it of its excessive emotional charge. Anagnorisis also plays a strong part in this- the hero’s sudden awareness of a real situation and the hero’s insight into a relationship with an often-antagonistic character causing an ‘integration’ of proto-memetic forces and emotions.
Psychological & Visionary
In a lecture delivered in 1929, “Psychology and Literature,”, Jung differentiated arts between the ‘psychological’ and the ‘visionary’. In doing so, he elaborated upon the poet’s divine madness or inspiration that Plato alluded to, and also perhaps eluded to the Tautegorical – invoked by Coleridge and Friedrich Schelling – where the Symbol directs to itself, its primal self-existence, rather than something else (as in allegory).
“It is a strange something that derives its existence from the hinterlands of man’s mind—that suggests the abyss of time separating us from pre-human ages, or evokes a superhuman world of contrasting light and darkness. It is a primordial experience which surpasses man’s understanding, and to which he is in danger therefore of succumbing. The value and the force of the experience are given by its enormity. It arises from timeless depths […] The primordial experiences rend from top to bottom the curtain upon which is painted the picture of an ordered world. And allow a glimpse into the unfathomed abyss of what has not yet become. Is it a vision of other worlds, of the obscuration of the spirit, or of the beginning of things before the age of man, or of the unborn generations of the future?”Carl Jung Modern Man in Search of a Soul (p. 156-157)
The Chalquist Glossary of Jungian Terms annotates this point thus :
“Art can never be reduced to psychopathology because visionary art is greater than its creator and draws on primordial images and forces. Rather than a symptom or something secondary, it’s a true symbolic expression, a reorganization of the conditions to which a causalistic explanation reduces it.”
Schelling, in his Philosophy of Mythology, wrote “It is not we who have placed mythology, but mythology has placed us in the perspective from which, at present, we shall consider it.”
Herein is the ancient power vested in bards, oracles, artists and poets – the ‘divine madness’ of ‘inspiration. A ‘reorganisation of the conditions’ – the very conditions to which a causalistic explanation reduces it.
In other words, Art effects the symbolic moraine, rather than just ‘representing’ it, or making commentary’. Artists are Artifex, or artificer, and alchemists within this symbolic space, producing artifacts that may comprise powerful transformations by ‘resonating’ archetypal fields within the collective consciousness, and thus, through processes of catharsis, abreaction, anagnorisis, toward Anagogy – the ‘divine ascent’ of integration of the subconscious with the conscious, this Peripeteia or ‘turning point’, in the journey from the chaos or cathartic ‘underworld’ of disordered internal realms, and up toward a higher level of integration (apocatastasis) and wholeness. | https://visionary.art/art-history-theory/goddess-of-the-jewelled-web-visionary-arts-connection-to-truth/?shared=email&msg=fail |
Updated from 8:51 a.m. ET with additional information
NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- The number of building permits issued for privately owned housing units rose to the highest level in more than five years in October, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Tuesday.
Building permits authorizing private residential construction jumped 6.2% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.034 million, the highest level since June 2008. Year-over-year, permits were up 13.9% in October.
Permits rose to 974,00 in September from 918,000 reported for August. Economists expected building permits for the month to come in at 930,000.The rise in permits was led by multi-family authorizations, which are typically more volatile. Multi-family authorizations jumped 17% to 387,000 in October from the previous month. Single-family authorizations in October were 620,000, up 0.8% from the September figure of 615,000.
The more critical data point, housing starts, has been delayed.
The Commerce Department said Monday it has once again postponed the release of housing starts and completion data for September and October to Dec. 18, as it could not collect data during the government shutdown.
"The lapse in federal funding affected the data collection schedule for the Survey of Construction, which is the source of data on new housing unit starts and housing unit completions. Accurate data collection for September and October could not be completed in time for the November 26 release. As a result, the December 18 release will include data on housing units started and completed in September, October and November 2013."
Housing starts activity is one of the few indicators of housing that is still less than halfway back to normal. A pickup in housing construction would not only release inventory into the market and ease home prices, but it will also, more importantly, create jobs.
-- Written by Shanthi Bharatwaj in New York. | https://www.thestreet.com/story/12126152/1/building-permits-jump-to-103-million-in-october.html |
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS
The invention relates to a cell connector for a battery module of a high-voltage battery of a motor vehicle for electrically connecting cell poles of at least two battery cells which are stacked in a stacking direction to form a cell block. The invention also relates to a battery module, to a motor vehicle and to a method for producing a battery module.
At present, interest is directed at high-voltage batteries or high-voltage energy stores for electrically driveable motor vehicles, for example electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles. Motor vehicles of this kind usually have, in the drive train, an electrical machine or an electric motor for driving the motor vehicle and the high-voltage battery which provides electrical energy for the electrical machine. High-voltage batteries usually comprise a large number of battery modules, wherein each battery module has a cell block comprising a large number of battery cells, which are stacked one behind the other for example. In this case, the battery cells are interconnected in series and/or in parallel with one another within a cell block by way of the corresponding cell poles of adjacent battery cells being electrically connected by means of cell connectors. During operation of the battery, the volumes of these battery cells can change, for example depending on their respective state of charge, and therefore the relative position of the cell poles of two adjacent battery cells changes.
In order to nevertheless provide reliable and long-term contact-connection of the cell poles, the prior art, for example DE 10 2006 015 566 A1, discloses designing the cell connector such that the length is variable. To this end, the cell connector can be of arcuate design and be arranged on the top sides, which comprise the cell poles, of the battery cells. However, an arcuate cell connector of this kind has a negative effect on a z-dimension of the high-voltage battery. That is to say a height of the battery module and therefore a height of the high-voltage battery are increased by the cell connectors, and therefore the high-voltage battery has a high space requirement in the motor vehicle. EP 2 819 217 A1 discloses a battery system comprising a cell connector which is arranged to the sides of the battery system at least in regions. The cell connector is produced by way of a first section composed of aluminum and a second section composed of copper being joined to one another by an electromagnetic powder welding process in a cell connector joining area. A cell connector of this kind is complicated to manufacture and is highly susceptible to corrosion, in particular at the joining area.
The object of the present invention is to provide a cell connector, which is particularly simple to manufacture and has a long service life, for a battery module of a high-voltage battery of a motor vehicle.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a cell connector, a battery module, a motor vehicle and a method having the features according to the respective independent patent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent patent claims, the description and the figures.
A cell connector according to the invention for a battery module of a high-voltage battery of a motor vehicle serves for electrically connecting cell poles of at least two battery cells which are stacked in a stacking direction to form a cell block. The cell connector is designed as a one-part, L-profile-shaped angled strip which is slotted perpendicular to the stacking direction in regions, which angled strip can be arranged on an edge which extends in the stacking direction and is formed between a top side, which comprises the cell poles, and a side region of the cell block. The cell connector has a first angled region, which is oriented parallel to a first plane which corresponds to the top side, and a second angled region, which is oriented parallel to a second plane which corresponds to the side region. The first angled region has at least two strip-like contact elements, which are separated by a slot, for contact-connecting the cell poles of the battery cells. The second angled region has a strip-like connecting element for electrically and mechanically connecting the strip-like contact elements.
The cell connector is provided, in particular, for a high-voltage battery which can comprise a plurality of battery modules. This high-voltage battery can be, for example, a traction battery which provides electrical energy for a drive of a motor vehicle which is designed as an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle. The battery modules of the high-voltage battery can be arranged in a battery housing and can be interconnected to one another there. In this case, the battery modules each have a cell block with a predetermined number of battery cells. In this case, the battery cells are, in particular, prismatic battery cells which are each in the form of a flat cuboid. The battery cells each have a bottom side and a top side which is situated opposite the bottom side in a vertical direction. The cell poles or cell terminals of the battery cell, a negative pole and a positive pole, are arranged on the top side of the battery cell. In addition, the battery cells each have a front side and a rear side and two opposite side regions. In this case, the battery cells are stacked in the stacking direction by way of the front side of one battery cell being arranged in a manner adjoining the rear side of a battery cell which precedes it in the cell block. Therefore, the stacking direction corresponds to a depth direction of the battery cells. In this case, the stacked battery cells can be arranged in a frame for compressing the battery cells.
The cell block is formed in a cuboidal manner by the stacked, prismatic battery cells. In this case, the top side of the cell block is formed by the top sides of the battery cells. A bottom side of the cell block is formed by the bottom sides of the battery cells. The side regions of the cell block are formed by the side regions of the battery cells. A front side of the cell block is formed by the front side of the battery cell of the cell block that is first in the stacking direction and the rear side of the cell block is formed by the rear side of the battery cell of the cell block that is last in the stacking direction. In this case, the cell poles of the battery cells extend on the top side of the cell block in the stacking direction parallel to the two opposite edges which are formed between the two opposite side regions and the top side of the cell block.
The slotted angled strip is used for electrically connecting the cell poles of at least two adjacent battery cells. The slotted angled strip is preferably, in particular completely, formed from aluminum. The angled strip is of one-part or one-piece design. This means that the angled strip does not have any joints, but rather is formed from one piece. The angled strip has the first, planar angled region for arrangement parallel to the top side of the cell block and the second, planar angled region for arrangement parallel to one of the side regions of the cell block. In this case, the first plane of the first angled region is formed, in particular, perpendicularly to the second plane of the second angled region. The two angled regions therefore form an angled strip with an L-shaped profile.
In this case, the first angled region is provided with at least one slot which extends perpendicularly to the stacking direction and parallel to that of the top side of the cell block in the state in which the cell connector is arranged on the cell block. The slot separates two sections of the first angled region from one another, so that the two strip-like, flat contact elements are produced. In this case, a length and a width of the contact elements are considerably larger than a thickness of the contact elements. The contact elements have, in particular, the same dimensions. In this case, these strip-like contact elements are connected on one side to the likewise flat, strip-like connecting element which is located in the second angled region. The first, slotted angled region and the second angled region therefore form an angled comb structure. Owing to the at least one slot between the contact elements, the angled strip is designed to be flexible or movable in the stacking direction. When the cell poles move, the contact elements can be moved with them without being destroyed.
In order to electrically connect the battery cells, the angled strip can be arranged on the respective edge of the cell block in such a way that the respective contact element of the first angled region rests on the associated cell pole on the top side of the cell block. The strip-like contact element therefore extends, starting from the edge, in a width direction, which is oriented perpendicularly to the stacking direction, of the battery cell over the top side of the battery cell and in so doing covers the respective cell pole, in particular completely. The second angled region bears against the side region of the cell block or against the frame which surrounds the cell block, wherein the connecting element extends in a strip-like manner along the stacking direction. In order to fasten the angled strip to the cell block, the contact elements can be welded to the respective cell pole.
A cell connector in the form of the slotted angled strip is particularly simple and cost-effective to produce. To this end, for example, a flat, rectangular metal plate, for example an aluminum plate, can be bent, so that an L-profile-shaped angled strip is initially produced. This angled strip can then be provided with the number of slots required for the number of contact elements at least in the first angled region. Since the cell connector is of one-piece design, there are no joints which are susceptible to corrosion. A battery module comprising a cell connector of this kind therefore has a small z-dimension, wherein the cell connector contact-connects the battery cells in a reliable manner with a long service life at the same time.
Provision can be made for the first angled region to have at least three strip-like contact elements, which are separated by a respective slot, for contact-connecting the cell poles of at least three battery cells. For example, it may be the case that at least three battery cells which are stacked one behind the other are to be connected in parallel. In this case, the battery cells are arranged in the cell block in such a way that identical cell poles are arranged one behind the other in the stacking direction. In this case, a cell connector, which has at least a number of contact elements which corresponds to the number of battery cells to be connected in parallel, is arranged on each edge. In the event that all battery cells are intended to be connected in parallel in one cell block, the angled strip extends over an entire depth of the cell block. In the event that battery cells or parallel circuits of battery cells are intended to be connected in series, two adjacent battery cells are arranged in such a way that cell poles of different kinds are arranged one behind the other in the stacking direction and are electrically connected to one another by means of the contact areas of a cell connector.
It has proven advantageous when a width of the slot that extends in the stacking direction is less than a width of a strip-like contact element, in particular in that the width of the slot corresponds at most to 30% of the width of a strip-like contact element. The contact elements therefore have an area which is larger than an area of the slot, so that stable contact elements which provide reliable contact-connection of the cell poles are provided.
In a development of the invention, a slot, which is arranged between two contact elements, is designed to extend into the second angled region in regions. The comb structure is therefore angled away in the region of the comb tines which form the contact elements. The at least one slot therefore extends over an edge of the angled strip into the second angled region as far as the strip-like connecting element. Provision is made, in particular, for a width of the connecting element perpendicular to the stacking direction to be greater than a length of the portion of the slot that protrudes into the second angled region. The angled strip is therefore of particularly stable design on the one hand, but on the other hand allows movement of the cell poles along the stacking direction without loss of contact.
The angled strip particularly preferably has a third angled region which is oriented parallel to a third plane, which corresponds to a front side or rear side of the cell block, and which is designed as a strip-like module connection element, for example for electrically connecting at least two battery modules. The first plane, the second plane and the third plane of the angled strip are oriented, in particular, perpendicularly to one another. In the state in which the angled strip is arranged on the respective edge of the cell block, the third angled region is arranged parallel to the front side of the cell block or parallel to the rear side of the cell block. For example, the third angled region can be arranged directly on the front side or rear side of the cell block or on the frame which covers the front side or rear side of the cell block. The third angled region forms a module connection or current tap of the battery module. The battery modules can be interconnected to one another by means of the respective third angled regions of two battery modules. Since the third angled region is arranged on the front side or rear side, a z-dimension of the battery module is not negatively influenced by the module connection either. A high-voltage battery, the battery modules of which are electrically connected by means of cell connectors of this kind, therefore requires a comparatively small installation space.
The strip-like module connection element is preferably designed as an angled-away end section of the strip-like connecting element of the second angled region. The end section of the connecting element is therefore angled away in the region of a corner edge which is formed between the front side or rear side and a side region of the cell block. The connecting element in the second angled region therefore extends, starting from the corner edge, along the stacking direction, while the strip-like module connection element extends, starting from this corner edge, in the width direction of the cell block. A cell connector comprising a module connection of this kind can likewise be manufactured in a particularly simple manner.
The invention also relates to a battery module for a high-voltage battery of a motor vehicle comprising at least two battery cells which are stacked in a stacking direction to form a cell block, which cell block has two opposite edges which extend in the stacking direction, wherein at least one cell connector is arranged on a respective edge. Depending on the interconnection of the battery cells within the battery module, a plurality of DC-isolated cell connectors, which can also differ in terms of the number of contact elements, can also be arranged one behind the other in the stacking direction on each edge of the cell block. In this case, a respective cell connector comprising a module connection can also be arranged on each edge.
Therefore, in order to produce a battery module of this kind, an interconnection of the battery cells within the battery module is prespecified, a number of cell connectors, which corresponds to the prespecified interconnection, and a number of contact elements, which corresponds to the interconnection, of the respective cell connector are determined and a mounting device is fitted with the cell connectors. The mounting device is arranged on the cell block in such a way that the cell connectors are arranged on the edges. The contact elements are then welded to the cell poles and the mounting device is removed. The mounting device can be, for example, a plastic frame which is filled with the corresponding cell connectors. This frame can then be arranged on the cell block, and therefore the contact elements of the cell connectors are positioned on the associated cell poles. The cell poles and the contact elements can then be welded in a simple manner there. The battery module can therefore be produced in a small number of production steps.
A motor vehicle according to the invention comprises a high-voltage battery comprising at least one battery module according to the invention. The motor vehicle is, in particular, a passenger car in the form of an electric or hybrid vehicle.
The embodiments presented with reference to the cell connector according to the invention and the advantages of the embodiments correspondingly apply to the battery module according to the invention, the motor vehicle according to the invention and the method according to the invention.
Further features of the invention can be gathered from the claims, the figures and the description of the figures. The features and combinations of features mentioned above in the description and the features and combinations of features mentioned below in the description of the figures and/or shown in the figures alone can be used not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in other combinations or on their own.
The invention will now be explained in more detail using a preferred exemplary embodiment and with reference to the drawings.
Identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference signs in the figures.
FIG. 1
FIG. 2
FIG. 3
FIG. 4
FIG. 4
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, , and show different views of a battery module for a high-voltage battery (not shown). The high-voltage battery can be a traction battery of a motor vehicle (not shown), and provide electrical drive energy for an electrical drive machine of the motor vehicle. The battery module has a cell block which here has twelve battery cells which are stacked one behind the other in a stacking direction x. The battery cells are designed as prismatic battery cells and are in the form of a flat cuboid. Each of the battery cells has a top side , a bottom side (see ), a front side , a rear side and side regions ,
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A top side of the cell block is formed by the top sides of the stacked battery cells and a bottom side of the cell block is formed by the bottom sides of the battery cells . Side regions , of the cell block which are situated opposite one another are formed by the side regions , of the battery cells , which side regions are situated opposite one another. A front side of the cell block is formed by the front side of a battery cell which is arranged first in the stacking direction x and a rear side of the cell block is formed by the rear side of a battery cell which is arranged last in the stacking direction x. The cell block is therefore of cuboidal design. Here, the cell block is arranged in a frame which has a pressure plate which is arranged on the front side of the cell block and a pressure plate which is arranged on the rear side of the cell block . Tie rods of the frame , which tie rods press the pressure plates and therefore the battery cells together, extend along both side regions , of the cell block .
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On their top side , the respective battery cells have cell poles , or cell terminals. The cell poles are, for example, positive poles of the battery cells and the cell poles are, for example, negative poles of the battery cells . The battery module has a plurality of cell connectors for electrically connecting the cell poles , of adjacent battery cells . The cell connectors are designed as one-part, L-profile-shaped angled strips , , , , which are slotted in regions. The slotted angled strips , , , , consist, for example, of aluminum. In this case, the angled strips , , , , are arranged on a respective edge , , which edge extends in the stacking direction x, of the cell block . In this case, a first edge of the cell block is formed between the top side of the cell block and a first side region of the cell block and a second edge of the cell block is formed between the top side of the cell block and a second side region of the cell block . In this case, the angled strips , , are arranged on the first edge and the angled strips , are arranged on the second edge
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Each of the angled strips , , , , has a first angled region , which extends parallel to the top side of the cell block , and a second angled region , which extends parallel to the respective side region , . In this case, the first angled region is placed on the top side , which comprises the cell poles , , of the cell block . Here, the second angled region is arranged so as to bear against the respective tie rod which covers the side regions , of the cell block . The first angled region is slotted perpendicular to the stacking direction x in a width direction y. The first angled region therefore has at least one slot which here extends into the second angled region in regions. Here, each angled region has at least two slots which are spaced apart from one another in the stacking direction x.
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The first angled region is subdivided into strip-like contact elements , which can be welded to the respective cell poles , , by the slots . The strip-like contact elements have, in particular, the same dimensions. The strip-like contact elements extend over the respective edge , along the width direction y and are electrically and mechanically connected to one another by means of a strip-like connecting element in the second angled region . The strip-like connecting element extends in the stacking direction x. Owing to the slots between the contact elements , the angled strip , , , , is of flexible design along the stacking direction x. As a result, the contact elements can also move when the volumes of the battery cells are changed during operation of the high-voltage battery and therefore cause movement of the cell poles , . Owing to the configuration of the cell connectors as one-part angled strips , , , , , the electrical contact-connection of the battery cells takes place by means of the side regions , of the cell block in regions. As a result, the battery module has particularly small dimensions in the vertical direction z.
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In the present case, in each case three battery cells are connected in parallel within the battery module , wherein the resulting four parallel circuits are interconnected to one another in series. The three front battery cells are connected in parallel by means of the angled strips , (first parallel circuit), the three following battery cells are connected in parallel by means of the angled strips , (second parallel circuit), the three further battery cells are connected in parallel by means of the angled strips , (third parallel circuit) and the three rear battery cells are connected in parallel by means of the angled strips , (fourth parallel circuit). The first and the second parallel circuit are interconnected to one another in series by means of the angled strip , the second and the third parallel circuit are interconnected to one another in series by means of the angled strip , and the third and the fourth parallel circuit are interconnected to one another in series by means of the angled strip
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In addition, the angled strips and each have a third angled region , which forms module connections , of the battery module , here. A plurality of battery modules can be interconnected to one another by means of the module connections , . The strip-like module connection is oriented parallel to the front side of the cell block and here bears against the pressure plate which is arranged on the front side. Here, the module connection forms a positive current tap (HV+) of the battery module . The strip-like module connection is formed parallel to the rear side of the cell block and here bears against the pressure plate which is arranged on the rear side. Here, the module connection forms a negative current tap (HV−) of the battery module . The strip-like module connections , are designed, in particular, as angled-away end sections of the strip-like connecting element of the second angled region .
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Any desired interconnection of the battery cells within the battery module can be realized in this case. The corresponding angled strips to can then be selected depending on the interconnection and can be arranged in a mounting device, for example a plastic frame. This mounting device can then be positioned on the cell block in such a way that the angled strips to are arranged on the corresponding edges , . The contact elements which are arranged on the associated cell poles , can then be welded to the cell poles , and the mounting device can be removed.
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x, y, z Directions
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a battery module according to the invention.
FIG. 2
is a plan view of the battery module.
FIG. 3
is a side view of the battery module.
FIG. 4
is a front view of the battery module. | |
Happy Columbus Day, everyone!
I wanted to take a moment to defend one of the most maligned holidays (and individuals) in American history. The movement to villianize Columbus the man, and denigrate his achievement has been picking up steam in recent years, and needs to be addressed. Typically, the objections to Columbus fall under one of two categories, both of which are rooted in the worship of indigenous cultures as superior to European culture:
1) Columbus didn’t discover America, there were already people living there!
2) Columbus isn’t a hero because he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples.
Number one is a semantic argument that is very easy to address. The obvious response is that it depends on how you define the word “discover.” Whether or not Columbus arriving in the Western Hemisphere represents a true “discovery” is not really relevant. He certainly discovered it from the perspective of Europe, which is where our western civilization descends from. In any case, his achievement was remarkable. He was the first European to sail from Europe to America. This achievement directly led to the founding of the United States of America. Whether he was looking for Asia or not is not relevant. Whether he thought he was in Asia or not is not relevant. Whether Leif Ericsson founded a quickly-abandoned colony in Newfoundland centuries earlier is irrelevant. Leif Ericsson’s colony did not lead to rampant exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere. Columbus did. His achievement was remarkable, regardless of whether indigenous peoples already occupied the land he “discovered” or whether Leif Ericsson technically “got there first.”
Number two is a tad more complicated. There is no doubt that the arrival of Columbus set in motion a chain of events that would change the world forever, and would affect virtually everyone on Earth. Some were affected positively, some negatively. It led to some things we look back on with pride (the founding of the United States) and some things we look back on with shame (the African slave trade). To address this claim, we must ask some hypothetical questions. The first of which is, would humanity as a whole be better, or worse off, if Columbus never made the trip at all? I would certainly say worse off. America is by no means perfect, but I believe its existence has been a net positive for humanity. This is obviously a matter of opinion. Some leftists out there are adamant that the opposite is true, that the loss of native culture, customs, and traditions, is not worth any price. That “colonialism” is the greatest evil perpetuated on Earth. Personally, I think the European colonization of the Western Hemisphere led directly to countless breakthroughs, inventions, and philosophical shifts that would ultimately increase the freedom of quality of life for all of humanity.
Columbus was an amazing man whose achievement is one of the most significant in human history. Negative opinions of some of his personal behavior, and a dispute over the meaning of the word “discover” are not valid reasons to denigrate his accomplishment. It is an accomplishment well worth honoring, celebrating, and remembering. | https://dudewheresmyfreedom.com/2011/10/10/happy-columbus-day/ |
Downhill running can be very taxing on the body due to the increased impact, but a few key strategies will reduce the impact forces on your knees and the rest of your body, and also help you to lose less energy whilst increasing your overall speed and efficiency. Leg and core strength is important for all running, but particularly before embarking on a training period which emphasises downhill running. The quadriceps muscles, or quads, the muscles at the front of your thigh, can take quite a hammering running downhill. You need to work on them, as well as the tendons and ligaments in ankles, knees, hips and lower back.
Prepare your body for downhill running.
As with any new exercise regime, start out slowly, with one set of 12-15 repetitions per exercise, and progress over to 2-3 sets of 12-15 repetitions over a few weeks.
Lunges. Strengthen quads, hamstrings and hips. Stationary lunges are safer for your knees, especially if you are just starting out. As you get stronger, hold hand weights whilst you are doing them, or progress to alternating legs or walking lunges. If you already have knee or balance issues, you might be better to give the walking lunges a miss.
Start with feet hips’ width apart. Take a step forward with one leg. This is your stating position. Bend the front knee to 90 degrees, or until your knee just taps the floor. You need to keep your knee in good alignment, making sure the knee is over the ankle, not beyond the toes. Aim to keep your knee in line with your second toe, not your big toe. If you are too unstable to begin with, place a chair beside you to use for balance. Try not to lean on the chair though. Its best to perform this one in front of a mirror so you can check your knee out. Pause at the bottom, and push through your front heel to return to starting position.
Planks
Great for strengthening core. Start by doing 3 times sets to exhaustion, and increase the length of time you hold the plank as you get stronger.
Lie face down with your forearms on the floor. Push up so your elbows are under your shoulders and arms bent at 90 degrees. Be sure your elbows are under your shoulders, or even slightly under your body, to prevent shoulder injury. Hold your body in a straight line from your head to your feet.
An easier version of the plank is to perform it on your knees. Just bend your knees and rest on them for support rather than your toes. Your body is then held in a straight line from your head to your knees. It’s called a plank, because your body should be like plank of wood, not rubbery through the middle.
Keep your head in line with your body. Focus on squeezing your buttocks, draw in your navel to your spine, push up through your shoulders and breathe.
Step ups
These can be done on stairs or benches. Great for strengthening your quads, and also for activating your buttock muscles.
Stand facing the bench, feet hips’ width apart. Step up on the bench with your left foot, and push off with your right foot. Squeeze the bum muscles in your left side as you do so. While standing on the bench on your left foot, raise the right knee up to the height of your waist and pause. Keeping your posture tall, step down with the right foot. Perform the entire set on one leg and repeat on the other.
To make it more challenging, keep your right foot off the floor. Lower it close to the level of the floor and raise back up. Even harder, add a hop at the top of the bench (definitely not for beginners)
Keep your torso tall and avoid leaning to one side. Perform without weights to start off with, and on a low bench. If you find you are bending over rather than standing tall, or are pushing off with your hands on your thighs to help you up, drop down to a lower bench height. As with any exercise performed on one leg, these are great for developing balance and strengthening muscles in your lower leg and foot.
When your legs are strong enough you can includes some hopping and bounding drills so your muscles get used to the eccentric contractions which occur when running down hill. You’ll need a good couple of months of consistent leg strength training before any kind of plyometric work. When you do start plyometrics you MUST be very sure to ease into it gently, otherwise you’ll find yourself very sore and stiff, and possibly injured. | https://hookedonrunning.com.au/running-downhill-prepare-yourself/ |
Mounting Horizons, Inc. (MHI) is a 501(c) 3 community based organization that was established in 2003. Our mission is to provide services for people in need promoting independence, self sufficiency, and advocating for the full inclusion in society. We provide services to individuals with disabilities and seniors in Harris, Galveston and surrounding counties to fulfill our mission. We have offices in Houston, Galveston and in League City in the northern part of Galveston County.
Our five core programs are advocacy, peer mentoring, independent living skills, youth transition services, and information and referrals. MHI’s goal is empowering individuals to exercise choices to maintain or increase their independence and self-reliance. Our services include independent living skills training, employment assistance, youth transition classes, health and wellness training, travel training, peer mentoring, vocational training and self-advocacy. We assist individuals with purchasing items and services, such as ramps, home modifications, hearing aids, diabetes management to increase their independence.
MHI provides transportation using our ADA accessible vehicles to medical appointments, jobs, store, community events, etc. in Galveston County. We offer mobility management and travel training to connect individuals to the transportation resources in the area, this includes teaching individuals how to access current transportation routes, mapping out rides to and from destinations, assisting with applications, and finding the most economical trips to their destinations.
Our motto is “The Sky is the Limit!” because we understand that there are no goals that are unattainable. | https://mountinghorizons.org/about-us/ |
leads two bands,the Owl Ensemble and Unfurl.
After giving her first performance at the age of four, she spent her childhood and teen years mastering classical music before going on to explore the art of improvisation. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 1999; B.Mus (Hons) in Academic Studies (2.1). However, at 21, inspired by a jazz summer school at the Guildhall School of music, she discovered the art of improvisation. This propelled her into a postgraduate diploma at Leeds College of Music (Distinction in 2002). At Leeds, her curiosity drew her to many different styles of music. After graduation she spent two years performing with the Indian fusion band Savateen, playing their own original works. Highlights were the Brno Street festival in the Czech Republic and at the Millennium Park and Birla Temple, in Calcutta. In 2005, she decided to follow her dream by going to India to study with violin maestro Kala Ramnath, which became the first of many visits to the country. In her most recent visit she learnt how to perform a classical Indian recital of forty five minutes which includes Rag Bihag and Rag Manj Khamaj.
Projects - Olivia has played twice at Glastonbury festival with flamenco guitarist Nick Wilkinson as well as collaborating with Graham Clark, Seaming To, Kirsty Almeida, OdBod Collective. The Owl Ensemble, comprising a string quartet and a jazz trio has been described as inventive, subverting classical traditions. They premiered at Manchester Jazz Festival in 2008 and are excited to be performing at Contact Theatre 20th July this year. They have most recently recorded an album, Owl, bringing their amazing fusion of the classical string quartet with the jazz trio. The result is an original collection of rhythmic and melodic tunes, integrating east and west. Take a taste here! Her second band, Unfurl is an innovative quintet who collaborate, drawing from their diverse influences of Jazz, Indian and Arabic rhythms. They have appeared at Manchester, Marsden, Marlborough and Brecon Jazz Festivals. Unfurl’s compositions are inspired by nature and Buddhist ideals. Olivia is also currently working with Glenn Sharp’s Jadid Ensemble. Awards - In January 2007, Olivia was awarded a research and development grant from The Arts Council England for a collaboration between her band Unfurl and a video artist. In 2009 she was commissioned by Manchester Jazz Festival and produced ‘Mask’, a collaboration between Unfurl and video artist Mark Cameron Minard. In 2009 Olivia was one of eight musicians in the country to be selected to be a participant of the Serious Take Five artist development scheme.
Classical Indian Music - She has performed internationally with tabla players Mukesh Jadhav from Pune, Kousic Sen from UK and has given solo recitals in the UK. From 2005–2009 she played with Tarang, the National South Asian Music Ensemble in venues such as The Bridgewater Hall and The Purcell Room. She has recently collaborated with bansuri player Lisa Mallett and sitarist Jonathan Meyer at the Shambala Festival in 2010. She also plays concerts with Razwan Sarwar and Mohinder Singh.
Musical Performances by: Sara Minelli
Sara is an Italian flautist based in London. At a very young age she appeared at the
Cantiere Internazionale d'arte, of Montepulciano, Siena, with the composer W. G. Henze
as Artistic Director. She is interested in electronic, experimental, live art performance and
sound art workshops
Sara graduated in flute and in music education at Conservatoire F. Morlacchi, Perugia. More recently she has been fortunate enough to work with the most well known and respected Italian flautists M. Marasco, D. Formisano, R. Fabbriciani, M. Caroli. She obtained a diploma of specialization in flute at the Academy of Music in Florence, and attended a course in chamber music at the International Academy of Imola.
Sara received recognitions and awards as soloist performer in competitions in Italy such as Premio A. Gori, International Prize V. Bucchi in Rome, Five days for The New Music held in Milan.She gained further qualifications in orchestral auditions at Orquestra do Norte - Portugal, State University of Milan Orchestra, Spoleto Opera House.
Sara has a wide musical repertoire: classical, folk and contemporary, with a special interest in contemporary classical music.
At present she is working on performing a new repertoire for a solo flute with extended techniques, after working with and being inspired by the Italian composer A. Solbiati. She played in solo flute recitals for Gamo, The Association for New Music in Florence, the Music Library O. Trotta in Perugia, Tema Academy for the New Music in Milan.
As an orchestral player she has worked with the Milan Symphony Orchestra G. Verdi, London Arte Chamber Orchestra, Civica Orchestra di fiati of Milan, Orchestra Giovanile Umbra, Nuova Sinfonica Italiana, Solisti Lombardi Chamber orchestra and in the flute orchestra of a S. Sciarrino's première at Festival delle Nazioni - Città di Castello.
The Natural Order of Things
Animation UK 5 min 49 sec
Sarah Beeby, Director / Producer / Writer
Anna Elizabeth Eijsbouts, Animator
The Natural Order of Things Hiding in this desert there are strange and dangerous animals. Philip must take the opportunity when it comes. An extra-terrestial encounter.
The San Francisco Independant Film Festival 2012, London Short Film Festival 2012 , Short and Sweet Film Festival 2011 (Toronto, Canada), WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best International Animation.
Bawra Mann: The Heart Needs No Reason
Drama India 23 min 52 sec
Mitu Kumar Director / Producer / Writer
Meghna Ashchitr, Editor
Bawra Mann: The Heart Needs No Reason Struggling intellectual writer, Rohit, living in a cramped flat in a middle class part of Mumbai is thrust with the task of writing a pulp fiction erotic novel. The world of his characters opens up in front of him… leading to unexpected twists. Stars Sakshi Tanwar (Indian television & Bollywood actress)
WOW Film Festival 2012 – Highly Commended Best International Fiction.
Snygga Brost: Cupcakes
Drama Sweden 13 min 10 sec
Elinor Isenberg, Director / Producer / Writer
Margareta Lagerqvist, Editor
Rebecca Moen, Production Designer
Snygga Brost: Cupcakes A new girl Anna begins work in a popular café. She challenges the tough leader Isabella. How does she dare? One of the girls has a big secret, but is she the only one? A poignant conclusion. Stars Alice Stenstrom, Julia Kvarnberg.
WOW Film Festival 2012
Sunny Boy
Drama UK 11 min 14 sec
Emma Curtis, Producer
Jane Gull, Director / Writer
Sunny Boy Danny and his overprotective father live in a world of darkness due to his rare skin condition. When Danny receives news about his medical condition he decides to take control of his own life. Stars Jo Wickham (Hitler and Henry VIII, Tearaway)
Super Shorts International Film Festival 2011 (London) Best Script, Cambridge Film Festival 2011 (UK), Woodstock Film Festival 2011 (New York, USA), Magma Film Festival 2011 (Italy) & others, WOW Film Festival 2012 – Highly Commended Best International Fiction
The Maiden & the Princess
Comedy USA 18 min 7 sec
Becca Louisell, Producer
Ali Scher, Director / Co-writer
Tricia Roberts, Vanessa Leon, Production Designer
The Maiden & the Princess Little Emmy kisses a girl at the playground. She’s sent a hetero-normative fairytale to set her down the “right” path in life. With the help of her fairy godmother and her rogue fairytale narrator will Emmy be able to find her true self? Stars Tallulah Wayman-Harris.
Palm Springs International Short Fest 2011 (USA), Flicker: Rhode Island International Film Festival 2011 (USA), Outfest Film Festival 2011 (Los Angeles, USA), Hollyshorts 2011 (Los Angeles, USA), WOW Film Festival 2012 – Winner Best International Fiction
An American Swan in Paris
Documentary USA 32 min 46 sec
Arantxa Aguierre, Director / Producer / Writer
Valeria Gentile, Editor
An American Swan in Paris American dancer has the chance to dance at the Paris Opera House. But first she must overcome the unexpected to gain everyone’s respect. Two dance couples perform alternate evenings to Webern’s Opus V. Starring American, Kathleen Thielhelm and Australian, Paul Knobloch. | http://wow-womenoftheworld.com/programme-3.php |
Janelle Monae stepped out in a black tulle sleeveless gown with bird brooches at the 2017 Oscars on Sunday.
Styled by Maeve Reilly, the singer and actress wore an Elie Saab Haute Couture gown, covered in lines of lace set with feathers, sequins, beads and crystal stones, and a jeweled Jennifer Behr crown.
The Moonlight and Hidden Figures star has said her black-and-white palette is a way to “pay homage to my working-class roots.” (Her mom was a janitor, her father a trash man and her stepfather a postal worker.)
Monae, who starred in Moonlight and Hidden Figures (both nominated for best picture), is among this evening’s presenters, along with Matt Damon, Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, Octavia Spencer, Ryan Gosling, Salma Hayek, Dev Patel, Taraji P. Henson and more.
The 89th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, airs live on ABC at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET. | https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/janelle-monaes-2017-oscars-dress-979200/ |
Obtaining fluid samples is relatively simple, regardless of the application. Sampling methods may vary according to the type of equipment from which the sample is taken. Mobile vehicles typically require a vacuum pump while common industrial applications may give direct access through a sample valve or system reservoir. Some industrial equipment may require a vacuum pump.
To ensure accurate fluid analysis and reporting, appropriate procedures must be observed. All kits and materials necessary for obtaining an oil sample are outlined on pages 14 and 15 of the Oil Analyzers User Guide.
A vacuum pump is used to take samples from a dip stick or non-pressurized system.
To use a vacuum pump, securely attach a sample bottle to the pump. Attach a clean tube to the top of the pump and tighten the lock ring. Place the free end of the tube into the dipstick retaining tube or oil fill port, making sure not to allow contact between tubing and bottom of reservoir. Pump the plunger until oil flow is consistent and then pump only as needed to maintain consistent flow. The sample bottle should be filled about ¾ full or to its shoulder. Remove the sample bottle from the vacuum pump and tighten the lid securely.
Some industrial applications have a sampling port through which a sample can be obtained. This sampling method requires the equipment be in operation. Open the sampling valve and allow a small amount of oil to flush contaminants from the valve. Place the sampling bottle under the valve and obtain the sample. The sample bottle should be filled about ¾ full or to its shoulder. Ensure the sample valve is securely closed once the sampling process is complete.
If collecting a sample through a sample valve is not possible, the equipment's system reservoir can be used. The oil must be drained from the plug for a few moments before the sample is taken so contaminants that have settled around the drain are flushed out. Once the drain has been flushed, place the sample bottle in the oil stream and collect the sample. Using the reservoir drain plug is the least desirable method for obtaining an oil sample because the bottom of the reservoir contains elevated amounts of contaminants. It should be used only when the other options are unavailable.
Appropriate sampling locations for automobiles, light, heavy-duty and over-the-road trucks include the oil dipstick tube, the reservoir drain plug or petcock valve if one has been installed.
Common sampling locations include the oil reservoir, oil filter, sampling port and filtration mount. If excess wear is detected in industrial applications, samples can be taken immediately before or after particular components, such as pumps or valves, to help isolate which component is producing excess wear elements.
Oil Analyzers INC. is a fully equipped oil analysis laboratory staffed by highly trained analysts. Oil Analyzers INC. offers a complete line of oil analysis services, including engine oil analysis, drivetrain oil analysis and industrial lubricant analysis. | https://www.oaitesting.com/obtaining-sample.aspx |
Temporal relationship between change in cognition and change in functioning in schizophrenia.
Most research establishing the relationship between cognition and functioning in schizophrenia has been conducted cross-sectionally, leaving unanswered the question of whether there is a predictive relationship between temporal change in cognition and temporal change in functioning. In the present study, we used longitudinal mixed models to examine the relationship between change in cognition and change in Quality of Life (QLS), as measured over three time-points spanning a 12-month period, for 151 schizophrenia outpatients participating in work therapy with or without cognitive remediation. Memory and executive function changes were significant predictors of improved QLS total. Whereas the relationship between memory and QLS total was in the expected direction, with improvements in memory associated with improvements in QLS, the relationship between executive function and QLS was negative, with QLS improvements associated with declines in executive function. Similar patterns were found for individual QLS domains. Finally, there were positive cross-sectional relationships between QLS and hours worked as well as gender (female gender associated with better QLS). Lag models supported these results. Differences between these findings and previous studies are discussed along with functional assessment issues and the potential moderators of the relationship between cognitive change and functioning.
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Child abuse and neglect are among adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that are commonly included in ACEs research. Also, included in the ACEs research are other types of household dysfunction or challenges such as parental divorce or substance use. A large ACEs literature exists that shows that ACEs are related to an increased likelihood of many poor health and social outcomes. Although these studies have included physical abuse defined as pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, and hitting so hard to leave marks or cause injury, to date, spanking has not been included as an ACE. This is important since spanking is a common form of discipline and can be a stressful childhood event. As well, spanking is known to be related to poor health, social, behavioural, and development outcomes.
We conducted our study because was we wanted to know if spanking should be considered an ACE. To do this we tested if spanking was statistically similar to physical and emotional abuse (i.e., empirically measuring a similar construct). We then wanted to know if spanking had similar relationships as physical and emotional abuse with poor adult mental health. Finally, we wanted to know if including spanking added to our understanding of poor adult mental health outcome over and above what we would know from only examining physical and emotional abuse.
What we found using the same original data as the landmark Felitti et al. 1998 study was that spanking was statistically similar to physical and emotional abuse. We also found that spanking was associated with an increased likelihood of suicide attempts, moderate to heavy drinking, and use of street drugs in adulthood. Finally, these relationships remained significant after adjusting for the experiences of physical and emotional abuse, meaning including spanking while adjusting for the effects of abuse improved our understanding of ACEs.
Our study indicates that spanking is similar to other abuse ACEs and adds to our understanding of mental health problems over and above what we already know from only including abuse. Spanking is an ACE. This means that we need to include spanking in ACE research, prevention efforts, and when wanting to understand one’s own ACEs. This also highlights the importance of preventing not just child abuse and neglect, but also harsh parenting before it occurs.
For access to the complete study please use the following link. | https://www.pacesconnection.com/blog/why-spanking-is-an-ace |
- The tissues of plants and animals are made up of Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O) and about 15 mineral elements.
- The elements C, H and O along with Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Sulphur (S) make up the living matter in plants and animals, with Calcium and Phosphorus forming animal skeletal bones.
- The other elements are used in various body systems of plants and animals driven by enzymes and for nervous functions.
- An enzyme is a chemical used in a biological process but remains chemically unchanged.
Minor elements
- Boron (B)
- Iron (Fe)
- Manganese (Mg)
- Copper (Cu)
- Zinc (Zn)
- Molybdenum (Mo)
- Chlorine (Cl)
- Cobalt (Co)
- Selenium (Se)
- Iodine (I)
MAJOR elements for plants & animals
- There are at least 19 chemical elements required for plant growth.
- Each chemical element has one or more specific functions within the plant, which cannot be taken over by another.
- As the plant grows, the daily demand for nutrients increases.
- Of the major nutrients, Mg is essential for both plant and animal growth and health, and K and Na are often involved in animal health issues.
- The concentration of these elements in the soil can be increased by adding fertilisers, which then get into the plant and then the animal, if the animal eats sufficient of the pasture.
MINOR elements for plants & animals
The essential minor or trace elements are:
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For plants:
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For animals
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Boron
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Cobalt
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Copper
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Copper
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Iodine
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Iron
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Iron
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Manganese
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Manganese
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Molybdenum
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Molybdenum
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Zinc
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Zinc
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Selenium
- All the trace elements are present in the soil, but how much and which ones get into plants depends on the soil parent material (where the soil came from), the soil pH, moisture, texture and organic matter content.
- Old soils, which have been weathered and leached under high rainfall, have lower trace elements than young soils in drier areas.
- As soil pH goes up, the availability of trace elements (except Molybdenum) falls. Molybdenum is more available in acid soils.
- Soil organic matter is important in helping to bind and retain Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in the soil.
- Low moisture soils reduce the availability of Cobalt and Boron.
- Over time, trace element levels are lost from a grazing system, unless replaced in fertilisers.
- Copper is important in many aspects of animal health, and also for the nitrogen-fixing bacteria on clover roots.
- Cobalt is important as the bacteria in the rumen use it.
- Selenium deficiency is seen as the classical white muscle disease in lambs and calves.
- Iodine is associated with thyroid function in animals.
Testing for trace element deficiencies
- Laboratories can test the soil, pasture plants, and both blood and liver samples.
- There are some very clear rules on how this should be done, so check with a testing laboratory.
- The main concern is to prevent contamination of the pasture sample with soil, and from sweat from your hands.
- Taking blood samples and liver biopsies on a live animal has to be done by a veterinarian.
- Liver samples can be taken at time of slaughter, but this has to be arranged between your vet and the meat works.
- The testing organisations will provide a reference range for each element, so you can see if they are normal or not.
Other points
- You’ll see the terms ‘minerals’ and ‘trace elements’ used in relation to minor elements. Trace elements are as their name suggests – only needed in very small amounts.
- So it’s obvious that with all these different elements involved in plant and animal nutrition, any one of them or a combination of only a few can put things out of balance and affect performance.
- There’s always a great opportunity to cause panic among farmers when specialists and researchers in a particular elements report their work – giving the impression that you need to start supplementing your soil or stock with extra elements, without proper testing of soil, herbage or blood having been done.
Times to monitor trace elements
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Trace element
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Pasture
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Liver
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Cobalt/Vitamin B12
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Late spring
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Early summer
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Selenium
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Late spring
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Summer
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Copper
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Early spring
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Late autumn
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Iodine
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Early Autumn
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Molybdenum/Boron
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Summer (clover)
How much is needed to correct deficiencies?
- Seek advice from a consultant.
- See further reading - Morton, J., Grace, N.D., O’Connor, M.B. (1999). Their table (page 23) shows the rate of application, time of application and frequency. Note the very small amounts needed. | https://lifestyleblock.co.nz/lifestyle-file/running-the-farm/pasture/item/1084-%E2%80%98major%E2%80%99-and-%E2%80%98minor%E2%80%99-elements.html |
Newcastle United: Alan Shearer blasts Newcastle’s handling of Joelinton
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has suggested that the Magpies’ handling of Joelinton since his arrival at St James’ Park has not helped the forward adapt to life in the Premier League.
Joelinton arrived at St James’ Park from Hoffenheim in the summer of 2019 for a club-record £40 million, but the Brazilian struggled to get to grips with life in the Premier League during his first full campaign in English football last season.
Handing Joelinton number nine shirt a big mistake
Upon his arrival at Newcastle, Joelinton was handed the club’s iconic number nine shirt, with the Magpies hoping he could establish himself as a reliable goal scorer. However, the 24-year-old struggled to make any impact playing up front on his own last term, managing to register just two league goals and also missing eight big chances, as per Sofascore.
Steve Bruce opted to strengthen his attacking options in the summer with the £20 million arrival of Callum Wilson from Bournemouth. The 28-year-old has proven an immediate success for the Magpies registering four goals in his opening four matches.
Speaking to The Athletic, Shearer suggested that Newcastle placed unnecessary pressure on Joelinton’s shoulders by both the transfer fee they paid for him, and by giving him the number nine shirt. While he also believes Wilson’s arrival could help the Brazilian find some form in a more natural role.
He said: “I feel sorry for Joelinton, though, because he has been royally shafted. None of it is his fault. He was asked to wear the No 9 shirt, but he’s not a No 9 and he’s not a natural goal scorer which, if you wear the No 9 shirt for Newcastle, you have to be.
“And the fee for him was obviously too much. None of that is his fault. Having said that, he looked a lot better against Burnley in that role as a No 10. It was one of his best games for the club.”
Joelinton showing signs of improvement following Wilson arrival
Shearer knows all about what it takes to thrive as the Magpies’ number nine, and Wilson has already bettered the tally Joelinton reached in that position in the whole of last season. The 28-year-old has also averaged 2.3 shots per game (Sofascore), compared with the one-shot per game the Brazilian managed last term, per Sofascore.
Joelinton was used as more of a creative forward than a goal scorer at Hoffenheim, and there were signs against Burnley that he could be much more effective in a number ten role. In their win against the Clarets, he averaged an 84% passing accuracy and produced one key pass (Sofascore). That shows if used properly he could yet revive his career on Tyneside.
Geordies, can Joelinton come good for the Magpies this season? Let us know your thoughts below! | https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-united-news/newcastle-united-alan-shearer-blasts-newcastles-handling-of-joelinton/ |
It’s been a long time coming, but an art project in outside rural Capay first proposed back in 1996 is now complete.
A colorful four-panel pylon that shows the natural wonders of the Capay Valley is part of an overall upgrade of Capay Open Space Park, a 41-acre park located at 15063 County Road 85 just north of Capay off Hwy. 16.
A state grant allowed the California River Parkways Program, the Yolo Rural Conservation District and the Cache Creek Conservancy to start the project in the winter of 2017. The project was finished this past month.
In addition to the artwork, there was also restoration of Cache Creek and grassland, installation of new park signs highlighting the history and natural landscape of the area.
Restoration work included planting native grasses, flowers, trees, and shrubs in the park to make it more enjoyable for people and provide better habitat for wildlife.
The park has been open to the public for the past 10 years, but it has been little known except to residents and a few visitors due to lack of wayfinding and interpretive signage, making it primarily a large open area.
The interpretive panels and other wayfinding panels now offer guideposts for those who want to hike the area and were fabricated by Pannier, an outdoor sign company based in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.
“These interpretative signs improve communication at the park and tell the story of Cache Creek, helping visitors feel a sense of place,” stated Mikayla Peterson, outreach and watershed education specialist for the Cache Creek Conservancy through Pannier. “The trail map improves the navigation of users, the creek access sign informs visitors of appropriate creek recreation, and the kiosk panels showcase regional/geographic context, natural and human history, the role of gravel resources, and ecological function and restoration of the Cache Creek.”
The interpretive signs are a product of months of community involvement.
“A lot of great public input helped us determine how to develop these panels,” said Nancy Ullrey, executive director of the Conservancy, which held three community meetings to engage members in the process.
The hope was that park visitors and residents will feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for this momentous enhancement.
Grassland habitat enhancement includes pollinator planting on a half-acre and management techniques such as burning to promote native species, encourage nutrient cycling, and improving soil health. Yolo RCD also worked on riparian habitat restoration and enhancement of four acres of oak savanna restoration.
The general topic areas for the kiosk panels include the regional and geographic context, natural and human history, information about ecological function and restoration of the area, and the role of gravel resources.
There are plans for the Conservancy to offer some of its outdoor education programs at the park in addition to community planting days. There are also metal picnic tables, however, they are currently sealed off to protect people from spreading or contracting the coronavirus.
Capay Open Space Park first opened in 2008. It was donated to the County in 2004 by Granite Construction, which operates the nearby gravel quarry.
This site is considered the northern gateway to the proposed Cache Creek Parkway, part of the County’s Cache Creek Area Plan under the Cache Creek Resources Management Plan. These plans originally were written in 1996. | https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2020/06/05/capay-open-space-park-a-place-to-learn-about-local-culture-and-the-environment/ |
Climate Crisis: A Universal Solution of Drought Monitoring in EOfactory
Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage. Drought can have a serious impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy, and the environment. People describe it as a “creeping phenomenon” because it slowly impacts many sectors of the economy and can last from just a few weeks or months to multiple years.
Just as drought is difficult to define, it’s also difficult to monitor—particularly to mark the beginning and end of a period of drought.
The Importance of Drought Monitoring
• Drought monitoring involves measuring changes in precipitation, temperature, and surface and groundwater supplies, among other factors.
• Drought indicators for a community should be selected based on its specific drought impacts.
• A drought early warning system can initiate actions that mitigate the impacts of drought on a community.
Drought Monitoring Indicators and Indices
- Drought monitoring involves observing indicators and indices that evaluate changes in a region’s hydrological cycle.
- Drought indicators describe drought conditions and include precipitation, temperature, streamflow, ground and reservoir water levels, soil moisture, and snowpack.
- Drought indices, which include indicators, provide measurements to describe the severity, location, timing, and duration of drought and the impact of drought on a region over time.
- Indicators and indices can be used on their own, in combination, or in a large composite indicator.
Drought Monitoring Indices
• Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
• Evaporative Stress Index (ESI)
• Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
• Temperature Condition Index (TCI)
• Vegetation Condition Index (VCI)
• Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI)
• Vegetation Health Index (VHI)
• Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI and Geospatial WRSI)
• Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Land Surface Water Index (LSWI)
• Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI)
Conclusion
EOfactory offers a unique toolset for studying droughts and their impacts on ecosystems. The unprecedented scale of available global observations has shed light on the biophysics of the drought phenomenon and has led to new drought indicators for research and practical applications. | https://eofactory.ai/blog/climate-crisis-universal-solution-drought-monitoring-eofactory/ |
New method of microbial energy production discovered
May 9, 2017
Paul King, David Mulder and Cara Lubner, co-authors of the paper “Mechanistic Insights into Energy Conservation by Flavin-Based Electron Bifurcation,” stand next to a laser coupled with a spectrometer able to measure very fast processes. Credit: Dennis Schroeder, NREL.
For all living things to succeed, they must reproduce and have the energy to do so. An organism's ability to extract energy from its surroundings-and to do it better than its competitors-is a key requirement of survival. Until recently it was thought that in all of biology, from microbes to humans, there were only two methods to generate and conserve the energy required for cellular metabolism and survival.
Now researchers have discovered a third method of microbial energy production, called "flavin-based electron bifurcation" (FBEB). This newly found method is actually an ancient form of energy generation and conservation but is so different from the known processes that it represents a paradigm shift in how scientists think about the way organisms obtain energy. The mechanism of how FBEB works was unknown-that is, until a breakthrough was made by researchers from the Biological Electron Transfer and Catalysis (BETCy) Energy Frontier Research Center, whose members include Cara E. Lubner, David W. Mulder, and Paul W. King from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The team examined previously unknown features of the catalytic mechanism, gaining critical, comprehensive insights about the way in which FBEB works. One of the most important findings is how a unique flavin molecule is able to generate two levels of energy from a single precursor compound. One level is used to perform an easy chemical reaction, whereas the other much more energetic one is used to perform more difficult chemistry to form a high-energy compound. In doing so, the two reactions are coupled together so that energy that is normally wasted is conserved in the high-energy compound.
FBEB allows an organism to get more energy "bang for its buck," and the key player is the unique flavin that enables the enzyme to perform energy conserving chemistry unlike any other that has been studied. The research brings a new understanding of electron bifurcation and sets a model of the underlying mechanistic principles by which they function. "The results should enable new strategies for engineering biological systems for more efficient production of fuels and chemicals and for developing catalytic processes that optimize conversion of electrochemical reactions," said NREL researcher Cara Lubner. "Understanding the biochemistry of bifurcation will enable more informed strategies for bioengineering microbes to produce higher levels of biofuels and reduced chemicals."
Details of the study can be found in the article "Mechanistic insights into energy conservation by flavin-based electron bifurcation" in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. The article was authored by members of the BETCy, who are located at NREL, Montana State University, Arizona State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Kentucky.
"As we better understand the bifurcation method, we envision that new materials and catalysts might be designed that have the same increased efficiency at the important chemistries they perform," noted NREL scientist David Mulder. One potential result is fewer by-products from catalytic processes (by-products are usually the consequence of energy inefficient processes) and therefore savings on materials and money spent on industrial processes. It may also be possible to take advantage of these energy-efficient pathways inside living cells by engineering microbes to preferentially use them to make better products such as chemicals, fuels, or hydrogen gas.
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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Tops the Australian Charts in First Week of 2021 - Sales
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War remains in first place on the Australian charts, according to IGEA for the week ending January 10, 2021.
Grand Theft Auto V is in second, FIFA 21 is in third place, Assassin's Creed Valhalla is in fourth place, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is in fifth place.
Here are the top 10 best-selling titles in Australia for the week:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Grand Theft Auto V
FIFA 21
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Red Dead Redemption 2
NBA 2K21
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Just Dance 2021
Immortals: Fenyx Rising
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at [email protected] on Twitter @TrunksWD. | |
Stock market 15 year chart
US stocks traded higher on Wednesday, attempting to recover from a late-day Minutes1 Minute5 Minutes10 Minutes15 Minutes30 MinutesHours1 Hour4 HoursDays1 Day1 Week1 Month U.S. companies that are listed mostly on the New York Stock Exchange. US Economic Optimism Index Slumps to 3-1/2- Year Low. The charts in this series show you stock market performance compared to other The chart above looks at the 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20-year rolling index returns of return for all stock market indexes over the year was -2%. Last 5 Years: Over the 5 years ended May of 2019, the S&P 500 had a rank of 3 with a return of 45 17 Mar 2020 The chart below shows the US stock market over the past 100 years. the market delivered positive 15-year annualised returns 100% of the Index charts - ASX - Australian Securities Exchange.
Mar 15, 2019 · Ten years off the financial crisis bottom, the stock market scored one of its best decades in nearly 140 years. According to Goldman Sachs, the 10-year trailing annual return for . of 15 percent
6 Aug 2019 The 2019 chart demonstrates that despite stock market crashes, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, a succession of governments and the Global 13 Oct 2017 graphical chart of NYSE Inflation adjusted stock price. The stock market went up 5% a year and inflation went up 3%. The stock market went Which was the best investment in the past 30, 50, 80, or 100 years? This chart compares the performance of the S&P 500, the Dow Jones, Gold, and Silver. For these reasons it is more representative of the US stock market than the Dow Dow Jones - DJIA - 100 Year Historical Chart | MacroTrends 108 rows · Dow Jones - DJIA - 100 Year Historical Chart. Interactive chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stock market index for the last 100 years. Historical data is inflation-adjusted using the headline CPI and each data point …
Global Market Indices | International Markets | Markets ...
The UK FTSE 100 Stock Market Index is expected to trade at 5310.44 points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 5007.17 in 12 months time. ^DJI Interactive Stock Chart | Dow Jones Industrial ... At Yahoo Finance, you get free stock quotes, up-to-date news, portfolio management resources, international market data, social interaction and mortgage rates … Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) Charts, Data & News ... Stock chart is not supported by your current browser. Find the latest information on Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) including data, charts, related news and more from Yahoo Finance. Stock Market Quotes, Stock Charts, Market News - Barchart.com Today's stock market analysis with the latest stock quotes, stock prices, stock charts, technical analysis & market momentum. 15 20 minute delay (Cboe BZX is real-time), ET. Volume reflects consolidated markets. Weighted Alpha is a measure of how much a stock has risen or fallen over a one-year period. A stock whose price has risen over
Mar 26, 2020 · The 15 Year Mortgage Rate is the fixed interest rate that US home-buyers would pay if they were to take out a loan lasting 15 years. There are many different kinds of mortgages that homeowners can decide on which will have varying interest rates and monthly payments.
Stock Chart. Kroger Corporate Investor Relations Stock Stock Chart Annual Asset Class Returns • Novel Investor The chart below shows several issues investors struggle with all the time. It’s difficult to pick the best performing investment year after year, yet for many investors, it’s an annual event. They look for an encore, picking the best asset … 100 Year Chart: Inflation, Interest Rates, Stock Market ... 100 year chart of the stock market, interest rates, home prices, inflation, the Dollar and numerous finacial crises. Market Data - The Wall Street Journal Market Data Center on The Wall Street Journal. comprehensive quotes and volume reflect trading in all markets and are delayed at least 15 minutes. …
11 Dec 2019 It's only logical that to find the average return of the stock market, you'd calculate the average, right? Not so fast. “Long term” means at least 15+ years. And more like Scroll up to my chart of ten year time periods. In periods
Mar 15, 2020 · Find the latest stock market trends and activity today. Compare key indexes, including Nasdaq Composite, Nasdaq-100, Dow Jones Industrial & more. What Is the Average Stock Market Return? - NerdWallet Feb 28, 2018 · Over nearly the last century, the stock market’s average annual return is about 10%. But year-to-year, returns are rarely average. Here’s what new … Global Market Indices | International Markets | Markets ... * Real-time data for indices, futures, commodities or cryptocurrencies are provided by market makers, not the exchanges. Prices are indicative and may differ from the actual market price. S&P 500 Stock Market Index Historical Graph Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index - 17 Year Graph with annual returns table. Includes month, year, 5 year and 10 year historical performance ranking relative to global, foreign, U.S. Small Cap, Medium Cap and Large Cap stock market indexes. | https://digoptiontwso.firebaseapp.com/kaltz67962hyk/stock-market-15-year-chart-1527.html |
Icons have always been found highly useful in limited digital environments and in diagrams, maps and other forms of visual communication. As a visual shorthand, it can label, inform, and aid navigation quickly and effectively in minimal space. At Think Design, we stepped back to discover how icons have been used from the earliest desktop days – in a pursuit to build on our current understanding, looking to appreciate and learn from the past, and look at the future informed by a lens of insights.
At Think Design, we created 4 separate infographics, each one providing a brief introduction into the iconography of each respective decade; 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Let us look at how the last decade played a role in transforming how iconography has evolved until today.
Part 2/4
The 1990s – A bandwagon of colors, gloss, and dimensions
The 90s saw operating systems of Windows 3 and OS 2 using grids and consistent iconography patterns. While Macintosh had started experimenting with shades of grey to add to its current palette, Susan Kare worked on the first aesthetically designed icons for Macintosh that was released in 1984. Moving away from the trend of outlining, shining icons with indigo edges, 3D icons were also introduced by some companies. The next few trends included the addition of space illusion, vector icons with steely borders and transparency masks with isometric designs, adding to the overall variety of iconography landscape. | https://think.design/blog/labyrinth-through-a-history-of-digital-iconography-from-1980s-to-2010s-part-2/ |
Huntsman and Haydale Composites have developed a range of graphene enhanced resins for nano-composites, which are said to improve the thermal and electrical conductivity as well as mechanical performance of these new materials.
Huntsman Advanced Materials (Switzerland) GmbH, says it is delivering ‘significant step change’ in the market for nano-composites through its collaboration with Haydale Composite Solutions Ltd (HCS), a specialist in the development of enhanced graphene and nano particulate materials.
As part of the collaboration, Huntsman’s Araldite resins are being enhanced using Haydale’s expertise in the functionalisation of Graphene Nano Platelets (GNP’S) and other nano materials to create highly loaded master batches to improve thermal/electrical conductivity and mechanical performance.
The ultimate objective of the collaboration will be to commercialise graphene enhanced Araldite resins for a range of applications in the composites market.
Dr David Hatrick, European Technology Director at Huntsman Advanced Materials, commented: “This work is the platform for development of a range of new graphene enhanced Araldite resins which will be targeted at the industrial composites, automotive and aerospace markets. | https://www.tevonews.com/industrial-fabrics-news/230-tough-graphene-resins-for-nano-composites |
Moderator and Panelists:
- Amy Turnquist, EVP, Digital, eHealthcare Solutions (Moderator)
- Ryan Billings, U.S. Oncology Digital Marketing & Customer Experience at GSK
- Desiree Priestley, Director, Patient Support Strategy & Insights at Otsuka America Pharmaceutical
- Kristen Palmer Winters, Customer Experience (CX), Americas Hub, Digital & Commercial Innovation, Bayer
As a disclaimer, each guest speaker shared their own opinions and knowledge as individuals and do not speak upon the opinions of their companies.
The Pharma Marketing Network’s latest webinar, Video, Voice, and Virtual: Applying New Digital Technology to Enhance Customer Experience, shared unique perspectives from a diverse group of panelists, offering insights into the customer experience during 2020 – a year defined by unexpected challenges. Review the recap below and learn from leading experts about new trends and opportunities that came out of 2020, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adapting to the “New Normal” – “Evolve or Disappear”
When the COVID-19 pandemic put the U.S. on lockdown in late March of last year, just about every industry was affected. The pharma and healthcare industry were greatly impacted by the (almost) complete elimination of in-person interactions, whether that be between sales reps and physicians or physicians and patients.
When asked about how their companies were able to quickly adapt and pivot to meet the every-changing needs of the customers, the panelists all agreed that they simply “did not have a choice.” Suddenly, there was this realization that if they did not evolve, they would simply disappear. The silver lining: This pandemic, as difficult as it has been, has allowed pharma to recognize its true potential and that it can handle drastic changes and adapt so long as there is a willingness to do so. Prior to COVID-19, pharma tended to only look internally and design for themselves. As Ryan, U.S. Oncology Digital Marketing & Customer Experience at GSK said it, and with agreement from Desiree, Director, Patient Support Strategy & Insights at Otsuka America Pharmaceutical and Kristen, Customer Experience (CX), Americas Hub, Digital & Commercial Innovation, Bayer, “when we designed for ourselves, we really missed the mark.” The pandemic really forced pharma to take a step back and allow the customer to have a seat at the table.
The Quick Transition to Non-Tradition Forms of Healthcare
A trend we have been pacing for a while – which has boomed during the pandemic – is healthcare transitioning to the home through telemedicine and telehealth services. Recently though, Kristen informed us that it has fallen recently because patients, and doctors especially, maybe aren’t quite ready for the full shift. The question is, why has it fallen – why is there hesitancy around making home healthcare more of the norm? That is definitely something to consider when exploring how to make it easier and more commonplace for 1:1 healthcare to be connected virtually.
Looking just at the HCP side, Ryan reminded us that HCPs are people too. Too often, we want to confine them to a professional box and treat them robotically. The truth is their lives were also flipped upside down and they had to instantly change the way they treated their patients. A term Ryan raised was that HCPs are “prosumers,” and it’s important to remember that they think, feel, and act just like the rest of us.
In terms of HCPs and social media behaviors, 2020 saw HCPs really begin to take advantage of social media as a way of providing information to patients. For example, HCPs turned to Facebook Groups to post health information and open a dialogue among patients. Furthermore, activity by HCPs on Twitter increased by 50 percent.
Video – It’s Not as Complicated as it Sounds
Most people consume information through video – both on-demand and with internet, TV and streaming, as well as video on social, primarily mobile. Video can be found anywhere nowadays, such as through stories on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. People are consuming many different types of content via video – they’re using it to consume their news, pop culture, entertainment, etc.
HCPs are no different – they are on social, on the go, and likely have very limited attention spans due to the many distractions they experience every day. One-on-one meetings aren’t quite cutting it for HCPs – they too want that on-demand, or how Desiree named it, that “self-serve content.” The question becomes, how do we present “digestible but snappable” content conveniently available for consumption?
This may seem overwhelming but proposing video does not have to be a start-from-scratch process. Kristen recommends starting with what you already have. In the approvable content you do have, pick out those “snackable bites,” and even leverage your B-roll footage to use as teasers and as traffic drivers. 2020 has taught us that the content we use does not necessarily have to be professionally shot – being more relaxed and conversational may work better and we should be piloting that.
Voice – Siri, Alexa, etc.
Shifting to voice, a technology that somehow still sounds so “futuristic,” but when you think about it, many of us use voice in our everyday lives. Do you speak into your remote when using your TV? Do you use Siri or Bixby on your smart phone when asking about the weather? The reality is that voice technology is beginning to, if not already, become routine. For example, over half of searches are conducted without a screen and though it is already so ingrained in our lives, we really have not taken full advantage of its extensive capabilities, especially where marketers are concerned.
Ryan shares there are two big opportunities with voice for marketers: skills and voice-activated search. When someone conducts a search over voice, it is standard that they receive the top answer pulled from the web. What are audiences hearing back after they have asked a question besides an answer? While that information may certainly be helpful, it is not actionable.
Desiree reminds us of another important point about voice. Just because it is new and has potential, like anything else, does not mean it will be everyone’s preferred way of receiving information about a product or service. However, there is definitely potential there and it is worth investigating how it is performing with patients. Ryan follows up by saying that people search differently through voice than they would though text – pulling data there would be very insightful in determining different patient preferences when it comes to voice and its optimization in the customer experience.
Making Data Actionable in 2021 and Beyond
Like mentioned before, 2020 saw a more intentional emphasis on taking a step back and letting data guide marketers through the rapid changes and uncertainty. Often, though, we pull data just to pull data and then shelve it. What’s the point of that? Instead, how do we make data actionable and meaningful? Those are questions 2020 helped us realize we need to dig deeper into and what will be a big focus this year. The panelists agreed that they are already seeing a shift, from theory to application, of making data actionable.
The two major takeaways on the topic of data were intentionality, meaning what are we collecting, why are we collecting it, and how do we integrate it, and then determining how we make it actionable. Right now, we’re witnessing a change of mindset here and it is exciting.
Capitalizing on the Increased Use of Social Media and Telehealth
Last year, we also recognized that customers want to speak and learn from each other about a manufacturer on social media because it adds a sense of comfort and trust. There is also a real focus being placed on professional influencers and how content can be co-created with them. A lot of HCPs have big followings and have a voice and brand of their own. Leveraging them to present content can help present a brand in an honest, credible, and trustworthy light, which goes a long way with the patient.
On the telemedicine side, there is a great opportunity to engage patients in the virtual waiting room, such as with a poll or video. How can we use telemedicine to actively inform, educate, and engage patients with content and capitalize on it? There are lots of exciting opportunities to explore here.
Tried and True Media Still Driving HCP Engagement
Even during this heightened time of digital transformation, the panelists shared that print is still a very tried and true form of media to drive brand awareness and still performs well. HCPs still use and want journals in their offices, so it’s important to still consider what’s effective, even if it seems outdated.
Email is another tried and true form of traditional media, that has changed, with a large emphasis on making the platform more of a well-thought-out story and executing it strategically, not just sending email after email and hoping something sticks.
During the wrap up, the panelists touched on AR and VR technologies, the virtual conference setting and trends they’re seeing there and finally, their own experiences of trying something that didn’t work out but, resulted in very strong learnings that they were able to incorporate into future strategies. Watch the full webinar here to get in-depth responses from this great group of panelists. | https://www.pharma-mkting.com/articles/webinar-recap-video-voice-and-virtual-applying-new-digital-technology-to-enhance-customer-experience-with-pmn/ |
Physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 for developing techniques used in super high-resolution fluorescence microscopy. He began serving at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus in 2006.
He was born in Ann Arbor and earned his PhD in Engineering Physics from Cornell University in 1988.
In 2010, he was offered the Max Delbruck Prize for biological physics but declined to accept the award.
His father and stepmother owned the Ann Arbor Machine Company.
He and Minnesota-born molecular biologist Peter Agre are both recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. | https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/eric-betzig.html |
Jan 06, 2020 · The Pectoralis Major muscle is the larger of the two muscles. Pectoralis Major muscle lies in front of chest wall on both the side over the rib cage. Pectoralis Major Rupture or Tear is rare injury. Contractions of Pectoralis Major Muscles facilitate movement of arm across the chest. Oct 28, 2019 · The pectoral tendon attaches the pec major muscle to your humerus or arm bone. The pec major is a very powerful muscle. Pectoral tendons are usually ruptured or torn in weight lifters during bench pressing. Traumatic injuries in sports can also result in a pec tendon tear.
Dec 17, 2018 · The treatment for a pectoralis major injury depends upon the severity of the injury, the extent of muscle function, and the patient’s health and general activity level. Nonsurgical treatment must be considered in patients who have low demand, are elderly, or have either partial tears or. Shady Grove Orthopaedic Associates, Pa 301 340-9200 9715 Medical Center Drive, Suite 415 - Rockville, Md - 20850. Craig Miller, M.D. Page 1. Pectoralis Major Rupture Rehabilitation Protocol Shady Grove Orthopaedic Associates, P.A. PHASE I - IMMEDIATE POST-SURGICAL PHASE DAYS 1 - 14 Goals: 1. Maintain integrity of the repair 2. Objective strength testing shows that surgical repair of a clinical tear of the pectoralis major results in greater recovery of peak torque and work performed than conservative management. This finding is independent of the strength of the patient, whether or not the dominant arm is involved, the age of the patient, and the length of time from the injury or surgery to testing. May 03, 2019 · A pec tendon rupture requires surgical intervention. Symptoms of this injury often include an audible "pop," loss of movement, bruising and swelling. Therapy is required after a tendon repair and, although strained pectoral muscle healing time varies by the severity of.
may show avulsion of the pectoralis major tendon from the humerus; integrity of clavicular head may mask partial rupture of sternocostal head; Treatment: Nonoperative. initial sling immobilization, rest, ice, NSAIDs, physical therapy. indications. low-demand, sedentary, and elderly patients; muscle belly tears, low-grade partial ruptures; technique. Bench pressing is the most common cause of injury, but other activities leading to injury include rugby, skiing, football, wrestling, hockey, and parachuting. Pectoralis major injuries typically occur in men aged 20 to 40, and have affected several New York Giants football players.
Torn Pectoral Muscle. The pectoralis major can rupture while doing forceful activities and this commonly occur in males between the ages of 20 to 50. There are 4 different types of pectoral muscle tear and they differ depending on the degree of the damage [1, 3]. Oct 13, 2016 · Treatment of a pectoralis major strain If you suspect a torn pectoral muscle then seek professional medical attention as soon as possible. It is often a. Pectoralis major muscle is a very powerful shoulder muscle during its function – that of shoulder adductor, internal rotator, and flexor of the humerus. Origins of the pectoralis major include the clavicle, sternum, ribs, and external oblique fascia as well as cartilage of the first six ribs.The insertion of the pectoralis tendon onto the humerus occurs with the muscle twisting on itself so. The pectoralis major muscle, or most commonly its tendon that attaches to the arm bone, can rupture. Athletes often call this a pec rupture or torn pec, but it is more accurately called a pectoralis major muscle rupture. Pectoralis major ruptures are uncommon injuries that occur almost exclusively in men between the ages of 20 to 39. Jul 18, 2006 · Pectoralis major tendon rupture is a relatively rare injury, resulting from violent, eccentric contraction of the muscle. Over 50% of these injuries occur in athletes, classically in weight-lifters during the ‘bench press’ manoeuvre.
The treatment of pectoralis major tendon ruptures has been the subject of much debate. The classical history of the injury is forced abduction and external rotation. The cases of two patients an amateur rugby union player and a recreational snowboarder are reported. The diagnosis was made by clinical examination in both patients, and both were operated on more than two weeks after injury. | http://hyperactivist.info/pec-major-tear-rehab |
WASHINGTON, DC — Nearly 20 schools across the Capital Region will be receiving just over $6 million to help expand and improve internet access for students and teachers, and applications for second round of funding has just opened, Congressman Paul Tonko announced this week.
The funding is being administered by the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Emergency Connectivity Fund Program, established under the American Rescue Plan to help schools and libraries update services for remote learning during the pandemic. Tonko, D-Amsterdam, voted in support of the plan, and represents the 20th Congressional District, which includes all of Albany and Schenectady Counties and parts of Montgomery, Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties.
This first round of funding will deliver more than $1.2 billion to schools and libraries that serve more than 3.6 million students.
“Throughout this COVID-19 crisis we have heard about the hardships millions of Americans are facing without access to broadband,” Congressman Tonko said, in a statement. “We have heard from students unable to connect to their classes and submit assignments, and from educators who have to drive to parking lots with public Wi-Fi and teach from their cars. For years I have pushed to expand and improve internet access to deliver this critical resource to underserved and unserved communities, and I was successful in my fight to include additional support for broadband as part of our American Rescue Plan legislation. I am delighted that this needed funding is being delivered to our Capital Region and beyond.”
The largest area recipient of the first round of funding is the Albany Central School District, which will receive just over $1.3 million.
Applications for a second round of funding opened Sept. 28 and will close on Oct. 13. This will provide funding for eligible equipment and services received or delivered between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. The funding is available for the purchase of laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and broadband connections for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons in need, and is available to support off-campus learning, such as homework and virtual learning as schools continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. | https://saratogatodaynewspaper.com/home/item/14715-6-million-in-covid-relief-will-expand-broadband-for-local-students-new-round-of-funding-applications-are-open |
Emergency Preparedness
Washoe County Public Health Preparedness Program
Whether it be in response to severe weather, earthquakes or terrorist threats, immediate and adequate public health preparation is crucial to saving lives and protecting against future health-related issues. The Washoe County Health District Emergency Preparedness and Response Program is committed to providing our community with a wide variety of response elements which can be activated in any number of disaster scenarios we may experience in our area.
What do we do?
Conduct disease surveillance and outbreak investigations
Provide training for the healthcare community and other partners on topics related to public health emergencies, such as bioterrorism
Provide accurate and up-to-date information to residents and visitors of our community through our website and local media
Participate in drills and exercises to test our ability to respond to an emergency
Write plans that will guide the Health District's response to a public health emergency
Conduct training for our Washoe County Health District employees on department and county wide emergency plans
Provide free online trainings to community partners and members of our community
| |
In the wake of the financial crisis, when members of Congress and others raised questions about conflicts of interest within the Federal Reserve banking system and individual banks, the Federal Reserve should take concrete steps to become more transparent, reports the General Accountability Office (GAO) in a report issued today.
"[W]ithout more complete documentation of the directors’ roles and responsibilities with regard to the supervision and regulation functions, as well as increased public disclosure on governance practices to enhance accountability and transparency, questions about Reserve Bank governance will remain," reads the report.
The GAO's transparency recommendations center on making both on documenting and publicizing the governmance rules of the Fed and reserve bank. It also recommends that in cases where directors obtain waivers under ethics policies, that such waivers be publicly disclosed "to the extent disclosure would not violate a director's personal privacy."
The GAO examines certain case examples from the financial crisis when questions of conflicts arose. For example, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co., Jamie Dimon, served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) board of directors while the bank sought and received help through the Fed's emergency lending office.
In another case, in 2008, when Goldman Sachs became a bank holding company–a step necessary so it could receive assistance from the Fed–then New York Fed board chairman was Stephen Friedman, who also sat on Goldman's board. As a result, he became ineligable to serve as a director, since he was also a director and stockholder of a bank holding company. The Federal Reaserve Bank of New York sought–and received–a waiver to allow him to continue to serve on the board.
"We have previously reported that good governance, transparency, and accountability are critical in both the private and public sectors….In the public sector, they are essential to the effective and credible functioning of a healthy democracy and to fulfilling the government’s responsibility to citizens and taxpayers," notes the GAO. | https://sunlightfoundation.com/2011/10/19/gao-says-fed-should-improve-transparency/ |
# Six String Orchestra
"Six String Orchestra" is a song written, composed, and performed by Harry Chapin and released on his 1974 album Verities & Balderdash.
## The content
The lyrics of "Six String Orchestra" are narrated by, and describe, a young man who buys a guitar, which he christens his "monophonic symphony six-string orchestra." He practices late in his room and is not disturbed, his mother saying he is "nothing yet to make the folks write home."
As the narrator tries to realize his aspirations of being a singer, his lack of talent becomes evident. He performs at talent nights to what amounts to polite applause, but is screamed off the stages when he tries to perform encores, and dreams about a group helping him out. The instruments, a bass guitar, a lead guitar, a drum set, and strings, all join him as he mentions each in the refrain. These all play along with him (and his singing improves) through the last line of the refrain, but just before "orchestra," they all stop, leaving him attempting to play.
The narrator's failures continue. Love songs he writes, composes, and performs for a girl he is trying to impress instead result in her excusing herself to find a bar before he gets to finish. A demonstration recording he mails to record companies is returned to him at least three times, twice marked "address unknown" and on a C.O.D. basis the third time. He also receives form letters from these record companies, whose suggestions include finding a trade where he will not be required to sing. The narrator even resorts to taking guitar lessons, but his teacher takes leave; the narrator explains, "It was something about a breakdown or needing a reprieve." He is undeterred and pledges to persevere.
Chapin's point is that the narrator of "Six String Orchestra" is ultimately doomed to failure in his ambitions to make his career in music because of a total lack of talent and complete inability to play the very guitar he has hoped will be his ticket to fame—a guitar of low price and even lower quality that the narrator does not even bother to keep in tune.
## Known production
"Six String Orchestra," like the entire album Verities & Balderdash, was produced by Paul Leka, and performed by Chapin, on the album, as if it were part of a live concert. From time to time, audience laughter can be heard on the song, and Chapin deliberately plays his acoustic guitar poorly, and as if it were out of tune.
## Cover versions
Scooter of the Muppets covered the song on the Star Wars episode of The Muppet Show. On the Harry Chapin Tribute album, the Smothers Brothers perform their own version of it, interpolating some of their trademark shtick throughout. Eddie Skoller made a Danish version in 1982 called "6-strengs en-mands-band" backed up by the band Shu-bi-dua. Hector made a Finnish version called "Monofilharmoonikko" in 1982 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_String_Orchestra |
What is Perl Programming?
Perl is a computer programming language that was created by Larry Wall and first released in the late 1980’s. It is a popular programming tool and open source software package that promises stable and secure programming over many different platforms.
Perl was created by looking at the many other programming languages available like BASIC, awk and sed among them, and utilizing and refining the best features of those to create a more efficient and usable product. Perl is integrated to work with HTML and XML and also supports the MySQL database system, among many others.
There are many extensions to Perl called add ons that create extra functions and these are growing all the time as more are created for ease of use and functionality.
Popular thanks to ease of use
Perl has become among the most popular, possibly the most popular, programming languages thanks to its constant development, ease of use and simplicity.
Like many similar languages, the aim of Perl is to be simple to use and functional, with the emphasis on these areas rather than on looks and style. This gives the user a language that is quicker to use than many others that are burdened with the need to look good.
Simple commands
Let’s have a look at some simple Perl commands, and the syntax involved, in order to get an idea of the simplicity of the language.
Assuming we want the following message:
My name is John
to appear on screen, the Perl command would be, simply:
print “My name is John”;
That is the basic command which is simple and straightforward, and easy to remember.
There are rules to remember, however, such as not leaving space with quotations as it will be repeated in the function, and ending all commands with the semi colon.
To go too deep into the syntax of Perl would be unnecessary here, but the above example gives an idea of the sheer simplicity of the language. Bear in mind that the commands used in the likes of BASIC ‘if’, ‘Run’, and others are used in Perl, and the attraction of using such a simple and understandable programming language is greater.
Open source
As Perl is open source which is a system of development that involves the users review and constant modification. It is geared towards the end user and the requirements of the many, and will continue to provide a standard and usable programming language for the foreseeable future.
Indeed, a vast number of Perl ‘user groups’ have been established, via which users communicate and advise on possible improvements, and the language has a following that has resulted in its own journal and dedicated website which is a useful source of information.
There are many books available on this usable and innovative language and a large number aimed at the beginner or novice programmer. An introduction to one of these can be a useful way of getting a good knowledge of Perl. | https://www.brighthub.com/internet/web-development/articles/10708/ |
The new editions of NFPA 1500, Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, and NFPA 1582, Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments, include changes that represent significant steps forward for firefighter health and wellness. Many of those changes have been driven by user needs and by advancements in technology, including improvements made to personal protective equipment that allow for enhanced protection, the inclusion of vehicle data recorders in fire department apparatus, improvements made to breathing apparatus, the improved quality to prosthetics to allow for greater exposures to high levels of heat, improved technology to monitor and treat diabetes and cardiac conditions, and more. Both documents will likely face certified amending motions at the Association Technical Meeting; considering the scope of some of the documents’ proposed changes, this comes as no surprise, and is a natural part of the evolution of the standards.
NFPA 1500 is the “umbrella” document that sets forth the safety requirements related to occupational safety and health for the fire service. The first edition of this document was published back in 1987, and while much has changed in both the fire service and the requirements within the standard since then, the next edition will reflect major changes based on the needs and demands of the fire service. In some cases the fire service has driven the change, and in other cases the standard has driven the change. Changes to two very different aspects of the standard illustrate where it’s currently heading.
The first significant change has to do with critical incident stress programs, which are covered in Chapter 12 in the current edition. Addressing critical incident stress — the emotional, physical, and psychological stresses caused by a particular incident or call such as a fatal fire involving children, or an EMS call involving the sudden death of a child, or an incident where a fellow fire fighter is injured or killed — is of great importance, but it is only one aspect of the entire health and wellness continuum for firefighters. The committee, through a publicly proposed change, has changed the title of Chapter 12 from “Critical Incident Stress Program” to “Occupational Exposure to Atypically Stressful Events.” The intent behind this change was to recognize and address the many steps or procedures that can and need to be done as part of the management of the stress caused by an atypical stressful event, which varies from person to person; critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), for example, is just one step among many in dealing with stressful events. The change goes from a 10,000-foot view, where CISD is provided, to more of a 100,000-foot view, where the overall health and wellness of the firefighter, as it relates to an atypically stressful event, is evaluated and managed. Think of CISD as a single page out of the chapter for the management of stressful events. This change is occurring in both the chapter title as well as in the chapter text.
Firefighter Health: Progress + Needs
The following are findings from NFPA’s "Third Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service," conducted in 2010 and published in June 2011.
The second important change was to include as a requirement the use of the word “MAYDAY” when a firefighter is in danger or subject to emergency conditions. As the standard is currently written, a firefighter is required to declare “emergency traffic,” meaning he has an emergency communication that takes priority over any other communications occurring on the radio. The standard also calls for the firefighter to use clear text, which is the use of plain language in radio communications transmissions, when identifying the emergency to the incident commander, and to also transmit the message “all clear, resume radio traffic” once they feel they are no longer subject to the emergency condition.
The consensus among committee members, though, is that the current language is vague and not in common use within the fire service or in other public safety agencies. The thinking here is that “MAYDAY” is a commonly used term to identify and declare an emergency situation, and that if multiple public safety agencies are using the same radio frequency — especially with the passage of the D-block, that portion of the radio frequency spectrum that will be dedicated solely for use by public safety officials — confusion would be reduced when someone declares a “MAYDAY” versus “emergency traffic.”
Considering medical advancements
While NFPA 1500 is intended to serve as the “umbrella” document for fire service occupational health and safety, NFPA 1582 is the standard that contains the medical requirements that must be met to be considered for a position as a fire department member, as well as for specific evaluations of medical conditions for people who are already fire department members. Chapter 6 contains the medical requirements and evaluations for fire department candidates, while Chapter 9 contains the medical requirements for fire department members when getting their annual medical physicals. Of all the fire service occupational safety and health documents, NFPA 1582 seems to attract the most attention, mainly because the standard contains requirements that can be somewhat controversial, depending on your perspective.
That isn’t likely to change with the next edition of NFPA 1582, which includes three areas where significant revisions have occurred: amputees and joint replacement, diabetes and endocrine/metabolic issues, and pregnancy. While each issue could generate enough discussion for a master’s thesis, it is important to understand why these proposed changes are significant and how they align the document and its requirements with current medical thought, application, and technology.
In the area of amputees and joint replacement, the committee recognizes that technologies of the past might have precluded individuals from being considered as candidates for the fire service, or even that existing fire service members might not be able to safely perform their jobs. That is simply no longer the case, however. Due to rapid advancements in technology, such as prosthetics having a higher failure threshold when exposed to heat and the improvement of some joints in joint replacements, the committee realized it was time to re-evaluate the requirements of the standard. The committee’s discussions revolved around a central question, which was essentially this: “If the military allows certain prosthetics to be used in combat, why can’t the fire service do the same?” The committee recognizes that with state-of-the-art prosthetics and joints available, a more thorough evaluation must take place when assessing the fire department candidate or member that might have one of these adjuncts in place. It is because of these advancements that the committee has significantly changed these requirements.
The same held true for diabetes and endocrine/metabolic issues — the committee again had to recognize that practices of the past were not as applicable today, and that the current requirements needed to change to reflect advancements in medicine and treatment modalities. The current edition states that medical conditions such as Type 1 diabetes disqualify candidates from consideration, unless they can show or prove that over a period of five years there has been no more than one hypoglycemic event. In the next edition, the committee has shortened that to three years and increased the hypoglycemic episodes to two.
The current edition of NFPA 1582 includes a chapter with requirements for fire service candidates who are pregnant — described as a category B medical condition that could preclude a person from performing in a training or emergency operational environment by presenting a significant risk to the safety and health of the person or others — but there is no information in the standard about fire department members who are pregnant. What the committee has attempted to do is to establish the need for the pregnant firefighter and her physician to recognize the inherent dangers of firefighting and the potential negative impacts they may have on the mother and the unborn child. The intent of the changes is for the fire department member, her physician, and the AHJ, such as a fire chief, to work together to reach a decision on the duties the firefighter is able to perform, a decision based on all parties knowing the potential risks those duties entail and at what point those risks outweigh the benefits of being able to safely perform the job.
Despite the significant changes to the new editions of NFPA 1500 and NFPA 1582, there is still a lot of work to be done. The overarching goal, after all, is to minimize the number of firefighter injuries and deaths through the development, adoption, and application of our occupational safety and health standards. Considering the ever-changing landscape of the fire service and the risks faced by firefighters on every call, it is essential that the requirements that revolve around occupational safety and health must also change. | https://nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/NFPA-Journal/2012/May-June-2012/Features/Giant-Steps |
Haley Goldenthal, M.A.
Graduate Research Assistant
Hayley Goldenthal joined the Center for Childhood Resilience in 2016. Her experience centers on community and school-based mental health research. Prior to joining the CCR team, Ms. Goldenthal previously worked as the project coordinator at a NCTSN site focusing on the assessment and treatment of youth who have experienced trauma and/or bereavement. Her research interests lie in the development and implementation of interventions for underserved youth who may experience significant life stressors and/or trauma. Specifically, she is interested in reducing risk and promoting resilience pathways for these youth through the application of evidence-based, sustainable, and ecologically valid interventions to society’s most formative institutions (schools, communities, hospitals). She also conducted school-based research on promoting academic persistence and achievement, particularly within underserved communities at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Goldenthal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. | https://childhoodresilience.org/goldenthal |
Phobias are irrational and disabling fears. If you have one, you'll do almost anything to avoid what you're afraid of. Someone with a phobia understands that their fear is not logical. Still, if they try to squelch it, it only makes them more anxious.
Phobias often begin in childhood. Some are responses to traumatic events, like a bite from a dog. Still, most have no obvious cause.
The fear is usually not of the thing itself, but of some terrible outcome, like falling from an airplane.
When fear is at its peak, an agoraphobic person may go to almost any lengths to avoid leaving home. Agoraphobia may come about after repeated panic attacks.
If you have social phobia, you're afraid of being humiliated in public. People with it stay away from things like public speaking, parties, and public restrooms. They may even avoid restaurants.
Exposure therapy: Your doctor tries to change how you react to what you're fearful of by gradually exposing you to it. For example, if you're afraid of dogs, you may start by just thinking about dogs, to looking at a picture of one, to spending time with a dog in a controlled environment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (your doctor may call it CBT): In addition to exposure, you learn ways to handle what you're afraid of differently. You figure out how to control how you think and feel about it instead of your fear controlling you.
A person whose phobia goes untreated may become withdrawn, depressed, and unable to be in social situations.
Waters, R., Phobias: Revealed and Explained, Barron's Educational Series, February 1, 2004. | https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/understanding-phobias-basics |
The Duncan Cowichan Festival Society announced this week that the 39 Days of July will be postponed for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings, but you can still catch some of the scheduled performances online.
This is the latest in a long line of major and minor festivals in the Cowichan Valley, and indeed across the province, that have been cancelled or postponed for this year due to the pandemic.
Traditionally, the 39 Days of July has consisted of a series of outdoor musical events primarily at venues in Charles Hoey Park and City Square in Duncan. But all is not lost.
“Although known as a festival that physically gathers people together to enjoy ‘free’ live entertainment we do have a plan in place to present many of the fine musical acts we had already scheduled for 2020 to be live-streamed from the Duncan Showroom stage for the full 39 days,” the Society said in a press release.
“The Duncan Showroom, a well respected music venue located in the heart of downtown Duncan, has over 2,000 live streamed concerts already archived on their Duncan Showroom YouTube channel and are quite able to produce a fine finished product. The DCFS and the Duncan Showroom have been working together for over eight years now and have jointly produced the 39 Days of July/the 40th Day of July (on Labour Day weekend) and Wine Down Wednesdays in August.”
Audiences will still be treated to concerts daily, but they will need to watch them from the comfort of their own homes or other spaces. Going online also means that people will be able to catch archived shows as well.
A tip jar will be available on the festival website and through the live stream to help defray costs.
A partial schedule should be posted soon, the Festival said. | https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/entertainment/duncans-39-days-of-july-transitions-to-online-shows-for-2020-2/ |
Making good use of existing water infrastructure by adding organic wastes to anaerobic digesters improves the energy balance of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) substantially. This paper explores co-digestion load limits targeting a good trade-off for boosting methane production, and limiting process-drawbacks on nitrogen-return loads, cake-production, solids-viscosity and polymer demand. Bio-methane potential tests using whey as a model co-substrate showed diversification and intensification of the anaerobic digestion process resulting in a synergistical enhancement in sewage sludge methanization. Full-scale case-studies demonstrate organic co-substrate addition of up to 94% of the organic sludge load resulted in tripling of the biogas production. At organic co-substrate addition of up to 25% no significant increase in cake production and only a minor increase in ammonia release of ca. 20% have been observed. Similar impacts were measured at a high-solids digester pilot with up-stream thermal hydrolyses where the organic loading rate was increased by 25% using co-substrate. Dynamic simulations were used to validate the synergistic impact of co-substrate addition on sludge methanization, and an increase in hydrolysis rate from 1.5 d(-1) to 2.5 d(-1) was identified for simulating measured gas production rate. This study demonstrates co-digestion for maximizing synergy as a step towards energy efficiency and ultimately towards carbon neutrality. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal
Water Research
Volume
87
First Page
416
Last Page
423
Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Link to Published Version
DOI
10.1016/j.watres.2015.07.033
Recommended Citation
Aichinger, Peter; Wadhawan, Tanush; Kuprian, Martin; Higgins, Matthew; Ebner, Christian; Fimml, Christian; Murthy, Sudhir; and Wett, Bernhard. "Synergistic Co-Digestion of Solid-Organic-Waste and Municipal-Sewage-Sludge: 1 plus 1 Equals More than 2 in Terms of Biogas Production and Solids Reduction." Water Research (2015) : 416-423. | https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_journ/1184/ |
How to Cut an Onion
Here's the best way to cut an onion into uniform-size pieces.
Cut an onion into same-sized pieces, whether you're mincing, dicing, or chopping them, and they'll cook evenly and be done at the same time. Here's a quick tutorial on the best way to cut an onion quickly and into uniform bits. Chop an onion this way, and there's no time for the tears!
1) Grab a sharp knife and slice the top part off the onion. Which end is the top? It's opposite the root end.
2) Cut the onion in half lengthwise from the root end to the top.
3) Remove the skin.
4) Make horizontal cuts, stopping just short of the root:
5) Make vertical cuts, again stopping short of the root:
6) Chop by cutting across the top of the onion:
Now that you have chopped onions, turn them into a dice or mince if you like.
Check out our collection of Onion Recipes. | https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-cut-an-onion/ |
I HAVE cars on my mind. One car in particular and the exhaust-burping tin masses in general.
Pete the mechanic reckons our old Volvo is getting towards the end of its life. Although still in mechanical working order, and still capable of bombing over the M62, the valiant estate is suffering from various problems of old age, and is becoming more difficult to mend.
So a decision will have to be made soon. I like having a car and need one in my freelance life, but I am not earning enough yet to take out a loan. Ho-hum.
Cars, who needs them? Most of us do in the end. It’s good to have a car, and I don’t want to be without one, but cars are a nuisance and a hazard too.
In this vein, I spotted something on Facebook the other day, like you do in the digital flit of life nowadays. A report on Business Insider UK – no, me neither – listed ten cities that are going car free. York was nowhere to be seen.
This was a shame in a sense, but hardly surprising. York couldn’t even manage the temporary closure of one bridge, never mind the whole city centre. When use of Lendal Bridge was restricted by the then Labour council, the recriminations were long and bitter. Many drivers hated being denied this key route through the city and complained at length to me – not in a personal sense but in my role as letters editor. Dear me what a lot of letters there were, nearly all saying the same thing.
The closure wasn’t handled well, especially in the way that visiting drivers were fined after not realising they shouldn’t cross the bridge. That’s all bad-tempered history now, but a sorry side-effect is that only a brave council would ever again suggest limiting cars in York.
That is a shame because unfettered use of cars is never good or healthy for cities. Until the late 1980s, cars still drove by York Minster, an area now blissfully free of cars. No one complains about this as a rule, although you could probably find a grumbling taxi driver somewhere; you usually can.
The ten cities listed for their car-reduction plans began with Oslo in Norway, which intends to ban all cars from its centre by 2019, instead boosting the number of cycle lanes and improving public transport.
Madrid in Spain plans to ban cars from the city centre by 2020, with 24 streets given over to walking rather than driving. In Chengdu, China, a new part of the city is being designed to make it easier to walk than to drive, while Hamburg in Germany aims to make walking and cycling the main form of transport in the city centre.
The Danish have been ahead in this greening game for a long time. In Copenhagen half of the population cycles to work every day, thanks to pedestrian-only zones introduced in the 1960s. Now there are plans for a cycle super-highway linking to the suburbs. And I am guessing this will entail more than painting a narrow strip of the road green.
Paris wants to have more car-free days, to ban older cars during the week and to ban diesel cars – and London wants a diesel ban by 2020 as well.
Brussels aims to introduce more car-free boulevards, while Mexico City introduced car-reduction plans last April, restricting cars for two working days every week and at the weekends, too.
New York isn’t planning a car ban, but has introduced more pedestrian-only zones in Times Square, Herald Square and Madison Square Park. And on three Saturdays last month, the road linking Central Park to Brooklyn Bridge was closed and opened up to pedestrians for a Summer Streets event.
Business Insider UK quotes Paul Steely White, of Transportation Alternatives, a group that supports cyclists in New York City and campaigns for car-free cities. He says of the summer event: “This is what everyday life could look like if people mattered. The worst thing as an urban dweller is to be stuck with the auto as your only option.”
Well, the ‘auto’ is not my only option in York, where I cycle everywhere where possible. I do like my bicycle, which is probably just as well right now. | https://manonledge.co.uk/car-free-cities-and-worries-about-a-car-free-me/ |
Chokaro Sennin. Attributed to Miura Yoshinaga. First half of the 19th Century. 8cm High.
A wood study of a Sennin. The old hermit is standing slightly slouched. His right arm grips the rope of a gourd which he swings above his head forcefully, his left hand poised to catch the contents of the gourd. Judging by the ill tempered expression, I suspect this is not his first attempt. All will recognise the figure as Chokaro Sennin, the artist assisting our determination of the subject by placing a movable horse within the gourd which has the ability to protrude but not come loose. The wood has a rich chocolate brown colour contrasting with darkened areas in the recesses, somewhat similar to a Tanba complexion.
The artist is also instantly recognisable. Milton Stratos penned a concise article about him in the International Netsuke Society Journal. Volume 31. Number 1. Spring 2011. Miura Yoshinaga who, as the author describes, is obscure. Miura Yoshinaga’s work is of a spirit that reverberates from a time prior to his own. In his own skilful manner he remodelled subjects with finer detail and slightly daintier proportions, yet somehow retained the perspective of power that earlier work possess. He worked with a smattering of faces, slightly altering expressions to befit the theme.
Categorised as a Kyoto artist, his output does appear to have a Kyoto influence, though we are not completely convinced with this categorisation. The most impressive piece we know by Miura Yoshinaga and one we once owned, is a Kanzan and Jittoku, see the front cover of the above mentioned journal. The faces on this Netsuke are simply brilliant, the Kanzan, interestingly is remarkably similar to the face of a Shojo on a very fine Inro.
Please see; SL Moss. they are all fire and every one doth shine. The Elly Nordskog Collection. Number 36. By Hasegawa Ikko. Does this suggest a link between Miura Yoshinaga and Hasegawa Ikko? We think so, we can further augment this link. Please see; Carre Collection. Eskenazi. 1993. Number 6. A mixed material figure by Ikko and compare to just about any of the figures Milton Stratos illustrates in his article, but to be more specific. Please see; Chinaman with a Rooster Number 24. Could these two great artists have been student buddies in Minko’s workshop or just briefly worked together during the course of their careers? Perhaps we will never know, though any excuse to examine more from these two artists work sounds like fun to me.
For an ivory version of our Chokaro. Please see; Sagemonoya. Netsuke Exhibition catalogue 1998. Number 22. | https://www.neilholtonja.org/chokaro.html |
NOS Assistant Administrator Nicole LeBoeuf shares the details of the recently completed monitoring cruise to the Mariana Islands.
The Coral Reef Conservation Act was signed into law on December 23, 2000, establishing the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program.
Climate change and ocean acidification--which can result in coral bleaching events, slower growth and reproduction rates, and degraded reef structure--are the most pressing global threats to coral reefs.
When you've got a bacterial infection like pink eye or strep throat, your doctor will usually write a prescription for antibiotics to make you feel better. But have you ever wondered where these medicines come from?
Most corals were once thought to live in tropical water, close enough to the surface to receive sunlight. But with the help of submersibles and remotely operated vehicles, scientists have discovered vast forests of corals living 200 to 10,000 feet deep in dark, cold waters.
These beautiful coral reefs are in serious trouble. They are being damaged or destroyed by pollution, disease, climate change, and a large number of ship groundings.
Did you know coral reefs pump more than $3.4 billion into the U.S. economy annually? Learn how healthy coral reef ecosystems do everything from supporting millions of jobs to protecting lives and coastal infrastructure - like hotels, roads and bridges.
Corals are amazing. But we have lost 50% of the worlds coral reefs. Can corals make a comeback? Watch this inspiring new series here and find out.
Whether on land or in the water, invasive species put native ones at risk and upset the fragile balance of an ecosystem. By educating the public about Lionfish, marine biologists hope to prevent future invasions.
Corals are a beautiful - and important - part of our ocean. But they can’t move around the ocean floor - so, how, exactly, do they find mates?
The International Coral Reef Initiative declared 2018 the third International Year of the Reef to highlight the value of coral reefs and the importance of their conservation.
The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program was established in 2000 by the Coral Reef Conservation Act. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, the program is part of NOAA's Office for Coastal Management.
The Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) is the program's information portal that provides access to NOAA coral reef data and products.
U.S. Coral Reef Task Force
Funding Opportunities
Employment
Fellowship Program
Contracting Assistance
Graphic Identifier
Access the archive of featured stories here...
Thank you for visiting NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program online. Please take our website satisfaction survey. We welcome your ideas, comments, and feedback. Questions? Email [email protected]. | https://coralreef.noaa.gov/gallery/videos.html |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately measure the carrier frequency of a linear digital modulated signal.
SOLUTION: This carrier frequency measuring device includes a modulation system decision part 12 which decides the modulation system of a signal consisting of a linear digital modulated signal, a carrier signal reproduction part 13 which reproduces a carrier signal of the signal by the decided modulation system and a frequency measurement part 14 which measures the frequency of the reproduced carrier signal. Then the part 12 includes an envelope distribution pattern memory 18 which stores the envelope distribution patterns of modulated signals of plural modulation systems, the envelope distribution measurement means 15 and 16 which measure the envelope distributions of the signals and the modulation system decision means 17 and 19 which compare the envelope distributions measured by the means 15 and 16 with every envelope distribution pattern stored in the memory 18 to decide the modulation systems of the signals.
COPYRIGHT: (C)2000,JPO | |
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Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cytosolic aggregation of mitochondrial proteins disrupts cellular homeostasis by stimulating the aggregation of other proteins
Urszula Nowicka et al.
Defective mitochondrial protein import results in protein aggregation and a specific chaperone response in the cytosol, causatively linking mitochondrial function and cellular protein homeostasis disturbances observed in neurodegeneration.
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics
A prion accelerates proliferation at the expense of lifespan
David M Garcia et al.
In its capacity to switch into a heritable, prionogenic form, a conserved RNA-modifying enzyme epigenetically alters fundamental growth, aging, and protein synthesis properties of eukaryotic cells.
Cell Biology
Science Forum: Vision, challenges and opportunities for a Plant Cell Atlas
Plant Cell Atlas Consortium et al.
A Plant Cell Atlas that shows the location and organization of molecules at cellular and tissue levels could have far-reaching consequences for plant sciences.
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics
A precisely adjustable, variation-suppressed eukaryotic transcriptional controller to enable genetic discovery
Asli Azizoglu et al.
A new gene expression tool enables precise control of protein dosage over a large range and paves the way for new genetic discoveries.
Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Uniparental nuclear inheritance following bisexual mating in fungi
Vikas Yadav et al.
Discovery of a novel mode of sexual reproduction, termed pseudosexual reproduction, in fungi where both parents are required for mating but only one contributes to the meiotic progeny, similar to hybridogenesis in animals.
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics and Genomics
Mutational sources of
trans
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Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Fabien Duveau et al.
Mapping mutations affecting gene expression within the yeast genome and within a gene regulatory network reveals properties of the raw material for regulatory variation.
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
GIV/Girdin, a non-receptor modulator for Gαi/s, regulates spatiotemporal signaling during sperm capacitation and is required for male fertility
Sequoyah Reynoso et al.
Spermatozoa require GIV for specialized compartmentalized signaling to support efficient capacitation while inhibiting premature acrosome reaction.
Computational and Systems Biology
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
A deep learning algorithm to translate and classify cardiac electrophysiology
Parya Aghasafari et al.
A deep learning network can classify cardiac myocytes into drug-free and drugged categories and predict the impact of electrophysiological perturbation across the continuum of aging.
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Genetics and Genomics
Functional dynamic genetic effects on gene regulation are specific to particular cell types and environmental conditions
Anthony S Findley et al.
Investigation of dynamic gene regulation across cell types and environments reveals new GxE regulatory loci that are important for disease.
Cancer Biology
Resistance to different anthracycline chemotherapeutics elicits distinct and actionable primary metabolic dependencies in breast cancer
Shawn McGuirk et al.
Breast cancer resistant to either doxorubicin or epirubicin relies on distinct primary metabolic processes, which can be targeted to reduce cancer progression.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety, tolerability, food effect as well as the pharmacokinetics (how the drug is absorbed in the body, how it is distributed within the body and how it is removed from the body over time) and pharmacodynamics (the effects of the drug) of single and multiple ascending doses of JNJ-41443532 in healthy male participants.
This is a randomized (study drug assigned by chance), double-blind (neither physician nor participant knows the name of the assigned drug), placebo-controlled, single and multiple ascending dose study conducted at a single study center. The study has 4 parts. Part 1 is a randomized, double-blind, alternating panel, single ascending oral dose study. Two alternating treatment panels (A and B) each with nine healthy male participants will be studied with successively increasing dose levels. Part 2 is a randomized, open-label (all people involved know the identity of the intervention), 2-period crossover study to evaluate what the effect of administering JNJ- 41443532 with food (i.e. standard high fat breakfast meal) relative to administration in the fasted state will have on pharmacokinetics/blood levels of JNJ-41443532. Part 3 is a randomized, double-blind, single oral dose study in obese, otherwise healthy male participants. Part 4 is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multiple ascending dose study in up to 5 sequential treatment groups of healthy male participants. Safety assessments include monitoring of adverse events, and evaluation of lab results, cardiac parameters, vital signs, and physical exams. In Parts 1, 2, and 3 participants receive study medication (JNJ-41443532 or placebo) orally on Day 1 after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours; planned doses are 25 to 1500 mg. In Part 4, participants receive study medication (JNJ-41443532 or placebo) orally each day for 10 consecutive days after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours; planned doses are 100 to 1000 mg.
Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Pharmacokinetics/Dynamics Study, Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator), Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Healthy
JNJ-41443532, JNJ-41443532, JNJ-41443532, Placebo, JNJ-41443532, JNJ-41443532, JNJ-41443532
Merksem
Belgium
Recruiting
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C.
Published on BioPortfolio: 2014-08-27T03:14:28-0400
Safety And Pharmacokinetics Study Of PF-04287881 In Healthy Adults
The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of PF-04287881 after a single oral dose in healthy adult volunteers.
A Study of RO6870868 in Healthy Volunteers
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics of RO6870868 in healthy volunteers. Subjects will be randomized to receive ...
A Study of MCAF5352A in Healthy Volunteers
This single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multiple ascen ding dose study will evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of MCAF5352A in healthy volun...
Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics of SD-101 in Healthy Normal Males
The main purpose of this study is to assess the safety, tolerability, and biological activity of SD-101 compared with placebo in healthy male volunteers.
A Study of Single Dose RO6811135 in Healthy Volunteers
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will evaluate the safety , tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of RO6811135 in healthy vo lunteers. Subjects will b...
Hemodynamic effects of intravenous, high-dose lipid emulsion with and without metoprolol infusion in healthy volunteers: a randomized clinical trial.
In a double-blinded, randomized, cross-over trial, we investigated hemodynamic effects of high-dose intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) with/without metoprolol. Ten healthy volunteers each completed four...
The Opioid Receptor Mu 1 (OPRM1) rs1799971 and Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 as genetic markers for placebo analgesia.
The placebo effect is considered the core example of mind-body interactions. However, individual differences produce large placebo response variability in both healthy volunteers and patients. The pla...
Placebo Responses in Chronic Pain: State of Research and Clinical Implications.
Placebo hypoalgesia has been found to play an important role in every health care by modulating patients' responses to pharmacologically active analgesic treatments. It may be seen as reflecting the c...
A Phase 1 Assessment of the QT Interval in Healthy Adults Following Exposure to Rolapitant, a Cancer Supportive Care Antiemetic.
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Guanfacine treatment for prefrontal cognitive dysfunction in older participants: a randomized clinical trial.
This study evaluated the effect of the alpha-2A-adrenoceptor agonist guanfacine on prefrontally mediated cognitive functions, as well as quality of life and global function in healthy older participan...
Healthy People Programs
Healthy People Programs are a set of health objectives to be used by governments, communities, professional organizations, and others to help develop programs to improve health. It builds on initiatives pursued over the past two decades beginning with the 1979 Surgeon General's Report, Healthy People, Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives, and Healthy People 2010. These established national health objectives and served as the basis for the development of state and community plans. These are administered by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). Similar programs are conducted by other national governments.
Therapeutic Misconception
Misunderstanding among individuals, frequently research subjects, of scientific methods such as randomization and placebo controls.
Nutrition Policy
Governmental guidelines and objectives pertaining to public food supply and nutrition including recommendations for healthy diet and changes in food habits to ensure healthy diet.
Placebo Effect
An effect usually, but not necessarily, beneficial that is attributable to an expectation that the regimen will have an effect, i.e., the effect is due to the power of suggestion.
Nerve Transfer
Surgical reinnervation of a denervated peripheral target using a healthy donor nerve and/or its proximal stump. The direct connection is usually made to a healthy postlesional distal portion of a non-functioning nerve or implanted directly into denervated muscle or insensitive skin. Nerve sprouts will grow from the transferred nerve into the denervated elements and establish contact between them and the neurons that formerly controlled another area.
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Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism ...
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing as well as dispensing drugs and medicines. It is a health profession that links health sciences with chemical sciences and aims to ensure the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs. The scope of...
Drug Discovery
Clinical Approvals Clinical Trials Drug Approvals Drug Delivery Drug Discovery Generics Drugs Prescription Drugs In the fields of medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which drugs are dis... | https://www.bioportfolio.com/resources/trial/65871/Pharmacokinetics-PK-and-Pharmacodynamics-PD-Study-of-Single-and-Multiple-Ascending-Doses.html |
In 1992, a Freshman Republican was elected to represent the Miami area in the US House. The GOP majority in the Florida legislature district had just designed his district as a safe Republican South Florida “Hispanic access seat.” His name: Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
In 2002, a Freshman Republican was elected to represent the Miami area in the US House. As the chair of the redistricting panel in the GOP led State House in 2001, he had personally designed his own safe Republican South Florida “Hispanic access seat.” His name: Mario Diaz-Balart.
The Balart brothers might have been elected anyway, but the districts that were drawn for / by them virtually guaranteed them easy wins.
Historically, the rules for drawing new districts have been very loose – districts needed to have the same population and be contiguous, and factors such as race and party could be used to create safe seats.
Traditionally, the party in power colludes with the minority party, throwing them a few safe districts and segregating their voters in the process. This leads to a bunch of safe incumbents who can not be held accountable.
Republicans had the legislative power in 1991 and 2001 and, largely due to their mad redistricting skills, they are virtually guaranteed to retain a legislative majority for the 2011 redistricting process.
The current Republican drawn map is full of districts like FL-11, US Rep. Kathy Castor’s Tampa area district which includes part of the city of Tampa, carves out a slim piece of shoreline in Hillsborough County, pops down to Sarasota, and then jumps across the entire Tampa Bay to include a chunk of South St. Petersburg.
Out of 420 elections for legislative seats in Florida in the last 6 years, a grand total of three incumbents have been defeated. Three.
This November, Florida voters will have a chance to enact meaningful changes to a redistricting process that has historically been a gerrymandering free for all.
Amendments 5 and 6 are citizen initiatives that will enshrine fair redistricting rules into the state constitution, forcing an end to the practice of lawmakers custom designing their own voter pools.
Aside from Amendment 5 covering Legislative districts and Amendment 6 covering Congressional districts, the ballot summaries and language are identical. Here’s Amendment 5:
STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FOLLOW IN LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
BALLOT SUMMARY: Legislative districts or districting plans may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.
Full text:
In establishing Legislative district boundaries:
(1) No apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory.
(2) Unless compliance with the standards in this subsection conflicts with the standards in subsection (1) or with federal law, districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.
(3) The order in which the standards within sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over the other within that subsection.
Simple. Easy to understand. Fair.
The GOP, of course, hates everything about these amendments, but they have failed in multiple attempts to derail the process, including a recent court smack down of their clumsy attempt to confuse voters with dueling amendments, and it looks like Amendments 5 and 6 will be on the ballot in November.
Fair Districts Florida needs help right now with volunteers and money. They have been fighting this fight for years and are very close to victory. A win could make a real difference. A sixty percent super majority is required for passage.
Our present system permits politicians to choose their voters instead of voters having a fair chance to choose their representatives. Legislators use sophisticated computers, voter registration data and past election returns to predict how particular voters will vote in the future. Then they choose which voters are most likely to vote for them and their party and place just enough of those voters in “safe” districts — ones they are sure they can win. Those in charge also pack large numbers of unfavorable voters in into a few districts so the unfriendly voters will have a chance to win in fewer districts.
Each district is rigged to accomplish a particular result. Districts are set up to be either Democratic or Republican and opposing party candidates do not have a chance. Only 7% of Florida’s legislative elections are really competitive. Voters do not have a real choice in selecting their representatives because the elections are rigged before they even start.
Another result is that there are rarely serious challenges to incumbents. In the last 6 years, there have been 420 elections for State Senator and State Representative. Only three incumbents have been defeated! After all, their districts are specially designed for them! With virtually certain seats, legislators have no incentive to be responsive to their constituents and they see no reason to compromise for the public good.
…
The new rules or standards proposed by FairDistrictsFlorida.org will prohibit drawing districts to favor an incumbent or a party. The standards will require that districts be compact and community based. Communities — like Seminole County — will not be divided among multiple representatives. And Florida will have strongest constitutional language in the country to ensure that redistricting is not used to reduce the representation of racial and language minority voters.
Politicians like Mario Diaz-Balart will no longer be able to pick their own pool of voters. They will have to compete fairly and attract support from a wide cross-section of their communities.
Districts like Kathy Castor’s FL-11 will be redrawn to include entire communities based on existing political and natural boundaries instead of being cobbled together from bits and pieces of 3 different cities and counties.
The races for Senate and Governor are sucking all the air out of the room right now, but Amendments 5 and 6 could be far more important for the long term health of representative democracy in Florida.
Join with organized labor, the ACLU, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, Democracia Ahora, the vast majority of Democratic politicians in the state, over 600,000 Florida voters who signed petitions to get these measures on the ballot, and some moderate and former Republicans to support Fair Districts Florida.
This really is a BFD.
ACTION: Support FairDistrictsFlorida.
Florida Voters: Vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6. | http://blogwood.com/archived/1701/1701/ |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
TECHNICAL FIELD
This application claims the benefit of French Patent Application No. 2010975, filed on Oct. 27, 2020, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure is related generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic devices adapted to processing secret data. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to communication of a secure element with other electronic devices.
BACKGROUND
There exist more and more electronic devices adapted to providing digital services. These digital signals use cryptographic mechanisms where it is necessary to protect the secret data which have a high importance. The integrity of the content is also very important, indeed, conversely to a cipher (or signature) key, an identification number should not be able to be modified but it is freely accessible. For this purpose, it is up to electronic devices to guarantee the confidentiality and the integrity of the data.
A secure element is an electronic device, autonomous or not, adapted to processing secret data in secure fashion, that is, without for these secret data to be accessible or deduced, for example, by side channel attacks or penetration. A secure element may be configured to cipher data, for example.
It would be desirable to be able to improve, at least partly, certain aspects of the communication between a secure element and other electronic devices.
SUMMARY
There is a need for secure elements adapted to efficiently communicating with other electronic devices.
An embodiment overcomes all or part of the disadvantages of known secure elements.
An embodiment of a first aspect provides a secure element comprising at least one operating system comprising at least one application having a register associated therewith; a buffer memory; and a router having a software layer adapted to directing first messages using a first protocol and intended for the application to the buffer memory; and directing second messages using a second protocol different from the first protocol and intended for the application to the register.
An embodiment of the first aspect provides a method of communication between an electronic device and a secure element comprising at least one operating system comprising at least one application having a register, a buffer memory, and a router associated therewith, the router implementing a software layer comprising directing first messages using a first protocol and intended for the application to the buffer memory; and directing second messages using a second protocol different from the first protocol and intended for the application to the register.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the first protocol is implemented by a device external to the second element.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the first protocol is the VNP protocol defined according to the Global Platform Technology—Virtual Primary Platform—Network Protocol 1.0.1 or subsequent standard.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the second protocol is selected from the group comprising the HCI protocol, the SWP protocol, the CLT protocol, the packet communication protocol defined by the ISO7816 standard, the sHDLC protocol, and a communication protocol using an internal timing memory.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the first and second messages are formed of data packets of a packet communication method.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the software layer is adapted to modifying headers of the data packets of the second messages.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the second messages originate from a near-field communication device.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the first and second messages are intended for applications adapted to being implemented by a high-level operating system of the secure element.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the element is adapted to implementing at least two applications.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the element or the method is adapted to directing the second messages to the application among the at least two applications for which the second messages are intended.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the software layer manages a list of patterns provided by the applications allowing the routing of the protocol.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the secure element is embedded in an electronic system.
According to an embodiment of the first aspect, the secure element is integrated in an electronic system.
An embodiment of a second aspect provides a secure element comprising a router managing first messages using a first communication protocol between applications of the secure element and the outside of the secure element; and a software layer performing a processing at the level of the router and adapted to verifying the compatibility of a second communication protocol, different from the first one, with which second messages are received; in the absence of a compatibility, converting the second messages into the first communication protocol; and transmitting the second messages to the router.
An embodiment of the second aspect provides a method of communication between a secure element and the outside of the secure element, the secure element comprising a router managing first messages using a first communication protocol between applications of the secure element and the outside, the method comprising, executed by a software layer at the level of the router, verifying the compatibility of a second communication protocol, different from the first one, with which second messages are received; in the absence of a compatibility, converting the second messages into the first communication protocol; and transmitting the second messages to the router.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer is a virtual destination host for the applications.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the first protocol is implemented by a device external to the secure element.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the first protocol is the VNP protocol defined according to the Global Platform Technology—Virtual Primary Platform—Network Protocol 1.0.1 or subsequent standard.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the second protocol is selected from the group comprising the HCI protocol, the SWP protocol, the CLT protocol, the packet communication protocol defined by the ISO7816 standard, the sHDLC protocol, and a communication protocol using an internal timing memory.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the first and second messages are formed of data packets of a packet communication method.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer is adapted to modifying headers of the data packets of the second messages.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the second messages originate from a near-field communication device.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the first and second messages are intended for applications adapted to being implemented by a high-level operating system of the second element.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the element is adapted to implementing at least two applications.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer is further adapted to directing the second messages to the application among the at least two applications for which the second messages are intended.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer has a routing table enabling to convert a message intended for a given application.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer uses an injective function enabling to convert a message intended for a given application.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the software layer informs a device distinct from the secure element of the presence of an additional application during the creation of a pipe towards this same software layer.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the secure element is embedded in an electronic system.
According to an embodiment of the second aspect, the secure element is integrated in an electronic system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing features and advantages, as well as others, will be described in detail in the following description of specific embodiments given by way of illustration and not limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
schematically shows, in the form of blocks, an example of an electronic device of the type to which the described embodiments apply;
FIG. 2
schematically shows, in the form of blocks, another example of an electronic device of the type to which the described embodiments apply;
FIG. 3
schematically shows, in the form of blocks, still another example of an electronic device of the type to which the described embodiments apply;
FIG. 4
FIGS. 1 to 3
schematically shows in the form of blocks an embodiment of a software architecture of a secure element of an electronic device of the type of those described in relation with ;
FIG. 5
very schematically shows in the form of blocks an embodiment of a communication between two electronic devices; and
FIG. 6
very schematically shows in the form of blocks another embodiment of a communication between two electronic devices.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
Like features have been designated by like references in the various figures. In particular, the structural and/or functional features that are common among the various embodiments may have the same references and may dispose identical structural, dimensional and material properties.
For the sake of clarity, only the steps and elements that are useful for an understanding of the embodiments described herein have been illustrated and described in detail.
Unless indicated otherwise, when reference is made to two elements connected together, this signifies a direct connection without any intermediate elements other than conductors, and when reference is made to two elements coupled together, this signifies that these two elements can be connected or they can be coupled via one or more other elements.
In the following disclosure, unless otherwise specified, when reference is made to absolute positional qualifiers, such as the terms “front”, “back”, “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, etc., or to relative positional qualifiers, such as the terms “above”, “below”, “upper”, “lower”, etc., or to qualifiers of orientation, such as “horizontal”, “vertical”, etc., reference is made to the orientation shown in the figures.
Unless specified otherwise, the expressions “around”, “approximately”, “substantially” and “in the order of” signify within 10%, and preferably within 5%.
FIG. 1
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schematically shows, in the form of blocks, an example of an electronic device (SOC) of the type to which the described embodiments apply.
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Device is an electronic device formed on one and the same chip (System On Chip—SOC). Device comprises a secure element which, in this example, is integrated (iSE—integrated Secure Element). Secure element is a secure element integrated in device , that is, which may have an autonomous operation in device . According to an alternative embodiment, secure element uses certain hardware resources of device to operate, such as memories, circuits implementing specific functionalities, etc.
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Integrated secure element is an electronic circuit manipulating secret data which are, for example, ciphered. Secure element comprises at least one processor (SE CPU) adapted to processing secret data; a memory management function (MMF) and/or a memory management unit (MMU) (not shown), capable of managing the reading and the writing of data from and into the memories; one or a plurality of circuits (HW FUNCTION) adapted to implementing hardware functionalities (for example, a cryptographic accelerator, a communication cell, etc.) of secure element ; at least one volatile memory (SE RAM); at least one non-volatile memory (SE NVM); a communication circuit (COMM) adapted to managing transmissions of data and control signals between secure element and the rest of device ; and a communication bus (SE BUS) coupling all the elements of secure element .
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As a variant, integrated secure element is connected to one or a plurality of additional communication buses. For example, the integrated secure element may have a bus according to the ISO7816 standard, connected with a modem of system-on-chip , another SWP-type (Single Wire Protocol) bus connected to a near-field communication device (NFC).
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Processor is used to process control signals and data originating from memories and , or other memories comprised within device . Processor uses memory management circuit as an intermediary to manage the memory storage of the data and of the control signals, and thus the processor never directly has access to memories and . As an example, circuit may for example be used to allocate memory spaces of a volatile memory or of a non-volatile memory to certain applications implemented by the integrated secure element.
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Circuits may comprise a multitude of types of circuits and of components, functions enabling to copy data to external memories, cryptographic coprocessors, etc.
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Communication circuit may be used as a data receive and transmit chain for secure element . Circuit may comprise data reception circuits, data ciphering and/or deciphering circuits, one or a plurality of routers, data conversion circuits. Device may comprise secure element only, but may also further optionally comprise one or a plurality of processors (SOC CPU) adapted to processing data; one or a plurality of circuits (FUNCTION) adapted to implementing different functionalities of device ; one or a plurality of volatile memories (SOC RAM); one or a plurality of non-volatile memories (SOC NVM); and a communication bus (SOC BUS) enabling to exchange and to transmit control signals and data to all the previously-mentioned elements.
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For bulk and compactness reasons, device may further be adapted to storing data into one or a plurality of external memories. More particularly, device may be adapted to storing data into an external volatile memory (EXT RAM) and/or into an external non-volatile memory (EXT NVM). In this case, device further comprises interface circuits adapted to communicating with the external memories. More particularly, device may comprise, in this case, an interface circuit (RAM INTERFACE) adapted to communicating with external volatile memory , and/or an interface circuit (NVM INTERFACE) capable of communicating with non-volatile memory .
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Secure element may have access to the hardware resources of device to operate, such as for example to circuits , to memories , , or even to memories and .
FIG. 2
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schematically shows, in the form of blocks, another example of an electronic circuit ′ of the type to which the described embodiments apply.
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Device ′ comprises various electronic circuits or chips among which an embedded Secure Element (eSE) forming a tamper resistant element (TRE); a main processor (Main CPU); a modem-type communication circuit (Modem); and a near-field communication circuit (NFC controller).
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Embedded secure element is formed of a single chip and integrates, for example, a secure element (Secure CPU); a hardware cryptographic processor (HW Crypto CPU) or cryptographic accelerator; one or a plurality of volatile memories (RAM); one or a plurality of non-volatile memories (NVM); and one or a plurality of buses (Bus) of communication between the different components of element .
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Element further integrates interfaces of communication with the outside according to various communication protocols, for example, an interface (I2C/SPI HW) of I2C or SPI type of communication with external processor ; an interface (ISO7816) of communication according to the ISO7816 standard with modem ; and an SWP-type interface (SWP) of communication with NFC controller .
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Device ′ may comprise other circuits, integrated or not. For example, embedded secure element may use one or a plurality of external memories (not shown) with which it communicates directly or via the main processor.
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Conversely to an integrated secure element such as the element of , an embedded secure element is not integrated with the other components of device ′ and particularly the main processor of the application.
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Embedded secure element may however be integrated with a near-field communication controller (NFC).
FIG. 3
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schematically shows, in the form of blocks, still another example of an electronic circuit ″ of the type to which the described embodiments apply.
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In this example, it is assumed that the embedded secure element is integrated with a near-field communication controller on a same chip . Thus, integrated circuit or chip comprises an embedded secure element ′ (TRE) including the same elements as the element of except for interface , that is, a secure element (Secure CPU); a hardware cryptographic processor (HW Crypto CPU); one or a plurality of volatile memories (RAM); one or a plurality of non-volatile memories (NVM); one or a plurality of buses (Bus) of communication between the different components of element ; an interface (I2C/SPI HW) of I2C or SPI type of communication with external processor (Main CPU); and an interface (ISO7816) of communication according to the ISO7816 standard with modem (Modem); and a NFC controller (NFC Controller) including, for example, a processor (CPU); a radio frequency transmit/receive circuit (RF Analog HW) or RF analog head; one or a plurality of volatile memories (RAM); one or a plurality of non-volatile memories (NVM); one or a plurality of buses (Bus) of communication between the different components of the NFC controller; and an interface (I2C/SPI HW) of communication with the main processor of device ″.
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The exchanges between secure element ′ and controller directly transit through buses and which, according to cases, are coupled together and form one and the same bus, where element ′ and controller may simulate a SWP protocol.
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Secure element ′ and the controller may also communicate via their RAMs and via a shared memory allowing the communication between processes (IPC—Inter Process Communication).
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As a variant, secure element ′ and the controller may communicate via their internal SWP communication cells (not shown). This enables to keep the format of SWP exchanges (and of the protocols implemented thereon) without having the constraints (such as the noise, the bus speed limitation, etc.).
The application to near-field communications between a secure element (integrated or embedded) is a preferred application due to the strong development of these functionalities in the electronic devices.
FIG. 4
FIGS. 1 to 3
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schematically shows in the form of blocks an embodiment of a software architecture of a secure element of an electronic device of the type of those described in relation with .
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Unless specified otherwise, the expression “secure element” designates hereafter indifferently an embedded secure element or an integrated secure element. Thus, the software architecture of secure element SE may be implemented in any of the elements , , or ′ of the previous drawings.
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FIG. 5
Architecture comprises a primary platform (VPP), generally called virtual primary platform (VPP) comprising the access to the electronic components (HW) of secure element SE and comprising one or a plurality of low-level operating systems (LLOS). According to an embodiment, primary platform further comprises a circuit capable of implementing a communication management software or process (COMM MGT) having its operation described in relation with .
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FIG. 2
FIG. 3
FIG. 1
FIGS. 2 and 3
FIG. 1
FIGS. 2 and 3
Components are the hardware resources of secure element SE (, ; , ; ′, ). The components of secure element are for example one or a plurality of processors, for example, processor () or (), one or a plurality of memories, for example, memories and () or and (), one or a plurality of communication devices, such as a communication device enabling to directly communicate with a near-field communication device (NFC), a short-range communication device using, for example, the Bluetooth standard, biometric sensors, etc.
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Low-level operating systems are software adapted to implementing components to execute control signals received from most of the applications implemented by the secure element. As an example, low-level operating systems comprise all or part of the driver software of components .
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A low-level operating system is formed of an execution code (or executable code) and of execution data. The execution code contains instructions enabling to execute functions of the program. By definition, the instructions are invariable for a given program, except for an update of the program, which then modifies the instructions. The execution data are used by the execution code to contextualize the execution and perform the desired function. The execution data may be distributed in two categories. So-called “temporary” execution data and so-called “permanent” or “fixed” execution data. For example, if the function comprises the verification of a PIN code, this function is broken down in three portions, the execution code contains instructions of verification of the PIN code while the permanent execution data contain the reference PIN code and the number of remaining tests and the temporary execution data contain the PIN code submitted to the verification.
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Primary platform communicates with applications implemented by secure element with interfaces or tools (TOOLS) executed by the primary platform. These interfaces or tools may comprise, among others, application binary interfaces (ABI); registers (VRE, Virtual Register); and storage buffer memories, or buffer memories, or also shared memories allowing a data exchange between processes via inter-process communications (IPC).
An application binary interface is a low-level interface between the applications of the secure element and its operating system, or between different portions of an application.
210
The registers are memory spaces linked to a hardware function of the secure element and used to temporarily store data, for example, when a control signal is sent to the primary platform of the secure element or during exchanges between processes executed by the primary platform.
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The buffer memories (or shared memories) are used to store messages before their use by platform or by applications , , of the secure element. In practice, buffer memories are memory spaces allocated in a memory of element , for example, a volatile memory to which element has access, such as memory .
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As an example, software architecture comprises at least three applications , , adapted to using interfaces or tools to implement primary platform . Applications , , are software using the resources of the primary platform. Of course, the secure element implements a number of applications within the limit of its calculation capacities.
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FIG. 1
FIG. 2
FIG. 3
FIG. 1
FIGS. 2 and 3
An integrated secure element () could execute a single application at a time in its internal memories and record the other applications in external memories, which would enable to have a number of applications only limited by the external memories. The application must previously be loaded into the inner memories before being executed (or resuming the execution) and the previous application must be discharged before being able to use it. Conversely, an embedded secure element () or ′ () will prefer the use of its internal memories to store and execute the applications, which implies a more limited notion of applications, but a faster execution since it will be spoken of an “in place” execution which does not require displacing the application. It however remains possible to combine an embedded secure element with external memories and thus to combine the benefit of the internal and external memories. Applications , , may be adapted to implementing any type of functionalities. They generally implement digital services of a service provider, for example, a payment service of EMV or transport ticket type. These applications may be combined with another application located in main processor () or () or in another secure environment (Trusted Execution Environment). The processor and the secure environment are more capable of interacting with the user via a trusted user interface. Applications , , are for example adapted to processing control signals originating from communication interfaces, such as, for example, a bank transaction using a near-field communication device. The applications may be of different types, for example, a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) application, a payment application, an application enabling to validate a public transport ticket, etc.
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According to an example of application type, application (App) is capable of being directly implemented by primary platform (VPP) by means of interfaces or tools . Application is for example an application enabling to make payments by communicating with a near-field communication (NFC) device.
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According to another example of application type, application is a set of instructions A (App) adapted to being executed by using a high-level operating system H (HLOS). A high-level operating system is software adapted to implementing different applications by providing a set of common software functions. Operating system H is the only portion of application to be communicating with primary platform by means of interfaces or tools . As a variant, it can also be considered that the high-level operating system, as well as all the applications which are attached thereto, are a single application adapted to being implemented by primary platform by means of interfaces or tools .
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According to another example of application type, another application is a set of instructions A (App) using an execution environment E (ENV) which itself uses a high-level operating system H (HLOS). The execution environment is for example of Java or JavaCard type. Operating system H and execution environment E are the only portions of application to communicate with primary platform by means of interfaces or tools . As a variant, it can also be considered that the high-level operating system, as well as all the applications which are attached thereto, are an application capable of being implemented by primary platform .
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High-level operating systems H and H, or applications and themselves if there is no high-level operating system, use virtual images of the memories available for the management of the execution codes and of the execution data. Due to this technique, the high-level operating systems (or the applications) do not have a direct access to the management of physical memories, be they volatile or non-volatile. In other words, in the described embodiments, the high-level operating systems manage a virtual image of the memories. The correspondence of the physical distribution in the volatile and non-volatile memories is ensured by low-level operating system(s) in combination with certain HW modules . More generally, it is considered that module puts in correspondence the virtual and physical memories.
110
Further, it is considered that an application may be in at least three different states: an active state or state where it is run by primary platform ; a standby state, that is, its execution is interrupted but it may be resumed at any moment; and an inactive or deactivated state, that is, its execution cannot be restarted without one or a plurality of prior operations.
When an application leaves the standby state to be executed again, it resumes its execution where it has stopped. It does not need using a specific routine to continue its processing. From the point of view of the application, all appears as if the application had not been interrupted.
When an application is deactivated, all its data are stored in the memory in the same way as for an application at standby.
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The implementation of application , , or is the following. When an application desires to use a hardware resource of the secure element, that is, one or a plurality of components of primary platform , this means that the current operations executed on the fixed data are considered as ended. The application can then execute different control signals, for example, forcing a writing into a non-volatile memory. For this purpose, the application sends a control signal and/or data to primary platform via interfaces or tools . The control signal is taken charge of by one or a plurality of application binary interfaces before being sent to low-level operating systems , that is, the control signal is divided into a plurality of operations, each represented by an application binary interface or virtual registers or also a buffer memory/shared memory. The data are stored into registers or transmitted via inter-process communications (IPC). Low-level operating systems respond to the requests of the application binary interfaces by applying the operations requested by the application binary interfaces to the data stored in the registers. Low-level operating systems then drive components to execute what is requested by the application.
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Applications , , cannot communicate together within the secure element. Each application (with x varying from 1 to the number of applications likely to be executed) does not know the existence of the other applications . In particular, each operating system of an application “believes” that it is the only one to communicate with the outside. Thus, if the applications had to communicate together, they should do it as if they were discussing of a secure element executing an application towards another element with an application . However, two sub-applications of a same set or application (an application may contain a plurality of sub-applications) use packet communication methods to communicate together by using the IPC inter process communication tools. Each application , , may communicate with external electronic devices. Packet communication is a data transmission method where sent messages are formed of one or of a plurality of data packets. Each data packet comprises a header comprising data relative to the type of communication protocol used, to the transmitter of the message, to the message receiver, to the message size, etc. Among the different known packet communication protocols, the secure element is likely to use (compatible with) different protocols that may be classified, according to the nature of the protocol, in terms of exchanged data protocol, of application protocol, of communication protocol, of physical link. For example, these protocols include the VNP protocol (Virtual Network Protocol) defined by the “Global Platform Technology Virtual Primary Platform—Network Protocol 1.0.1” standard (or any subsequent version) which corresponds to a protocol of the exchanged data; the SWP protocol (Single Wire Protocol), defined by the ETSI TS 102 613 UICC—Contactless Front-end (CLF) Interface—Physical and data link layer characteristics standard, which corresponds to a physical link; the communication protocol defined by the ISO7816 standard which covers both the data exchange, the application protocol, the communications, and the nature of the physical link (wireless); the HCI (Host Controller Interface) protocol, defined by the ETSI TS 102 612 v12.0 standard (or any subsequent version) which corresponds to an application protocol; the CLT protocol, defined by the ETSI TS 102 613 UICC—Contactless Front-end (CLF) Interface—Physical and data link layer characteristics 11.0 standard (or any subsequent version), which corresponds to a communication protocol; the sHDLC protocol (Simplified High-Level Data Link Control), defined by the ETSI TS 102 613 (UICC—Contactless Front-end (CLF) Interface—Physical and data link layer characteristics) standard; and the I2C or SPI protocol which correspond to physical links.
The messages may also be transmitted via a memory playing the role of a communication bus. In other words, a communication bus may be replaced with a memory having the data to be transmitted by the transmit device written into it, and read by the receive device.
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The VNP protocol is a communication protocol adapted to operating for the communications of a secure element. It is a protocol capable of managing the routing of the messages within architecture and also towards outer devices. This is the preferred communication protocol in a secure element. According to an embodiment, the router comprised within components (in combination with low-level operating systems ) is a router configured to process messages using the VNP protocol.
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The HCI, sHDLC, and CLT protocols are protocols which are in conflict with the VNP protocol, since these protocols are not compatible, the standards do not define the interaction between the two. The result of this conflict shows that the HCI, sHDLC, and CLT protocols are not adapted to managing the routing of the messages within architecture . Thus, the router comprised in components cannot support a message using the sHDLC, CLT, and HCI protocols since the data for properly routing the messages within architecture are not present.
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The CLT, sHDLC, and HCI protocols, and the protocol defined by the ISO7816 standard are protocols which are not compatible with the use of the VNP protocol. The router comprised in components (in combination with ) is not capable of supporting a message using the CLT, sHDLC, HCI, and ISO7816 protocols.
In the embodiments described hereafter, it is desired to ascertain that the secure element (integrated or embedded) manages the possible conflicts between applications while isolating the applications from one another. In other words, each operating system of an application (or each application with no operating system) believes that it is the only one to access the secure element.
FIG. 5
schematically shows in the form of blocks an embodiment of a communication between two electronic devices.
FIG. 5
FIG. 1
FIGS. 2 and 3
FIGS. 2 and 3
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for example illustrates an embodiment of a communication between a secure element (SE) of the type of those described in relation with the previous drawings and electronic devices (VNP) compatible with the VNP protocol, for example, main processor () or () and a device (OTHER) which is not compatible with the VNP protocol, and which uses different packet communication protocols. It is for example, modem () which conventionally exchanges with the secure element (for example, a subscriber identification module—SIM) via an ISO7816 protocol. Device , may be the device where secure element is comprised (case of the integrated secure module) or a separate electronic device (case of the embedded secure module).
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Device is adapted to communicating with secure element by sending messages using the VNP protocol.
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Device is adapted to communicating with secure element by sending messages using other protocols than the VNP protocol, such as for example the HCI protocol, the SWP protocol, the CLT protocol, the ISO7816 protocol, the sHDLC protocol. Device may for example also use an internal timing memory such as the physical link conveying the concerned protocol. Device is, for example, a near-field communication device, for example, a NFC device. This type of device must implement specific standards to allow an interoperability (during its use with the different devices). More particularly, a NFC device, will use a NFC controller (Near Field Communication Controller—NFCC) or a contactless front end (CLF) with the NCI protocol for the interfacing with the NFCC and the main processor and the HCI/CLT/sHDLC protocol for the interfacing between the NFCC or the CLF and the secure element.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
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In the example illustrated in relation with , secure element implements two applications (App) and (App). The chain of reception of a message by secure element is shown in . This receive chain comprises a circuit (VH) adapted to implementing a virtual host software; a router (ROUTER) adapted to processing the received messages; the virtual primary platform (VPP) of the secure element; and two buffer memories (MEM) and (MEM), each associated with an application , .
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When device sends a message using the VNP protocol to secure element , this message is received by router . Due to the header of the data packets of the message, router is capable of determining what application should receive the message due to the data present in the VNP protocol. The message then passes through the virtual private platform to be stored in the buffer memory associated with the applicator intended to receive the message, process it, and answer thereto. The application will fetch the message from the buffer memory in order to use it.
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When device sends a message which does not use the VNP protocol to secure element , this message is first received by circuit adapted to implementing the virtual host software or process. The software or process has several functionalities. It first enables to modify the communication protocol used by the message to make it usable by router if this protocol is not compatible with the VNP protocol. The virtual host further enables to direct the message to the adequate application.
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An example where a NFC controller uses the HCI protocol, combined with sHDLC and CLT protocols, as defined in the ETSI TS 102 622 and TS 102 613 standards, is assumed. It is further assumed that applications App and App of secure element only interface the VPP layer (and the router). The VPP layer and the associated router then only use the VNP protocol. First, the virtual host software will register, on the VNP router, to be seen by applications App and App as a NFC host implementing a HCI gate. When application App or App will create a VNP pipe towards this virtual host software, the virtual host software will accept the creating of the pipe and initiate the communication between itself and the NFC controller by using the defined protocols comprised by the NFC controller. Then, when application App or App will send HCI control signals to execute instructions on the NFCC via VNP packets, the virtual host software will intercept/receive the VNP packets containing the HCI control signal and will remove the VNP encapsulation to encapsulate the message in one or a plurality of sHDLC frames. During the messages coming, in return, from the NFC controller to application App or App, the virtual host software will perform the operation in the reverse direction, that is, by suppressing the sHDLC data and by adding thereto the VNP data (while keeping the HCI content). This first type of implementation makes the use of this translation exclusive. In other words, two applications of two different low-level operating systems (LLSO) might not properly manage the NFCC controller. Indeed, they would rapidly become conflicting. Since each low-level operating system LLOS does not know the other low-level operating system, their respective application might otherwise introduce incompatible parameters on the NFC controller, making the applications of the other application unusable. Further, if a contactless message arrived via the antenna of the NFC controller, there would be no way to identify the application intended to process the control signal. For example, if a link already exists between application App and the NFC controller, the virtual host software then denies the creation of a link between application App and the NFC controller. Once the link with application App has been suppressed (for example, the task is completed or the pipe between application and the virtual host software is suppressed/closed), the virtual host software authorizes the creation of the link between application App and the NFC controller. Afterwards, if application App wishes to access the NFC controller, it should re-create the link to the NFC controller once the link between application App and the NFC controller is over.
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As a variant, the virtual host software may inform the NFC controller of the presence of a plurality of low-level operating systems LLOS (and thus of a plurality of applications App, App), which enables to have a plurality of links between the NFC controller and the applications. According to this variant, the virtual host software informs the NFC controller that a new low-level operating system is available when the pipe between the application of this new operating system and the virtual host software is created. During exchanges between the NFC controller and the virtual host device, the two devices add data to identify the application of the low-level operating system targeted by the control signal. To form the bridge between the two protocols (mainly when there are a plurality of applications), the virtual host software has an internal routing table allowing the translation of the data. As a variant, it uses an injective function between the identifier of the NFC controller and of the targeted application (two distinct identifiers cannot concern a same application).
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Optionally, the software may further enable to modify the state of an application, for example, to switch it from an inactive, or standby, state, to an active state so that it is alert for the reception of a message. Once the message has been processed by the virtual host software, it follows the same path as a message sent by device . In other words, router receives the message and directs it to the right application. The message then passes through the virtual private platform to be stored in the buffer memory associated with the application intended to receive the message. The application will fetch the message from the buffer memory in order to use it.
Optionally, the software may enable to manage a list of authorizations of access and data exchange between the different applications, the different environments, and/or the different operating systems to authorize, or not, communications.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it enables to make a message using a communication protocol other than the VNP protocol usable by the secure element.
FIG. 6
very schematically shows in the form of blocks another embodiment of a communication between two electronic devices.
FIG. 6
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schematically illustrates in the form of blocks, another embodiment of a method of communication between a secure element (SE) of the type of that described in relation with the previous drawings, and an electronic device (DEVICE).
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FIG. 2
Device uses any packet communication protocol described in relation with to communicate with the secure element. Device may be the device where secure element or an external electronic device is comprised. Device is for example, a near-field communication device.
FIG. 4
FIG. 5
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In the example illustrated in relation with , secure element implements an application (App). The chain of reception of a message by secure element is shown in . This receive chain comprises a router (ROUTER); the virtual primary platform (VPP) of the secure element; a buffer memory (MEM) associated with application ; and a register (VRE).
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Router is adapted to using the VNP protocol to process and direct the received messages to application . When device sends a message using the VNP protocol, router directs the message to application . For this purpose, the message passes through primary platform and is then stored in buffer memory . Application then fetches the message from buffer memory in order to use it.
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According to an embodiment, router (as a variant, platform ) is also adapted to directing the messages which do not use the VNP protocol into register rather than to buffer memory . Register is linked to application . Before being used, an operation of linking of the register to the application is performed. Indeed, application App might register on a virtual register VRE (or other means) with primary virtual primary platform to indicate thereto that it may receive control signals/instructions/information according to a defined protocol (sHDLC, CLT, etc.) and/or of a physical line (SWP, I2C, SPI, ISO7816, etc.). In this implementation, a single application may register on the specific register. When data arrive on this pipe (logic or physical), the router or the VPP platform transmits the data to the application which has registered (without altering the communication protocol used).
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According to an alternative embodiment, element could be adapted to implement more than one application. In this case, each application is linked to a specific register by a linking operation.
In this case, the control signal is sent to the “default” application or to the currently active application. This implies that the application targeted by the control signal has been selected by other means (for example, by a channel which has used the VNP protocol). In the case of a selection by another channel, the application may request/impose its non-deselection for a given time (for example, 500 ms, 1 sec, etc.) to be able to receive and process the next control signal. If the full processing of the operation requires a plurality of control signals, the application might extend the non-deselection time by asking it to the VPP layer.
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According to another alternative embodiment where element is adapted to implementing more than one application, a register may be linked to the application which is being executed by secure element .
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In this variant, the applications indicate a pattern which is specific thereto. The advantage is that if a plurality of applications register on a same virtual register, router or platform may select the application according to the recorded pattern. A default application may keep on executing its processing if the received control signal corresponds to no pattern. Of course, the control signals following the selection of the application remain sent and processed by it.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it enables to make a message using a communication protocol other than the VNP protocol usable.
According to still another embodiment, the host device external to the secure element, be this host virtual (virtual host) or in hardware form (device host), implements a (first) communication protocol into which messages according to another (second) protocol are converted if the secure element is not compatible with this second protocol.
Various embodiments and variants have been described. Those skilled in the art will understand that certain features of these various embodiments and variants may be combined, and other variants will occur to those skilled in the art.
Finally, the practical implementation of the described embodiments and variations is within the abilities of those skilled in the art based on the functional indications given hereinabove. | |
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Viverrids are found in western Europe (including France, Portugal, and Spain), Southeast Asia (including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia), and most of Africa.
Viverrids occupy tropical deciduous forests that provide canopies (uppermost layer of a forest consisting of spreading branches). They also inhabit tall grasses and thick brush for cover. Some prefer wetlands, while others live near rivers and streams.
Most viverrids eat rodents, insects, reptiles, frogs, birds, crabs, carrion (dead and decaying flesh), eggs, fruits, and nuts. Palm civets are predominantly frugivores, eating pulpy fruits and berries. | https://animals.jrank.org/pages/3065/Civets-Genets-Linsangs-Viverridae.html |
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There are many changes currently being made to GP services. These changes are set out in the
GP Forward View, which outlines
NHS England’s vision for primary care. These changes include, but are not limited to, offering appointments in extended hours,
and providing new ways for people to access GP services. These changes will affect how patients and the
public experience their local services, and as such we need to ensure that the GP Patient Survey (GPPS) remains relevant in this context,
and continues to ask about the right things and in the right way. As a consequence, questions across the survey may be modified,
removed or replaced. While we intend to retain questions that are widely used and which remain relevant where possible, it should be
noted that wider changes to the questionnaire mean that we cannot be certain that data trends will be maintained.
As this is a good opportunity to take stock, as well as anticipating changes to the ‘GP Access’ questions (Q1-Q20), we also anticipate considering other improvements to the survey.
This will include the sections of the questionnaire that deal with ‘Managing your health,’ ‘Your state of health today,’ and ‘Planning your care’ (Q30-Q39). This is so that we can
get a better understanding of how local care services are supporting patients to live well, particularly patients with long-term care needs.
However, the questionnaire as a whole is under review, so please take this into account when providing feedback.
In this context, GPPS data users are invited to give any comments they may have about proposed changes to the questionnaire.
To view a copy the current GP Patient Survey questionnaire, please click here. | http://gp-patient.co.uk/access |
10 civilians including children wounded in unprovoked Indian firing along LoC
Pakistan has registered a strong protest against India for breach of ceasefire agreement across LoC.
RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – In an unfortunate event, 10 civilians including two children and two women sustained critical injuries along the Line of Control (LoC) after Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing deliberately targeting the civilian population.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that Indian troops in last 24 hours have continuously breached the ceasefire agreement by firing mortars and heavy weapons in Jandrot and Nikial sectors along the LoC. The population in Jabbar, Sandhara, Sumbal Gali and Dabsi villages of Kotli district were targeted.
The wounded civilians were taken to the nearby hospital for medical assistance.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to Indian unprovoked ceasefire violations. One Indian soldier was killed, three got injured, including a major, while substantial damage inflicted on Indian posts which initiated fire, reported the military’s media wing.
Indian diplomat summoned over continuous breach of ceasefire agreement
Pakistan has registered a strong protest against India on Monday for continuous ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC) which resulted in critical injuries to the civilians.
According to the Foreign Office, a senior diplomat from the High Commission of India has been summoned to register their protest for the indiscriminate firing by Indian troops on Feb 9 targeting the villages of Kotla district. 10 innocent civilians including children and women were wounded in the unprovoked firing.
Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless Indian acts, in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and complete disregard for international human rights and international norms, further vitiate the tense atmosphere along the LoC and pose a threat to regional peace and stability.
It was also emphasized that by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB), India cannot divert attention from the worsening human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).
Pakistan called upon the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate this and other incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.
It was also urged that India should permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. | https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/531921-Indian-troops-deliberately-targeting--ivilian-population-LoC-ISPR |
This study explores the central role that a spiritualized friendship played in the thought and writings of antebellum reformers. It identifies a spiritual sensibility that was widely shared by many radical New England activists of the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s regardless of their specific denominational beliefs, and argues that this sense of spirituality motivated them to become activists who labored to transform their society.;Specifically, this dissertation analyzes the work and writings of a variety of reformers who believed that spirit or soul could serve as a mechanism for leveling some of the most dominant cultural and institutional power hierarchies of the mid-nineteenth century. Organized around three case studies---Theodore Dwight Weld's and Angelina Grimke's efforts to conceptualize an egalitarian marriage in 1838, white and black abolitionists' debates over the political efficacy of spiritualized friendships in the early 1840s, Elihu Burritt's struggle to destabilize nationalism and foster a sense of global community in the late 1840s---the dissertation explores the ideological centrality of spirit in the period's millennial, utopian struggles against racism and slavery, sexism and patriarchy, and nationalism and war. Believing these hierarchies to be rooted in physical, bodily differences---in race and sex and nation---the reformers of this study saw in the disembodied, immaterial soul a means for unmaking those hierarchies. An ever growing recognition of the primacy of the soul within each and every human being, they believed, could function as a political instrument that would transform society by leading to a correlative appreciation of the inconsequentiality of the body and bodily difference. Together these case studies demonstrate how this spiritual sensibility shaped the political ideology and practical strategies of abolitionists, woman's right activists, and pacifists, investing their efforts to affect revolutionary social change with the zeal and conviction of religious faith.
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-k8cw-k176
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Nelson, Robert Kent, "Society of souls: Spirit, friendship, and the antebellum reform imagination" (2006). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623502. | https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539623502/ |
The New Enlightenment Conference (Edinburgh, July 1–2, 2019) on re-inventing capitalism issued the First Declaration of Panmure House, which urged international leaders to base their policies and decision-making on a set of common principles, as espoused and formulated by Adam Smith, which cherish the required values of an ethically-based liberal democratic system, a moral commitment to the well-being of our communities, and affirm responsibility to protect economic, political, and social freedoms, use resources wisely, avoid unintentional consequences, follow the rule of law, favour markets and prices as guides to resource allocation, and take a long-term view of private and public investments, to support inclusive economic growth and prosperity for all.
It is not altogether clear how The Panmure House declaration or Fink’s strong words will translate into redefining corporate performance beyond financial returns. But such important statements of intent highlight the growing awareness among leaders of major corporations that something must be done differently to realign business with the rapidly changing global economic context. This new realization is evident in the redefinition of ‘Corporate Purpose’ by the Business Roundtable (members are CEOs of leading US companies) on April 19, 2019. The signatories of this statement, 181 CEOs, ‘commit to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders—customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders’. This declaration directs attention to an expanded set of stakeholders of the firm and offers insight into the idea of responsible leadership, a term used more and more often in the communities of both research and practice.
In China, the state council has issued in 2007, ‘Guiding Opinions about Central SOEs’ Fulfillment of Social Responsibilities’, urging all SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises) controlled by the central government to adopt corporate governance practices to fulfill their CSR and to issue CSR reports. In 2018, the media representative of the State Asset Management Committee restated that fulfilling social responsibilities is the ‘born attribute’ of SOEs.
Many leaders of Privately-Owned Enterprises (POEs) also believe in making contributions to society, beyond benefiting shareholders. For example, POEs have contributed the majority of charitable donations in China. The Li and Liang (2015) study on Chinese leaders’ prosocial motivation provides systematic evidence on their desires to serve the greater good. Majority owners of POEs often emphasize their orientation towards serving employees, customers, and the broader community (see examples of such CEOs in Tsui, Zhang, & Chen, 2017). Jack Ma from Alibaba, for instance, is known for his philosophy of serving ‘customers first, employees second, and shareholders third’.
However, why are some enterprise leaders of SOEs or POEs more attentive than others to the interests of their stakeholders, even though they all face the same expectations from government and from society to behave responsibly? As China enters its next stage of global development, manifestations of understanding the meaning of responsible leadership and different approaches leaders use to lead responsibly is an important research agenda for the development of the next generation of leaders, both in China and beyond.
This special issue of Management and Organization Review seeks research that identifies various forms of responsible leadership, including theory development, qualitative studies, as well as hypotheses testing using quantitative, qualitative, or experimental methods. The former may include well-grounded cases of responsible leadership that describe corporate or governmental experiments (on addressing pressing social and economic issues). The latter may be the testing of hypotheses on responsible actions by leaders at different levels in the organization. Our goal is to discover Responsible Leadership at any level of the firm that addresses pressing social and economic issues. This special issue aims to contribute to both theory development and the practice of responsible leadership at different levels and in different contexts, especially in China.
A Responsible Research Approach to Studying Responsible Leadership
Leadership research has a long tradition, but the literature on ‘responsible leadership’ is fairly recent and is mostly conceptual or normative, with some case studies, focusing on the leader’s role in corporate social responsibility (e.g., Waldman & Balven, 2014), or on addressing stakeholder needs beyond shareholder returns (e.g., Maak & Pless, 2006). There is a wide-open opportunity for systematic empirical studies on responsible leaders using actual experiments or taking real actions addressing specific social consequences beyond high level declarations and redefinitions of corporate purpose. We treat ‘responsible leadership’ as an umbrella term that covers various leadership approaches, which address legitimate concerns and needs of relevant stakeholders at multiple levels and in different domains, e.g., individual, group, organization, sociocultural, environmental, and so forth. We hope the empirical projects to be reported in this special issue will help both the academic field and corporate practice by clarifying the definition and scope of responsible leadership from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
This special issue on responsible leadership departs from traditional leadership studies in its focus on leadership practices (e.g., policies, actions, or actual experiments) that aim to address specific issues and deliver specific value to the different stakeholders of the firm or of government agencies. Hence, we de-emphasize leadership style studies and give priority to broader actions and practices of leaders.
Responsible leadership research is also reflected in a movement calling for business research to focus on both rigor and relevance. The former refers to researchers’ responsibility to science in producing reliable and replicable findings, while the latter refers to their responsibility to society by developing actionable knowledge that can contribute to business, organization, and management practices for a better world. We encourage research proposals and papers that follow or exemplify the seven principles of responsible research (cRRBM, 2017; Tsui, 2019).
Core Research Question and Extensions
The core question to be explored in this special issue is ‘How and why do Chinese organizational leaders and their firms conceive and implement socially or societally oriented policies and practices that address the range of distributive justice issues’? Distributive justice issues include balancing attention to different external stakeholders (such as employees, customers, suppliers, and community) beyond owners or shareholders. But also the role of government to address distributive justice issues such as migrants, income, and wealth inequalities.
Possible extensions of the core research question include but are not limited to the following:
- Why are some Chinese leaders and their firms more societally oriented, i.e., they give balanced attention to different external stakeholders (such as customers, suppliers, community, and not only shareholders) than other leaders?
- How is such societally oriented responsible leadership manifested at the lower, middle, and strategic levels?
- What might be some cultural, economic, political, or psychological reasons explaining the differences in societally oriented responsible leadership?
- Why do some leaders of Chinese firms treat employees with dignity and respect their rights to decent compensation, benefits, working conditions, well-being, voice in decision making, or a high investment in the employment relationship?
- Does responsible leadership differ across types of enterprises in China (e.g., state-owned, privately listed, family owned, non-governmental organizations, social enterprises) or different industries (e.g., manufacturing, service, financial, e-commerce, high technology)? How is responsible leadership manifested in the different types of firms?
- How are social innovations created and developed in for-profit or non-profit firms? What is the role of responsible leadership in social innovation within and between organizations or between levels within an organization?
- How is responsible leadership of some Chinese MNCs manifested in their foreign operations? How does the local context impact the reactions to or outcomes of the Chinese MNCs’ socially responsible practices? Does societally oriented responsible leadership offer a better or worse explanation than other leadership or institutional factors, such as the nation, industry, social networks, in understanding the Chinese MNC’s reputation and success abroad?
- How do culture and economic systems shape the definition and practice of responsible leadership? What are the similarities and differences in responsible leadership practices between Chinese and other economies, emerging and developed? What might explain the similarities or differences?
Submissions must be empirical studies and we encourage research designs involving multidisciplinary lenses, different levels of analyses, creative methodologies, and replications.
Submission deadline is December 1, 2021. We expect editorial decisions within 90 days after submission (end of February, 2022) Authors of papers that have received a revise and resubmit will be invited to an MOR Special Issue Paper Development Workshop (most likely a virtual workshop). Date and location to be determined (around March/April 2022).
Following the practices of MOR Paper Development Workshops, each paper author will receive detailed reviews and editorial guidelines as well as a specific editorial decision within two months of the Workshop (before the end of June, 2022). We expect to publish the special issue in December 2022 or early 2023.
We welcome the submission of papers that report longitudinal experiments, or constructive replications of these projects, or examination of the consequences of responsible leadership practices, policies, or field experiments. The tentative deadline for submission of the follow-up longitudinal studies is January 31, 2023.
Inquiries about this special issue may be directed to any of the guest editors by emailing [email protected]
Submission information:
Please submit full papers by December 1, 2021 via the MOR submission website by selecting the ‘Responsible Leadership in China and Beyond’ special issue designation: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mor
NOTES https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/2019-larry-fink-ceo-letter
https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans
http://gongyi.people.com.cn/n1/2018/1217/c151132-30471937.html
REFERENCES
cRRBM. 2017. Responsible research in business and management: Striving for useful and credible knowledge. Available from URL: www.rrbm.network
Li, X. H., & Liang, X. 2015. A Confucian social model of political appointments among Chinese private-firm entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Journal, 58(2): 592–617.
Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. 2006. Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society–a relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1): 99–115.
Tsui, A. S. 2019. Guidepost: Responsible research and responsible leadership studies. Academy of Management Discoveries, in press.
Tsui, A. S., Zhang, Y. Y., & Chen, X. P. 2017. Leadership of Chinese private enterprises: Insights and interviews. London: Palgrave-McMillan.
Waldman, D. A., & Balven, R. M. 2014. Responsible leadership: Theoretical issues and research directions. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3): 224–234. | https://eng.iacmr.org/mor-special-issue-cfp-responsible-leadership-in-china-and-beyond-a-responsible-research-approach/ |
National Gallery of Victoria opens Fred Williams. Infinite Horizons
The National Gallery of Victoria presents Fred Williams. Infinite Horizons the first major retrospective of Fred Williams’s work in over 25 years, on view from April 7 – 22 through July 2012.
Fred Williams: Infinite Horizons showcases over 100 works from this iconic Australian artist drawn from public and private collections in Australia and overseas, including many works that have never been on public display before.
The exhibition highlights Williams’s strength as a landscape artist including important oil paintings and luminous gouaches that reveal his distinctive approach, and his ability to poetically convey a feeling of place.
Frances Lindsay, Deputy Director NGV, said: “This is a rare opportunity for visitors to see a comprehensive retrospective of this seminal Australian artist.
“In the late 1950s Williams was determined to paint what was widely considered a hopelessly outdated subject. In doing so he redefined how Australians view and understand our unique landscapes and became one of the most important Australian artists of the twentieth century.”
Infinite Horizons is a reflection of one of Australia’s most distinctive and recognisable artists providing new insights for those who are familiar with his work. This retrospective showcases the classic Williams works in various series alongside his non-anthology works.
In the 1960s, Williams often painted outdoors with gouache, subsequently working on his oil paintings back in the studio, often with a minimal palette. In the 1970s, however, he felt an urgent desire to paint outdoors in oil with vibrant colour, partly driven by his need to reinvent his art.
Humphrey Clegg, NGV Coordinating Curator explains: “Although Williams was a modest man, he was ambitious for his art. He saw the Australian landscape as a vehicle for extending the possibilities of contemporary painting.”
The vibrancy of Williams’s palette reaches its peak in works inspired by the Pilbara. After visiting the West Australian region twice in 1979 he painted the Pilbara series in 1981 before his untimely death the following year. This series was generously gifted to the NGV by Rio Tinto in 2001; a number of the oil paintings and gouaches feature in this exhibition and a further seven works remain on display in the permanent collection at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.
Infinite Horizons, on display in Williams’s home city of Melbourne, includes the bush and desert landscapes that he is most commonly associated with and also presents his fascination with water, in works featuring seascapes, ponds, creeks, billabongs and waterfalls.
Visitors to the exhibition will engage with a stunning range of Williams’s paintings inspired by unique Australian locations, from Upwey in Victoria to the Pilbara in Western Australia and Weipa in North Queensland.
Also of great interest in the exhibition are the portraits Williams produced throughout his career. Initially trained at the National Gallery School in Melbourne Williams was adept at depicting the figure and these works show an artist engaged with his subjects, and intrigued by a sense of his sitter’s individuality.
Fred Williams’s body of work holds the highest significance in Australian art history and is comprehensively presented in this major exhibition that comes to the NGV from the National Gallery of Australia. Curated by Deborah Hart, Senior Curator, Australian Painting and Sculpture post-1920 at the NGA who says of the exhibition:
“Infinite Horizons provides insights into Fred Williams’s unique take on the Australian environment. It includes major international loans from the Tate in London, and numerous works from Australian collections which have not been displayed publicly prior to this retrospective.”
Fred Williams: Infinite Horizons will be on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Federation Square. 10am–5pm (closed Mondays). Admission fees apply: Adult $16, Concession $12, Child $7.50. | http://exhibitionpublicity.com/national-gallery-of-victoria-opens-fred-williams-infinite-horizons/2212 |
# Carlos Ramos (umpire)
Carlos Ramos (born 1971) is a Portuguese tennis umpire. Ramos, a gold badge chair umpire certified by the International Tennis Federation, is one of only two persons to have chair umpired a singles finals match in all four of the Grand Slam tournaments, the other being Alison Hughes. Ramos is also notable for umpiring many other high-profile matches and for penalizing several high-profile players during his decades-long career.
## Career
Ramos' Wimbledon finals debut as chair umpire came at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In 2008 he chair umpired the match in which Venus Williams defeated her sister Serena Williams at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles. In 2012 he chair umpired the London Olympics final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer, making Ramos the only umpire to have chair umpired a singles final at all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics. He has also officiated a number of matches in the Davis Cup.
A highly experienced umpire, Ramos developed a reputation for strict adherence to rules, to the point of being described as a "stickler". According to tennis experts, Ramos is one of the few umpires who isn't afraid to call a rules violation against elite players.
### Grand Slam Finals
Ramos has been in the chair of a number of Grand Slam finals during his career which include:
2005 Australian Open – Men's singles 2005 French Open – Women's singles 2007 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles 2008 Australian Open – Men's singles 2008 French Open – Men's singles 2008 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles 2011 US Open – Men's singles 2014 Australian Open – Men's singles 2016 Australian Open – Men's singles 2018 US Open – Women's singles
## Controversies
Ramos has issued violations to several high-profile tennis players who then objected to Ramos' penalties.
### 2016 French Open
During the 2016 French Open, Ramos issued a code violation to Nick Kyrgios after the latter shouted at a ball boy about a towel during a match. Kyrgios continued to clash with Ramos after the violation was issued, stating later that Ramos was operating on a double standard since Kyrgios claimed his opponent (Marco Cecchinato) was also committing violation-worthy offenses.
### 2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics Ramos issued a code violation to Andy Murray after Murray criticized Ramos' "stupid umpiring".
### 2017 French Open
During the 2017 French Open, Andy Murray received two time violations from Ramos, the second of which was a loss of first serve. Murray noted that he indeed had been in violation of the controversial time rule and described Ramos as a "very good umpire", but he criticized the penalty. Ramos also gave Novak Djokovic a loss of first serve after Djokovic committed multiple time violations. Djokovic then yelled to himself in Serbian and flipped a tennis ball at a ball boy behind him, leading to Ramos penalizing him for unsportsmanlike conduct.
### 2018 US Open
At the 2018 US Open women's singles final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, Ramos gave Williams three code violations. Williams' first code violation was a warning for receiving coaching during the match (Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, later admitted to coaching using hand signals, though he noted the rule against such signals was not always enforced). Williams contested this, stating her coach had only given her a thumbs-up and reassuring Ramos that she never gets coaching or cheats. Later in the match, Williams intentionally broke her racket against the ground, incurring a second code violation from Ramos, which was a point penalty. Williams continued to argue with Ramos between games, first asking and then demanding he apologize for implying she was cheating by getting coaching, and then telling him, "You stole a point from me". Willams then told Ramos: "You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live ... You owe me an apology. Say it. Say you’re sorry ... How dare you insinuate that I was cheating. You stole a point from me. You're a thief, too." This exchange resulted in Ramos issuing Williams a third code violation for verbally abusing the umpire, which awarded a game to Osaka. Play was then stopped, and Williams called the tournament referee and supervisor onto the court, but the two officials upheld Ramos' violations. Williams went on to lose the match to Osaka 6–2 6–4.
Williams was fined $17,000 for the violations. After the match Williams accused Ramos of sexism by claiming that men were not penalized in the same manner for the same conduct she was accused of. While Williams' claim was backed by the WTA and Billie Jean King, Williams' behavior was criticized by the US Open (which issued the $17,000 fine), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) who also defended Ramos' integrity. The ITF further stated that Ramos' "decisions were in accordance" with the Grand Slam Rulebook Code of Conduct which players agree to adhere to—specifically Article III: Rule P of the Grand Slam Rulebook which forbids players from making a verbal remark towards an official that "implies dishonesty", such as "liar" and "thief".
Martina Navratilova provided a complex analysis of the incident, largely critical of Williams' outburst, but not dismissive of the possibility of a general double standard in tennis. Some observers noted that Williams as a player should have been experienced enough not to lose control of her emotions as she was well aware of the potential for a third violation. In pointing out that sexism was not an issue, contemporary top male players have been careful not to abuse officials despite disagreeing with the umpire's assessment of an infraction, and post-match have generally been apologetic for their on-court behavior and accepting of the penalty. Stuart Fraser supported Carlos Ramos as "one of the few umpires not afraid to call a rules violation against the top players when it is due. It is his colleagues who are letting him down with their inaction, which then leads to situations like this in which players feel they are receiving unfair treatment.” There was also criticism that Williams was acting like a diva "bigger than her sport". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ramos_(umpire) |
Daily update from County Health Department for COVID-19
The Genesee County / Orleans County Health Department is ceasing daily live briefings. The next scheduled briefing is at 4 p.m., Friday. There may be briefings during the week if there is breaking news.
Press release:
As of 2 p.m. today the lab-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 have not changed in Genesee and Orleans counties. We have the initial one confirmed case of COVID-19 identified in Genesee County and one confirmed case of COVID- 19 for Orleans County.
Since the onset of testing, Genesee County has received 36 negative test results and Orleans, 34 negative test results for COVID-19.
Local contact tracing continues within our departments. The cases and stories are being built and documented.
Regarding the special circumstances of the Orleans positive: Identified contacts have been notified and quarantined and swabbed as indicated. This patient became symptomatic out of state and is now in mandatory isolation at their residence in Orleans County. The patient was released from isolation from the state they were in, in line with that state’s clearance criteria.
NYS clearance criteria are currently more restrictive and require negative COVID-19 results prior to being released. Swabbing through the Health Departments is warranted as part of our quarantine /isolation protocol for those who become symptomatic.
We are not providing community testing at this time.
Genesee County: Seven people are under precautionary quarantine, 20 people are under mandatory quarantine, and one person (positive case) is under mandatory isolation.
Orleans County: Four people are under precautionary quarantine, 10 people are under mandatory quarantine, and one person is under mandatory isolation (this is not a new positive case). As reported last week, the department continues to explore contacts related to the case and places any further contacts on mandatory quarantine as needed.
Reminder: As discussed last week, we are placing folks on quarantine and isolation from the health department but individuals will also be asked by their provider to self-isolate if they have been swabbed until the results come back. This is very important. Number one -- the person is symptomatic, that’s why they’re being swabbed; and secondly, we don’t want the person exposing others to illness (COVID-19 or otherwise). Please remain home if ill.
Young people may think this won’t affect them -- they can get COVID-19, they can spread it to vulnerable populations, and although not as likely, they can be hospitalized and possibly die from this disease, just as they can get the flu and have complications.
Young people may also have underlying health issues they may not be aware of or if they smoke / vape, etc., they are putting themselves at higher risk of severe illness. This is why all people participate in social distancing even if they are not immune-compromised. Some people are going to react to this illness differently; it is not just the older folks, (although) they do have the greater risk of dying or going to the hospital. But people of any age can have severe illness. It is still important for all to help flatten the curve.
Swabbing / Partner Information
Remember that if you are sick to call your primary care provider. If you must go to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care – call ahead so they can prepare for your arrival.
COVID-19 swabbing/testing at the Health Departments and community is limited. If you feel you may have COVID-19, call your primary care provider or healthcare facility ahead of time. DO NOT GO DIRECTLY THERE, CALL AHEAD TO GET GUIDANCE.
We will be screening and focusing on our at-risk populations – elderly and immune-compromised and those with underlying health issues. Primary care providers and some health systems are offering testing in both Monroe and Erie counties. We’re still waiting on more public/private labs to sign on soon, along with swabbing kits (to become available).
Lab testing has been bogged down and sample results are coming back slowly. Again this is a source of frustration for the public and us. We continue to push these unacceptable issues back up to the state.
Due to the current limit of swabbing kits, guidelines are in place for primary care providers to order COVID-19 swabbing. We will notify how and who can be tested at testing sites once we have the capability to set them up.
We are working closely with the healthcare systems to determine capacity; healthcare systems are currently working on their plans to increase bed capacity to provide higher-level medical care as needed. We will update and provide additional information on these activities as they become available.
We are asking folks to follow the orders that are put out there. If you believe an employer is violating either existing labor laws or recently issued @NYGocCuomo executive orders, please contact the @NewYorkStateAG's office at (212) 416-8700 or [email protected] (On the web)
Schools: Parents are encouraged to communicate with their child’s school to learn about how food or other services will be provided during this time. If it is a school-related issue, please contact the school, not the health departments.
Be alert to scams -- there are no FDA-approved at-home test kits for COVID-19.
Please refer to the county websites for current daily updates and guidance documents. Orleans County’s website is still down, so we ask to visit the Genesee County website or follow GOHealthNY (user names) on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We are also providing updates on the Genesee Ready and Orleans Aware apps.
Both Genesee County Buildings are closed to the public. Please call ahead to handle your business over the phone or by appointment.
Flu – for the week ending March 14: Orleans, eight flu (cases) that week and 257 for the season; Genesee, 22 cases of flu and 588 for the season!
Mental Health in both counties are available in various capacities and the Care + Crisis.
The helpline is available 24/7 at 585-283-5200; or text 741741 for anxiety and stress.
We are receiving back negative COVID-19 test results from the lab, but we are still having flu – more flu and other respiratory illness as we look at the data. Keep this in mind. Everyone should be social distancing and staying home.
Continue Social Distancing and daily hygiene practices:
Hand Hygiene. Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds OR use hand sanitizer with at least 60-percent alcohol;
Stay 6 feet away from others;
Disinfect high-touch surfaces;
Avoid touching your face;
Avoid contact with people who are sick;
Stay home when sick;
Avoid crowded places;
Canceling events/closure of public spaces;
Encourage people to take care of themselves to take care of their immune systems;
Stop smoking or abusing drugs and alcohol, seek appropriate help to limit media time to help decrease stress;
Keep in contact with older family members by phone, Face Time, cards and letters if you can’t visit in person;
Take time for walks, play outside, do puzzles, help keep you children engaged with their studies;
Start or continue a hobby.
Vulnerable / Priority Populations:
Older adults (65 years of age and older) and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19.
Those with underlying medical conditions, that may include but are not limited to: chronic lung disease; asthma; diabetes; weakened immune system; chemotherapy or radiation for cancer treatment; pregnant women.
If you are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, you should:
Stay home as much as possible. (Rely on help to get groceries/necessities such as prescriptions so you do not have to go out in public.) Talk with your healthcare provider about providing 90-day prescription orders and ask your pharmacist if you can refill early to limit trips out in public;
Take everyday precautions to keep space between yourself and others;
Keep away from others who are sick;
Wash your hands often;
Avoid nonessential travel;
Watch for symptoms and emergency signs. If you get sick, stay home and call your doctor.
According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released March 18, the majority of fatalities were:
Persons aged 85 and older -- 10 to 27 percent;
Persons aged 65-84 -- 3 to 11 percent;
Persons aged 55-64 -- 1 to 3 percent;
Persons aged 20 to 54 -- less than 1 percent;
Persons aged 19 or younger -- no fatalities reported.
Different people react differently to illness with and without underlying health issues and age factored in.
We can’t stress it enough:
CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses. A facemask should only be used by people who have COVID-19 and are showing symptoms. This is to protect others from the risk of getting infected.
Older patients and individuals who have severe underlying medical conditions or are immunocompromised should contact their healthcare provider early, even if their illness is mild. Symptoms for COVID-19 are shortness of breath, dry cough, and fever.
New York State Cases / Restrictions / Guidance
As of March 23, 2020, there are 2,950 new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 15,168 in New York State.
At this time, roughly 18 percent of the people with COVID-19 in New York are hospitalized.
Monroe County: 57 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Erie County: 54 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Wyoming County: 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Niagara County: 6 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Effective as of March 21st, all personal care services such as hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, and tattoo/piercing parlors statewide were mandated to close. These professions cannot conduct business while maintaining social distancing.
On Friday, March 20, Cuomo announced that he would sign an Executive Order mandating that 100 percent of the workforce stay home (excluding essential services). This order excludes healthcare, pharmacies, grocery stores, etc.
Civil fines and mandatory closures for businesses that are not in compliance will be issued.
DOH Test Kits are NOT available. More information will be forthcoming when we receive notice.
Personal Protective Equipment -- or PPE -- is in extremely short supply with no guidance as to when more will be supplied.
Gatherings with 50 people or more are not permitted for the next eight weeks. | |
Digital terrain model (DTM) of the central Fram Strait, supplement to: Klenke, Martin; Schenke, Hans Werner (2002): A new bathymetric model for the central Fram Strait. Marine Geophysical Research, 23(4), 367-378Martin Klenke & Hans Werner Schenke
Based on data from R/V Polarstern multibeam sonar surveys between 1984 and 1997 a high resolution bathymetry has been generated for the central Fram Strait. The area ensonified covers approx. 36,500 sqkm between 78°N-80°N and 0°E-7.5°E. Basic outcome of the investigation is a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with 100 m grid spacing which was utilized for contouring and generation of a new series of bathymetric charts (AWI BCFS).
This data repository is not currently reporting usage information. For information on how your repository can submit usage information, please see our documentation. | https://search.datacite.org/works/10.1594/pangaea.526589 |
We are looking for a qualified Director, Medical Affairs, to join the Lundbeck Canada Medical Affairs team. This position is permanent full-time and is located at our head office in Ville Saint-Laurent. The candidate will report to the Senior Director, Medical and Regulatory Affairs.
Your Position
The Director, Medical Affairs, is responsible for providing overall leadership, scientific expertise and strategic direction for the Medical team. The Director Medical Affairs will help build a strong vision for the department, while keeping aligned with the Lundbeck’s Code of Conduct, local regulations and other requirements. He/she is expected to manage capacity, budget and performance for the Clinical Operation Manager and the teams of Medical Scientific Liaisons and Scientific Advisers.
Strategic Business Planning (30%)
- Overall responsibility for the development, prioritization and delivery of the Medical Affairs plans that address identified gaps
- Plan and drive effective medical affairs strategies that support business growth and high performance
- Ensure that medical activities and supporting resources are aligned with the commercial objectives
- Ensure cross functional collaboration with the market access and commercial teams, providing scientific expertise and strategic guidance for business planning and providing strategic guidance in the development of the national and provincial reimbursement requests.
Stakeholders Relationships & Clinical Operations (25%)
- Build and cultivate strong relationships with national opinion leaders and support the field activities of the Medical Science Liaison team
- Ensure alignment of external partners with clinical development and medical activities
- Overview adequate planning and execution of medical advisory boards and consultancy meetings with healthcare providers
- Ensure proper communication of collected clinical insights and development of gap analyses and medical strategies for evidence generation, medical education and communication
- Handle risk management issues and escalate to upper management for resolution when critical
- Maximize opportunities for local research investments and partnerships; advocate for participation in early and late phase development programs of new compounds
- Identify and network with Canadian investigators and research experts to achieve the best possible drug development outcome
- Supervise the development and execution of phase IV/RWE studies in Canada in accordance to Lundbeck SOPs and relevant guidance and regulations
Compliance (15%)
- Ensure Medical Affairs processes comply with corporate SOPs and codes of ethics as well as all other local requirements and regulations
- Role model high ethical and compliance standards to the medical team and contribute proactively to a credible image for Medical Affairs to external and internal stakeholders
Team Management – Oversight of Medical Team (30%)
- Ensure proper planning and follow up on the market access capacity and activity budget
- Provide department leadership, coaching and direction and ensure that team members get adequate training to perform their tasks, develop and maintain their capabilities and expertise.
- Ensure executional excellence and monitor performance impact of medical team members
- Drive talent acquisition, retention and engagement
Position Qualifications: | https://jobs.lundbeck/job/Montreal-Director%2C-Medical-Affairs-Queb/608434801/ |
No matter the season, never hike alone. The Adirondack Mountain Club recommends a minimum of three people in a hiking group, and each person should be equipped with a map and compass. Study the map before heading out on the hike and stay together on the trail. Always let family or friends know your hiking plans, and sign in at trail registers.
Hot weather: Depending on where you plan to hike, you may want to avoid hiking between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. (considered the hottest part of the day). The National Park Service suggests soaking yourself whenever you are near water during hot temperatures.
Changing weather: It may be warm when you start your hike, but mountain weather can change quickly. Check weather conditions at all the elevations you plan to hike. Layer outdoor clothing and technical clothing according to the weather conditions.
Snow: Even in summer, there can still be snow at the higher elevations, and this is a major cause of injury for hikers, according to the Washington Trails Association (WTA). Use common sense if you encounter snow. The WTA says that if snow is only partly covering the trail, the pitch is not too steep and there is a well-worn boot path across it, hikers should be fine. As it become warmer, the snow becomes less stable, however. Your leg could plunge through the snow up to your waist (called post-holing) and this could cause a sprain or break in your ankle. Be careful around snow-covered slopes or avalanche chutes filled with snow.
Stay hydrated. Hikers lose fluid (sweat) during the summer months. Make sure you drink enough to avoid thirst, and take water with you even if you don’t think you will need it. You will become thirsty faster on a hot day. On average, a person who exercises may need an extra 1.5-2.5 cups of water a day to make up for fluid loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. Training expert and writer for Competitor magazine, Matt Fitzgerald, recommends sports drinks as the most effective hydration during hot days in a recent article. He says, “…because a sports drink contains dissolved minerals and carbohydrates, it’s absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly than water, which has fewer or no dissolved particle. If your stomach is sensitive to sugar, try an electrolyte tablet that dissolves in water, such as Nuun.
Hydrate: Just because it is cooler, doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fluids when you sweat. Remember to drink when you’re thirsty. Pack a thermos of hot chocolate or cider to warm you from the inside, suggests writer Brad Viles in an article in the Bangor Daily News.
Time change: Don’t forget that it will get darker earlier. Pack a working flashlight or headlamp and extra batteries. Viles also points out that it gets darker earlier in the forest because trees block the sun.
Changing weather: It may be cool when you start your hike and heat up during the day (and then get very cold again as the sun goes down). Plus, as it can any time of the year, mountain weather can change quickly. Check weather conditions at all the elevations you plan to hike. Layer clothing according to the weather conditions.
Bears: The most common species of bear in the U.S. is the black bear. Brown bears (Grizzlies) live in the northwest U.S. and in Alaska. If you are hiking in bear country, be sure to make plenty of noise so you don’t surprise a bear. If a bear acts aggressively, give it a “wide berth by stepping off the trail on the downhill side.” Tyler Baskfield, Communications Manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, says you should, “Look as big as possible, talk to the bear, and back away slowly…Don’t run or climb a tree because that’s prey behavior.” If attacked, the general advice is to play dead.
Mountain lions: Stay alert while hiking. Don’t wear hats, visors or headphones, and if you see a mountain lion, you should react as you would in a bear encounter. “Look as big as possible. If you’re wearing a coat, hold it out. Raise your arms slowly. You want to look like a formidable opponent to a mountain lion.” If you are attacked, fight back. Try not to crouch or turn your back, but Baskfield says you should throw things, fight, and go for their eyes.
Wear layers: Wear a thin synthetic layer of technical clothing underneath a breathable shell layer made of nylon or Gore-Tex. The first layer or base layer will wick the cold sweat away from your skin and the second layer will keep out the cold. If it’s very cold, you may also need a middle layer, such as fleece. Avoid wearing cotton as it will keep cold moisture close to your skin. Remember to avoid overdressing as it can cause excessive sweating. Don’t forget to wear reflective hiking clothing so vehicles can see you through snow and rain, or in the dark.
Keep your head and face warm: Wear a hat that covers your entire head, including the ears. Hats made with moisture-wicking materials work best. And wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from snow-blindness. If it is very cold, you may try wearing a balaclava that covers your face, head and neck, and is made of moisture-wicking material (such as one made with Under Armour® ColdGear® fabric) underneath a fleece layer and topped with a rain-repelling shell made of a fabric like Gore-Tex®.
Breathable backpack: An article by Trails.com suggests purchasing a backpack made of breathable materials to avoid a sweaty back and sore shoulders, such as the Deuter Futura 28 Daypack.
Better boots: Wear insulated boots, waterproof boots. Don’t wear leather boots, according to the Trails.com article, because leather freezes. Plastic boots and rubber boots contain materials that are better for winter hiking boots.
Navigation tools: Learn how to use topographical maps and a compass since, according to an article on SectionHiker.com, your GPS may not work during stormy winter weather.
Avalanche awareness: Check avalanche conditions before you leave for a hike, especially if you plan to hike in backcountry areas. Conditions that can cause avalanches include heavy snowfall followed by slow warming and rain, according to the Washington Trails Association (WTA).
Pack smart: The WTAsuggest bringing an emergency shelter and/or sleeping bag, a portable shovel and an avalanche beacon, plus these other winter hiking essentials.
Snow: There will still typically be snow at the higher elevations, and this is a major cause of injury for hikers, according to the Washington Trails Association. Use common sense if you encounter snow. The WTA says that if snow is only partly covering the trail, the pitch is not too steep and there is a well-worn boot path across it, hikers should be fine. As it become warmer, the snow becomes less stable, however. Your leg could plunge through the snow up to your waist (called post-holing) and this could cause a sprain or break in your ankle. Be careful around snow-covered slopes or avalanche chutes filled with snow. | https://www.2toms.com/dwkb/seasonal-safety-tips-for-hikers/ |
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The aims of the 1973 Great Barrier Reef Expedition's radiocarbon dating programs were: 1) to collect live specimens from various reef environments to serve as modern reference standards, 2) to evaluate suitability of materials from drilling, geomorphic, and sediment programs for dating purposes, and 3) to date appropriate samples related to those programs. Radiometric ages provide a time scale for evolution of reefs and reef islands, and the history of sea level in the area.
The following list consists entirely of dates for archaeologic samples from the British Isles, mainly measured over the period from May 1979 to June 19801. The dates were obtained by liquid scintillation counting of benzene using the laboratory procedures outlined in previous lists (see, eg, BM-VIII, R, 1976, v 18, p 16).
This list contains the results of measurements made during 1978 and 1979. Ages were computed on the radiocarbon half-life of 5568 ± 30 years. Statistical errors quoted herein are 1σ counting errors which include sample, background, and standard. The age limit reported is calculated on the basis of 3σ activity. The σ13C values in table 1 were measured by Krueger Enterprises, Inc, Geochron Laboratories Division1 and calculated based on Craig's Peedee Belemnite (PDB) limestone standard (Craig, 1957). The total alkalinity as bicarbonate values reported in table 1 was determined using techniques described by Brown, Skougstad, and Fishman (1970). Unless otherwise stated, all samples were collected and submitted by personnel of the US Geological Survey.
This list contains most of the measurements made during 1979, since our last list (R, 1979, v 21, p 180–185). The laboratory procedures were outlined previously (R, 1968, v 10, p 29–34; R, 1971, v 13, p 29–31). The collagen extraction follows Longin (1970).
The dates presented below are from some important archaeologic and Quaternary sites. All the dates are in years bp, based on τ½ = 5568 years. When converting archaeologic dates into the ad/bc scale, 1950 should be used as the base year. The dates are not corrected for 13C fractionation. All the dates older than 10,000 years have been given with 2σ errors.
This list contains 227 radiocarbon dates pertaining to the western part of southern Africa, between Luanda (9°S) in the north and the Orange R (29°S) in the south.
The dates presented in this paper are concerned with studies of the vegetational history of Western Scotland and are research projects in collaboration with members of staff and research students of the Sub-department of Quaternary Research, Cambridge University. The measurements of radioactivity were carried out between 1975 and 1977 at the University Radiocarbon Research Laboratory at Station Road, Cambridge, using highly purified carbon dioxide as filling gas in proportional counters. The dates are conventional radiocarbon dates calculated using the Libby half-life for the 14C isotope of 5568 years and ad 1950 as the reference year. The associated uncertainties represent one standard deviation and are calculated from a combination of the counting statistics of the samples, standards, and backgrounds together with estimates of population variation, variation of the background rate with changes of barometric pressure, and estimates of other laboratory measurement uncertainties. Thus, the stated uncertainty is considered a fairly reliable estimate of the laboratory uncertainty of the dates. The background samples are prepared from Welsh anthracite and the contemporary standard from NBS oxalic acid. A subsidiary standard is also used which is prepared from the ad 1845 to ad 1855 growth rings of an oak tree which grew near Cambridge, and the activity of this is compared frequently with the NBS standard.
This series reports some of the measurements made since publication of the previous list (R, 1979, v 21, p 48–94). Acetylene proportional gas counting methods essentially remain as described in Saskatchewan II (R, 1960, v 2, p 73). Bone dating is now carried out on soluble collagen extract (Longin, 1971). The laboratory is associated with the National Museum of Canada to provide radiocarbon dating service for Canadian archaeologists but commercial services are also available to others.
The following radiocarbon dates are a partial list of samples measured for a variety of projects and materials since May 1980. Chemical and counting procedures remain the same as indicated in R, v 20, p 274–282.
Procedures and equipment have been described in previous date lists. Except as otherwise indicated, wood, charcoal, and peat samples are pretreated with dilute NaOH-Na4P2O7 and dilute H3PO4 before conversion to the counting gas methane; marls and lake cores are treated with acid only. Very calcareous materials are treated with HCl instead of H3PO4.
The extension of the bristlecone pine chronology, which is, thus far, the only complete tree-ring-dated series that extends beyond 6000 bc and which is used for the calibration of radiocarbon dates, has been going on over the past 22 years, that is, ever since Schulman (1956; 1958) established the extremely old ages of the bristlecone pine. The few people in this world who search for very old wood samples to extend a dendrochronology may appreciate a method of establishing quickly the approximate ages of the samples. | https://core-cms.prod.aop.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/issue/68BEBB6A1720B3ACF6757F957F38F139 |
Communication is one of the most critical factors in saving lives and minimizing injuries in any emergency situation, both from natural events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis, and from man-made accidents and threats. Effective and efficient notification systems provide essential alert and warning capabilities for preparedness and planning.
Solutions range from high-power outdoor speakers to fully integrated comprehensive regional alerting by simultaneous telephone, email, internet and audio/visual notifications. ATI's systems provide compliance with the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Association regulations, helping communities to achieve their goals in emergency planning, response and preparedness.
ATI works with emergency management personnel to design systems that provide the proper acoustical coverage and alerting capabilities. Our engineers and consultants can help to implement a new system or upgrade your existing system, and make recommendations for improving sound coverage and system reliability.
ATI helps emergency planners implement public alert systems as part of emergency response programs needed for: | https://www.atisystem.com/community-warning-systems/ |
Thanks are due to my friend Eric Doherty who has been using the list serves and the Livable Blog to draw attention to a new report from the Campaign for Better Transport in the UK. They have been digging through the “post-opening project evaluation” reports that the Highways Agency there uses to examine the “schemes” that they have built. They go back one year and five years after a new road is built, or widened, and look at the impact compared to what was forecast before the project started. In other words, they look at what was forecast to happen and what actually happened. These reports are remarkably detailed, clearly objective and look at a range of data – not just the vehicle flow. We, of course, do not do that here.
Here is the opening of the Executive Summary of the Campaign’s report
Each year the Highways Agency spends around one billion pounds building and widening trunk roads. Ministers decide whether to invest in motorways and A-roads based on the Agency’s detailed economic analysis. Their evidence is supposed to spell out what the impact of road building would be: the impact on the economy, on the local environment, on traffic and on greenhouse gas emissions. These forecasts need to be reliable, because of the amount of money being spent and the potential for severe impact on congestion, traffic and the environment.
Unfortunately a number of reports commissioned by the Highways Agency show that these forecasts cannot be relied upon. Instead of accurately predicting what will happen, the Agency’s forecasts underestimate the effect on traffic, air quality, noise and greenhouse gas emissions. They also fail to predict the economic impact and whether schemes will be good value for money.
If you would like to download the whole report as a pdf that link will do it. Or if you are really into this kind of stuff you could find all the HA POP reports on major road projects . It is quite possible that the campaign was a bit selective in its choice (they took the five most recent ones) but it seems to me that they do notice some of the inherent problems that persist in modelling transportation improvements in general and roads in particular. As a former economist at the predecessor Department of Transport, I can say that we had similar concerns back in the 1980s, and a lot of us thought then that as computers got smaller, cheaper and more powerful, the models would get better. And, of course, they have done. But even so, there are persistent problems with the way these road expansions turn out
post-opening project evaluation reports (POPE) found that overall traffic levels rose significantly as a direct result of each scheme. Two of the three bypasses studied simply moved the congestion elsewhere.
Forecasting was generally inaccurate, especially of future traffic levels, and the economic forecasts did not reflect the actual impact on local businesses. CO2, air quality and noise impacts are generally worse than expected, and walking, cycling and public transport did not improve, even on local roads where traffic has decreased.
That last bit is significant for us too. As in the UK, major road building projects here – such as the Highway 1 widening – are claimed by the government and Translink to improve cycling and transit (I don’t recall them even mentioning walking!).
Some of the problems reside in the limitations of the available transportation models. Perhaps the greatest weakness has always been their inability to understand the way that projects induce traffic – by encouraging more and longer trips – but also change the way that land in the region around the project is used. The model used for all the Gateway projects, and for the Sea to Sky Highway widening, simply used the same land use and population distribution forecasts for all future scenarios. In other words, the number and distance of trips in the future was fixed as a factor of land use (population in residentially zoned areas, employment in others and so on) – and while that land use was different from the “before” case it was the same in both the “with project” and “without project” future cases. This, of course, both understates traffic growth, but also overstates benefits in terms of travel time savings ascribed to the project. Underestimating future traffic in our case means that environmental impacts such as noise, air pollution or greenhouses gas emissions are also less than reality, but show up as lower “costs” on the evaluation. More importantly, it also creates the illusion that congested will be lower in future. As Gordon Price has been saying about the Gateway for years, just tell us one place where road building has worked to reduce congestion.
The five year after (5YA) reports found that overall traffic increased substantially once each new road was opened. This was substantially higher than the background level of traffic growth and each report attributed this to new trips generated by road building.
In the UK they talk about “trips generated” but here we use the term “induced” – because the model itself uses the term “trip generation” for the function by which it forecasts travel based on population distribution.
The reports show that traffic growth was not limited to new road space; while in each case some drivers using local roads switched to the new road (providing limited congestion relief on minor roads), nearby roads tended to see large increases of traffic.
That is going to be one of the most significant impacts of the Highway #1 widening, and one which the government has deliberately under estimated, as a way to calm the real fears from neighbourhoods that will be swamped with new traffic. It is being explicitly dealt with by engineers in both Burnaby and Vancouver – to the extent that they can. But I suspect that there will be howls of rage from the very people who currently expect better travel conditions south of the Fraser once the new bridge opens. Of course, we have seen this effect before – just ask those who were here when the Alex Fraser Bridge opened. Once again, the model simply assumes that the same number and length of trips are better distributed on an enlarged network that has greater capacity. But since induced travel is not factored into the equation, the forecasts are wildly misleading.
It is not as if any of this is new either. As earlier blog posts attest.
Eric thinks we need a moratorium on building new roads here, just like the one the UK Campaign wants. I would agree, except that I don’t think it needs to be a temporary halt to projects until we can do a better job of project evaluation. We need to stop increasing the capacity of the highway system because we know that not only does it not cure congestion, but if we are to reduce our impact on the planet significantly we have to take drastic steps to reduce the use of cars. Indeed, if all we wanted to do was reduce congestion, simply spending the same amount of dollars on transit projects would be a good start, but we would still need to do something about land use AND we would still need to find a way to finance transit operations and maintenance. A road building moratorium might be a good gesture, but it would not deal with the fundamental problem. In North America we drive single occupant vehicles too often and too far – and we claim that this is “necessary” because we are locked into a car dependent land use pattern we are reluctant to see changed. Until there are viable alternatives – and better designed communities – I cannot see that changing.
Big Dig pushes bottlenecks outward
Thanks to Patrick Condon (a native Bostonian) for this link.
For those of you who may not be aware of this project, a huge freeway tunnel has been dug underneath the centre of Boston, Mass. This is an old city by US standards and has had a pretty good transit system for a long time. The freeway was supposed to relieve traffic congestion – which it has, in downtown. Now drivers line up elsewhere, once again proving the aphorism that urban road expansion does not solve congestion, it just moves it someplace else.
A Globe analysis of state highway data documents what many motorists have come to realize since the new Central Artery tunnels were completed: While the Big Dig achieved its goal of freeing up highway traffic downtown, the bottlenecks were only pushed outward, as more drivers jockey for the limited space on the major commuting routes.
Ultimately, many motorists going to and from the suburbs at peak rush hours are spending more time stuck in traffic, not less. The phenomenon is a result of a surge in drivers crowding onto highways – an ironic byproduct of the Big Dig’s success in clearing away downtown traffic jams.
The worst increase has been along I-93 northbound during the evening commute. In 1994, before the tunnels were dug, it took, on average, 12 minutes at peak evening rush hour to go the 11 miles from the Zakim Bridge to the Route 128 interchange in Woburn.
Now it takes 25 minutes, double the time.
Which is the other aphorism. Traffic expands to fill the space available. More people are now trying to drive and it is taking them longer. It is known in the business as “induced traffic”. Not that the population has grown. All that has happened is that more trips are being made by car now. The same population drives more often and longer distances. The vehicle miles travelled have increased. That always happenms when you build more roads in urban areas or introduce traffic management schemes to improve vehicle flow. Indeed, cities like Toronto that had streetcars but replaced them with subways – thus freeing up more surface area for cars – saw traffic congestion worsen. Many European cities have abandoned what they called “pre metro” i.e. undergrounding of streetcar routes. | https://stephenrees.blog/tag/induced-traffic/ |
Life can be messy and unpredictable. Whatever it is that's going on, perhaps your situation is leaving you anxious, depressed, discouraged, and maybe even a little hopeless at times. I imagine you're here because you don't want to feel this way anymore. You're ready for something - anything, really - to change. Maybe someone encouraged you to reach out because they're worried about you. Maybe you're worried too. Some of my specialty areas include relationship issues, co-dependency, living with complex medical conditions, women specific issues and healing from trauma.
I am a woman of Indian descent, and I specialize in working with highly sensitive people from multicultural backgrounds. I have more than 10 years of experience providing counseling, crisis intervention, mental-health assessment, and case management services. With supportive approach, I hope to create a safe space for clients to express themselves.
I utilize solution-focused therapy, motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness and other evidence-based techniques based on client preferences and goals assists in this development by providing insight into your emotions, thoughts and behaviors. You are your own expert, and our time together is collaborative. | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/punjabi/75093/857520?sid=6147462ed8322&zipdist=5&ref=1 |
Olympic Neighbors is a nonprofit dedicated to creating home and community for people with developmental disabilities in Jefferson County.
We currently run the only adult family home for this population in all of Jefferson County. Adult family homes are typical houses in typical neighborhoods. We believe that people with developmental disabilities deserve to live good, meaningful and safe lives in their local communities and we believe that aging parents and family members of adults with developmental disabilities deserve the piece of mind of knowing their loved one will be taken care of when they can no longer provide that care.
We provide affordable and inclusive housing with 24-hour staff support to help adults with developmental disabilities thrive in our local community. | https://www.jeffcountychamber.org/list/member/olympic-neighbors-2826 |
Last Thursday, the BBB’s Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program issued a compliance warning, reminding online advertisers that its privacy code applies across devices and platforms and that the Accountability Program will enforce the code’s principles irrespective of the technology the advertiser uses to collect consumer activity and serve interest-based ads.
Developed in 2009, by leading industry associations, the seven OBA Principles are intended to make online behavioral advertising more consumer-friendly, giving consumers knowledge of and control over the information collected about them. The Principles are (1) education, (2) transparency, (3) consumer control, (4) data security, (5) material changes, (6) sensitive data, and (7) accountability. It is important for advertisers engaged in online behavioral advertising to ensure compliance with these Principles, regardless of the technology and platform or device used. | https://www.adlawaccess.com/2014/08/articles/bbb-accountability-program-issues-warning-to-online-interest-based-advertisers/ |
India is an agrarian country, where more than 50% people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and is the largest producer of spices, pulses, milk, tea, cashew, and jute and the second largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, cotton, and oilseeds.
Agrochemicals (Crop protection products/pesticides) are designed to protect crops from insects, diseases, and weeds. They do so by controlling pests that infect, consume or damage the crops. Uncontrolled pests significantly reduce the quantity and quality of food production. It is estimated that annual crop losses could double without the use of crop protection products.
Food crops must compete with 30,000 species of weeds, 3,000 species of nematodes, and 10,000 species of plant-eating insects. Agrochemicals are the last and one of the key inputs in agriculture for crop protection and better yield.
Currently, India is the world’s 4th largest producer of agrochemicals after the United States, Japan, and China and has emerged as the 13th largest exporter of pesticides globally.
Agrochemicals can be broadly classified into 5 types: Insecticides, Fungicides, Herbicides, Bio-pesticides, and Others.
Concerning COVID-19 outbreak, the government is closely monitoring production, and distribution of fertilizers: The Indian Government said it is keeping a close eye on the production and distribution of fertilizers to ensure that soil nutrients are made available to farmers during the upcoming rabi (summer-sown) season, amid this Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has also constituted a team to prepare a road map for reforms and achieve higher growth in the fertilizer sector in a medium to long term period. With this, the ministry said that there has been a record sale of fertilizers to the farmers' community and during the first 22 days of April 2020, the point of sale of fertilizers to farmers was 10.63 lakh million tons, up by 32% as compared 8.02 lakh million tons last year.
This has led to an increase in stock prices of chemicals and fertilizers company. The Department of Fertilizers (DoF) is also taking up issues at an inter-ministerial level and also with States and Union Territories for addressing operational constraints.
Key takeaways
The world markets are currently reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that is sweeping the globe.
While many sectors are under pressure due to the spread of this virus, the impact on Indian fertilizer players is expected to be soft even as a major portion of raw materials for phosphatic fertilizers are imported, according to a report.
According to Mr. Ravichandran, ICRA group head and senior vice president, Production in The Hubei province (Largest comprehensive transportation hub in China) is down currently, But the overall fertilizer market remains well supplied due to the build-up of inventories at the producer's end in China as international prices remain weak.
As per ICRA's analysis, the domestic industry imports a major portion of the raw materials for phosphatic fertilizers, mainly phosphoric acid and finished fertilizers mainly DAP (47% of total imports in FY19) from China.
The Downward trend:
With the downward trend in Chinese exports continuing for the last couple of years, the impact of the Chinese urea industry on the global market has been reduced. Urea is a raw material used in the manufacture of many chemicals and is also essential in making feedstock, glue, fertilizer, chemical product, and in resin production.
A report states that a silver lining for the Indian urea industry in this crisis is on the natural gas pricing front. R-LNG, which now meets around 57% of the natural gas consumption for the domestic urea industry, has been witnessing a downfall in prices.
Key Growth drivers:
In 2019, India was hit by a severe summer heatwave, impacting the rain-fed Kharif crop. This led to a delayed start, but a heavier, longer-than-normal monsoon followed. A spill-lover from Kharif season and a favorable Rabi season helped mitigate the H1FY20 decline while Key growth drivers in recent years include rising domestic demand for crops driven by economic growth and greater support for agriculture via an increase in the government purchase price for crops. However, monsoon plays a very important part, especially for the Kharif crop. Hence, monsoon and higher minimum support price (MSP) in key crops are likely to drive farmer behavior in terms of usage of crop protection in India. Also, budgetary support by government, Off Patent Molecules, and increase in demand for food grains are growth drivers to achieve higher crop yields.
Positive impact on the cost:
Raw material as a percentage of the sale for the top 5 Indian pesticides manufacturer is ~47% according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). India imports nearly 50% of its technical grades requirement from China which fulfills 90% of the world’s technical requirement. Increasing raw material cost pressures due to macro-economic factors followed by high inventory due to sessional demand are reducing margins, therefore, the Government should focus on the creation of clusters areas for the chemical industry manufacturing technical grade raw materials under Make in India programme. Also, the industry largely consumes crude oil-linked raw materials which are the second and third derivatives of crude, chlorine, yellow phosphorus and bromine, etc. These are essential raw materials needed for the manufacturing of technicals. Thus, a sharp reduction in crude oil prices will have a positive impact on the industry.
Stock Specific:
Companies like Dhanuka Agritech, Godrej Agrovet, Rallis India, and UPL look good and are trading at attractive levels. These companies had good stability in the last 5 years and have reported growth in revenues and PAT and at the same time had a significant reduction in their debts.
Conclusion:
The macro-environment for the agrochemicals industry will always remain positive and will be driven by strong fundamental growth, rising domestic demand, improved export opportunities due to the tight supply from China, strategic partnerships with global counterparts, robust product launches, tie-ups with innovators for new products and substantial prospects to explore products going off – patent.
Talking about COVID-19, there is no major impact on the production in China, though disruptions in logistics and clearances for any material coming in from China as the virus could affect the supply chain and may result in intermittent spikes in the prices of technicals. But if the virus spreads and a more widespread lockdown is extended, there will inevitably be some disruption to the movement of fertilizer and raw materials to and from ports and plants.
Some plants, including Zuari, RCF, and GSFC have announced closures while many fertilizer plants are taking annual maintenance, and therefore any disruption in the coming weeks could be mitigated accordingly but if the situation persists beyond April, it could affect the start of the Kharif season.
In the meantime, any further weakening of the INR against the USD will further erode margins for imported fertilizers and raw materials. | https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/amid-coronavirus-pandemic-will-fertilisers-see-near-term-growth |
Do Angels Have Free Will Like We Do?
Bible Study
By Mike Leake, Crosswalk.com
“How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” Though no evidence is found that this was an actual question asked during the medieval period, it has become a hallmark question to mock the scholasticism present in the Middle Ages. The idea is that while Constantinople was burning to the ground the Byzantine monks were consumed by this irrelevant question. There is, then, some level of danger associated with answering an inquiry in which the Bible seems to be unconcerned.
Yet, there can be some value in attempting to answer such questions. Do angels have free will? The exercise of answering that question could be helpful in understanding the very nature of free will as well as understanding a little more about the function and purpose of angelic beings. But we must acknowledge that we are on slippery ground. While some might proceed like a sumo-wrestler river-dancing on thin ice, I find it far better to be cautious in our approach.
The first place to begin is to consider the nature of free will itself. Before we can answer the question “do angels have free will,” we need to determine what is even meant by freedom of the will.
What Does Free Will Mean?
The concept of free will is one of those philosophical questions which at first seems self-evident, but under further inspection, it can become a rather sticky question. From my vantage point, it all depends on how you define free will.
One view of free will is libertarian freedom. R.K. McGregor Wright summarizes this view well:
The belief is that the human will has an inherent power to choose with equal ease between alternatives. This is commonly called “the power of contrary choice”…This belief does not claim that there are no influences that might affect the will, but it does insist that normally the will can overcome these factors and choose in spite of them. Ultimately, the will is free from any necessary causation. In other words, it is autonomous from outside determination (John Frame).
In other words, a person is to be considered free if they could have chosen A or B and that choice cannot be determined by any outside force. One would then have to ask does God have libertarian freedom? Does Scripture say that God is able to choose sin? I would say that the Bible is clear that God cannot sin.
But why is it that God cannot sin? This is where the other view of freedom comes into view. This view is called compatibilism. Simply put this means that an individual is free to do what they desire. There are various nuances to this position but at its most simple expression, the idea is that a person can choose A if they desire, and they can choose not A but rather B if they so desired.
It is important to understand these complexities when asking questions about angels having free will.
Do Angels Have Free Will?
If we believe that Satan and his minions “fell” then we have to believe there was a point when they made a decision to no longer follow God. If that is the case, then we have to concede that at least at some point angels had some kind of free will. But what about now? Could Satan exercise free will and repent? Could there be another fall within the angelic realm? Could an angel choose to disobey God?
The Bible really doesn’t answer some of these questions directly, but there is enough for us to piece together and give a somewhat confident answer. First, we know from Jude 6 that those angels “who did not keep their positions of authority” have been “bound with everlasting chains.” That seems to indicate that there is no hope of repentance/forgiveness for them. Secondly, 1 Timothy 5:21 refers to “elect angels.” This would seem to imply some level of security for these angels—as Scripture seems to indicate that the “elect” will not ultimately fall.
So, if angels cannot rebel and demons cannot repent where does that leave us with free will? Did they have a free choice at one point but then sacrifice that freedom after they made that choice or is something else happening here? I would suggest that they continue to have free will but not in the libertarian sense. Yet, angels are free to do that which they desire—and what they desire to do is serve the LORD. Or in the case of the demonic realm—they desire to rebel from God’s loving rule.
We can see this more clearly if we see how it relates to discussions of human freedom.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/ZbynekPospisil
How Does This Relate to Human Free Will?
Let’s begin by viewing this in the positive. Will you have free will in heaven? Again, that depends on what we mean. Will you be able to sin? According to Revelation 21:7 that will no longer be present in the new heaven and the new earth. It is impossible to sin in glory. But I would argue that we are still free in the sense that we are doing exactly that which we want to do—worship and serve the LORD. We will, in heaven, have true freedom. If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed. The freedom with which angels today joyously serve and worship God is a foretaste of what glory will be for us. It will not be a compulsory obedience but one which joyously flows from the heart.
But we can also learn about human freedom as well as redemption from the fallen angels. There will be some who disagree with my point here. Yet, I would defend a viewpoint that holds that humanity no longer has libertarian freedom. Augustine in his debate with Pelagius taught that man retains a free will (liberium arbitrium) but has lost liberty (libertas). He argued that humanity has the ability to freely make choices (do that which he desires) but lacks the capacity to be truly free by spiritually obeying. This is how Calvin said it:
This liberty is compatible with our being depraved, the servants of sin, able to do nothing but sin. In this way, then, man is said to have free will, not because he has a free choice of good and evil, but because he acts voluntarily, and not by compulsion. This is perfectly true: but why should so small a matter have been dignified with so proud a title? An admirable freedom! That man is not forced to be a servant of sin, while he is, however a voluntary slave; his will being bound by the fetters of sin (John Calvin).
Augustine argued that before the fall Adam had the ability to sin (posse peccare) as well as to not sin (posse non peccare). But when Adam picked sin over obedience, he became non posse non peccare, which means the inability to not sin. In other words “we sin out of a kind of moral necessity because we act according to our fallen nature” (RC Sproul).
What this means, then, is that apart from grace humanity will always do that which they desire to do; namely, choose rebellion over obedience. How does that relate to the angelic realm? Demons will always freely do that which they desire; namely, rebel. Now, one might argue that people will at times do very good things. But I would argue that everything not done from faith is sin. And I would further argue that even those who are sinful will do things that might be morally good in the moment, but make for a less than noble end. Consider the story of Satan tempting Jesus. He was willing to give Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world (that would certainly be a good thing) but he had a wicked purpose with it. So also, humanity apart from grace may even do good things but it is to serve our own ends.
God chose not to redeem these fallen angels. But he has chosen to redeem humanity. He has chosen to restore. And through grace, we are once again given the ability to sin or not sin. While we remain in the flesh the redeemed heart will still battle between the two. Yet, in glory, we will no longer have any desire for sin. We, like the angels, will be truly free. Or others, will freely choose hell, and be given exactly what they desire.
Conclusion
Do angels have free will? Not in the libertarian sense. Elect angels cannot sin. Fallen angels cannot repent or rejoice in Christ. But they do have freedom in the sense that they each do exactly what they desire. And the same is true for humanity as well.
Sources: | https://wordfm.com/articles/faith/bible-study/do-angels-have-free-will-like-we-do |
Fausto Melotti: Works from the Olnick Spanu Collection
Magazzino Italian Art Foundation presented Fausto Melotti: Works from the Olnick Spanu Collection, an exhibition of select works by master Italian sculptor Fausto Melotti (Rovereto, 1901 – Milan, 1986) on view at the Consulate General of Italy in New York, from January 28 through March 15, 2019. Spanning nearly three decades, from the early 1950s through the 1980s, the broad selection of pieces on view at the Consulate showcases the peak of Melotti’s ceramic production, featuring works that illustrate his unparalleled abstract lyricism and diverse use of materials.
A leading figure in Abstract Art of the 20th century, Melotti began training as a sculptor in the beginning of his career in the late 1920s. Melotti considered the language of visual abstraction to be closely connected to music and architecture. His vocabulary of pure lines and shapes follows rules of harmony, counterpoint, and variation as if composing a musical score of a symphony.
Melotti, like his contemporary Lucio Fontana, developed a specific interest in ceramic from the outset of his career. The artist’s complex position towards ceramic points to how the medium was regarded in Italian art and culture for centuries. In the 20th century, ceramic production was divided between the artisan practice of creating objects for everyday use and the fine art tradition of sculpture. Melotti was aware of the dual role of ceramics and strove to incorporate the medium into his broader sculptural practice. Through extensive experimentation, Melotti created functional cups and vases, that were regarded as fine art pieces due to his exquisite use of colors, enamel coatings and employment of irregular forms and organic shapes, evoking both abstract forms and impressions of the natural world.
Melotti was defiant of academic principles and created ceramic works free from constraints and academic principles. In viewing his work in ceramics alongside his architectural and sculptural practice, Melotti’s overarching approach to art making demonstrates a willingness to experiment with and interweave mediums to create innovative effects. In his drawings, for example, the layers of watercolor and tempera on paper shine and float freely like the enamel layers that envelop the clay in works featured at the Consulate. Melotti’s ceramic practice stands among the most remarkable examples of the artist’s use of poor and perishable materials.
About The Olnick Spanu Collection
The collection of Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu features seminal works by American Pop artists, international and Italian postwar, conceptual, and contemporary artists, with a strong focus on art from the Arte Povera movement. It also includes a large, curated collection of over 500 hand-blown Murano glass works from the 20th and 21st century. Though Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu began collecting Murano glass and Italian art right after they met, in the late 1980s, they both already had an established, independent passion for art. For Olnick and Spanu, collecting Murano glass was the turning point for the collection, which then opened the way to ceramics, jewelry, design, and Italian art from the second part of the 20th century as well as Italian contemporary art.
Prior to their creation of Magazzino Italian Art Foundation in 2017, Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu established The Olnick Spanu Program, to bring the work of Italian contemporary artists to the United States. From 2003 through 2015, they annually commissioned a contemporary Italian artist to create a site-specific artwork for their property in Garrison, New York. Previous participants of the program include: Giorgio Vigna, Massimo Bartolini, Mario Airò, Domenico Bianchi, Remo Salvadori, Stefano Arienti, Bruno Esposito, Marco Bagnoli, Francesco Arena and Paolo Canevari.
About the Consulate General of Italy, New York
The Consulate General of Italy in New York protects the interests of, and provides services to, the huge Italian community in the State of New York and Tristate area. The Consular services deal with cross cutting issues, including passports, civil records, registry, social assistance and legal services, in addition to the issuance of visas and dual citizenship for non-Italian people. The Consulate General of Italy in New York is the point of reference for all New Yorkers who are interested in Italy and it is actively involved in strengthening the cultural, economic and technological ties between Italy and the City of New York, under the guidance of the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC.
Please be advised that the exhibition and the Consulate General of Italy, New York, was not open to the public. However, the exhibition was accessible via private appointment. Please email [email protected] for more details. | https://www.magazzino.art/fausto-melotti-works-olnick-spanu-collection |
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The gymnasium has two courts and is scheduled monthly.
January Gym Schedule (PDF)
Please see the front desk for updates.The maple wood floor of the gymnasium is equipped for:
A gym curtain may be lowered to separate activities into two courts.
Basketball can be played on one official 50-foot-by-84-foot court or two 50-foot-by-74-foot courts. There are a total of six glass backboards, four may be adjusted in height between 8 feet to 10 feet. All backboards can be raised out of the way for other activities.
All scheduled drop-in sports are open to the general public with paid entry. There are no restrictions on who can play. | https://www.durangogov.org/1527/Gymnasium-Information-and-Schedules |
A categorization is a set of categories/classes used to represent specific features in a Categorical Map.
GUI Editor
EGO Script
A constant representing a set of categories can be defined in a EGO Script uses the following syntax:
[ 1, "Rondonia", (139, 35, 35), 2, "Acre", (105, 211, 169), 3, "Amazonas", (149, 149, 238), 4, "Roraima", (177, 177, 66), 5, "Para", (238, 203, 149), 6, "Amapa", (62, 12, 96), 7, "Tocantins", (238, 149, 149), 8, "Maranhao", (51, 255, 204), 9, "Mato_Grosso", (211, 105, 211) ]
Each line is formed by the following elements: the category value, name and color.
The category value is represented by a positive or negative integer. It corresponds to a cell value in a categorical map. Ex: -10, 1, 200 etc
The category name is a non-empty string enclosed by double quotes. A name must start with a letter followed by letters, numbers and underscores ('_'). Ex: “forest”, “deforestation”, “class_1” etc
The category color is represented by a three element tuple enclosed by parentheses. A color is represented using the (R, G, B) notation. Each one of the tuple elements corresponds to one of the color components. The first element represents the red component, the second component represents the green component and the third and last one represents blue component. Each color component must be in the range [0, 255]. Ex: (255, 0, 0), (128, 128, 128) etc. The color (0, 0, 0) is black and the color (255, 255, 255) is white.
Optional commas can be used to separate elements in a categorization.
It is worth noting that categories do not need to be contiguous.
Automatic Conversions
- Converted from: Table Type: the table must have columns “*#real” (category value), “#string” (category name), “#real” (category red color in the range [0, 255]), “#real” (category green color in the range [0, 255]) and “#real” (category blue color in the range [0, 255]).
- Converted to: Table Type. | https://csr.ufmg.br/dinamica/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=categorization_type |
Breathwork and Somatic Release
Healing modalities of diversified breathwork and sound and somatic release therapies such as healing sound baths, drumming, mantra and Holotropic, (circular) breathing as well as Tre (trauma release exercises ) or shaking can be used to assist in settling the mind, settling or grounding the body and the releasing of stored physical and emotional trauma. Each session is intuitive and could draw from one of more of these above therapies culminating in a deep guided meditation. All of these practices have ancient diverse roots in shamanism, yoga and Buddhism.
Pranic Healing
Pranic Healing involves scanning the human aura to detect the imbalances of energies, known as energetic congestion and depletion. It then uses cleansing techniques to remove negative energy and blockages, then energizing techniques are applied to improve the flow of energy and strengthen the aura and chakras. Once your aura is balanced and cleansed, the health of the body improves. | https://excitariwellness.com/services/meditation-breathwork-and-somatic-practices/ |
- Common Name:
- Aardvarks
- Scientific Name:
- Orycteropus afer
- Type:
- Mammals
- Diet:
- Insectivore
- Average Life Span In Captivity:
- 23 years
- Size:
- Head and body: 43 to 53 inches; tail: 21 to 26 inches
- Weight:
- 110 to 180 pounds
- IUCN Red List Status:
- Least concern
- Current Population Trend:
- Unknown
What is an aardvark?
As burrowing mammals with porcine snouts, aardvarks are true to their name, which translates to “earth pig” in the Afrikaans language.
The nocturnal animals use their long noses and keen sense of smell to sniff out ants and termites, which they lap up with an anteater-like tongue covered in sticky saliva. These insects make up most of the aardvark’s diet, although they’ll occasionally eat beetle larvae.
Aardvarks use their long, powerful claws to tear open termite mounds, as well as dig underground burrows in which they sleep and care for their young.
Once abandoned, these well-constructed burrows, which can have many entrances, are recycled by other animals, including reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Porcupines and hyenas may modify the burrows for their use, for instance by expanding the entrance. (Related: Why some animals are more important to ecosystems than others.)
Aardvarks have stocky bodies, pinkish gray or grayish brown skin, and a short tail. To thrive in their sub-Saharan habitat, the insectivores sport large, rabbity ears that disperse heat, sparse body hair, and thick skin that’s impervious to insect bites.
People rarely see aardvarks, mostly because they’re solitary, nocturnal, and spend so much time underground. They also lack the reflective tissue that makes the eyes of some animals glow in the dark.
Reproduction
Because of the aardvark’s elusive nature, little is known about its mating habits in the wild.
Males and females come together briefly to mate. Gestation lasts eight months, after which a female births a single cub. The baby, hairless and about six pounds, is born during a peak time of food availability—either before or during the rainy season.
The mother stays in the burrow with her offspring for two weeks, at which time the baby can accompany her on foraging trips outside the burrow. Young aardvarks can eat solid food at three months, and are fully weaned and on their own at six or seven months.
Conservation status
The International Union for the Conservation of Species considers the aardvark a species of “least concern,” meaning their populations are stable. The species has robust numbers in protected areas, such as South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Aardvarks do face threats, however, including habitat loss from agricultural development and a decline in insect prey due to pesticides.
In Zambia and Mozambique, the bushmeat trade is a threat to aardvarks, according to the IUCN. Some are also poached for their teeth, which are believed to prevent illness and are worn as good luck charms by some tribes.
Aardvarks may also be susceptible to drought, one of the effects of climate change in Africa. In 2013, hot, dry conditions in South Africa’s Tswalu Kalahari Reserve killed off some of the aardvarks’ insect prey. Unable to regulate their metabolism, several aardvarks died.
did you know
An aardvark’s tongue can be up to a foot long.
Aardvarks can close their nostrils to keep out dust and insects.
Because of their insect diet, aardvark milk is protein-rich. | https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/aardvark?fbclid=IwAR3b8wsKvlqSmET-IZsNmZFeDUvWpOi4dbmz_n8rQsglT3UMfFiJJNqZMb4 |
Learning Outcomes: Evidence is suggesting that the flipped classroom approach can improve learning outcomes in high enrollment courses like foundation courses. This might allow us to rethink the viability of larger classes in some situations.
Streamlining Course Development: The Gates Foundation is supporting a study at the University of Maryland involving recombining content available in MOOCS for use in campus courses. The notion that we must build our courses from scratch is being tested.
Residential Learning: Technology-enhanced learning can complement residential learning if used to free faculty for other important activities. A focus on achieving learning outcomes using the “best mix” of online and face-to-face interaction could create an immersive residential learning experience.
Adaptive Learning Models: The Gates Foundation is supporting the use of adaptive learning models in high enrollment general education and developmental education courses.
Transformation of Teaching and Learning: Transformation takes place when individual course-level enhancements transition to collective change.
Access: We are now reaching audiences that were previously excluded from higher education. MOOCs were sited as well as the new open source mooc.org (a collaboration between Google and edX.org).
Simon Initiative: Links cognitive models of learning with computation tools to create focus on both the learner and measurably improving learning outcomes (click here).
This is a compilation of links to Web 2.0 tools and apps. A special thank you to Anthony Basham at Berea College for assistance compiling this.
Another excellent presentation from Sir Ken Robinson as he discusses the tug of war between standardization and the need to develop creative/divergent thinkers in our education system.
Sir Ken Robinson is one of my favorite speakers. This presentation challenges our current modes of education in an entertaining way.
Interesting video that challenges our perceptions of higher education.
This video is about 4 years old but outlines the fundamental argument for transforming the way we teach and learn in higher education. This transition is still being fueled today by younger faculty that have grown up in a “digital world”. | https://johnlympany.com/tag/learning/ |
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
We formulate a multi-matrices factorization model (MMF) for the missing sensor data estimation problem. The estimation problem is adequately transformed into a matrix completion one. With MMF, an n-by-t real matrix, R, is adopted to represent the data collected by mobile sensors from n areas at the time, T1, T2, … , Tt, where the entry, Ri,j, is the aggregate value of the data collected in the ith area at Tj. We propose to approximate R by seeking a family of d-by-n probabilistic spatial feature matrices, U(1), U(2), … , U(t), and a probabilistic temporal feature matrix, V ∈ ℝd×t, where
Rj≈U(j)TTj. We also present a solution algorithm to the proposed model. We evaluate MMF with synthetic data and a real-world sensor dataset extensively. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art comparison algorithms.
In this work, we study the following missing sensor data imputation problem: Let the matrix, R ∈ ℝn×t, consist of the data collected by a set of mobile sensors in spacial areas S1, S2, … Sn at time points T1 < T2 < … < Tt, where the entry, Ri,j, is the aggregate value collected by the sensors in Si at Tj. In particular, if there is no sensor in Si at time Tj, we denote the value of Ri,j as “ ⊥ ”, which indicates that it is missing. Our focus is to find the suitable estimations for the missing values in a given incomplete matrix, R. Results of this research could be helpful in recovering missing values in statistical analyses. For example, to predict floods, people usually place geographically distributed sensors in the water to continuously monitor the rising water levels. However, some data in a critical period of time might be corrupted, due to, e.g., sensor hardware failures. Such a kind of data needs be recovered to guarantee the prediction accuracy.
Many efforts have been devoted to the missing sensor data imputation problem. Typical examples include k nearest neighbor-based imputation [1], multiple imputation [2], hot/cold imputation [3], maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation [4] and expectation maximization [5]. However, despite the various implementations of these methods, their main essence is based on the local consistency of the sensor data, i.e., the data collected at adjacent time points within the same spacial area should be close to each other, as well as the data collected at the same time from neighboring areas. We refer to them as local models. As is well known, these local models suffer from the cumulative error problem in scenarios where the missing ratio is high.
Matrix factorization (MF), as a global model, has caught substantial attention in recent years. Typically, in the Netflix rating matrix completion competition [6], some variations of the MF model, e.g., [7,8], achieved state-of-the-art performances, showing their potential to recover the missing data from highly incomplete matrices. On the other side, many well-studied MF models, such as non-negative matrix factorization [9], max margin matrix factorization [10,11], and probabilistic matrix factorization [7], are based on the i.i.d.assumption [12], which, in terms of our problem, implies that the neighborhood information among the data is disregarded and, hence, leaves vast room for improvement.
We in this paper, we propose a multi-matrices factorization model (MMF), which can be outlined as follows. For a matrix, X, denote Xj the jth column of X. Given a sensor data matrix, R, we seek a set of matrices, U(1), U(2), …, U(t) ∈ ℝd×n, and a matrix, V ∈ ℝ d×t, such that for i = 1, 2, …,t,
U(i)TVi≈Ri. Here, U(i) is referred to as the spatial feature matrix, in which the jth column, U(i),j, is the feature vector of area Sj at Ti. Similarly, V is referred to as the temporal feature matrix, in which the jth column, Vj, is the temporal feature vector of Tj. To predict the missing values in R, we first fit the matrices, U(1), U(2), …, U(t) (single sub-indexes of matrix mean columns) and V, with the non-missing values in R; then, for each Ri,j = “ ⊥ ”, we take its estimation as
R^i,j=U(j),iTVj.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 summarizes the notations used in the paper. Section 3 studies the related work on matrix factorization. In Section 4, we present our multi-matrices factorization model. The algorithm to solve the proposed model is outlined in Section 5. Section 6 is devoted to the experimental evaluations. Finally, our conclusions are presented in Section 7, followed by a presentation of future work, acknowledgments and a list of references.
2.Notations
For a vector V = [v1, v2, …vn]′ ∈ ℝn, we use ‖V‖0, ‖V‖1 and ‖V‖2 to denote its 0-Norm, 1-Norm and 2-Norm, respectively, as follows:
-
‖V‖0=∑i=1nI(vi≠0), i.e., the number of nonzero entries of V;
-
‖V‖1=∑i=1n|vi|;
-
‖V‖2=∑i=1nvi2.
For a matrix, X ∈ ℝn×m, we denote its Frobenius norm as
‖X‖F=∑i=1n∑j=1mXi,j2.
3.Matrix Factorization
The essence of the Matrix Factorization problem is to find two factor matrices, U and V, such that their product can approximate the given matrix, R, i.e., R ≈ UTV. As a fundamental model of machine learning and data mining, the MF method has achieved state-of-the-art performance in various applications, such as collaborative filtering [13], text analysis [14], image analysis [9,15] and biology analysis [16]. In principle, for a given matrix, R, the MF problem can be formulated as the optimization model below:
(1){U*,V*}=minU,VLoss(UTV,R)where the lose function, Loss, is used to measure the closeness of the approximation, UTV, to the target, R. Usually, Loss(UTV, R) can be decomposed into the sum of the pairwise loss between the entries of UTV and R; that is,
Loss(UTV,R)=∑i=1n∑j=1mloss((UTV)i,j,Ri,j). Some of the most used forms include the square loss (loss(x, y) = (x - y)2) [7,8,17], the 0-1 loss (loss(x, y) = 𝕀(x = y)) [11] and the divergence loss
(loss(x,y)=xlogxy−x+y) [9].
It is notable that for Equation (1), if {U*, V*} is a solution to it, then for any scalar, κ > 0,
{κU*,1κV*} is also another solution; hence, problem (1) is ill-posed. To overcome this obstacle, various constraints on U and V are introduced, such as constraints on the entries [15], constraints on the sparseness [18,19], constraints on the norms [7,20] and constraints on the ranks [21,22]. All these constraints, from the perspective of the statistical learning theory, can be regarded as the length of the model to be fitted. According to the minimum description length principle [23,24], a smaller length means a better model; hence, most of them can be incorporated into Model (1) as the additional regularized terms, that is:
(2){U*,V*}=minU,VLoss(UTV,R)+P(U,V)where the regularization factor, P(U, V), corresponds to the constraints on U and V .
As a transductive model, Model (2) has many nice mathematical properties, such as the generalization error bound [10] and the exactness [17,25]. However, as is well known, when compared with the generative model, one of the main restrictions of the transductive model is that it can hardly be used to describe the relations existing in the data. In particular, in terms of our problem, even though Model (2) may work well, it is laborious to express the dynamics of the data over time.
4.The Proposed Model
In this section, we elaborate on our multi-matrices factorization (MMF) approach. Given the sensor data matrix, R, in which the entry, Ri,j (1 ≤ i ≤ n and 1 ≤ j ≤ t), is collected from Si at Tj, our goal is to find the factor matrices, U(1), U(2), …, U(t) ∈ ℝd×n and V ∈ ℝd×t, such that: for j = 1, 2, …, t,
(3)Rj≈U(j)TVjwhere U(j) is regarded to be composed of the spatial features of all areas at Tj and V is treated as consisting of the temporal features of all time points. We denote the i th column of Uj as U(j),i, which corresponds to the spatial feature value of Si at Tj, and denote the j th column of V as Vj, which corresponds to the temporal feature value of Tj.
Taking advantage of the knowledge of the probability graph model, we assume that the dependent structure of the data in U(1), U(2), …, U(t), V and R is as illustrated in Figure 1. More specifically, we have the following assumptions:
Now, given R and the priors, σU, σV, σR, ζU, and ζV, let U = {U(1), U(2), …, U(t)}; below, we find a solution to the following equation:
(4){U*,V*}=argU,VmaxPr(U,V∣R,σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)First, applying Bayes' theorem, we have:
Pr(U,V∣R,σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)=Pr(U,V,R∣σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)Pr(R∣σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)Since R is observed and σU, σV, σR, ζU and ζV are pre-specified, the denominator, Pr(R∣σU, σV, σR, ζU, ζV), can be treated as a constant. Therefore:
(5)Equation(4)⇔{U*,V*}=argU,VmaxPr(U,V,R∣σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)Combing Assumptions (I.) ∼ (V.) and the dependency structure illustrated in Figure 1, we have:
Pr(R,U,V∣σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)=Pr(R∣U,V,σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)×Pr(U,V∣σU,σV,σR,ζU,ζV)=Pr(R∣U,V,σR)×Pr(U∣σU,ζU)×Pr(V∣σV,ζV)=∏i=1n∏j=1tPr(Ri,j∣U(j),i,Vj,σR)×∏j=1tPr(U(j)∣σU,ζU)×Pr(V∣σV,ζV)=∏i=1n∏j=1tPr(Ri,j∣U(j),i,Vj,σR)×∏j=1tPr(U(j),1∣σU)∏i=1n∏j=2tPr(U(j),i∣U(j−1),i,ζU)×Pr(V1∣σV)×∏j=2tPr(Vj∣Vj−1,ζV)∝exp(−12σR2∑i=1n∑j=1t(U(j),iTVi−Ri,j)2))×exp(−12σU2∑i=1n‖U(i),1‖22)×∏i=1nexp(−∑j=2t|U(j),i−U(j−1),i|ζU)×exp(−12σV2‖V1‖22)×exp(−∑j=2t|Vj−Vj−1|ζV)Taking the logarithm on both sides and take the missing values into account, then we have:
(6)Equation(5)⇔{U*,V*}=argU,Vmin{∑i=1n∑j=1t(Ri,j−U(j),iTVj)2I(Ri,j≠′⊥′)+α∑j=1t‖U(j),1‖22+γ∑i=1n∑j=2t‖U(j),i−U(j−1),i‖1+β‖V1‖22+λ∑j=2t‖Vj−Vj−1‖1}where
α=σR2σU2,
γ=σR2ζU,
β=σR2σV2 and
λ=σR2ζV are the regularization parameters.
As a supplement, we have the following comments on Model (6):
On the selection of the Gaussian prior: In our model, since no prior information is available for the columns of the matrices, U(1) and V, hence, according to the max entropy principle [26], a reasonable choice for them is the Gaussian prior distribution.
On the ability to formalize the dynamics of the sensor data: The ability to characterize the dynamics of the sensor data lies in the terms
γ∑i=1n∑j=2t‖U(j),i−U(j−1),i‖1 and
λ∑j=2t‖Vj−Vj−1‖1. Obviously, for any two adjacent time points, Tj−1 and Tj, if the interval is small enough (namely, |Tj – Tj−1| → 0), then for any area, Si, the values, Ri,j−1 and Ri,j, should be close to each other (namely, |Ri,j – Ri,j−1| → 0). This can been enforced by tuning the parameters, γ and λ (see the following elaboration).
On the other side, when |Tj – Tj−1| → ∞, as is well known, the values in Rj and Rj−1 are regarded as being independent. In this case, we can take γ → 0 and λ → 0, allowing Rj to be irrelevant to Rj−1.
On the ℓ1norm: It is straightforward to verify that, if we replace the ℓ1 terms in Equation (6) with the ℓ2 terms (equivalently, use the Gaussian distribution instead of the Laplace distribution in Assumptions (III.) and (IV.)), e.g., replacing ‖Vj – Vj−1‖1 with
‖Vj−Vj−1‖22, ‖Rj – Rj−1‖2 can still be bounded via tuning the regularization parameters, γ and λ. The reason for adopting the ℓ1 norm here is two-fold: Firstly, as shown above, the ℓ1 terms can lead to the bounded difference norm, ‖Rj – Rj−1‖2, and hence, the proposed model accommodates the ability to characterize the dynamics of the sensor data; secondly, according to the recent emerging works on compressed sensing [27,28], under some settings, the behavior of the ℓ1 norm is similar to that of the ℓ0 norm. In terms of our model, this result indicates that the ℓ1 terms can restrict not only the magnitudes of the dynamics happening to the features, but also the number of features that changed in adjacent time points. In other words, with ℓ1 norms, our model gains more expressibility.
5.The Algorithm
Below, we present the algorithm to solve Model (6). We denote:
W=argU,Vmin∑i=1n∑j=1t(Ri,j−U(J),iTVj)2I(Ri,j≠′⊥′)+α∑j=1t‖U(j),1‖22+β‖V1‖22+γ∑i=1n∑j=2t‖U(j),i−U(j−1),i‖1+λ∑j=2t‖Vj−Vj−1‖1Apparently, W is convex with respect to U(j),i and Vj (1 ≤ i ≤ n and 1 ≤ j ≤ t). Therefore, we can obtain the local minimum solution via coordinate descent [29].
Finally, with the results above, we present the solution algorithm in Algorithm 1.
6.Applications on Missing Sensor Data Imputation
In this section, we evaluate our approach through two large-sized datasets and compare the results with two state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of parametric sensitivity, convergence and missing data recovery performance. The following paragraphs describe the set-up, evaluation methodology and the results obtained. To simplify the parameter tuning, we set α = β and λ = γ in the algorithm implementation.
6.1.Evaluation Methodology
Three state-of-the-art algorithms are selected for comparison to the proposed MMP model. The first one is the k-nearest neighbor-based imputation model [1]. As a local model, for every missing entry, Ri,j, the knnmethod takes the estimation, R̂i,j, as the mean of the k nearest neighbors to it. Let
(x) be the set consisting of the k non-empty entries to x; then:
(10)R^i,j=1k∑Ri,l∈N(Ri,j)Ri,l
The second algorithm is the probabilistic principle components analysis model (PPCA) [30,31], which has achieved state-of-the-art performance in the missing traffic flow data imputation problem [31]. Denote the observations of the incomplete matrix, R, as Ro. Let x ∼ N(0, I); to estimate the missing values, PPCA first fits the parameters μ and C with:
(11){μ*,C*}=argμ,CmaxPr(x∣Ro)~N(xσ−2(I+σ−2CCT)−1CRo,(I+σ−2CCT)−1)where σ is the tunable parameter. Then, with Ro, μ* and C*, it takes the estimation of the missing values (denoted as Rm) as:
(12)R^m=argRmmaxN(Rm∣CTx,σ2I)
The third algorithm is the probabilistic matrix factorization model (PMF) [7], one of the most popular algorithms targeting the Netflix matrix completion problem. PMF first seeks the low rank matrices, U and V, that:
(13){U*,V*}=argU,Vmin∑i=1n∑j=1t(Ri,j−UiTVj)2I(Ri,j≠′⊥′)+α∑i=1n‖Ui‖22+β∑j=1t‖Vj‖22then for the missing entry Ri,j, it takes the estimation as
(14)Rˆi,j=UiTVj
Replace all U(j),is with
U(j),inews and Vjs with
Vjnews, recompute W1;
26
end
27
returnR̂, where
R^j=U(j)TVj;
These three algorithms, as well as the proposed MMF, are employed to perform missing imputations for the incomplete matrix, R, on the same datasets.
The testing protocol adopted here is the Given X (0 < X < 1) protocol [32], i.e., given a matrix, R, only X percent of its observed entries are revealed, while the remaining observations are concealed to evaluate the trained model. For example, a setting with X = 10% means that the algorithm is trained with 10% of the non-missing entries, and the rest of the 90% non-missing ones are held and are to be recovered. In both of the experiments on synthetic and real datasets, the data partition is repeated five times, and the average results, as well as the standard deviations over the five repetitions are recorded.
Similar to many other missing imputation problems [1,3-5,7,13,33-35], we employ the root mean square error (RMSE) to depict the distance between the real values and the estimations: Let S = {s1, s2, … sn} be the test dataset and Ŝ = {ŝ1, ŝ2, … ŝn} be the estimated set; here, ŝi is the estimation of si. Then, the RMSE of the estimation is given by
1n∑k=1n(sk−s^k)2.
6.2.Synthetic Validation
To conduct a synthetic validation of the studied approaches, we randomly draw a 100 × 10, 000 matrix R using the procedure detailed in Algorithm 2. The rows in R correspond to the areas, S1, S2, …, Sn, and the columns correspond to the time. Thus, Ri,j represents the data collected in Si at time Tj. Notably, the parameter, ri,j, in Algorithm 2 is used to control the magnitude of the variation happening to Si from Tj−1 to Tj. Combining lines 4 and 5, we have: for i ∈ [1, n] and j ∈ [1, t],
|Ri,j−Ri,j−1Ri,j−1|=|ri,j|≤0.1. This constraint ensures that the data collected in Si does not change too much over time Tj−1 to Tj.
Algorithm 2: Synthetic Data Generating Procedure.
1
fori = 1, 2, …, ndo
2
Draw Ri,1 ∼ N(0, 1);
3
forj = 2, 3, …, tdo
4
Let ri,j ∼ Uniform(−0.1, 0.1);
5
Ri,j ← Ri,j−1 + ri,jRi,j−1;
6
end
7
end
We first evaluate the sensitivity of the proposed algorithm to the regularization parameters, α and λ. Half of the entries in R are randomly selected as testing data and recovered using the remaining 50% as the training data. Namely, we take X = 50% in the Given X protocol. In the experiments, we first fix α = 0.01, tune λ via λ = 0.01 × 2n (n = 0, 1, … 7) and, then, do the reverse by changing α via α = 0.01 × 2n (n = 0, 1, … 7), but setting λ = 0.01. The average RMSEs with the same parameter settings on different data partitions are summarized in Figure 2.
In Figure 2, the RMSE-1 curve represents the recovery errors obtained by fixing α and changing the value of λ. The RMSE-2 curve corresponds to the errors with different α values and fixed λ. We can see that even when λ is expanded by more than 100 times (27 = 128), the RMSE still remains stable. A similar result also appears in the experiments on the parameter, α, where a significant change of the RMSE only occurs when n is greater than six, i.e., when α is expanded more than 60 times.
The second experiment we conduct is to study the prediction ability of the proposed algorithm, as well as that of the comparison algorithms. In the Given X protocol, we set X = 10%, 20%, …, 90% in sequence. Then, for each X value, we perform missing imputations via our algorithm and the comparison algorithms. In the all implementations, we set k = 5 for the knn model. As with the MF-based algorithms, we examine their performance with respect to the latent feature dimension d = 10 and d = 30 respectively. Furthermore, in the implementation of MMF, we fix α = λ = 0.1, η1 = η2 = η3 = η4 = 0.01. All results are summarized in Table 1.
As shown in Table 1, when X is large, e.g., X ≥ 50%, knn is competitive with the matrix factorization methods, while in the other situations, the MF methods outperform it significantly. In terms of the MF-based methods, we find that our algorithm outperforms PPCA significantly in all settings. The RMSEs of our algorithm are at most roughly 20% of that of PPCA. Specifically, for X ∈ [30%; 80%], the RMSEs of the proposed algorithm are even only 10% of that of PPCA. We can also observe that the parameter, d, has a different impact on the performances of our algorithm and PPCA: When d changes from 10 to 30, most of the RMSEs of PPCA increase evidently, while for our algorithm, the RMSEs are reduced by roughly 5%.
When compared with PMF, our algorithm also performs better in most of the settings: PMF achieves lower RMSEs than MMF only in two cases, in which d = 10, X = 60% and d = 10; X = 80% respectively. Another interesting finding is that the promotion of the feature number, d (from 10 to 30), has little impact on the performance of PMF.
We also exam the convergence speed of the proposed algorithm. In the missing recovery experiments conducted above, for each X setting, we record the average RMSE of the recovered results after every 10 iterations of all data partitions. We can see from Figure 3 that, for all X values, the errors drop dramatically in the first 20 iterations and remain stable after the first 100 iterations. We can conclude that the proposed algorithm converges to the local optimization solutions after around 100 iterations.
6.3.Application to Impute the Missing Traffic Speed Values
To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach on real-world applications, in this section, we conduct another experiment on a traffic speed dataset, which was collected in the urban road network of Zhuhai City [36], China, from April 1, 2011 to April 30, 2011. The data matrix, R, consists of 1,853 rows and 8,729 columns. Each row corresponds to a road, and each column corresponds to a five minute-length time interval. All columns are arranged in ascending order of time. An entry, Ri,j (1 ≤ i ≤ 1, 853,1 ≤ j ≤ 8729), in R is the aggregate mean traffic speed of the ith road in the jth interval. Since all the data in R are collected by floating cars [37], the value of Ri,j could be missing if there is no car on the i th road in the j th time interval. Our statistics show that in R, there are nearly half of the entries, i.e., eight million entries are missing values.
We perform missing imputation on matrix R using the studied algorithms with parameter settings k = 5 and d = 10. In the implementation of MMF, we fix α = 0.25, λ = 0.5, η1 = η2 = η3 = η4 = 0.5. We summarize all results in Table 2, from which both the feasibility and effectiveness of MMF are well verified. In detail, when X is large enough, e.g., X ≥ 80%, knn is competitive, while in the other cases, knn cannot work as well as the MF based algorithms. As for the MF algorithms, we see that the proposed MMF outperforms PPCA and PMF in all X settings. Particularly, when the observations are few (X = 10% and X = 20%), the errors of our algorithm reduce by 33% compared to those of PPCA and by 10% compared to those of PMF, respectively. When X > 20%, the RMSE differences between PPCA and our algorithm tend to be slight, but the overall errors of PPCA are roughly 3% ∼ 5% higher than those of MMF. For PMF, the RMSEs remain about 10% higher than MMF in all settings.
7.Conclusion
Missing estimation is one of the main concerns in current studies on sensor data-based applications. In this work, we formulate the estimation problem as a matrix completion one and present a multi-matrices factorization model to address it. In our model, each column, Rj, of the target matrix, R, is approximated by the product of a spatial feature matrix, U(j), and a temporal feature vector, Vj. Both Uj and Vj are time dependent, and hence, their product accommodates the ability to describe the time variant sensor data. We also present a solution algorithm to the factorization model. Empirical studies on a synthetic dataset and real sensor data show that our approach outperforms the comparison algorithms.
Reviewing the present work, it is notable that the proposed model only incorporates the temporal structure information, while the information on the spatial structure is disregarded, e.g., the data collected in two adjacent areas, Sk and Sl, should be close to each other. Hence, our next step is to extend our model with more complex structured data.
This work has been partially supported by National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program) of China under Grant 2012AA12A203.
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In developing countries, where health insurance is not a commonly purchased financial instrument, recent debates have revolved around extending health insurance coverage to a wider range of the population, primarily via compulsory insurance schemes. However, these debates rarely consider the competing demands placed on the family budget, which will influence the acceptability of the program by the populace, and can be used to design the optimal policy. In this paper, we examine treatment effects associated with household insurance status providing a detailed examination of expenditure substitution patterns within a highly unequal developing country. In agreement with economic theory, the expansion of health insurance coverage via compulsory schemes creates additional burdens for households, which household accommodate via expenditure substitution. The observed variation in the household's ability to accommodate increased expenditure can and should be used in future to assess policy options and design an optimal social health insurance program. | https://econrsa.org/publications/policy-papers/health-insurance-or-food-family-examination-unintended-consequences |
Get your day off to a great start by taking part in Tai Chi and Chi Gong sessions with Wu Style Senior Practitioner Andy Petch on Saturday mornings.
Wu style Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art with a family lineage dating back some 150 years. It’s a comprehensive form of exercise designed to benefit both the mind and body. The classes are suitable for everyone even if you are a complete beginner.
They aim to:
improve physical and mental health well being
improve co-ordination, flexibility, balance and agility
promote calm and patience
improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety
enhance aerobic capacity and joint flexibility
increase energy levels and stamina
And to ensure you have fun!
Classes will take place outside at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses. There is a weather proof canopy here to keep people dry in case of rain.
Physical distance will be maintained due to Covid. If people would like to wear masks, they are welcome. But there is no requirement to do so as we will be outside and safely apart from each other. | https://www.brockwellgreenhouses.org.uk/event/tai-chi-with-andy-petch-10/ |
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The amount of damages may be determined by any formula mutually agreeable between the surface owner and the oil and gas developer.
(b) Any reservation or assignment of the compensation provided in this section apart from the surface estate except to a tenant of the surface estate is prohibited.
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(6) Insofar as the requirements of paragraph (5) apply, the risk of the incidental loss of or deterioration in the goods is transferred to the buyer at the time at which the buyer defaults on acceptance or payment.
(7) We shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions provided that the underlying purchase agreement represents a fixed-date transaction as defined in Section 286 (II)(4) BGB [German Civil Code] or Section 376 of the HGB [Commercial Code]. We shall also be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions if, as a result of delayed delivery caused by us, the buyer is entitled to assert that his interests are no longer served by further performance of the agreement.
(8) We shall also be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions if the delay in delivery is attributable to a wilful breach of contract or breach caused by gross negligence on our part. Any fault on the part of our representatives or agents shall be deemed as fault on our part. If the delay in delivery is not attributable to a wilful breach of contract on our part, our liability to pay damages shall be limited to the foreseeable level of damages typically incurred.
(9) We shall also be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions to the extent that delayed delivery for which we are responsible is the result of a negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation; in such cases, however, liability to pay damages shall be limited to the foreseeable level of damages typically incurred.
(10) In addition, in the event of delayed delivery, we shall be liable to pay a flat rate of compensation of 0.5% of the purchase price up to a maximum of 5% for each full week of the delay.
(11) The seller shall be entitled to make partial deliveries or render a partial service at any time to the extent that the buyer can be reasonably expected to accept such deliveries or services.
(12) Insurance of the goods shall only be arranged upon instruction from the buyer in text form.
(1) It is the responsibility of the buyer to check the goods immediately on receipt to ensure that they are complete, have not been damaged during transportation, do not contain any obvious faults and are compliant with the specified properties. If the purchase represents a commercial transaction for both parties, the buyer must notify the seller of any obvious faults immediately in text form and no later than 4 weeks after delivery. Notification of concealed faults in the event of a mutual commercial transaction shall be deemed to have been provided in good time if provided immediately following detection of the faults. Otherwise, the fault shall be deemed to have been notified in good time if the seller is notified within four weeks of the fault being discovered.
(2) In the event that the goods are faulty, we may choose to remedy the situation by repairing the fault or to supply a replacement. If we take action to remedy the fault, we shall be obliged to bear all expenses associated with this process, particularly transport, labour and material costs, unless such are increased by the fact that the goods were moved to a location other than the place of performance.
(3) If the action taken to remedy the fault proves unsuccessful, the buyer may choose to withdraw from the agreement or demand a reduction in price. The above rights are however excluded whilst action is being taken to remedy the fault. Action to remedy the fault shall be deemed to have failed if it remains unsuccessful on the second attempt.
(4) We shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions to the extent that the buyer asserts claims for damages that are based on wilful intent or gross negligence, including wilful intent or gross negligence on the part of our representatives or agents. Unless we are accused of wilful breach of contract, liability for damages shall be limited to the foreseeable damages typically incurred.
(5) We shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions to the extent that we negligently breach an essential contractual obligation; in such cases, however, liability to pay damages shall be limited to the foreseeable level of associated damages typically incurred.
(6) If the buyer is entitled to compensation for damages in place of the service, our liability shall also be limited to compensation for the foreseeable amount of damages typically incurred.
(7) Liability for negligent loss of life, human injury or damage to human health shall remain unaffected. This shall similarly apply to obligatory liability in accordance with the German Product Liability Act. If we are liable for consequential damage in a product liability case, the extent of our liability shall be limited to the amount of foreseeable damage and to the sum assured under the product liability insurance policy of Peter Herres GmbH. This shall not apply in the case of damaged caused intentionally.
(8) In the absence of any agreement to the contrary above, liability is excluded.
(9) Warranty claims shall become statute-barred after one year, calculated from the date of delivery of the goods.
(1) We shall retain ownership of the goods being sold until such time as all of our claims arising during the conclusion of this agreement, including all claims arising from related contracts and follow-up orders have been settled.
(2) In the event of levies of execution or other intervention by third parties, the buyer shall inform us in text form immediately so that we can bring a legal action in accordance with Section 771 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO). If the third party is not in position to pay us the judicial and extra judicial costs of a legal action in accordance with Section 771 of the ZPO, the buyer shall be liable for any shortfall incurred by us.
(3) The buyer may sell the purchased goods on in an ordinary commercial transaction, in which case it shall assign to us already at this stage all claims in the amount of the final invoice amount (including VAT) constituting our claim that result from the onward sale to the buyer’s purchaser or to a third party and irrespective of whether the goods are sold on after or without having been further processed. The buyer shall be entitled to collect this claim even after its assignment. This shall not affect our right to collect the claim ourselves. We undertake, however, to refrain from collecting the claim provided that the buyer meets his payment obligations from the proceeds received and does not default on payment and, in particular, provided that no application is made for bankruptcy, composition or insolvency proceedings and provided that there is no cessation of payments. Should this be the case, however, we shall be entitled to demand that the buyer provide us with details of the assigned claims and debtors and with all the information required to collect the outstanding amounts, submit to us all the related documentation and inform the debtors (third parties) of the assignment.
(4) Any processing or transformation of the goods by the buyer shall always be done on our behalf. If the goods are processed alongside other items that do not belong to us, we shall acquire joint ownership of the resulting product based on the value of the goods compared with the value at the time of processing of the other processed items. The product created from the processing stage shall be subject to the same conditions that apply in respect of the goods supplied subject to retention of title.
(5) If the goods are mixed with other items that do not belong to us and cannot be separated again, we shall acquire joint ownership of the resulting product based on the value of the goods compared with the value at the time of mixing of the other items used in the mixing process. If the mixing takes place in such a way that that the item belonging to the buyer can be viewed as the main component, it is agreed that the party placing the order shall transfer joint ownership to us on a pro rata basis. The buyer shall store the property of which he has sole or shared ownership on our behalf.
(6) We undertake to release the security made available to us upon the buyer’s request to the extent that the realisable value of the security exceeds the value of the claims being secured by more than 10%. We shall decide which components of the security provided are to be released.
(1) If the buyer is a commercial entity, the place of jurisdiction shall be the place in which our registered offices are located. We may however take legal action against the buyer at the court with jurisdiction over the buyer’s place of residence.
(2) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply. Application of UN law on the sale of goods is excluded.
(3) In the absence of any provision to the contrary in our order confirmation, the location of our registered offices shall be the place of performance.
Should one or several of the provisions of our Terms and Conditions of Business be or become invalid, this shall not affect the effectiveness of the remaining provisions. | https://www.herres-sekt.com/en/terms-conditions/ |
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Over the past decade, research has shown that diet and gut health affects symptoms expressed in stress related disorders, depression, and anxiety through changes in the gut microbiota. Psycho-behavioral function and somatic health interaction have often been ignored in health care with resulting deficits in treatment quality and outcomes. While mental health care requires the professional training in counseling, psychotherapy and psychiatry, complimentary therapeutic strategies, such as attention to a nutritional and diverse diet and supplementation of probiotic foods, may be integrated alongside psychotherapy treatment models. Development of these alternative strategies is predicated on experimental evidence and diligent research on the biology of stress, fear, anxiety-related behaviors, and the gut-brain connection. This article provides a brief overview on biological markers of anxiety and the expanding nutritional literature relating to brain health and mental disorders. A case study demonstrates an example of a biopsychosocial approach integrating cognitive psychotherapy, dietary changes, and mindfulness activities, in treating symptoms of anxiety. This case study shows a possible treatment protocol to explore the efficacy of targeting the gut-brain-axis that may be used as an impetus for future controlled studies.
Nutritional psychiatry; anxiety; behavioral therapy; counseling; depression; enteric nervous system; gut brain axis; mental health; microbiome; neurobiology; stress
National Center for
Biotechnology Information, | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27698624 |
A novel dual-band design of a finite ground coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed monopole antenna is presented for simultaneously satisfying wireless local area network (WLAN) and worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) applications. The wireless communication industry is integrating a number of services like Bluetooth, WLAN etc to the hand held communication devices. Therefore, in the present scenario, the bandwidth requirement of the antenna while maintaining the compactness becomes more critical. The proposed antenna, comprising a rectangular planar patch element embedded with two L shaped slots and stair shape slot in the middle of the patch element. The simulated - 10 dB bandwidth for return loss is from 2.0 to 2.2 GHz and 2.8 to3.1 GHz, covering some of the WiMAX and WLAN bands. Prototypes of the obtained optimized antenna have been designed and constructed. The Antenna has 9.5 % (-10 dB return loss) band width ranging from 2 to 2.2 GHz, and - 21 dB return loss is from 2.85 to 2.95 GHz.The parametric study is performed to understand the characteristics of the proposed antenna. Also, good antenna performances such as radiation patterns and antenna gains over the operating bands have been observed and VSWR is 5.2 at 2.4 GHz. The radiation patterns in polar plot theta 90& 150 degrees. | https://paper.researchbib.com/view/paper/12237 |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
U.S. provisional patent application number 62/407,449, filed on October 12, 2016
U.S. provisional patent application number 62/413,910, filed on October 27, 2016
U.S. provisional patent application number 62/440,216, filed on December 29, 2016
This application claims priority to: ; ; and , the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
OVERVIEW
SUMMARY
Liquid crystal display (LCD) device technology continuously evolves with respect to improving the end-user experience. One aspect of improving the end user experience has been to target expanding the color gamut of LCD devices.
Accordingly, quantum-dot (QD) technology has been explored with respect to expanding the color gamut of LCD devices. Generally, as will be discussed in more detail subsequently herein, various technology solutions are based on a modification to an LCD device assembly that includes a polymeric sheet or rod in which QDs are embedded.
The present inventors have recognized that inkjet printing techniques can be used to provide innovative QD color enhancement devices (CEDs), as well as being used to provide incorporation of QDs into a subassembly of an LCD device, as well as incorporation in an LCD panel subassembly of an LCD device.
Ink compositions for forming quantum dot-containing films are provided. Also provided are methods for forming the films via inkjet printing and light-emitting devices that incorporate the films.
One embodiment of a method of forming a light-emitting layer in a photonic device includes: inkjet printing a layer of an ink composition on a device substrate of the photonic device, and curing the ink composition. One embodiment of an ink composition includes: 70 wt.% to 96 wt.% di(meth)acrylate monomers or a combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers; 4 wt.% to 10 wt.% multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent; and 0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots, wherein the ink composition has a viscosity in the range from 2 cps to 30 cps and a surface tension at 22 °C in the range from 25 dyne/cm to 45 dyne/cm at a temperature in the range from 22 °C to 40 °C.
One embodiment of a photonic device includes: a photonic device substrate; and a crosslinked polymer film on the photonic device substrate, the crosslinked polymer film including: 70 wt.% to 96 wt.% polymer chains comprising polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers, or a combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers; 4 wt.% to 10 wt.% polymerized multifunctional (meth)acrylate monomers crosslinking the polymer chains; and 0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A
FIG. 1B
is a schematic illustration, which represents various layers that may be included in an embodiment of an LCD display device. is a schematic illustration, which represents various layers that may be included in another embodiment of an LCD display device.
FIG. 2A
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2A
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2D
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2E
FIG. 2D
is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device that includes a QD color filter. is a cross-sectional view of the upper layers of the LCD device of , showing the configuration of the QD color filter. illustrates the printing of a QD color filter that includes scattering nanoparticles (represented by open circles) in its green sub-pixels, red sub-pixels, and blue sub-pixels. illustrates the printing of a barrier or planarization layer over embodiments of the QD color filter of . illustrates an LCD device utilizing the QD color filter of .
FIG. 3A
FIG. 3B
FIG. 3A
FIG. 3C
FIG. 3D
FIG. 3E
FIG. 3F
FIG. 2A
FIG. 3G
FIG. 3F
FIG. 3H
is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device in which the layer stack does not include local cut-on filters in the sub-pixel cells. is a cross-sectional side view of the upper layers of an LCD device according to , including the blue, green, and red sub-pixels in the QD color filter. shows the absorbance spectrum of a global cut-on filter that absorbs radiation having wavelengths shorter than the blue emission wavelengths of the device. shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a QD color filter that includes local light filter layers adjacent to QD-containing layers in the sub-pixels. shows the absorbance spectrum of a red sub-pixel-specific cut-on filter layer; the absorbance spectrum of the red-emitting QDs in a light-emitting layer; and the emission spectrum of the red-emitting QDs in the light-emitting layer for a red sub-pixel. is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device similar to that of , except that the layer stack further includes a global cut-on filter layer. is a cross-sectional side view of the upper layers of the LCD device according to , including the blue, green, and red sub-pixels in the QD color filter. shows the absorbance spectrum of a global cut-on filter layer; the absorbance spectrum of a red sub-pixel-specific local cut-on filter layer; the absorbance spectrum of the red-emitting QDs in a light-emitting layer; the emission spectrum of the red-emitting QDs in the light-emitting layer for a red sub-pixel; and the emission spectrum of blue-emitting QDs in a blue light-emitting layer (or, alternatively, the blue light emission spectrum for a blue BLU transmitted through a blue sub-pixel).
FIG. 4A
FIG. 4B
shows a process of inkjet printing the local light filter layers in the sub-pixel cells of a QD color filter. shows a process of inkjet printing the QD-containing light-emitting layers in the sub-pixel cells of a QD color filter.
FIG. 5
shows a cross-sectional side view of a quantum dot-containing layer disposed between two protective layers for a color enhancement device.
FIG. 6
illustrates generally a schematic exploded perspective view of the components of an LCD device.
FIG. 7A
FIG. 7B
FIG. 7A
shows a cross-sectional side view of a substrate tray for inkjet printing a plurality of device substrates. shows a top view of the substrate tray of .
FIG. 8
shows a top view of one embodiment of an edge lit CED having a discontinuous quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 9
FIG. 8
shows a cross-sectional side view of the CED of .
FIG. 10
shows a cross-sectional side of another embodiment of an edge lit CED having a discontinuous quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 11
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of an edge lit CED having a discontinuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer and a separate quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 12
FIG. 11
shows the CED of having plasmonic scattering nanoparticles in the quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 13
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of an edge lit CED having a continuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer, with a variable thickness along its length, and a separate quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 14
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of an edge lit CED having a continuous layer that contains both quantum dots and scattering nanoparticles and has a variable thickness along its length.
FIG. 15
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of an edge lit CED having a continuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer, with a uniform thickness along its length, and a separate quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 16
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of an edge lit CED having a continuous layer that contains both quantum dots and scattering nanoparticles and has a uniform thickness along its length.
FIG. 17
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a back lit CED having a discontinuous quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 18
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a back lit CED having a discontinuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer and a separate quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 19
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a back lit CED having a continuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer, with a uniform thickness along its length, and a separate quantum dot-containing layer.
FIG. 20
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a back lit CED having a continuous layer that contains both quantum dots and scattering nanoparticles and has a uniform thickness along its length.
FIG. 21
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a back lit CED having a continuous scattering nanoparticle-containing layer, with a thickness modulation along its length, and a separate quantum dot-containing layer, with an optional thickness modulation along its length.
FIG. 22
is a schematic illustration of a method for inkjet printing layers containing quantum dots and scattering nanoparticles on a device substrate.
FIG. 23
is a schematic illustration of a method for forming a sealing layer on a substrate and, optionally, also a barrier layer.
FIG. 24
is a schematic illustration of a method of printing one or more layers of a CED between the sealing banks of a sealing layer and then sealing the CED layers.
FIG. 25
. Table of the structures, room temperature viscosities, and room temperatures surface tensions of cyclic trimethylolpropane formal acrylate, alkoxylated tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol diacrylate, and 2(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl acrylate.
FIG. 26
shows a flowchart for a method of formulating a QD-containing ink composition.
FIG. 27
. Table of the formulations for two base ink compositions, as described in Example 1.
FIG. 28
. Table of formulations for two QD-containing ink compositions, along with their room temperature surface tensions and viscosities, as described in Example 1.
FIG. 29A
shows the emission spectra for a layer containing silver nanoparticle plasmonic scatterers in combination with green-emitting QDs and for a layer containing only green-emitting QDs, without any silver nanoparticle plasmonic scatterers.
FIG. 29B
shows the emission spectra for a layer containing silver nanoparticle plasmonic scatterers in combination with red-emitting QDs and a layer containing only the green-emitting QDs, without any silver nanoparticle plasmonic scatterers.
A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present disclosure will be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to illustrate, not limit, the present teachings. In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Display Devices Having Color Filters Incorporating a QD-Containing Layer
QD-Containing Color Enhancement Layers
Ink Compositions
EXAMPLE INK COMPOSITIONS
Ink compositions for forming QD-containing films are provided. Also provided are methods for forming the QD-containing films via inkjet printing and photonic devices that incorporate the QD-containing films. The QD-containing films can be incorporated as light-emitting layers in a variety of optoelectronic devices. Although the description that follows illustrates the use of the QD-containing films as color filter layers and color enhancement layers in devices such as LCDs or organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), the QD-containing films can be incorporated into other devices that include a QD-containing light-emitting layer.
FIG. 1A
FIG. 1A
is a schematic illustration that represents various layers that may be included in an LCD display device. For various display devices, for example, for various LCD devices, and for some types of organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices, light is directed from a source of white light located in back of the individual sub-pixels of a color filter array. The sub-pixels can be, but are not limited to, red (R) sub-pixels, green (G) sub-pixels, and/or blue (B) sub-pixels. For LCD devices, the light source may be a back-light source that illuminates many sub-pixels in a color filter array at once, at a common brightness which can be adjusted based on the image to be displayed. The light transmitted through each of the sub-pixels of a color filter array can be further modulated by a corresponding liquid crystal filter associated with each sub-pixel of a color filter array. The liquid crystal filter can be controlled by, for example, a transistor circuit. In the case of OLED devices, the light supplied to each of the sub-pixels of a color filter array typically comes from a white OLED device and the brightness of each sub-pixel is modulated by a transistor circuit. For either various embodiments of LCD devices or OLED devices, each sub-pixel of a color filter array contains a light filtering media that transmits light only within a prescribed electromagnetic wavelength bandwidth associated with the sub-pixel color. Manufacturing a conventional color filter array can be done using, for example, photolithographic techniques, which are complex processes requiring many separate sequences of, for example, blanket coating, photo-exposure, and development to fabricate both the light blocking "black matrix" material in between the sub-pixels, as well as the individual color filter material deposition sequences (e.g. one each for R, G, and B). Though indicates an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, which in various embodiments can be coated on the polarizer surface positioned towards the liquid crystal, various embodiments of an LCD display device do not include an ITO coating on a polarizer. The device might have an anti-glare layer to reduce glare caused by ambient light.
FIG. 1B
FIG. 1B
FIG. 1A
FIG. 1B
is a schematic illustration that represents various layers that may be included in an LCD display device according to the present teachings. In the device of , the color filter shown in has been replaced by a color filter layer fabricated using QDs. The QDs are small crystalline particles that absorb incident radiation having a first wavelength, or a first range of wavelengths, and convert the energy of the radiation into light having a different wavelength, or a different range of wavelengths, which is emitted from the QDs within a very narrow part of the optical spectrum. Thus, by incorporating QDs of appropriates sizes and materials in appropriate concentrations and ratios into a light-emitting device layer, that layer can be designed to alter the absorption and/or emission spectra of a photonic device that incorporates the layer. Thus, the QD-containing color filter layers are so called because they "filter" incoming light having a first wavelength or wavelength range, such as ultraviolet or blue light, by converting at least a portion of it into light having a different wavelength or wavelength range, such as red and/or green light. On a first side of a QD-containing color filter, as depicted in , there can be a polarizer layer.
An LCD device may also utilize an anti-photoluminescent layer in conjunction with a QD-containing color filter (referred to herein as a QD color filter). Since the color filter sub-pixels that utilize QDs are at the front of the display, it is desirable to avoid having ambient light act as a source of excitation for QDs in the color filter layer. Accordingly, various embodiments of LCD devices utilize various local and global filter layers acting as anti-photoluminescent layers. Similarly, this layer of filters can also be utilized to prevent excess blue light (which has not been absorbed and converted by the QD layer) to be transmitted and thus decrease the color gamut of the display. Moreover, as will be described in more detail herein, inkjet printing can be used to fabricate the QD-containing layers of various embodiments of the QD color filters, as well as various anti-photoluminescent layers for such devices.
FIG. 2A
FIG. 1B
FIG. 2B
FIG. 1B
FIG. 1B
FIG. 2A
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2E
FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B
FIG. 3F, and FIG, 3G
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2B
is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device of the type shown in . is a cross-sectional view of the upper layers of the LCD device. As noted for , on a first side of a QD-containing layer of the QD color filter there can be a polarizer layer. In various embodiments of a QD-containing color filter as illustrated generally herein, for , , , , , , a conductive film, such as an ITO film, can be coated on the polarizer layer, while in other embodiments, the device may not require an ITO coating. In various embodiments of an LCD device for which a conductive coating is utilized, other conductive, transparent materials can also be used, for example, but not limited by, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), doped zinc oxide, and graphene, as well as combinations of such materials can be used. As shown in , the QD color filter includes a plurality of sub-pixel cells defined by sub-pixel banks (depicted as thick black sections). The sub-pixels formed in the sub-pixel cells include red sub-pixels (designated with an "R" in ), green sub-pixels (designated with a "G" in ), and blue sub-pixels (designated with a "B" in ). Each red sub-pixel includes a red light-emitting layer containing red-emitting QDs dispersed in a polymer matrix. Similarly, each green sub-pixel includes a green light-emitting layer containing green-emitting QDs dispersed in a polymer matrix. In some embodiments of the LCD device in which the BLU is an ultraviolet light, each blue sub-pixel includes a blue light-emitting layer containing blue-emitting QDs in a polymer matrix. In other embodiments of the LCD device in which the BLU is a blue light, the blue sub-pixels in the QD color filter need not include QDs, but can, optionally, include a polymer matrix that at least partially transmits the blue light from the BLU. The polymer matrices in the sub-pixels are capable of transmitting light across at least certain portions of the visible spectrum. By way of illustration, BLU may be composed of one or more blue LEDs.
FIG. 2B
FIGs. 3A, 3B
3F, and 3G
In the LCD device of , an anti-photoluminescent layer is provided in the form of a global cut-on filter layer and a local cut-on filter layers. More information about the structure of global and local cut-on filter layers (also referred to as global light filter layers and local light filter layers) is provided in , and their accompanying description below.
In addition to the QDs, the light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels can contain scattering nanoparticles (SNPs), which may be geometric scattering nanoparticles (GSNPs), plasmonic scattering nanoparticles (PSNPs), or a combination thereof. It should be noted that, although the PSNPs and GSNPs will generally have at least one nanoscale dimension - that is, at least one dimension of not greater than about 1000 nm, the nanoparticles need not be round particles. For example, the nanoparticles can be elongated particles, such as nanowires, or irregularly shaped particles. Such scattering nanoparticles can also be included in the matrix material of blue sub-pixels that do not contain any QDs. Scattering by GSNPs is accomplished by refraction at the surface of the particle. Examples of GSNPs include metal oxide nanoparticles, such as nanoparticles of zirconium oxide (i.e. zirconia), titanium oxide (i.e. titania) and aluminum oxide (i.e. alumina). A PSNP is characterized in that incident light excites an electron density wave in the nanoparticle that creates a local oscillating electric field extending out from the surface of the nanoparticle. In addition to the scattering effect of the particle, if the PSNP is in close proximity to one or more QDs, this electric field can couple to the QDs, thereby enhancing the absorption of the QD layer. Examples of PSNPs include metal nanoparticles, such as nanoparticles of silver.
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2C
G
B
R
shows an example of a QD color filter 160 that includes GSNPs that can be formed using inkjet printing into a plurality of sub-pixel cells 115 formed in substrate 110. As depicted in , an ink composition containing green QDs (CFI), an ink composition containing blue QDs (CFI), and an ink composition containing red QDs (CFI) can be printed to form to form the green, blue, and red light-emitting layers, respectively, of QD color filter 160. As illustrated generally in , the various QD inks can include SNPs (represented by open circles)), which can be incorporated in the green sub-pixels, the red sub-pixels, and the blue sub-pixels. (As depicted in , the green QDs are represented by the smaller solid circles and the red QDs are represented by the larger solid circles.) . The SNPs provide enhanced light absorption and extraction by acting as light scattering centers in the polymer matrices. Including SNPs in combination with the QDs can increase the color conversion efficiency of a QD-containing sub-pixel by increasing photon scattering in the interior of the light-emitting layer, so that there are more interactions between the photons and the QDs and, therefore, more light absorption by the QDs.
In embodiments of QD color filters that include blue-emitting QDs in the blue sub-pixels, SNPs (for example, GSNPs) could also be included in those sub-pixels. However, even blue sub-pixels that lack QDs can include SNPs dispersed in a polymer matrix to provide isotropic blue light emission from the blue sub-pixels that is equivalent to, or nearly equivalent to, the isotropic red and green light emission that is provided by the red and green sub-pixels, such that the optical appearance of the emitted blue light (e.g., haze and specular emission) is similar to that of the emitted red and green light. However, in order to avoid unwanted scattering of ambient light in the sub-pixels, some embodiments of the light-emitting layers are free of SNPs.
The QDs and, if present, GSNPs and/or PSNPs can be incorporated into the light-emitting layer of a sub-pixel by including them in an ink composition, depositing them by inkjet printing the ink composition as a layer in a sub-pixel cell, and drying and/or curing the printed ink composition. By way of illustration, an effective scattering nanoparticle size in the range from about 40 nm to about 1 µm, depending on the type of scattering, can be selected for use in a jettable ink. The GSNPs will typically be larger than the PSNPs and both types of particles will generally be larger than the QDs. By way of illustration only, in various embodiments of the ink compositions and the layers formed therefrom, the GSNPs have an effective size in the range from about 100 nm to about 1 µm and the PSNPs have an effective size in the range from about 10 nm to about 200 nm.
FIG. 2D
FIG. 2E
FIG. 2D
illustrates generally a process for printing a polymeric layer on various embodiments of QD color filter 160. According to the present teachings, polymeric layer 170 can be printed after the formation of the QD-containing light-emitting layer of the QD color filter. According to the present teachings, polymeric layer 170 can be a planarization layer. In various embodiments, polymeric layer 170 can be a planarization layer that may additionally act as a protective layer. For various embodiments of a QD color filter, as will be described in more detail for , polymeric layer 170 can be printed over an inorganic barrier layer. As will be described in more detail herein, polymeric layer 170 can be formed from a polymer-based ink composition that, when subsequently cured or dried, can form polymeric layer 170. Polymeric layer 170 can be, for example, between about 1 µm (micron) to about 5 µm (micron) in thickness. As illustrated generally in , there can be surface topology occurring as a result of the sub-pixel cell structures in conjunction with, for example, formation of a meniscus occurring in the sub-pixel cells. As such, inkjet printing can be done to compensate for the variation in surface topology, for example, by printing more of a polymer-based ink composition over areas where there are depressions, and less of a polymer-based ink composition over areas that are raised relative to the areas of depression.
FIG. 2D
In various embodiments of a polymer-based ink composition of the present teachings that can be used to form polymeric layer 170 of , particles of various shapes and materials can be added to an ink composition for the purpose of providing refractive index adjustment of a polymeric layer formed over the QD-containing sub-pixels. In various embodiments of such a polymeric-film forming ink composition, metal oxide nanoparticles, such as zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, and hafnium oxide of size, for example, between about 5 nm to about 50 nm, can be added to an ink. For various embodiments of such a polymeric-film forming ink composition, graphene nanostructures, such as graphene nanoribbons and graphene platelets, can be added to an ink composition in order to substantially reduce the water vapor permeation through the polymeric layer. According to the present teachings, graphene platelets can have dimensions of, for example, between about 0.1 nm to about 2 nm in thickness and between about 100 nm to about 1 µm (micron) in diameter, while graphene nanoribbons can have dimensions of between, for example, about 0.1 nm to 10 nm in thickness and length of between about 1 nm to about 20 nm. Loading of various graphene nanoparticles in an ink composition of the present teachings can be between about 0.1% and 1.0%.
FIG. 2E
FIG. 1B
x
2
3
2
2
x
y
U.S. Patent Publication 2016/0024322
illustrates generally a portion of an LCD device, for example, as depicted in , depicting planarizing layer 170 of QD color filter 160 oriented towards a polarizer, for which an ITO layer as previously discussed herein can be optional. In various embodiments of QD color filter 160, planarization layer can be, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, an acrylate-based polymeric film, or the like. QDs embedded in the QD-containing sub-pixels of QD color filter 160 are known to degrade when exposed to atmospheric gases, such as water vapor, oxygen and ozone. Thus, in various embodiments of the QD color filter, polymeric layer 170 can be coupled to an inorganic barrier layer that protects the QD-containing layer from the ingress of water vapor, oxygen, and/or ozone. The inorganic barrier layer, which can be disposed above or below polymeric layer 170, can be comprised of inorganic materials, such as metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal oxynitrides, metal oxyborides, and combinations thereof. For example, the inorganic barrier layer can be composed of a material such as a silicon nitride material (SiN), aluminum oxide (AlO), titanium oxide (TiO), hafnium oxide (HfO), or a silicon oxynitride material (SiON), or combinations thereof. According to the present teachings, layer 170 can be a combination of a first barrier layer composed of at least one inorganic barrier material as described herein, followed by a second polymeric layer. If present, the polymeric planarization layer and the barrier layer should be capable of transmitting light in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Polymeric protective layers can be deposited using inkjet printing, as exemplified by .
To prevent excitation of the quantum dots by ambient light three embodiments of the CED are proposed: (1) a CED containing only a global cut-on filter; (2) a device containing only local cut-on filters; and (3) a device containing both global and local cut-on filters.
FIGs. 3A and 3B. FIG. 3A
FIG. 3B
Some embodiments of the LCD devices will include a global cut-on filter layer, without any local cut-on filters. One such device is shown schematically in is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device. is a cross-sectional side view of the upper layers, including the blue, green, and red sub-pixels in the QD color filter layer. The global cut-on filter can be deposited on either side of the glass substrate. Ambient light with shorter wavelengths than the blue emission will be blocked from entering the QD layer and, therefore, will not excite the red and green QDs. This global cut-on filter layer may be continuous and unpatterned, and may be disposed on either side of the substrate of the QD color filter. The global cut-on filter layer is desirably of high optical performance with a steep cut-on filter characteristic.
FIG. 3D
FIG. 3E
FIG. 3E
R
G
B
shows a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a QD color filter that includes a local light filter layer disposed between the substrate and the light-emitting surface of the QD-containing layer in each sub-pixel cell. These local light filter layers serve to filter out ambient light incident on the device that would otherwise enter the QD-containing layers and be absorbed by the QDs, creating unwanted photoluminescence and degrading the optical quality of the LCD. By the same mechanism, these local light filters can also filter out any excess blue light from the BLU which has not been absorbed by the QD layer and which would otherwise cause a diminished color saturation and diminished color gamut for the display. As illustrated in , the local light filter layers (LFs) act as a sub-pixel-specific cut-on filter; absorbing radiation at wavelengths below the emission wavelengths of the QDs in the QD-containing light-emitting layer and transmitting radiation at wavelengths at and above the emission wavelengths of the QD-containing light-emitting layer. In , the local light filter layer is illustrated for a red sub-pixel. The local light filter layers include light absorbers with the appropriate light absorbing properties. Thus, a local light filter layer for a red sub-pixel (LF) will include a light absorber that absorbs radiation at wavelengths below the red light emission wavelengths of the red-emitting QDs in the red-emitting sub-pixel and transmits radiation at wavelengths at and above the red light emission wavelengths of the red-emitting QDs in the red-emitting sub-pixel. Similarly, a local light filter layer for a green sub-pixel (LF) will include a light absorber that absorbs radiation at wavelengths below the green light emission wavelengths of the green-emitting sub-pixel and transmits radiation at wavelengths at and above the green light emission wavelengths of the green-emitting sub-pixel. And, if blue QDs are being used, a local light filter layer for a blue sub-pixel (LF) will include a light absorber that absorbs radiation at wavelengths below the blue light emission wavelengths of the blue-emitting sub-pixel and transmits radiation at wavelengths at and above the blue light emission wavelengths of the blue-emitting sub-pixel. Local light filter layers could be omitted if the blue sub-pixels are free of QDs, in which case the sub-pixel cells corresponding to the blue sub-pixels could be completely filled with a matrix material that is optically transparent to blue light. The local filters can be deposited using, for example, inkjet printing; the light absorbing materials would be deposited into the sub-pixel cell and dried/cured before the QD-containing light-emitting layer of the QD color filter was deposited in the sub-pixel cell. In this way, two discrete layers could be formed within a sub-pixel cell, with the local cut-on filter layer facing the outside of the device after assembly and, thus, protecting the QD color filter layer from unwanted excitation.
FIG. 2B
In a variation of the LCD shown in , the local light filter layers can be formed underneath their respective sub-pixel cells, rather than within those sub-pixel cells. In this variation, the local light filter layers could be formed in a pattern over the sub-pixel cells using, for example, photolithography.
FIGs. 3F and 3G
FIG 3H
In some embodiments of the LCD devices, a global cut-on filter layer is combined with local cut-on filter layers. In such devices ambient light having wavelengths shorter than the blue emission wavelengths of the display device will be blocked by the global cut-on filter layer. However, light having wavelengths longer than the blue emission wavelengths, but shorter than the emission wavelengths of the QDs at the respective sub-pixel location can still cause excitation of the QDs. A local cut-on filter which blocks only this particular part of the optical spectrum can, in conjunction with a global cut-on filter, eliminate (or significantly reduce) the excitation of the QD by ambient light. At the same time, a local cut-on filter with said properties will block excess blue light from the BLU, which was not absorbed by the QD color filter. By this process the color saturation and the color gamut of the display can be enhanced. An embodiment of a display device that incorporates a local cut-on filter layer and a global cut-on filter layer is illustrated in , and the spectral function of the system is shown in .
FIG. 3F
FIG. 3G
FIG. 3D
FIGs. 3F, 3G
3H
is a schematic illustration of the upper layers of an LCD device. is a cross-sectional side view of the upper layers, including the blue, green, and red sub-pixels in the QD color filter. In this embodiment of the LCD device, the QD color filter has the same structure as that shown in and the global cut-on filter layer overlies all of the sub-pixel cells. As discussed above, the global cut-on filter layer acts as an additional filter for ambient incident light; absorbing radiation at wavelengths below the shortest emission wavelengths of the device, for example, below the blue emission wavelengths of the device. In the embodiment of the LCD shown in and , the red sub-pixels include local cut-on filter layers that acts as band-pass filters for ambient incident light. Analogous local light filter layers can be included in the green and/or blue sub-pixels.
In addition to, or as an alternative to, providing local filters as layers separate from the QD-containing layers in the QD color filters, the light absorbing materials can be incorporated into the QD color filter layer by including them in an QD-containing ink composition, inkjet printing the ink composition as a QD-containing layer in a sub-pixel cell, and curing the printed ink composition. It should be understood that, although not depicted here, the light absorbing materials, QDs, and, optionally, any GSNPs and / or PSNPs can be included in a single ink composition and printed as a single layer in a sub-pixel cell in which the light absorbers and QDs are uniformly distributed. However, in such embodiments, it may be desirable to select the light absorbing material and the polymer matrix material such that they do not fully prevent the transmission of blue light. Suitable light absorbers for inclusion in the local light filter layers include organic dye molecules, such as azo dyes, inorganic pigments, and combinations thereof.
FIG. 2C
G
B
R
A process of inkjet printing a QD color filter including a plurality of green, red, and blue sub-pixels is shown schematically in , whereby a green color filter ink composition, CFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a green sub-pixel using a first inkjet printing nozzle, a blue color filter ink composition, CFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a blue sub-pixel using a second inkjet printing nozzle, and a red color filter ink composition, CFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a red sub-pixel using a third inkjet printing nozzle. Alternatively, the different color sub-pixels can be printed sequentially using the same inkjet printing nozzle. Each of the color filter ink compositions contains its respective color emitting QDs in an organic polymeric binder material, an organic solvent, or mixture thereof. The curable organic polymeric binder materials cure to form a polymer matrix material and can include various organic monomers, oligomers, and/or polymers, as discussed in more detail below. In addition, the color filter ink compositions can include a crosslinking agent, a photoinitiator, or both.
FIGs. 4A
4B
FIG. 4A
FIG. 4B
G
B
R
A process of inkjet printing a QD color filter having local light filter layers is shown schematically in and , whereby the local light filter layers are printed in the sub-pixel cells prior to printing the QD-containing light-emitting layers. As shown in , a green local light filter ink composition, LFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a green sub-pixel using a first inkjet printing nozzle (or a first set of nozzles), a blue local light filter ink composition, LFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a blue sub-pixel using a second inkjet printing nozzle (or a second set of nozzles), and a red local light filter ink composition, LFI, is printed directly into the sub-pixel cell for a red sub-pixel using a third inkjet printing nozzle (or a third set of nozzles). Alternatively, the different color sub-pixels can be printed sequentially using the same inkjet printing nozzle (set of nozzles). Each of the local light filter ink compositions contains its respective light absorbing material in a binder material, a solvent, or mixture thereof. The curable binder materials cure to form a matrix material and can include various organic monomers, oligomers, and/or polymers, as discussed in more detail below. In addition, the local light filter ink compositions can include a crosslinking agent, a photoinitiator, or both. Once the sub-pixel-specific local light filter layers are formed in the bottoms of their respective sub-pixel cells, the QD-containing light emitting layers can be printed over the cured or dried local light filter layers, as illustrated in . After the final assembly of the display, the color filter substrate faces outside and the QD-containing layers face the interior of the display.
In various alternative processes for printing the QD-containing layers and the layers containing the light absorbing materials a single ink composition containing a mixture of the QDs and the light absorbing materials is applied (e.g., inkjet printed) as a single layer initially and dried in such a manner that a layer containing the light absorbing materials separates from a layer containing the QDs, resulting in a two-layer structure. For example, if the QDs are capped with long carbohydrate ligands, it is possible to phase separate them out with a suitable solvent before the remaining light absorber-containing portion of ink composition dries. Alternatively, the solubility of the light absorbing material could be selected such that this material (or the matrix in which it is dissolved) crashes out first, due to the solubility limits of the material.
The present inventors have recognized that inkjet printing techniques can be used to provide innovative QD-containing CEDs. Various CEDs of the present teachings include quantum dots dispersed in a matrix. The CEDs can be formed as continuous or discontinuous inkjet printed layers using QD-containing inkjet printable ink compositions. As a result, the composition, geometry, and location of the CEDs can be precisely tailored for a variety of device applications. By incorporating QDs of appropriates sizes and materials in appropriate concentrations and ratios into the CEDs, the CEDs can be designed to alter the absorption and/or emission spectra of photonic devices that incorporate the CEDs.
FIG. 5
FIG. 5
A cross-sectional view of a basic embodiment of a CED is depicted schematically in . This CED includes a QD-containing layer 572 that contains a plurality of QDs 580, 590 in a matrix 585, such as a polymer matrix. QD-containing layer 572 optionally can be positioned between first and second protective layers, 574A and 574B, respectively. QD-containing layer 572, as depicted, has a plurality of green-emitting QDs 580, shown as smaller spheres, as well as a plurality of red-emitting QDs 590, shown as larger spheres. As shown in , green-emitting QDs 580 and red-emitting QDs 590 are dispersed through matrix 585, which can be, for example, a polymeric matrix capable of transmitting light in the visible spectrum. Moreover, first and second protective layers 574A and 574B provide protection for the QDs embedded in QD-containing layer 572, given the sensitivity of QDs to atmospheric gases, such as water vapor, oxygen and ozone. In various embodiments of the CED, first and second protective layers 574A and 574B can be a polymeric film, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), acrylate-based polymeric film, or the like, or an inorganic barrier layer, or combination of the two. Like QD matrix 585, the protective film needs to be capable of transmitting light in the visible spectrum.
Depending on the devices into which they are incorporated, the CEDs of the present teachings can enhance the visual experience of an end user by enhancing the color gamut of light output by the device; and/or enhance the efficiency of the device to provide improved optical clarity and brightness to an end user. Similarly the layer can also improve the absorption efficiency of radiation incident on the device. For example, a QD-containing layer can be inkjet printed onto a surface of a photovoltaic cell, such that a portion of the radiation incident on the cell is converted into wavelengths that are more efficiently absorbed by the photoactive material of the cell. By way of illustration, blue and/or ultraviolet (UV) light incident upon the QD-containing layer in a silicon solar cell can be absorbed by the QDs and emitted as red light, which is more efficiently absorbed by the silicon. In the photovoltaic cells, the QD-containing layer can be printed directly onto the photoactive material or on the surface of another component, such as an anti-reflection coating or an electrode.
FIG. 6
In the LCD devices, the QD-containing layer can be printed directly onto a light guide surface or onto the surface of another component, such as a reflector, a diffuser, or a polarizer. illustrates generally an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of an LCD device 650 into which a CED can be incorporated. LCD device 650 can have LCD panel 652. LCD panel 652 itself can be comprised of many component layers, which can include, for example, but not limited by, a thin film transistor (TFT) layer, a liquid crystal layer, a color filter array (CFA) layer, and a linear polarizer. Additional component layers can include another polarizer 654, first and second brightness enhancement films 656A and 656B, respectively, and reflector film 658. LCD device 650 includes light guide plate 660, which can include a plurality of LED devices 662 positioned proximal to an end of light guide plate 660 as sources of light that can be propagated through light guide plate 660. For various LCD devices, the LED devices associated with a light guide plate can be either white or blue LED sources, though as will be discussed herein subsequently, for LCD device 650, the plurality of LED devices 662 can be blue emitting LEDs with, for example, but not limited by, an emission line at 445 nm.
FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B
FIGs. 7A and 7B
A plurality of device layers can be inkjet printed onto a plurality of substrates simultaneously, or in rapid succession, with or without a controlled delay between the successive printing steps using a substrate tray that holds the substrates in place and that moves with respect to the inkjet printhead during the inkjet printing process. This is illustrated schematically in , which show a cross-sectional side view and a top view, respectively, of a substrate tray 702 holding a plurality of device substrates 704 disposed in an array. Device substrates 702 can be, for example, light guides, reflectors, diffusers, polarizers, layers of anti-reflective material, or electrodes. The shape of the substrate is not limited to rectangular shapes. For example, wafers, as used in the semiconductor industry, can also be processed. Substrate tray 704 includes a plurality of securing features that prevent device substrates 704 from sliding around on the surface of the substrate tray when the tray is in motion. The securing features can take on a variety of forms. In the embodiment shown in , the securing features are a plurality of recessed areas 706 defined in the upper surface 708 of substrate tray 704. A device substrate can be placed in each recessed area without the need for an additional mechanism for fixing the substrates to the tray. Alternatively, the securing features can include locking mechanisms that fix the substrates to the tray and/or provide for precise positioning and alignment of the substrates in select locations on the tray. For example, a spring loaded pin can be placed between device substrate 704 and the wall of its recessed area 706 to prevent the substrate from moving around in the recessed area.
If the alignment of the device substrates on the tray is critical and the tolerances of the securing features are not sufficiently high, the device substrates can be placed in precise alignment on the substrate trays using alignment sensors with sensory feedback and then locked into place on the tray by a locking mechanism. This sensor-aided alignment can be carried out after the substrate tray has been transferred to the inkjet printer but prior to inkjet printing the QD-containing layers or before the substrate tray has been transferred to the inkjet printer.
In addition to the QDs, the QD-containing layer can contain GSNPs, PSNPs, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the GSNPs and/or PSNPs can be contained in one or more separate layers in the CED. When the GSNPs and/or PSNPs are incorporated in a QD-containing layer they can improve the conversion performance of that layer. In addition, the GSNPs and PSNPs provide enhanced light extraction, by acting as light scattering centers in the matrix of the QD-containing layer and/or in a separate layer in the CED. Including GSNPs and / or PSNPs in combination with the QDs can increase the color conversion efficiency of a CED by increasing light scattering in the interior of the quantum dot layer, so that there are more interactions between the photons and the scattering particles and, therefore, more light absorption by the QDs. Like the QDs, the GSNPs and PSNPs can be incorporated into a CED by including them in an ink composition, and depositing them by inkjet printing the ink composition as a layer, as described above with respect to QD color filters.
The QD-containing layers and/or scattering nanoparticle-containing layers in a CED can be continuous or discontinuous and can have a uniform distribution or a non-uniform distribution of QDs and/or scattering particles along their lengths and/or through their thicknesses. Similarly, QD-containing layers and/or scattering particle-containing layers in a CED can have a uniform or a non-uniform thickness along their lengths. The use of a non-uniform QD or scattering nanoparticle distribution or a non-uniform layer thickness can be used, for example, to offset a non-uniform intensity distribution of the QD-exciting light in the layer. For example, the use of a gradient concentration of the QDs and/or the scattering nanoparticles in a given layer can provide a more uniform light emission and/or color spectrum along the length of a CED by compensating for any non-uniformity in the intensity of the light entering the QD-containing layer. This is illustrated for various embodiments of a CED in an LCD panel assembly in the embodiments that follow.
FIG. 12
For simplicity, and with the exception of , in the figures described below, scattering nanoparticles are represented with open circles and quantum dots are represented by solid (filled) circles. The scattering nanoparticles represented by the open circles can be only GSNPs, only PSNPs, or a mixture of GSNPs and PSNPs and are referred to generically as SNPs. In addition, some of the embodiments illustrated in the figures include a QD-containing layer that does not include any SNPs. Although not depicted in all of the figures, any QD-containing layer can also include SNPs (GSNPs, PSNPs, or both) as an alternative to - or in addition to - any separate SNP-containing layers.
FIG. 8
FIG. 6
FIG. 8
is a top plan view of CED 800 that incorporates QD materials into the subassembly of an LCD device using inkjet printing. Similar to the combination of light guide plate 660 and QD-containing layer 670 of , CED 800 can be used as a subassembly to achieve the same improvements. In this embodiment, CED 800 has a non-uniform QD-containing layer composed of a patterned array of QD-containing structures 822 deposited in confinement regions upon light guide plate 810. Inkjet printing is used to locally deposit QD-containing structures 822 onto first surface 811. The local density of these structures is controlled by the inkjet printing pattern. The number of QDs per QD-containing structure can be controlled by the QD concentration in the ink composition, by the inkjet drop volume, and/or by the number of inkjet drops per QD-containing structure. Surface treatment of first surface 811 before the printing process can be used to tailor the local wetting properties on the surface and, as a result, can control the size and the shape of the printed QD-containing structures. The surface treatment can be performed in a patterned fashion to increase printing resolution and structure profile. Light guide plate 810 is illuminated by LEDs 812 positioned at a near end edge 815. In this edge lit configuration, the intensity of the light in light guide plate 810 decreases along its length. As a result, light that is out-coupled from light guide plate 810 enters QD-containing structures 822 with a non-uniform light intensity distribution, wherein the intensity of the light out-coupled into the QD-containing structures closer to near end edge 815 is greater than the intensity of the light out-coupled into those that are close to far end edge 816. For this reason, the local density of QD-containing structures 822 has a gradient along the length of light guide plate 810, with a lower density of QD-containing structures 822 at near end edge 815 and a higher density of QD-containing structures 822 at the opposite edge of light guide plate 810. This arrangement of the QD-containing structures can compensate for the decrease in light intensity along the length of light guide plate 810, thereby generating a more uniform emission along the length of the CED. Though depicts an ordered array of QD-containing structures 822 having a density gradient distribution, for various embodiments of CEDs of the present teachings utilizing QD-containing structures, any pattern of confinement regions having any of a variety of shapes and aspect ratios can be formed on the first surface 811 of light guide plate 810. Moreover, the size and packing density of the QD-containing structures can be determined by the manner in which a defined pattern of ink confinement regions is fabricated. In various embodiments of an array of QD-containing structures, the array is fabricated to provide a microlens array.
FIG. 9
FIG. 8
FIG. 9
is a schematic cross-sectional view of CED 800. In the devices of and , LED 812 can be a blue-emitting LED with, for example, but not limited by, an emission line at 445 nm. The QD-containing structures 822 in this embodiment of the CED are dome-shaped, but they can have any arbitrary shape. Each structure contains a plurality of QDs, where smaller QDs designated as QD 830 are green-emitting QDs and larger QDs designated as QD 840 are red-emitting QDs. The CED optionally includes a reflector 880 adjacent to a second surface 813 of light guide plate 810. Reflector 880 may be attached to light guide plate 810 using an optically clear adhesive (OCA); desirably one that has a refractive index that is the same as, or nearly the same as, that of the light guide plate.
FIG. 9
US Patent Publication 2016/0024322
As depicted in , CED 800 can include protective layer 826 deposited over the array of QD-containing structures 822. Protective layer 826 can be a thick layer that encapsulates the QD-containing layer. For example, protective layer 826 can be between about 1 µm to about 100 µm in thickness. Protective layer 826 can be a thick polymeric layer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or an acrylate-based polymeric film. It should be noted that when the protective layer is polymeric, it can be deposited using inkjet printing, as exemplified by .
FIG. 10
FIG. 9
An alternative embodiment of a CED having LEDS 812 illuminating its near end edge 815 is shown in . As indicated by the use of like numerals, the components of this CED can be the same as those shown in , but in this embodiment the discontinuous QD-containing layer composed of QD-containing structures 822 and protective layer 826 have been printed onto second surface 813 of light guide plate 810, such that light emitted through second surface 813 passes through QD-containing structures 822 and protective layer 826, is reflected from reflector 880, and passes back through QD-containing structures 822, protective layer 826, and light guide plate 810 before exiting the CED through first surface 811. A similar geometry can be achieved by printing QD-containing structures 822 and protective layer 826B directly onto the surface of reflector 880 that faces light guide plate 810, rather than onto second surface 813 of light guide plate 810. After the protective layer has been printed on the reflector, the reflector can be laminated onto the second surface of the light guide plate.
FIGs. 8
9
10
In variations of the CEDs shown in , , and the QD-containing structures can be uniformly spaced along the length of the light guide plate, but the concentration of QDs in the QD-containing structures can be tailored, such that the concentration of QDs in the QD-containing structures increases as a function of distance from the near end edge of the light guide plate.
FIG. 11
FIG. 9
illustrates a CED that the outcoupling functionality and color conversion functionality can be separated into adjacent layers. In this embodiment, SNPs 870 are dispersed in a discontinuous layer composed of a plurality of SNP-containing structures 823. These structures provide the outcoupling functionality of the device. Like QD-containing structures 822 in , SNP-containing structures 823 are dome-shaped, although they can have any arbitrary shape, and are distributed with a density gradient along the length of light guide plate 810. In this embodiment, QDs 830/840 are dispersed in the matrix of a continuous QD-containing layer 836 providing the color conversion functionality of the device. The effect of the SNP concentration gradient in this embodiment, and in other embodiments, of the CED is to improve the uniformity of the light intensity out-coupled from light guide plate 810 into QD-containing layer 836 and, ultimately, also the uniformity of the intensity of the light exiting the CED.
FIG. 11
In a variation of the CED shown in the SNP-containing structures can be uniformly spaced along the length of the light guide plate, but the concentration of SNPs in the SNP-containing structures can be tailored, such that the concentration of SNPs in the SNP-containing structures increases as a function of distance from the near end edge of the light guide plate.
For simplicity, continuous QD-containing layer 836 is depicted in this and other embodiments as containing QDs having the same size. However, it should be understood that the QD-containing-layers in the CEDs would include different types of QDs, including green-emitting QDs, red-emitting QDs, blue-emitting QDs, and combinations of two or more thereof.
FIG. 12
FIG. 12
FIG. 12
is provided to explicitly depict one example of a CED that includes both GSNPs and PSNPs. Thus, unlike in the other figures discussed herein, GSNPs and PSNPs are represented by differently sized open circles. In particular, the larger open circles in are used to represent GSNPs, while the smaller open circles are used to represent PSNPs. In the embodiment depicted in , QD-containing layer 836 includes PSNPs 875 dispersed in its matrix and GSNPs 823 are included in a separate, discontinuous layer.
FIG. 13
shows an embodiment of a CED in which the SNPs 870 are dispersed in a continuous SNP-containing layer 824 and the QDs are dispersed in a separate, continuous QD-containing layer 837 overlying SNP-containing layer 824. In embodiments of the CEDs where the scattering nanoparticles and the quantum dots are located in separate layers, the intensity of the light outcoupled from the layer containing the SNP has a uniform intensity distribution, even when the light outcoupled from the light guide plate does not - as in the case of a light guide plate that is illuminated by a light source at its end edge. Because the light outcoupled from the layer containing the SNPs has a uniform intensity along its length, the QD-containing layer need not have a QD concentration gradient.
FIG. 13
In the embodiment shown in , continuous SNP-containing layer 824 has been printed directly onto first surface 811 of light guide plate 810 and continuous QD-containing layer 837 has been printed directly on continuous SNP-containing layer 824. In this configuration, light emitted through first surface 811 passes through SNP-containing layer 824 and scatters from SNPs 870 to cause the out-coupling of the light to QD-containing layer 837. In order to compensate for the higher light intensity from near end edge 815 of light guide 810, there is a gradient in the density of SNPs 870 along the length of SNP-containing layer 824, whereby the density of the SNPs increases as a function of distance from near end edge 815. To further compensate for the non-uniform light intensity emitted from light guide plate 810, SNP-containing layer 824 also has a variable thickness along its length, whereby the thickness of the SNP-containing layer increases as a function of distance from near end edge 815. An alternative geometry can be achieved by printing SNP-containing layer 824 directly onto second surface 813 of light guide plate 810 and printing QD-containing layer 837 onto first surface 811 of light guide plate 810; or by printing SNP-containing layer 824 directly onto the surface of reflector 880 that faces light guide plate 810 and printing QD-containing layer 837 onto first surface 811 of light guide plate 810.
FIG. 14
FIG. 13
FIG. 13
FIG. 13
2
shows a variation of the CED of in which the QDs 830/840 and the SNPs 870 are combined in a single layer, which is referred to herein as a QD/SNP-containing layer 825. Like SNP-containing layer 824 in the CED of , QD/SNP-containing layer 825 has a gradient in the density of SNPs 870, as well as a variable thickness, along its length. Also, like QD-containing layer 837 in the CED of , QD/SNP-containing layer 825 has a uniform QD concentration along its length. However, due to the wedge-shaped profile of QD/SNP-containing layer 825, the surface density of QDs 830/840 (that is - the density of QDs per mm, as viewed through the top surface of the layer) increases from near end edge 817 to far end edge 818. An alternative geometry can be achieved by printing QD/SNP-containing layer 825 directly onto second surface 813 of light guide plate 810; or by printing QD/SNP-containing layer 825 directly onto the surface of reflector 880 that faces light guide plate 810. This structure can be achieved, for example, by simultaneously printing with two different inks (a first ink containing the QDs and a second ink containing the SNPs). Alternatively, a layer could be printed using the first ink followed by a layer using the second ink, followed by interdiffusion of these printed layers yield layer 825.
FIGs. 15
16
FIGs. 13
14
FIG. 15
FIG. 16
and show variations of the CEDs of and , respectively, in which the SNP-containing layer 824 (in the case of ) and QD/SNP-containing layer 825 (in the case of ) have a uniform thickness along their lengths.
FIGS. 9-16
Although the concentration gradients for the QDs and/or the SNPs in the CEDs of show a particle concentration that increases linearly or substantially linearly from a near end edge to a far end edge, other particle concentration patterns can be used to provide a non-uniform particle concentration through all or a portion of a printed layer. For example, the particle concentration can increase exponentially across the layer or may have a regular or irregular periodic variation across the layer. By way of further illustration, the concentration of QDs and/or scattering nanoparticles can increase from the far end edge of a layer to the near end edge of the layer; from the top of a layer to the bottom of the layer; from the bottom of a layer to the top of a layer, or from a peripheral portion of the layer to the center of the layer.
FIGs. 17
18
19
20
FIGs. 9
11
15
16
FIGs. 17
18
FIGS. 19
20
FIGs. 9
12
13
14
, , , and show variations of the CEDs of , , , and , respectively, in which light guide plate 810 is back lit, rather than edge lit. (It is noted again that, although the device substrate is illustrated with a light guide plate in these embodiments, other device substrate could be used, including a diffuser or a polarizer.) In each of these CEDs, LEDs 812 illuminate light guide plate 810 through second surface 813, rather than near end edge 815. In the back lit devices, there is no edge-to-edge gradient in the intensity of light emitted from light guide plate 810. Therefore, QD-containing structures 822 and SNP-containing structures 823 are uniformly spaced along first surface 811 of light guide plate 810 in the CEDs of and , and SNP-containing layer 824 and QD/SNP-containing layer 825 have a uniform density of SNPs 870 along their lengths in and . Although not shown here, other embodiments of the edge lit CEDs could also be reconfigured as back lit CEDs, including the embodiments depicted in , , , and and their alternative geometries.
FIGs. 17-20
FIG. 21
While there is no edge-to-edge gradient in the intensity of the light emitted from surface 811 light guide plate 810 in the back lit CEDs of , the intensity of the light emitted from light guide plate 810 can be non-uniform due to the placement of LEDs 812, with a higher intensity of light entering the portions of the light guide plate disposed directly above the LEDs and a lower intensity of light entering the portions of the light guide plate disposed between the LEDs. shows an embodiment of a CED that compensates for this intensity non-uniformity. As illustrated in this figure, thicknesses of SNP-containing layer 824B and QD-containing layer 837C can be modulated along their lengths.
FIGs. 8-16
A particle-containing layer in a CED can be printed as a continuous layer having a QD concentration gradient, a GSNP concentration gradient, a PSNP concentration gradient, or a combination thereof, via the sequential or simultaneous inkjet printing of three or more different ink compositions. Although the layers depicted in as having a linear or substantially linear QD and/or SNP concentration gradient along their lengths, the layers can be printed with other gradient patterns, including exponential gradients, as discussed above.
binder
SNP
QD
QD
SNP
binder
binder
SNP
QD
One embodiment of a method for inkjet printing a continuous layer having a QD concentration gradient and/or a SNP concentration gradient utilizes three inks. In some embodiments of these multi-ink printing methods, the first ink composition contains the QDs and a binder; the second ink composition contains the SNP and a binder; and the third ink composition contains a binder, without the QDs or the SNPs. Using this method, the concentration of particles (QDs or SNPs) printed onto a given surface area will be determined by the concentration of the QDs and SNPs in their respective ink compositions and by the volume ratios of the three ink compositions printed over that surface area. The volume of an ink composition can be controlled by controlling the drops of the ink composition printed per area ("DPA"). By way of illustration, a first portion of a layer that is formed by printing the three ink compositions in volumes that satisfy the relationship (DPA) > (DPA) > (DPA) will have a lower concentration of SNPs and QDs than another portion of the film layer that is formed by printing the three ink compositions in volume ratios that satisfy the relationship (DPA) > (DPA) > (DPA), provided that the total number of drops per area (DPA) + (DPA) + (DPA) remains constant.
The three ink compositions can be printed over the surface of a substrate, such as a light guiding plate, a transparent substrate, a diffuser, or a reflector, simultaneously, sequentially, or a combination thereof. For example, two of the ink compositions can be printed simultaneously and the third can be printed subsequently. If the different ink compositions are intended to form separate and distinct layers in the printed film, the ink compositions can be printed sequentially and allowed to dry or cure prior to the printing of a subsequent layer. Alternatively, if the different ink compositions are intended to form a single blended layer in which the binders and particles in the ink compositions are intermixed, the ink compositions can be printed simultaneously or sequentially. When different ink compositions are printed sequentially and a blended layer is desired, the printing should take place on a timescale that allows the ink compositions to mix into a single layer before the ink compositions is dried or cured into a film.
FIG. 22
FIG. 22
A method for inkjet printing a QD-containing layer on a substrate surface is illustrated schematically in . The method will be illustrated in the description that follows as a method for inkjet printing a layer containing both QDs and SNPs on a substrate surface, wherein the layer has a concentration gradient in the and SNPs from one edge to the layer to the other. However, the same equipment and general procedure also could be used to print layers containing only QDs or only SNPs by varying the ink compositions used and the order in which the ink compositions are deposited. In addition, the ink compositions used to inkjet print the various layers are described generally with reference to . A more detailed description of ink compositions that can be used to form one of more layers in a CED is provided below.
FIG. 22
As shown in panel (a) of , the inkjet printing process can begin by printing a layer of material 2201 onto a surface 2202 of a substrate 2203. As previously discussed, the substrate can take the form of a variety of device substrates, such as a light guide, a reflector, or a polarizer. In the embodiment depicted here, three inkjet nozzles 2204A, 2204B, and 2204C, each of which prints droplets of a different ink composition 2205A, 2205B, and 2205C, are used. By way of illustration, ink composition 2205A can contain a curable polymer binder, without any QDs or SNPs. This ink composition acts as a diluent for the other ink compositions during the printing of later 2201. Ink composition 2205B can contain a curable binder and QDs and ink composition 2205C can contain a curable binder and SNPs. To form printed layer 2201, droplets of ink compositions 2205A, 2205B, and 2205C are jetted from nozzles 2204A, 2204B, and 2204C, respectively, either simultaneously or sequentially onto surface 2202. As the printing progresses from a first edge 2206 to a second edge 2207 of printed layer 2201, the relative volume ratios of the three ink compositions is adjusted so that the desired volumetric densities of the QD and SNP is achieved. For example, the density of the SNPs is lowest at first edge 2206 and higher at second edge 2206,while the volume density of QDs remains constant from edge-to-edge. The polymer binders, which form the matrix of the cured layer, can the same or different for each ink composition. If the ink compositions are to be printed successively and then allowed to mix to form a single layer, the polymer binders should be miscible. Once printed, the layer can be cured by, for example, UV curing, thermal curing, or a combination thereof. Although not shown here, if the QDs and SNPs are inkjet printed as separate layers, the polymer binders can be the same. This may be advantageous for devices in which the layers desirably have the same refractive index.
FIG. 22
FIG. 22
x
2
3
2
2
x
y
Optionally, as shown in panel (b) of , a second layer 2210 can be printed over first printed layer 2201 using one of more of inkjet nozzles 2204A, 2204B, and/or 2204C and this layer can also undergo a post-deposition cure. Next a polymeric protective layer 2211 that is free of QDs and SNPs can be inkjet printed over second layer 2210 using an ink composition 2205D that includes a protective, curable polymer (panel (c)). Once cured, polymeric protective layer 2211 helps to protect first layer 2201 and second layer 2210 from exposure to damaging effects of the atmosphere, such as water, oxygen, and/or ozone, and allows the CED to be handled prior to incorporation into a larger device structure. In addition, printed polymeric protective layer 2211 can protect layers 2201 and 2210 from the damaging effects of subsequent device processing steps, such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). For example, as shown in panel (d), PECVD may be used to deposit an inorganic barrier layer 2212 over polymeric protective layer 2211. Inorganic barrier layer, provides an enhanced degree of protection from the atmosphere. In various embodiments, barrier layer 2212 can be a deposited dense layer of an inorganic material, such as selected from classes of inorganic materials including metal oxides, metal nitrides, metal carbides, metal oxynitrides, metal oxyborides, and combinations thereof. For example, but not limited by SiN, AlO, TiO, HfO, SiON or combinations thereof can be used for inorganic barrier layer 2212. Alternatively, as shown in panel (e) a polymeric film 2213 can be laminated directly onto polymeric protective layer 2211. (Polymeric film 2213 could also be laminated directly onto inorganic barrier layer 2212 in panel (d).) Laminated polymeric film 2213 can provide an additional degree of protection and can permanently laminated to the structure, such that it is ultimately incorporated into a final device structure, or temporarily attached, such that it is removed prior to the final device assembly. Panel (f) in illustrates the temporary attachment of laminated polymeric film 2213 to the underlying structure, wherein a coating of optically clear adhesive 2214 is disposed between printed polymeric protective layer 2211 and laminated polymeric film 2213.
FIG. 22
While the methods for printing film layers having particle concentration gradients described herein and illustrated in use at least three ink compositions, more than three ink compositions or fewer ink compositions can be used. For example, the printing methods can use two or more different QD-containing ink compositions having different concentrations or types of the quantum dots, or two or more different scattering nanoparticle-containing ink compositions having different concentrations or types of the scattering nanoparticles. For example, in some embodiment of the printing methods, an ink composition containing PSNPs and a binder can be used along with a separate ink composition containing GSNPs and a binder. Alternatively, only two ink compositions can be used. For example, if a layer containing only one type of particle (e.g., only QDs, only GSNPs, or only PSNPs) is being printed, the first ink composition can contain the particles and a binder and the second ink composition can contain a binder, without the particles. By printing the two ink compositions simultaneously or sequentially and varying the drops per area of the two ink compositions during the printing process, as discussed above with respect to a three-ink composition protocol, a layer having a particle gradient along its length can be achieved. Alternatively, this concept also provides for more than three inks. For example, several inks for SNP with binder can be used where the SNP are PSNP of different particle sizes.
FIGs. 23
24
FIG. 23
FIG. 23
For some applications, it can be advantageous to provide a sealing layer around the perimeter of the CED or at least around one or more lavers of the CED. These sealing layers can be sealed against another device layer to provide a water and/or oxygen proof edge seal. CEDs fabricated with sealing layers can be cut to size and sealed into a device without the risk of lateral ingress of water and/or oxygen and subsequent damage to the CED. and show schematic illustrations of a method for forming a CED having a sealing layer. In this embodiment, the sealing layer includes a plurality of sealing banks 2302 that are inkjet printed onto a substrate 2304 using an ink composition 2306 that includes curable sealing materials, such as curable monomers, oligomers, polymers, or mixtures thereof, and, optionally, SNPs (, left panel). In some embodiments of the sealing layers, sealing banks 2302 have SNPs dispersed therein. In these embodiments, the SNPs can serve to help redirect light from a light source, such as a back-lit unit, into a QD-containing layer printed between the sealing banks (as described below). Like the QD- and SNP-containing layers of the CED, described above, the SNPs within the sealing banks or in different sealing banks can have a non-uniform (e.g., gradient) density distribution across the sealing layer in order to provide the CED with more uniform light emission. Although sealing banks 2302 in are depicted as being inkjet printed, other fabrication methods, such as nano-imprinting can be used to form these banks.
FIG. 23
x
2
3
2
2
x
y
Optionally, a barrier layer 2308 is formed over sealing barriers 2302 and the exposed portions of substrate 2304 (, right panel). This barrier layer, which can be, for example, an inorganic material, such as by SiN, AlO, TiO, HfO, SiON or combinations thereof, provides additional protection from water and/or oxygen.
FIG. 24
FIG. 24
Once the barrier layer has been formed, one or more layers of a CED 2310, including QD-containing layers and/or SNP-containing layers, can be inkjet printed into the recesses 2312 defined between sealing banks 2302, as shown in (left panel). A temporary or permanent film 2314 can then be sealed to sealing banks 2302 to cover and protect the CED layers 1910 (, right panel).
It should be noted that, while the formation of various device layers is described herein as including a curing step, device layers formed from non-curable compositions may be formed simply by drying.
The following teachings relate to various embodiments of ink compositions which, once printed and dried and/or cured, form thin polymeric layers, including, but not limited to, the local light filter layers, the global light filter layers, the light-emitting layers, the light-scattering layers, and/or the color enhancement layers described herein. Various embodiments of the ink compositions can be printed using, for example, an industrial inkjet printing system that can be housed in a gas enclosure, which gas enclosure defines an interior that has a controlled environment maintained as an inert and substantially low-particle process environment. QD-containing light-emitting layers can be inkjet printed over various previously formed device substrates, such as a light polarizer or a local light filter layer of the type disclosed herein, and then cured using, for example, a thermal or ultraviolet (UV) cure.
It is contemplated that a wide variety of ink compositions can be printed within the inert, substantially low-particle environment of various embodiments of a gas enclosure system. By way of illustration, during the manufacture of an LCD device, an LCD sub-pixel can be formed to include the various device layers described herein. Various ink compositions for a sub-pixel can be inkjet printed using ink compositions tailored for the formation of an absorbing dye-containing layer, a QD-containing layer for a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, or a blue sub-pixel, a scattering nanoparticle-containing layer, or a QD-free polymer matrix layer for a blue sub-pixel, as well as a polymeric planarization layer.
Some embodiments of the ink compositions include a polymer component, for example, but not limited by, various acrylate monomers, such as a mono- or multidentate acrylates; various methacrylate monomers, such as a mono- or multidentate methacrylates; and copolymers and mixtures thereof. The polymer component can be cured using thermal processing (e.g. bake), UV exposure, and combinations thereof. As used herein polymer and copolymer can include any form of a polymer component that can be formulated into an ink and cured on a substrate to form an organic layer. Such polymeric components can include polymers and copolymers, as well as precursors thereof, for example, but not limited by, monomers, oligomers, and resins. Some embodiments of the ink compositions further include light absorbers, QDs, GSNPs, PSNPs, and combinations thereof dispersed in the polymer component.
U.S. patent application publication number 2016/0024322 filed on July 22, 2015
U.S. patent application publication number 2017/0062762, filed on July 19, 2016
The ink compositions include one or more mono(meth)acrylate monomers, one or more di(meth)acrylate monomers, or a combination of mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomers, in addition to a multifunctional crosslinking agent. As used herein, the phrase "(meth)acrylate monomer" indicates that the recited monomer may be an acrylate or a methacrylate. Some embodiments of the ink compositions further include crosslinking photoinitiators. Jettable ink compositions of this type that may be used to print one or more of the polymeric film layers - with or without the addition of QDs, scattering particles, and/or light absorbing pigments and/or organic dyes - are described in and in , the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomers are ether and/or ester compounds have thin film-forming properties and spreading properties that render them suitable for use in inkjet printing applications. As components of an ink composition, these monomers can provide compositions that are jettable at a range of inkjet printing temperatures, including room temperature. Generally, for ink compositions useful for inkjet printing applications, the surface tension, viscosity and wetting properties of the ink compositions should be tailored to allow the compositions to be dispensed through an inkjet printing nozzle without drying onto or clogging the nozzle at the temperature used for printing (e.g., room temperature, ~ 22 °C, or at higher temperatures up to, for example, about 40 °C). Once formulated, various embodiments of the ink compositions can have a viscosity of, for example, between about 2 cps and about 30 cps (including, for example, between about 10 cps and about 27 cps and between about 14 cps and about 25 cps) at 22 °C and a surface tension of between about 25 dynes/cm and about 45 dynes/cm (including, for example, between about 30 dynes/cm and about 42 dynes/cm and between about 28 dynes/cm and about 38 dynes/cm) at 22 °C.
The suitable viscosities and surface tensions for the individual monomers used in the ink compositions will depend on the viscosities and surface tensions for the other components present in a given ink composition and on the relative amounts of each component in the ink composition. Generally, however, the mono(meth)acrylate monomers and the di(meth)acrylate monomers will have a viscosity in the range from about 4 cps to about 22 cps at 22 °C, including about 4 cps to about 18 cps at 22 °C, and a surface tension in the range from about 30 dynes/cm to 41 dynes/cm at 22 °C, including in the range from about 32 dynes/cm to 41 dynes/cm at 22 °C. Methods for measuring viscosities and surface tensions are well known and include the use of commercially available rheometers (e.g., a DV-I Prime Brookfield rheometer) and tensiometers (e.g., a SITA bubble pressure tensiometer).
In some embodiments of the ink compositions, including embodiments with a high QD and/or scattering nanoparticle loading, organic solvents can be added to adjust the viscosity and/or surface tension of the ink compositions if the viscosity and/or surface tensions of the ink compositions fall outside of these ranges in the absence of organic solvents. Suitable organic solvents include esters and ethers. Examples of organic solvents that can be included in the ink compositions include high boiling organic solvents, including organic solvents having a boiling point of at least 200 °C. This includes organic solvents that have boiling points of at least 230 °C, at least 250 °C, or even at least 280 °C. Diols and glycols, such as propanediols, pentanediols, diethylene glycols and triethylene glycols, are examples of high boiling organic solvents that can be used. High boiling aprotic solvents can also be used, including aprotic solvents having boiling points of at least 240 °C. Sulfolane, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrothiophene-1,1-dioxide, also known as tetramethylene sulfone, is an example of a relatively high boiling, aprotic solvent. Other non-limiting exemplary organic solvents can include toluene, xylenes, mesitylene, propylene glycol methyl ethers, methyl naphthalene, methyl benzoate, tetrahydronaphthalene, dimethyl formamide, terpineol, phenoxyethanol, and butyrophenone.
The mono(meth)acrylate monomers and di(meth)acrylate monomers can be, for example, linear aliphatic mono(meth)acrylates and di(meth)acrylates, or can include cyclic and/or aromatic groups. In various embodiments of the inkjet printable ink compositions, the mono(meth)acrylate monomers and/or di(meth)acrylate monomers are polyethers. In various embodiments of the inkjet printable ink compositions, the di(meth)acrylate monomers are alkoxylated aliphatic di(meth)acrylate monomers. These include neopentyl glycol group-containing di(meth)acrylates, including alkoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylates, such as neopentyl glycol propoxylate di(meth)acrylate and neopentyl glycol ethoxylate di(meth)acrylate. Various embodiments of the neopentyl glycol group-containing di(meth)acrylates have molecular weights in the range from about 200 g/mole to about 400 g/mole. This includes neopentyl glycol-containing di(meth)acrylates having molecular weights in the range from about 280 g/mole to about 350 g/mole and further includes neopentyl glycol-containing di(meth)acrylates having molecular weights in the range from about 300 g/mole to about 330 g/mole. Various neopentyl glycol group-containing di(meth)acrylate monomers are commercially available. For example, neopentyl glycol propoxylate diacrylate can be purchased from Sartomer Corporation under the tradename SR9003B and also from Sigma Aldrich Corporation under the tradename Aldrich-412147 (∼330 g/mole; viscosity ∼ 18 cps at 24 °C; surface tension ∼34 dynes/cm at 24 °C). Neopentyl glycol diacrylate also can be purchased from Sigma Aldrich Corporation under the tradename Aldrich-408255 (∼ 212 g/mole; viscosity ∼7 cps; surface tension ∼ 33 dynes/cm).
Other suitable (meth)acrylate monomers include, but are not limited to: alkyl (meth)acrylates, such as methyl (meth)acrylate and ethyl (meth)acrylate; cyclic trimethylolpropane formal (meth)acrylate; alkoxylated tetrahydrofurfuryl (meth)acrylate; phenoxyalkyl (meth)acrylates, such as 2-phenoxyethyl (meth)acrylate and phenoxymethyl (meth)acrylate; 2(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl (meth)acrylate. Other suitable di(meth)acrylate monomers include 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, 1, 12 dodecanediol di(meth)acrylate; 1,3-butylene glycol di(meth)acrylate; di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate; polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate monomers, including ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate monomers and polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate monomers having a number average molecular weight in the range from, for example, about 230 g/mole to about 440 g/mole. For example, the ink compositions can include polyethylene glycol 200 dimethacrylate and/or polyethylene glycol 200 diacrylate, having a number average molecular weight of about 330 g/mole. Other monoand di(meth)acrylate monomers that can be included in various embodiments of the ink compositions, alone or in combination, include dicyclopentenyloxyethyl acrylate (DCPOEA), isobornyl acrylate (ISOBA), dicyclopentenyloxyethyl methacrylate (DCPOEMA), isobornyl methacrylate (ISOBMA), and N-octadecyl methacrylate (OctaM). Homologs of ISOBA and ISOBMA (collectively "ISOB(M)A" homologs) in which one or more of the methyl groups on the ring is replaced by hydrogen can also be used.
The multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agents desirably have at least three reactive (meth)acrylate groups. Thus, the multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agents can be, for example, tri(meth)acrylates, tetra(meth)acrylates and/or higher functionality (meth)acrylates. Pentaerythritol tetraacrylate or pentaerythritol tetramethacrylate, di(trimethylolpropane) tetraacrylate and di(trimethylolpropane) tetramethacrylate are examples of multifunctional (meth)acrylates that can be used as a primary cross-linking agent. The term 'primary' is used here to indicate that other components of the ink compositions may also participate in crosslinking, although that is not their main functional purpose.
Photoinitiators can also, optionally, be included in the ink compositions for initiating the polymerization process. Ink compositions useful for the inkjet printing of local and global light filter layers can further include light absorbing dyes and/or pigments dispersed in the polymer component.
Ink compositions useful for the inkjet printing of QD-containing layers and layers containing scattering particles will further include QDs and/or scattering particles dispersed in the polymer component. The scattering particles can be, for example, GSNPs and/or PSNP. The ink compositions can include more than one type of particle. For examples, various embodiments of the ink compositions contain a mixture of QDs and PSNP; a mixture of QDs and GSNPs; or a mixture of QDs, GSNPs, and PSNPs. The QD-containing ink compositions can include more than one type of QD, for example, an ink composition for a QD-containing layer that will be illuminated using blue light, can include a mixture of red-emitting QDs and green-emitting QDs; an ink composition for a QD-containing layer that will be illuminated using ultraviolet light, can include a mixture of blue-emitting QDs, red-emitting QDs, and green-emitting QDs; an ink composition for the light emitting layer of a red pixel can include solely red-emitting QDs; an ink composition for the light emitting layer of a green pixel can include solely green-emitting QDs; and an ink composition for the light emitting layer of a blue pixel can, optionally, include solely blue-emitting QDs.
The GSNP-containing ink compositions can include more than one type of GSNP, where the different types of GSNP differ by nominal particle size and/or shape, particle material, or both. Similarly, the PSNP-containing inks compositions can include more than one type of PSNP, where the different types of PSNP differ by nominal particle size and/or shape, particle material, or both.
2
The QDs optionally include a surface film of capping ligands. These capping ligands, which help to passivate the QDs and stabilize them against agglomeration, are frequently present as a result of the solution phase growth of the QDs. In addition, a second type of ligand, referred to herein as a crosslinkable ligand, may be included in the QD-containing ink compositions. The crosslinkable ligands attach to the QDs, typically via hydrogen bond formation, and also covalently crosslink to the polymer components in the ink composition as it cures. The crosslinkable ligands are monomers characterized in that they have one or more functional groups with polymerizable double bonds, such as acrylate or methacrylate groups, and a functional group which undergoes specific attachment to the surfaces of the QDs in the ink composition. The monomers may further include a spacer chain separating these functional groups. Such bi-functionality of the crosslinkable ligands keeps the QDs dispersed in the curable ink compositions, and prevents their re-aggregation during the curing process. For example, monomers containing carboxyl (-COOH), amine (-NR, where R is an H atom or an alkyl group), and thiol (-SH) groups have strong binding affinities for QDs composed of group II-VI elements. 2-Carboxyethyl acrylate (2CEA) is an example of a crosslinkable ligand for use with octadecylamine-capped core-shell CdSe/ZnS QDs.
In some embodiments of the ink compositions, the mono(meth)acrylate and/or di(meth)acrylate monomers are the primary component in the ink compositions on a weight basis. Various embodiments of these ink compositions have a combined mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 65 wt.% to about 96 wt.%. (That is, the combined weight of all the mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomers in the ink composition accounts for about 65 wt.% to about 96 wt.% of the ink composition; although the ink composition need not include both mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomers.) This includes embodiments of the ink compositions having a combined mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 65 wt.% to about 96 wt.% o in the range from about 75 wt.% to 95 wt.% and further includes embodiments of the ink compositions having a combined mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 80 wt.% to 90 wt.%. Some embodiments of the ink composition include only a single mono(meth)acrylate monomer or a single di(meth)acrylate monomer, while others include a mixture of two or more mono(meth)acrylate monomers and/or di(meth)acrylate monomers. For example, various embodiments of the ink compositions include two mono(meth)acrylate monomers, two di(meth)acrylate monomers, or a mono(meth)acrylate monomer in combination with a di(meth)acrylate monomer. The weight ratios of the two monomers can vary significantly in order to tailor the viscosity, surface tension, and film-forming properties of the ink compositions. By way of illustration, some embodiments of the ink compositions that include two of the mono- or di(meth)acrylate monomers include a first mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer and a second mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer in a weight ratio in the range from 95:1 to 1:2, including in a weight ratio range from 12:5 to 1:2. This includes embodiments of the ink compositions in which the weight ratio of the first mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer to the second mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer is in the range from 12:5 to 4:5; further includes embodiments of the ink compositions in which the weight ratio of the first mono(meth)acrylate or
di(meth)acrylate monomer to the second mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer is in the range from 5:4 to 1:2; and still further includes embodiments of the ink compositions in which the weight ratio of the first mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer to the second mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer is in the range from 5:1 to 5:4. For the purposes of the weight percentages and weight ratios recited in this paragraph, any crosslinking ligand present in the ink composition is not considered to be a mono(meth)acrylate or di(meth)acrylate monomer.
Ink compositions that include QDs will typically have a QD concentration in the range from about 0.1 wt.% to about 5 wt.%, including a QD concentration in the range from about 0.5 wt.% to about 2 wt.% - although concentrations outside of these ranges can be employed. The concentration of PSNPs can be very low because even a tiny amount of the PSNPs can make a large difference in the emission properties of a QD-containing layer. Therefore, in an ink composition that contains both QDs and PSNPs, the concentration of PSNPs will generally be substantially lower than the concentration of QDs. By way of illustration, various embodiments of the ink compositions have a PSNP concentration in the range from about 0.01 wt.% to about 5 wt.%, including a PSNP concentration in the range from about 0.01 wt.% to about 1 wt.% and from about 0.02 wt.% to about 0.1 wt.%. By way of illustration, various embodiments of the ink compositions have a GSNP concentration in the range from about 0.01 wt.% to 12 wt.%, including a GSNP concentration in the range from about 1 wt.% to about 10 wt.%.
If one or more crosslinkable ligands are included in a QD-containing ink composition, they typically account for about 1 wt.% to about 10 wt.% of the ink composition, including about 2 wt.% to about 8 wt.% of the ink composition.
Embodiments of the ink compositions for use in printing the QD-containing layer of a color filter may have a higher QD loading than that discussed above. For example, various embodiments of the QD-containing ink compositions for a color filter may have a QD concentration in the range from about 5 wt.% to about 50 wt.%, including a QD concentration in the range from about 10 wt.% to about 35 wt.%. As a result, the mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content of these ink compositions will be lower than discussed above. For example, various embodiments of the QD-containing ink compositions for a color filter may have a mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 50 wt.% to about 90 wt.%. This includes embodiments of the ink compositions having a mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 60 wt.% to 80 wt.% and further includes embodiments of the ink compositions having a mono(meth)acrylate and di(meth)acrylate monomer content in the range from about 65 wt.% to 75 wt.%. An organic solvent may be added to these ink compositions to provide them with a viscosity and/or surface tension suitable for inkjet printing, as discussed above. Suitable organic solvents include esters and ethers. Examples of organic solvents that can be included in the ink compositions include high boiling organic solvents, including organic solvents having a boiling point of at least 200 °C. This includes organic solvents that have boiling points of at least 230 °C, at least 250 °C, or even at least 280 °C. Diols and glycols, such as propanediols, pentanediols, diethylene glycols and triethylene glycols, are examples of high boiling organic solvents that can be used. High boiling aprotic solvents can also be used, including aprotic solvents having boiling points of at least 240 °C. Sulfolane, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrothiophene-1,1-dioxide, also known as tetramethylene sulfone, is an example of a relatively high boiling, aprotic solvent. Other non-limiting exemplary organic solvents can include xylenes, mesitylene, propylene glycol methyl ethers, methyl naphthalene, methyl benzoate, tetrahydronaphthalene, dimethyl formamide, terpineol, phenoxyethanol, and butyrophenone. If organic solvents are included in the ink compositions, the QD and monomer concentrations cited above are based on the solids content of the ink compositions.
For various embodiments of an organic thin layer ink composition, multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agents can account for between about 4 wt.% to about 10 wt. % of an ink composition. Generally, the photoinitiators will be included in amounts in the range from about 0.1 wt.% to about 10 wt.%, including amounts in the range from about 0.1 wt.% to about 8 wt.%. This includes embodiments in which the photoinitiators are present in amounts in the range from about 1 wt. % to about 6 wt. %, further includes embodiments in which the photoinitiators are present in amounts in the range from about 3 wt. % to about 6 wt. %, and still further includes embodiments in which the photoinitiators are present in amounts in the range from about 3.75 wt. % to about 4.25 wt. %.
The specific photoinitiators used for a given ink composition are desirably selected such that they are activated at wavelengths that are not damaging to materials used in the fabrication of the device, such as materials used in the fabrication of LCD display devices. The photoinitiators can be selected such that initial polymerization is induced at wavelengths in the UV region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the blue region of the visible spectrum, or both. For example, a QD-containing ink composition that contains a mixture of green-emitting QDs and red-emitting QDs can be used to print a QD-containing layer that can be illuminated with blue incident light. A portion of the blue light is then converted into red and green light to create white light. This ink composition can include a photoinitiator that triggers polymerization at a wavelength in the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Although the blue light is somewhat attenuated by the QDs in the layer, it still penetrates through the film. Thus, a completely cured layer can be achieved using a light source that emits blue light. For example, an LED having a peak intensity around 395 nm could be used. The photoinitiator would ultimately decompose (bleach) during curing and, thus, the blue absorption by the photoinitiator would gradually decrease until it becomes colorless. Thus, the emission spectrum of the layer will change during the curing process, but the final white light emission spectrum can be controlled by taking the effect of the photoinitiator into account.
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Lucirin
An acylphosphine oxide photoinitiator can be used, though it is to be understood that a wide variety of photoinitiators can be used. For example, but not limited by, photoinitiators from the α-hydroxyketone, phenylglyoxylate, andα-aminoketone classes of photoinitiators can also be considered. For initiating a free-radical based polymerization, various classes of photoinitiators can have an absorption profile of between about 200 nm to about 400 nm. For various embodiments of the ink compositions and methods of printing disclosed herein, 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl-diphenylphosphine oxide (TPO) and 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl-diphenyl phosphinate have desirable properties. Examples of acylphosphine photoinitiators include Irgacure TPO (also previously available under the tradename TPO) initiators for UV curing sold under the tradenames Irgacure TPO, a type I hemolytic initiator which; with absorption @ 380 nm; Irgacure TPO-L, a type I photoinitiator that absorbs at 380 nm; and Irgacure 819 with absorption at 370 nm. By way of illustration, a light source emitting at a nominal wavelength in the range from 350 nm to 395 nm at a radiant energy density of up to 1.5 J/cm could be used to cure an ink composition comprising a TPO photoinitiator. Using the appropriate energy sources, high levels of curing can be achieved. For example, some embodiments of the cured films have a degree of curing of 90% or greater, as measured by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Given that the initiation of polymerization can be induced by light, ink compositions can be prepared to prevent exposure to light. With respect to preparation of organic thin layer ink compositions of the present teachings, in order to ensure the stability of various compositions, the compositions can be prepared in a dark or very dimly lit room or in a facility in which the lighting is controlled to exclude wavelengths that would induce polymerization. Such wavelengths generally include those below about 500 nm.
FIG. 26
A flowchart for a method of formulating a QD-containing ink composition is provided in . To formulate an ink composition, a mixture 2601 of the mono(meth)acrylate and/or di(meth)acrylate monomers and the multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent are mixed together with a photoinitiator 2603 to form an initial curable monomeric blend 2605. If the ink composition will include crosslinkable ligands 2604, they can also be added to curable monomeric blend 2605. Then QDs 2606 and, optionally GSNPs 2607 and/or PSNPs 2608 are dispersed in curable monomeric blend 2605 to form a dispersion 2609. The QDs and other particles may be added in the form of an aqueous or non-aqueous, organic solvent-based dispersion. If so, water or organic solvent optionally can be removed from dispersion 2609 to form a second dispersion 2610. The ink composition is then ready for use and should be stored away from light. Once the ink compositions are prepared, they can be dehydrated by mixing in the presence of molecular sieve beads for a period of a day or more and then stored under a dry, inert atmosphere, such as a compressed dry air atmosphere.
US 8,714,719
The ink compositions can be printed using a printing system, such as that described in , which is incorporated herein in its entirety. The films can be cured in an inert nitrogen environment using UV radiation. The ink compositions are designed to be applied by inkjet printing and are, therefore, characterized by jettability, wherein a jettable ink composition displays constant, or substantially constant, drop velocities, drop volumes and drop trajectories over time when jetted continuously through the nozzle of a printhead. In addition, the ink compositions are desirably characterized by good latency properties, where latency refers to the time that nozzles can be left uncovered and idle before there is a significant reduction in performance, for instance a reduction in drop velocity or volume and/or a change in trajectory that will noticeably affect the image quality.
By way of illustration only, various embodiments of ink compositions comprising QDs for printing QD-containing layers for photonic devices are described immediately below and in the Examples that follow. One embodiment of an ink composition contains 75-95 wt. % of a polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomer, a polyethylene glycol diacrylate monomer, or a combination thereof, wherein the polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate monomer and the polyethylene glycol diacrylate monomer have number average molecular weights in the range from about 230 g/mole to about 430 g/mole; 1 wt.% to 10 wt.% multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent; and 0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots.
Another embodiment of an ink composition contains 70 wt. % to 95 wt. % of a neopentyl glycol-containing diacrylate monomer, a neopentyl glycol-containing dimethacrylate monomer, or a combination thereof; 1 wt.% to 10 wt.% multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent; and 0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots.
Various embodiments of the present ink compositions can be deposited on a substrate, such as glass, silicon, and/or silicon nitride using pattered area printing of layers that are continuous or discontinuous.
EXAMPLE 1
:
This example illustrates the formulation of various curable ink compositions, including QD-containing ink compositions, that can be used to inkjet print the various layers of a QD color filter or a CED.
FIG. 25
x
Seven illustrative inkjet printable ink compositions were prepared. Each ink composition included a single mono- or diacrylate monomer as a primary polymeric component. The seven monomers were cyclic trimethylolpropane formal acrylate, propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate, alkoxylated tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate, 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol diacrylate, and 2(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl acrylate. The structures, room temperature (~ 22 °C) surface tensions, and room temperature viscosities for each monomer is presented in the table of . Each of the ink compositions contained 89 wt.% of the mono- or diacrylate monomer; 7 wt.% pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PET) as a multifunctional acrylate crosslinker; and 4 wt.% of the photoinitiator 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl-diphenyl phosphine oxide (TPO). The ink compositions were formulated by mixing three components overnight and filtering the mixture through a 0.45 µm PTFE membrane filter. The ink compositions were then tested with Dimatix printer for their ink jetting properties, and film formation on UV ozone (UVO)-treated, low-temperature silicon nitride (SiN) substrates. All of the ink compositions had good jetting behavior, and were able to form thin films with thicknesses of 2 µm or higher.
Layers inkjet printed using the inks containing the monomers propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate, alkoxylated tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, and 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate demonstrated the most controlled film formation and best edge definition. So, the ink composition containing propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate and the ink composition containing 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate were chosen to illustrate the formulation of QD-containing ink compositions. 2-Carboxyethyl acrylate (2CEA) in an amount of 5 wt.% was added to each ink composition as a crosslinkable ligand in preparation for the subsequent addition of octadecylamine-capped core-shell CdSe/ZnS QDs. The structure of 2CEA is:
FIG. 27
Before being added to the initial ink compositions, the 2CEA crosslinkable ligand was dried over molecular sieves to remove residual moisture and filtered through 0.45 µm PTFE membrane filter. The two 2CEA-containing ink compositions were used as base ink compositions for the subsequent addition of the QDs. The formulations for the two base ink compositions are shown in the table of . Both of these ink compositions were retested for jetting performance, and film formation and were found to be inkjet printable. Of the two ink compositions, the ink composition containing the 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate was selected to demonstrate the incorporation of QDs in an ink composition for inkjet printing.
Prior to the addition of the QDs, the ink composition was purged with nitrogen for 30 min, and transferred into nitrogen glove box. All further preparation steps were carried out in the nitrogen glove box. To prepare a QD-containing ink composition, a 25 mg/ml toluene stock solution of octadecylamine-capped core-shell CdSe/ZnS QDs was dispersed in anhydrous toluene via 5 minutes of sonication, and filtered through a 0.45 µm PTFE membrane filter. The toluene QDs stock solution was added to the 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate-containing base ink composition in an amount sufficient to provide a final QD-containing ink composition having a QD concentration (after toluene removal - see below) of 1 wt.%. The mixture was stirred for 30 min to assure a homogeneous distribution of the QDs in the ink composition. This composition was sealed in a septum vial and removed from the glove box. Toluene was removed from the ink composition by a 30-minute nitrogen purge, followed by 30 minutes of vacuum drying to remove residual solvent. Alternatively, the QDs could have been added to the base ink composition directly as a dry material (without stock solution preparation) and sonicated to assure a homogeneous QD dispersion, provided that the selected QDs had good solubility in the polymeric components of the composition.
FIG. 28
x
Two QD-containing ink compositions were prepared from the 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate-containing base ink composition. Red-emitting QDs were used in the first QD-containing ink composition and green-emitting QDs were used in the second QD-containing ink composition. The formulations for the two QD-containing ink compositions, along with their room temperature surface tensions and viscosities, are shown in the table of . Both of these ink compositions were tested for jetting and film formation behavior using a Dimatix printer. Both ink compositions were printed on a UVO treated SiN surface and were found to be inkjet printable, although the ink composition containing the red-emitting QD was found to have more stable jetting properties. The printed layers were cured for 1 minute under 395 nm excitation in a nitrogen environment. Notably, both of the ink compositions retained their photoluminescence in the red and green when illuminated by 405 nm light after being incorporated into the base ink compositions and after printing and curing.
EXAMPLE 2
: This example illustrates the use of a QD- and PSNP-containing ink composition for inkjet printing a light-emitting layer having an enhanced light output.
An initial ink composition was prepared by mixing 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, PET, and TPO in quantities appropriate to provide an ink composition containing 89 wt.% 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate; 7 wt.% PET; and 4 wt.% TPO. The ink composition was formulated by mixing the three components overnight and filtering the mixture through 0.45 µm PTFE membrane filter. Prior to the addition of the QDs, the ink composition was purged with nitrogen for 30 min, and transferred into nitrogen glove box. All further preparation steps were carried out in the nitrogen glove box.
To prepare a QD-containing ink composition, a 25 mg/ml toluene stock solution of capped core-shell InP/ZnS QDs was dispersed in anhydrous toluene via 5 minutes of sonication, and filtered through a 0.45 µm PTFE membrane filter. The toluene QDs stock solution was added to the 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate-containing base ink composition in an amount sufficient to provide a final QD-containing ink composition having a QD concentration (after toluene removal - see below) of 1 wt.%. The mixture was stirred for 30 min to assure a homogeneous distribution of the QDs in the ink composition. This composition was sealed in a septum vial and removed from the glove box. Toluene was removed from the ink composition by a 30-minute nitrogen purge, followed by 30 minutes of vacuum drying to remove residual solvent. Two QD-containing ink compositions were prepared. Red-emitting QDs were used in the first QD-containing ink composition and green-emitting QDs were used in the second QD-containing ink composition.
To prepare a PSNP-containing ink composition, a dispersion of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs - the PSNPs) in water (Nanogap Inc., Richmond, CA) was added to the 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate-containing base ink composition in an amount sufficient to provide a final AgNP-containing ink composition having a AgNP concentration of 0.05 wt.%. The AgNPs had a nominal particle size in the range from about 50 nm to about 80 nm. Prior to being added to the base ink composition, the AgNP dispersion was sonicated for 2 minutes.
In order to form a printed layer containing the QDs and the AgNPs, the AgNP-containing ink composition and the QD-containing ink composition were inkjet printed sequentially on a glass substrate in air using a Dimatix printer with a drop volume of 10 pL. In this process, a first layer of the AgNP-containing ink composition was deposited on the glass substrate and a second layer of the QD-containing ink composition was deposited over the first layer. The first layer was not cured prior to the deposition of the second layer, such that the printed ink compositions were able to mix to provide a single blended layer containing both the QDs and the PSNPs. Then, the final blended layer was subjected to a cure for 1 minute under 395 nm excitation in a nitrogen environment.
During the inkjet printing of the PSNP-containing ink composition, the volume printed per unit surface area was increased from one edge of the printed layer to the other. During the inkjet printing of the QD-containing ink composition, the volume printed per unit surface area was constant throughout the printing process. In particular, the volume of the PSNP-containing ink composition delivered to the starting edge of the layer was sufficient to provide a printed layer thickness of 2 µm. This volume gradually increased until the volume of the PSNP-containing ink composition delivered to the final edge of the layer was sufficient to provide a printed layer thickness of 20 µm. The volume of the QD-containing ink composition delivered across the length of the layer was sufficient to provide a printed layer thickness of 6 µm. Notably, although the edge-to-edge thickness variation of the printed film normalized somewhat as the two printed layers blended into a single layer, the thickness variation was partially retained to some degree post-cure.
FIG. 29A
FIG. 29B
FIGs. 29A
29B
The photoluminescent properties of a cured layer containing the AgNPs plasmonic scatterers in combination with the green-emitting QDs; a cured layer containing only the green-emitting QDs, without any PSNPs; a cured layer containing the AgNPs plasmonic scatterers in combination with the red-emitting QDs; and a cured layer containing only the red-emitting QDs, without any PSNPs were measured. The measurement was performed using a fluorometer (Oceanoptics Flame-S-VIS-NIR) at an excitation wavelength of 405 nm. The intensity of the light was integrated over a 100 ms timeframe and the resulting detector count was used to compare the emission intensity. The emission spectra for the layer containing the AgNPs plasmonic scatterers in combination with the green-emitting QDs and the layer containing only the green-emitting QDs, without any PSNPs are shown in . The emission spectra for the layer containing the AgNPs plasmonic scatterers in combination with the red-emitting QDs and the layer containing only the red-emitting QDs, without any PSNPs are shown in . The emission spectra for the PSNP-containing layers were measured at different layer thicknesses. As shown in the graphs of and , the addition PSNPs to the QD-containing layers substantially increased the photoluminescence intensity for both of the PSNP-containing layers - increasing the emission intensity of the green-emitting QD-containing layer by a factor of greater than 4 and increasing the emission intensity of the red-emitting QD-containing layer by a factor of greater than 6, relative to their respective layers containing only QDs.
The present teachings are intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description as examples or embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment, and it is contemplated that such embodiments can be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
70 wt.% to 96 wt.% di(meth)acrylate monomers or a combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers;
4 wt.% to 10 wt.% multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent; and
0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots, wherein the ink composition has a viscosity in the range from 2 cps to 30 cps and a surface tension at 22 °C in the range from 25 dyne/cm to 45 dyne/cm at a temperature in the range from 22 °C to 40 °C; and
inkjet printing a layer of an ink composition on a device substrate of the photonic device, the curable ink composition comprising:
curing the ink composition.
1. A method of forming a light-emitting layer in a photonic device, the method comprising:
2. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the ink composition is inkjet printed into a sub-pixel cell of a color filter of a liquid crystal display device.
3. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the device substrate is a light guide plate and the photonic device is a liquid crystal display device.
4. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the ink composition further comprises crosslinkable ligands bound to the quantum dots, the crosslinking ligands having one or more functional groups with polymerizable double bonds capable of crosslinking with the di(meth)acrylate monomers, the mono(meth)acrylate monomers, or both.
5. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise alkoxylated aliphatic di(meth)acrylate monomers.
6. The method of paragraph 5, wherein the alkoxylated aliphatic di(meth)acrylate monomers comprise propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate monomers.
7. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the di(meth)acrylate monomers comprise 1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
8. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise 1, 12 dodecanediol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
9. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
10. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the multifunctional crosslinking agent comprises a tri(meth)acrylate crosslinking agent, a tetra(meth)acrylate crosslinking agent, or a combination thereof.
a photonic device substrate; and
70 wt.% to 96 wt.% polymer chains comprising polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers, or a combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers;
4 wt.% to 10 wt.% polymerized multifunctional (meth)acrylate monomers crosslinking the polymer chains; and
0.1 wt.% to 5 wt.% quantum dots.
a crosslinked polymer film on the photonic device substrate, the crosslinked polymer film comprising:
11. A photonic device comprising:
12. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the device substrate is a light guide plate and the photonic device is a liquid crystal display device.
13. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the crosslinked polymer film is in a sub-pixel cell of a color filter and the photonic device is a liquid crystal display device.
a plurality of sub-pixel cells defined in a pixel bank; and
a plurality of light-emitting sub-pixels, including a plurality of red light-emitting sub-pixels, a plurality of green light-emitting sub-pixels, and a plurality of blue light-emitting sub-pixels; each light-emitting sub-pixel being disposed in one of the sub-pixel cells;
wherein each of the red light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: a red light-emitting layer and a local light filter layer comprising a light absorber disposed on a light-emitting surface of the red light-emitting layer; and
wherein each of the green light-emitting sub-pixels comprises: a green light-emitting layer and a local light filter layer comprising a light absorber disposed on a light-emitting surface of the green light-emitting layer.
14. The photonic device of paragraph 13, wherein the color filter comprises:
15. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the crosslinked polymer film further comprises ligands bound to the quantum dots, wherein the ligands are crosslinked to the polymer chains.
16. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise polymerized 1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
17. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise polymerized propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate monomers.
18. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise polymerized 1,12 dodecanediol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
19. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers or the combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers comprise polymerized polyethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate monomers.
20. The photonic device of paragraph 11, wherein the polymerized multifunctional (meth)acrylate monomers comprise polymerized tri(meth)acrylate monomers, polymerized tetra(meth)acrylate monomers, or a combination thereof.
70 wt.% to 96 wt.% di(meth)acrylate monomers or a combination of di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers;
4 wt.% to 10 wt.% multifunctional (meth)acrylate crosslinking agent; and 0.01 wt.% to 5 wt.% plasmonic scattering particles, wherein the ink composition has a viscosity in the range from 2 cps to 30 cps and a surface tension at 22 °C in the range from 25 dyne/cm to 45 dyne/cm at a temperature in the range from 22 °C to 40 °C; and
inkjet printing a layer of an ink composition on a device substrate of the photonic device, the curable ink composition comprising:
curing the ink composition.
21. A method of forming a light-emitting layer in a photonic device, the method comprising:
22. The method of paragraph 21, wherein the curable ink composition comprises 0.01 wt.% to 1 wt.% plasmonic scattering particles.
23. The method of paragraph 21, wherein the plasmonic scattering particles comprise silver nanoparticles.
a photonic device substrate; and
70 wt.% to 96 wt.% polymer chains comprising polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers, or a combination of polymerized di(meth)acrylate monomers and mono(meth)acrylate monomers;
4 wt.% to 10 wt.% polymerized multifunctional (meth)acrylate monomers crosslinking the polymer chains; and
0.01 wt.% to 5 wt.% plasmonic scattering particles.
a crosslinked polymer film on the photonic device substrate, the crosslinked polymer film comprising:
24. A photonic device comprising:
25. The photonic device of paragraph 24, wherein the curable ink composition comprises 0.01 wt.% to 1 wt.% plasmonic scattering particles.
26. The photonic device of paragraph 24, wherein the plasmonic scattering particles comprise silver nanoparticles.
The following numbered paragraphs contains statements of broad combinations of technical features in accordance with various aspects of methods and devices disclosed herein: | |
People want a job that is fun and not incredibly stressful, given the sheer amount of time that they will spend in their workplace. To improve performance level, employers can consider making the workplace fun. This is necessary for firms that are currently struggling with low productivity. In this essay, possible ideas to make the workplace more pleasurable will be discussed. These ideas include deciding what kind of fun can be allowed, increased interaction among colleagues, more celebrations, increased competition and exercise breaks.
Firstly, the head of the company and the relevant departments will need to come together to discuss what can be considered fun and acceptable. In attempting to make the workplace more fun, one of the concerns is that employees wrongly perceive this to mean that basic rules and regulations no longer apply. Making the atmosphere of the workplace lighter may increase productivity. However, allowing jokes that contain harmful content or sexual connotations may inevitably damage the reputation of the firm. Furthermore, it may cause tension and conflict between colleagues. Therefore, if the boss would like to make his or her company a more enjoyable place to work in, it is important to first discern how this can be done without compromising on the firm's corporate values.
Secondly, a simple step to make the workplace more fun is to encourage colleagues to bond with one another. One of the benefits of this is that it does not cost much money. In addition, it is relatively easy for the boss or relevant department to implement this. To get employees to interact with one another, the head of the company can allow for meetings when making decisions for the firm. They can be encouraged to express their views and concerns over the choice of decisions. They can also be asked to give feedback on how the firm can improve and be more relevant in the market. Apart from this, employees can also be made to collaborate on assignments and projects. Furthermore, team-building activities such as camps can be organised every once a month.
Thirdly, the staff can be encouraged to organise and partake in celebrations throughout the year. These celebrations do not need to be elaborate or expensive. Instead, they can be small gatherings or parties where workers of the firm come together to celebrate special occasions. This may range from the birthday of a colleague's child, to large celebrations such as Christmas. Not only would this make working for the company more fun, but it would also strengthen employee relations. An example of a company with many fun events organised throughout the year is Omnigon, a multinational digital consulting firm. This firm has cool outings every month and happy hour every week. Furthermore, it has holiday celebrations, such as trips to Escape the Room and Casino Royale.
Fourthly, the head of the company can stir up competition to increase the excitement and thrill at work. For example, the employee of each department that shows the best performance for that year could be rewarded with a trophy of recognition. This would motivate everyone to work their best for the company. It would also encourage them to take initiative in their workplace. They may also take up responsibilities beyond their job scope to gain favour from their employer. Furthermore, the more intense the competition is, the more fun working for the company will be.
Fifth, companies can allow for exercise breaks. Research has shown that having exercise sessions at work can increase productivity and aid collaboration. It can also improve the mood of employees. Therefore, employee performance can be boosted. In order to implement this, the company will need to invest in exercise facilities. For example, Swift, a global financial messaging company, has built a sports centre at its headquarters for its workers. However, one concern is that allowing for exercise breaks may actually lead to decreased efficiency. For example, if a sales promoter was allowed to take an exercise break during working hours, he might have lost a few potential customers. Furthermore, another consideration would be if these exercise breaks are part of the employees' salaries. If they are, employees may misuse these exercise breaks as an excuse to slack from their responsibilities.
In conclusion, it is important that the workplace is made more fun. This will aid in raising motivation levels among employees, translating to better quality work. Given enough time, this will enable the firm to improve its overall performance. According to Dale Carnegie, a well-known American writer and lecturer, "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." Hence, employers should consider it a priority that their workers are enjoying the work that they do. | https://topcasinogames.eu/5-tips-to-make-the-workplace-fun/ |
Red, White and Blue explores the intertwining themes of pop, punk, politics and place at the end of 2012. Critically positioned in the context of the Jubilee and Olympic year, the exhibition also looks back to corresponding historical moments: the 1951 Festival of Britain, the birth of punk and the Silver Jubilee. The show looks again at re-emerging themes of austerity, legacy, and national identity that have resonated across the last half-century both in the UK and internationally.
The exhibition combines film, photography, graphics and contemporary art to explore and expand the relationship between pop and punk culture and politics and national identity. The Royal Jubilee of 1977 and the anarchy of Punk is evoked in the black and white photographs of Jon Savage and Syd Shelton, the super 8 films of Derek Jarman and the graphics of Pavel Buchler and the Clash. A more contemporary examination of pop and political graphics takes place in the vividly coloured works of artists Simon Periton, Neil Clements, Nicky Carvell and Daniel Sturgis.
An international perspective on the notion of national identity and place is provided by the work of the radical Slovenian group, Laibach, who look critically at the British projection of power and Pil and Galia Kollectiv use modernist avant-garde methods to critique contemporary society.
Red, White and Blue will include works by Peter Blake, Barney Bubbles, Pavel Buchler, Nicky Carvell, Neil Clements, Terence Cuneo, Richard Evans, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Jaime Gili, Derek Jarman, Laibach, Humphrey Ocean, Pil & Galia Kollectiv, Simon Periton, Mick Jones Rock & Roll Public Library, Jon Savage, Syd Shelton, Jon Smith, Richard Smith, Daniel Sturgis, Steve Thomas, Paul Tickell, Mark Titchner, Trio/Fabrika, Kirsten Weiner.
Exhibition curated by Donald Smith with Daniel Sturgis.
Publication
As with each exhibition at CHELSEA space, a new illustrated publication will accompany the show, featuring a foreword by Donald Smith and text by Michael Bracewell.
Press Information
For further information, images or to discuss interviews please contact: Kate Ross or Daisy McMullan at CHELSEA space via email [email protected] or tel: 020 7514 6983
Notes to Editors
- Images and further information are available upon request
- About: CHELSEA space is a public exhibiting space, sited on the Millbank campus of Chelsea College of Art & Design, where invited art and design professionals are encouraged to work on experimental curatorial projects. See: www.chelseaspace.org
- In copy please refer to CHELSEA space and not ‘The Chelsea space.’
- Gallery opening times: Tue–Fri: 11:00–17:00, Sat: 10:00–16:00
- Private view: 6th November 2012, 18:00–20:30
- Admission: FREE
Chelsea College of Art and Design is one of the world’s leading art and design institutions. Located at Millbank, next door to Tate Britain, Chelsea specialises in Fine Art, Graphic Design and Interior and Textiles Design. Since its origins in the 19th century, the College has produced many of the greatest names in the arts, including: Quentin Blake (illustrator and author) Ralph Fiennes (film and stage actor), Anish Kapoor (sculptor), Steve McQueen, (artist), Chris Ofili (artist), Alan Rickman (film and stage actor), Alexei Sayle (comedian) and Gavin Turk (sculptor).
Operating at the heart of the world’s creative capital, University of the Arts London is a vibrant international centre for innovative teaching and research in arts, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts. The University is made up of six Colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Art. Renowned names in the cultural and creative sectors produced by the University include 12 Turner prize winners and over half of all nominees, 10 out of 17 fashion designers named British Designer of the Year, more than half of the designers showcased in London Fashion Week and 12 out of 30 winners of the Jerwood Photography Award. | https://www.chelseaspace.org/archive/redwhiteblue-pr.html |
Background: Epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between dietary habits and blood pressure. However, studies often test one or only a few factors at a time or examine food patterns (e.g. the Mediterranean diet) not well assessed or defined. Here we use the previously suggested Environmental-wide Association Study (EWAS) paradigm, which evaluates multiple factors concurrently for associations, adjusting for multiplicity of comparisons.
Methods: We used data from the INTERMAP cross-sectional epidemiological Study with 4680 persons ages 40 to 59 years from 17 random population samples in China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. BP was measured 8 times at 4 visits; dietary data (83 nutrients) were obtained from 4 standardized, multipass, 24-hour dietary recalls and 2 timed 24-hour urine collections. We examined association between each nutrient and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in separate linear regression models using a random 50% test sample, stratified across centers, of the INTERMAP population. The most significant results were subsequently validated in the remaining 50%. The false discovery rate (FDR), the expected proportion of false positive results among statistically significant hypotheses, was calculated. We considered an examined nutrient as validated when the FDR was 5% in the training set and P-value for association was <0.05 in the validation set.
Results: In models adjusted for multiple confounders, dietary alcohol and urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio had positive associations and non-heme iron intake, dietary phosphorus, vegetable protein, magnesium, total carbohydrate, pantothenic acid, folacin, thiamin, riboflavin and urinary calcium inverse associations with systolic blood pressure (FDR<5% in training and P<0.05 in validation). With the same set of confounders, dietary alcohol had positive and non-heme iron intake, dietary calcium, phosphorus, protein, thiamin and glutamic acid and urinary potassium and magnesium, inverse associations with diastolic blood pressure (FDR<5% in training and P<0.05 in validation).
Conclusions: Using the methodology originally proposed for genome-wide association studies studies (GWAS), we replicated previously reported associations between dietary habits and blood pressure, also found some novel associations for B vitamins. As epidemiological studies increasingly collect large amount of data, it is essential to report transparently all analyses, account for multiple tests, and replicate findings.
- © 2012 by American Heart Association, Inc. | http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/125/Suppl_10/AP345 |
Sec.20301. General responsibilities.20302. Vision for space exploration.20303. Contribution to innovation.20304. Basic research enhancement.20305. National Academies decadal surveys.
§ 20305. National Academies decadal surveys
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall enter into agreements on a periodic basis with the National Academies for independent assessments, also known as decadal surveys, to take stock of the status and opportunities for Earth and space science discipline fields and Aeronautics research and to recommend priorities for research and programmatic areas over the next decade.
(b) INDEPENDENT COST ESTIMATES.—The agreements described in subsection (a) shall include independent estimates of the life cycle costs and technical readiness of missions assessed in the decadal surveys whenever possible.
(c) REEXAMINATION.—The Administrator shall request that each National Academies decadal survey committee identify any conditions or events, such as significant cost growth or scientific or technological advances, that would warrant the Administration asking the National Academies to reexamine the priorities that the decadal survey had established.
CHAPTER 305—MANAGEMENT AND REVIEW
Sec.30501. Lessons learned and best practices.30502. Whistleblower protection.30503. Performance assessments.30504. Assessment of science mission extensions.
§ 30503. Performance assessments
(a) IN GENERAL.—The performance of each division in the Science directorate of the Administration shall be reviewed and assessed by the National Academy of Sciences at 5-year intervals.
(b) TIMING.—Beginning with the first fiscal year following December 30, 2005, the Administrator shall select at least one division for review under this section. The Administrator shall select divisions so that all disciplines will have received their first review within 6 fiscal years of December 30, 2005.
(c) REPORTS.—Not later than March 1 of each year, beginning with the first fiscal year after December 30, 2005, the Administrator shall transmit a report to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate—
(1) setting forth in detail the results of any external review under subsection (a);
(2) setting forth in detail actions taken by the Administration in response to any external review; and
(3) including a summary of findings and recommendations from any other relevant external reviews of the Administration’s science mission priorities and programs.
CHAPTER 407—ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT
Sec.40701. Research and development initiative.40702. Additional research and development initiative.40703. Research alignment.40704. Research program on perceived impact of sonic booms.
§ 40703. Research alignment
In addition to pursuing the research and development initiative described in section 40702 of this title, the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent practicable within available funding, align the fundamental aeronautics research program to address high priority technology challenges of the National Academies’ Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics, and shall work to increase the degree of involvement of external organizations, and especially of universities, in the fundamental aeronautics research program.
CHAPTER 605—EARTH SCIENCE
Sec.60501. Goal.60502. Transitioning experimental research into operational services.60503. Reauthorization of Glory Mission.60504. Tornadoes and other severe storms.60505. Coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.60506. Sharing of climate related data.
§ 60506. Sharing of climate related data
The Administrator shall work to ensure that the Administration’s policies on the sharing of climate related data respond to the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office’s report on climate change research and data-sharing policies and to the recommendations on the processing, distribution, and archiving of data by the National Academies Earth Science Decadal Survey, “Earth Science and Applications from Space”, and other relevant National Academies reports, to enhance and facilitate their availability and widest possible use to ensure public access to accurate and current data on global warming. | https://www.nationalacademies.org/OCGA/111Session2/public-laws/OCGA_147178 |
“Ohio: The Start of it All,” an exhibition of 18 original children’s book illustrations from the University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum, will be featured in historic Lakeside Chautaqua’s Hoover Auditorium from June 16-30.
A free, public gallery talk and reception will be held on Monday, June 18. Museum curator and Fremont, Ohio native Daniel Chudzinski will speak at 3:30 p.m. at the auditorium, located on West Third Street in Lakeside, Marblehead. The reception will follow at the cottages of Bill ’71 and Anne ’70 (Dehaven) Barkalow, 106 and 110 Lakeshore Drive, Marblehead.
The “Ohio: The Start of it All” exhibition is an artistic celebration of Ohio innovations that changed the world and shaped contemporary culture,” Chudzinski explains. “Viewers will leave with a greater appreciation for the ‘Buckeye State,’ as they revisit original illustrations from some of their favorite picture books accompanied by an amusing array of Ohio trivia.”
Complimentary Lakeside gate passes will be provided to those who mention they are University of Findlay Mazza Museum guests, and parking will be free. A free shuttle will be available from the reception site to the exhibit and back to the reception; if needed, be sure to select that option when registering.
Registration for the gallery talk and reception are required by June 11.
June 18 reception participants are also encouraged to visit two other presentations being offered earlier that day at Lakeside’s Hoover Auditorium:
- Jill Hardie, author of “The Sparkle Box,” will speak from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
- Richard Cowdrey, a children’s book illustrator whose work is featured in the Mazza Museum, will speak from 1:30-3 p.m.
No reservations are required for the Hardie and Cowdrey presentations.
The Mazza Museum is home to the most diverse collection of original artwork by children’s book illustrators in the world. The Museum’s goal is to promote literacy and enrich the lives of all people through the art of picture books.
Along with its own exhibits, the Museum regularly provides enriching and entertaining experiences for visitors of all ages. Also, its traveling exhibits are bringing additional fun visual literacy opportunities for those throughout Ohio and the nation. The “Ohio: The Start of it All” collection was previously featured in the Riffe Gallery, located in the Verne Riffe Center for the Government and Arts in Columbus, Ohio. | https://newsroom.findlay.edu/mazza-museum-at-marblehead-gallery-talk-and-reception-to-highlight-traveling-art-exhibition/ |
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