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Murder suspect's choice voluntary
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today said the Taiwan homicide case suspect decided to surrender himself to Taiwan out of his own free will.
In a statement, the HKSAR Government said that allegations that he was manipulated to surrender or that his decision was made out of political manoeuvring are groundless.
The Department of Justice, after it gave thorough and comprehensive consideration to Police's investigation and the evidence collected, confirmed that there was only evidence to prosecute the suspect Chan Tong-kai for money laundering offences but not on other offences including attempting to commit murder, it said.
The HKSAR Government expressed the deepest regret for the groundless and fabricated allegations that its investigation was inadequate, that it had an indifferent attitude towards pursuing the charge of homicide, and that there was inaction in exercising the jurisdiction of Hong Kong's Courts.
It noted that Hong Kong's law enforcement, prosecution and judiciary adhere to the principle of political neutrality and act strictly in accordance with evidence.
The HKSAR Government has clearly stated that it would provide necessary and legally feasible assistance to Taiwan in its investigation on the homicide case.
As early as March last year, Hong Kong sent police officers to Taiwan to liaise with the officers of Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, and communicated with Taiwan Shilin District Prosecutors Office on the development and evidence matters of the case.
Between June last year and April, Hong Kong issued four letters to Taiwan authorities to exchange information on the case and express the intention for face-to-face discussion.
In March, the HKSAR Government formally suggested sending a delegation to Taiwan to discuss co-operation arrangements on the homicide case but received no reply.
Investigations after the arrest of the suspect by Police in Hong Kong last March revealed that there was only sufficient evidence against him in the offences of money laundering, and as the case entered into judicial proceedings, exchange on case evidence with third parties including Taiwan could not be proceeded with.
Now that Chan Tong-kai has indicated his wish to surrender himself to Taiwan, the judicial proceedings are over and he will not lodge any appeal and is about to be discharged from prison.
Should Taiwan raise any request for evidence in processing his surrender case, the HKSAR Government will positively assist in accordance with the law, the statement said.
Taiwan authorities issued a warrant for the suspect's arrest last December, the statement said, adding that it is the practice of all jurisdictions around the world that a person wanted for a crime must be apprehended with no delay so that investigation and prosecution could be pursued to uphold the rule of law and justice.
The HKSAR Government therefore relayed the suspect’s surrender decision to Taiwan authorities and conveyed that due to his request, Hong Kong would assist him in relevant arrangements and provide necessary and legally feasible assistance to Taiwan in this matter. | http://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2019/10/20191020/20191020_210637_627.html |
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VRR: What do you think is the greatest obstacle facing the VR
industry and why? Latta: Lack of basic research. The issues of having the most
intimate form of human computer interface in Virtual Reality
necessitate a thorough understanding of human perceptual, muscle and
psychological systems. Yet that research foundation does not exist.
Dr John Latta interviewed in Virtual Reality Report,
2 (7) p 4.
Taken from: [195, page 43,]
In real life, humans use machines, e.g. a car or a machine tool, and
interact with them in a multimodal way, i.e. by means of perception
(vision/hearing/haptic perception), and action (knob/wheel/lever/button
control). In the case of virtual reality, the purpose is simply to
substitute the sensory-motor flow elicited by a physical ambient
environment with a computer generated sensory-motor flow which
imitates/emulates (a) physical reality to a sufficient degree. Flight
simulators are a good example. The purpose is not to improve or optimize
man-machine interaction but to reproduce the standard one, with the goal of
training the user or simply entertain him. Imitation/emulation is a
possible paradigm of man-machine interaction, but it is not the only one.
Due to the decoupling of the sensory-motor flow from the physical world,
new environments can be generated based on environments which are physical
in itself, but of a completely different scale (molecular surface
landscapes vs galactic environments based on astronomical data), and which
would normally never elicit an ambient sensory-motor flow.
More generally, one can define paradigms in which multimodality is used for
improving the interaction between the user and reality via a computer:
Figure 4.9
: The computer as a mediator (or agent,
see 5.2 ) between the user and the world
It can be seen from this list that VR will have a great impact in the
future in many different domains. The techniques and devices which are
needed in order to let the user immerse in the virtual world created by a
computer are currently under development. In this sense, and because of the
money that will be spent for VR research, it may be called one of the
driving forces of multimodal technology.
Ellis (in [89]) and Null and Jenkins(in [247]) from NASA
labs on Virtual Reality (VR) argue that Virtual Environments (they use this
name instead of VR), presented via head-mounted computer-driven displays,
provide a new medium for man-machine interaction. Like other media, they
have both physical and abstract components. Paper, for example, as a
medium for communication, is itself one possible physical embodiment of the
abstraction of a two-dimensional surface onto which marks may be made. The
corresponding abstraction for head-coupled, virtual image, stereoscopic
displays that synthesize a coordinated sensory experience is an
environment. It is important to collocate VR (or VEs, following NASA) with
respect to man-machine interaction.
In summary, we can understand multimodal interaction as a process
characterized as follows: (i) the computer is able to capture the largest
possible part of the human motor outflow, (ii) human movements are as
little constrained as possible, (iii) the human receives from the computer
a perceptual inflow which maximally utilizes the different available
channels, (iv) the inflow and the outflow are optimally tuned, in relation
with the specific task.
| |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the production of photographs and, more particularly, to the control of the contrast in those photographs.
In the course of producing photographs directly with a camera, through slide duplication or through enlargement, there can be problems with contrast. Typically, the contrast increases during normal printing and duplicating processes. This problem is particularly significant when making prints or duplicates of 35 mm slide transparencies, but is also present in other photographic processes.
A well known method of reducing contrast is through controlled fogging of the film, i.e. exposure of the film to controlled and small amounts of diffuse light. This may be done before, during or after the imaging exposure of the film.
One means of automatically fogging film is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of U. S. Pat. No. 4,021,831 of Bercher. In this device, light from an object is collected by a lens and focused on film. Located between the lens and the film is a light conductor which directs light from a local source obliquely onto the film.
A disadvantage of this arrangement is that the distribution of the fogging light from the fiber optic cable cannot be well controlled at different magnifications. Therefore the contrast reduction will vary from place to place on the film. A second disadvantage is that the camera must be modified to accept the fiber optic cable. Consequently, the user is not free to use any camera he chooses.
An alternative way of controlling contrast is illustrated in FIG. 3 of the Bercher patent. In this arrangement a semi-transparent mirror is interposed at a 45° angle between the lens and the film. The light image passes through the mirror to the film, and diffuse light from a local source is directed at a right angle to the image light path on to the mirror. The mirror reflects it in line with the image light and onto the film.
Even though the imaging light and the fogging light are in the same general direction in this arrangement, they are not colinear. The fogging light is spread out over a much wider area and is difficult to control at different magnifications.
Both of the arrangements in the Bercher patent require a second local light source in the diffusion control device. This not only increases the complexity and cost of the system, it requires a means for synchronizing the turning on and off of the two light sources. Further, any changes in the intensity or color of the primary light source due to lamp aging or the use of color filters must be compensated manually at the contrast control lamp by adjusting the intensity and using matching color filters. Also both methods require modification to the camera.
A further device is shown in FIG. 4 of the Bercher patent. It uses the light which creates the image to produce the fogging light and is also positioned outside the camera so the camera need not be modified. However, like the other devices its fogging light is not in the form of a cone of light approximating the cone of imaging light. Thus the contrast is not well controlled over the entire negative in any of these prior devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to overcoming the problem of contrast control in photographic duplication by causing fogging of the film simultaneously with imaging of it through the use of colinear diffuse light.
In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a photographic contrast control device is used in conjunction with a conventional image forming device, such as a camera or enlarger. The conventional device is used to form a light image which travels in the form of a cone of light along a path through a lens to the film. Located in the path of this light is a partial or semi-transparent mirror which is positionad diagonally across the path of the cone of light travelling to the lens. However, because of the property of this mirror, the imaging light easily passes through the mirror and the lens to the film. A light source, preferably a fiber optic cable, takes a portion of the light from the imaging device and directs it at the partial mirror at a right angle to the path of the cone of imaging light. The light from the fiber optic cable passes through the semi-transparent mirror and contacts a spherical or aspherical reflector. The reflector converts this light into a cone of diffuse light approximating the cone of light forming the image. This cone of diffuse light is directed back onto the the semi- transparent mirror and is reflected into the lens and onto the film. By a proper spacial arrangement, the cone of diffuse light from the reflector is made to coincide nearly identically with the cone of light forming the image on the film.
Since the fogging light which controls the contrast is colinear with the imaging light cone, a very precise control over contrast is achieved over the entire film. This device is particularly useful in slide duplicators, but is also useful to control contrast in photographic enlargers, photographic cameras and other imaging devices.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other features of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description and drawings of illustrative embodiments of the invention in which:
FIG. 1 is an illustrative embodiment of the present invention used in conjunction with a slide duplicator;
FIG. 2 is an enlargement of the contrast control device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an illustrative embodiment of the invention used with a photographic enlarger; and
FIG. 4 is an illustrative embodiment of the present invention used in conjunction with a camera.
DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1 there is shown a slide duplicator. The duplicator basically comprises a cabinet or housing 10 which creates a cone of light 16 containing the image of the slide 14. This cone of light passes through a lens 32 into a camera 30 which contains film 34 upon which the duplicate slide is created.
In the cabinet 10, there is a lamp 11 which illuminates a diffuser screen 13 located near its upper surface. If desired, dichroic filters 12 can be inserted between the light source 11 and the diffuser 13. The slide 14, which is to be reproduced, is positioned on top of diffuser 13.
In order to reduce the contrast in the developed slide, a contrast control device 20, according to the present invention, is inserted in front of the lens 32 of camera 30. This control device is shown in more detail in FIG. 2.
The contrast control device has a housing 27 which supports a partial or semi-transparent mirror 22 positioned at an approximately 45. degree. angle with the axis of the cone of imaging light 16. This mirror may in practice, be a sheet of glass. Regardless of its form, the mirror allows some transmission of light passing in the direction from the slide 14 to the lens 32. Also, light impinging on the side of the mirror closest to the lens is at least partially reflected.
As shown more clearly in FIG. 1, a light conductor 21, in the form of a fiber optic cable or light pipe, extends from the cabinet or housing 10 to a position adjacent mirror 22. This light conductor takes light from housing 10 and delivers it at a substantially right angle to the axis of the cone of light 16 as shown in FIG. 2. This light impinges on the mirror 22 on the same side as the cone of imaging light and a portion of it passes through the mirror and is received by spherical or aspherical reflector 23. The shape of the reflector and the positioning of the light conductor is such that reflector 23 converts the light from the light conductor into a cone of diffuse light approximating the cone of light 16 from the slide. This second or diffuse cone of light impinges upon the upper surface of mirror 22 and is reflected as cone 24 into the lens 32 of the camera portion of the duplicator.
In order to provide intensity control and color correction, light filters 25 and 29 may be inserted in slots 26 in the housing so as to be in the path of the diffuse light from light conductor 21. The filter that controls intensity may be in the form of a rotatable wheel with a plurality of holes through it which are equidistant from its center. In the holes their are mounted neutral density filters having different transmissivity. There may also be a position on the wheel which is completely opaque so as to block all diffuse light from conductor 21. By turning the wheel the intensity is controlled and the contrast control can even be turned completely off by rotating the opaque portion of the wheel in front of light conductor 21.
Again, referring to FIG. 1, the cone of combined light from the contrast control device and the imaging light from the slide, impinge upon film 34 in the camera. In order to eliminate stray light and to allow the accurate positioning of lens 32, a conventional bellows 36 connects the lens to the body of camera 30. In addition, a conventional shutter means is typically provided in the camera for controlling exposure of the film.
As an alternative to the collection of light from housing 10 and the transmission thereof through the fiber optic cable to the contrast control device, an independent light source may be connected to the fiber optic cable. However, this arrangement is not preferred since it requires adjustment of the intensity of the independent light source to correspond to any change in the output of lamp 11. However, since the shutter for the camera is located within camera 30 and the contrast control device is completely external thereto, there is no need to synchronize operation of a second light with lamp 11 because the shutter will take care of exposure control. Also, the fact that the contrast control device 20 is mounted externally of the camera 30 means that it can be attached to any convenient slide duplicating equipment.
In FIG. 3 there is a somewhat schematic illustration of a photo enlarger utilizing the present invention. Portions of this enlarger which correspond generally to portions of the slide duplicator of FIG. 1 have been marked with the same reference number and a prime. In particular, a light source 11' for the enlarger is contained within a housing 10'. This light passes through any desired dichroic filters 12' and impinges upon a photographic negative 14' to be enlarged. The light from this transparent negative is collected by the enlarger lens 32' and is imaged on a large sheet of print paper 34'. The contrast control device 20 of the present invention is again attached to the lens of the system such that partial or semi-transparent mirror 22' is diagonally arranged across tbe path of light from lens 32' to the print paper 34'. By means of fiber optic cable 21', light is taken from the enlarger light source housing 10' and is delivered at a right angle to the path of the imaging light adjacent the partial mirror 22'. This light passes through the mirror and is formed into a light cone by reflector 23'. Proper arrangement of these parts causes this cone of diffuse light to be colinear with the imaging light created by the slide 14'.
FIG. 4 shows an arrangement similar to FIGS. 1 and 3, but adapted for use of the contrast control device of the present invention with a conventional camera. This contrast control device is attached to the lens of a camera so as to position the partial mirror across the path of light from an image to be photographed to the camera's lens. Corresponding elements of this arrangement have been marked with the same reference numbers used in FIGS. 1 and 3, except that they have been identified with a double prime. Thus light from a fiber optic cable or rigid light pipe 21" is directed at a right angle to the imaging light. The diffuse light from the fiber optic conductor passes through the partial mirror 22" to spherical reflector 23". As previously noted, this reflector converts the light into a cone which is approximately the same as that forming the image in the camera. The collected light from the image and the cone of diffuse light from the reflector 23", which has been reflected from the back side of the partial mirror 22', both pass through the camera's lens 32" and impinge on film 34" in the camera.
In any of the arrangements disclosed, the exact position of the diffuse light can be varied by having the light source position adjustable relative to the imaging reflector. Also, intensity and color correction filters can be used on the diffuse light in any of these arrangements.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present invention is thus limited only by the appended claims, and not by the foregoing description. | |
# Leah Gerber
Leah Gerber is a Professor of Conservation Science and founding director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at Arizona State University. She looks to inform policy and sustain the biodiversity of the world's oceans. She serves on the Arizona State University President's Council on Women in Leadership.
## Early life and education
Gerber studied environmental science at Mills College. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1992 before moving to Seattle to continue her studies. Gerber studied marine policy at the University of Washington. She earned a master's degree in 1993 and a doctoral degree in wildlife ecology in 1998. Her thesis looked at how to make decisions about endangered species and was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She joined the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis as a postdoctoral researcher, where she looked at recovery of endangered species and design of marine reserves. She was awarded tenure at Arizona State University in 2001.
## Research and career
Gerber is an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow and Professor of Conservation Science at Arizona State University. She established the Arizona State University Center for Biodiversity Outcomes in 2014. The Center works with researchers from across the university, looking to encourage discoveries that conserve and sustain biodiversity. Gerber has established new approaches for academic and public engagement and is a National Science Foundation Science of Science and Innovation Policy program grant holder. Gerber combines the theories of behavioural ecology with quantitative approaches of demography to examine how reproductive behaviour impacts the extinction risks of Zalophus californianus. She has also analysed the health and sustainability of seafood, and organised a series of events to educate the general public in how to make more environmentally friendly choices.
Whilst governmental funding is available to protect biodiversity, it is insufficient and not distributed evenly amongst different species. Gerber showed that more than quarter of investment into protecting species goes to only 139 of 1,124 plants and animals. She has evaluated whether funding should be used to maximise the recovery of species or to prevent species' extinction. This question is riddled with moral complexity; whether it is ethically sound to abandon species with little hope of recovery, or how to avoid missing opportunities to prevent extinction. She has worked with the National Science Foundation and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to create a tool to compare funding allocations and the consequences of resource allocation strategies. The Recovery Prioritization Explorer was created as part of a SESYNC Endangered Species Act Decision Support Venture.
In 2017 Gerber moved to Ecuador as a Fulbright Program scholar in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Here she looked to understand how local people promote and protect biodiversity. She focussed on incentives to protect wildlife in the Galápagos Islands. She serves on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Together they published a global assessment of biodiversity, evaluating the world's status in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals, Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Paris Agreement. She is concerned about the impact of the Trump Administration on the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
## Selected publications
Gerber, Leah (2003). "Population models for marine reserve design: a retrospective and prospective synthesis" (PDF). Ecological Applications. 13: 47–64. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2003)0132.0.CO;2. Gerber, Leah (2004). "Marine reserves as a tool for ecosystem-based management: the potential importance of megafauna". BioScience. 54: 27–39. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2004)0542.0.CO;2. Gerber, Leah (2002). "Good medicine for conservation biology: the intersection of epidemiology and conservation theory". Conservation Biology. 16 (3): 593–604. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00446.x.
Gerber has written for The Conversation.
## Personal life
Gerber is married with two children. When she was pregnant with her first daughter, Arizona State University did not have a maternity leave policy, and instead of maternity leave she had to take sick leave. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah_Gerber |
By Tom TurnerWhen young soccer players reach the age of eight, nine or ten, they have generally accumulated four or five years experience with the sport and have developed some basic skills and ideas about the game. Before age eight, the main goal of coaching is to provide an enjoyable entree into soccer and ensure enjoyment and fun. In short, the role of the coach is to facilitate games for the enjoyment of the participants. For many players, reaching eight, or nine, or ten (every child is a little different) means new priorities and a new appreciation for their personal responsibility to the game. For the first time, these players begin to realize that winning and losing are tied to ability, not effort, and that skills must be refined for improvement to be noted. The role of the U-9/10 coach is therefore critical in shaping the technical range and tactical insights of the players; the role of the coach is that of a teacher.
The period around eight or nine is considered the beginning of the "Golden Age" for skill learning for a number of reasons. Players will listen to and comprehend more complicated directions. Players will carry out repetitive "drill" activities and appreciate their purpose. Players will spend time working on their skills alone, if they are motivated. Players will appreciate the importance and thrill of learning new skills and refining existing techniques. Players will begin to identify with national or international heroes and begin to emulate their skills and personalities. Players love to compete and strive to win. Players begin to equate fun with improvement. Players begin to equate their personal identity and self-esteem with their perceived ability and feedback from significant others, including peers, parents and coaches.
Coaching nine and ten year-olds is a formidable task that requires a number of skills on the part of the adult. These skills include practical soccer knowledge, the ability to demonstrate and inspire by example, some basic understanding of child psychology, an appreciation of purpose relative to the age and ability of the players, and the ability to teach for long-term growth. With that said, the elements outlined below are all within the technical and tactical range of nine and ten year olds players in Ohio, although it should be acknowledged that in some parts of the world, and some parts of the United States, players of the same age might be more or less advanced. Our goal, as coaches in Ohio, is to develop basic skills and ideas about the game at an age when players are highly receptive to instruction and highly motivated to learn.
The following elements represent a checklist for assessing the performance of individual players. Some players will be quite advanced in some areas and not others. Some players will be capable of executing some skills against one level of opponent, but not another.
Some players will be able to execute techniques in a drill, but fail to apply them as skill when under pressure from live opponents. Some players will be competent, but not outstanding. Some players will be technical, but not skillful, while others will be skillful, but not technical. When viewed as a developmental continuum, all players will score high in some areas and low in others. Coaching "well" means assessing players abilities and insights and slowly moving them towards the "ideal" of the top level in the time available to us.
Individual Technical and Tactical Issues for U-9's and U-10's
Contacting the Ball
How many ways can the player kick or dribble or control the ball? There are six surfaces (inside, outside, instep, sole, toe and heel) used for kicking, dribbling or controlling a soccer ball. The ball can also be driven, chipped, volleyed, half-volleyed, side-volleyed, curled and lofted. The U-9/10 player should be challenged to expand their range of surfaces and textures (weights and spins) in an ongoing process of technical refinement.
Is the player two footed? Juggling and dribbling practice should always involve the use of both feet and young players must be encouraged to experiment with all six contact surfaces. For the more motivated players, juggling, kicking and Coerver's* are essential "homework" activities for developing a comfort level with the ball.
*Coerver's are individual dribbling moves named after the Dutchman, Wiel Coerver, who created the training program.
Passing
Does the player purposely pass the ball towards teammates? Players should be asked to control the ball and look for teammates rather than simply kicking the ball forward or to safety; it is often necessary to remind young players that the goalkeeper is always the most open player on the team when they are under pressure or no obvious forward passing options are available. At this age, the "thinking" behind a passing decision is often more telling than the outcome, and young players must be encouraged to attempt to maintain possession by passing (or dribbling) even as their limited range of techniques fail them.
How far can the player kick the ball accurately? Players should be encouraged to pass within their technical range. Technique, physical strength and the size and weight of the ball all impact kicking distance and accuracy. In the small-sided games environment, shorter passes should be expected and encouraged, with aimless "boots" to safety, or to the opposition regarded as wasted possessions.
Does the player use disguise and deception when passing? Encouraging more frequent passing (and dribbling) with the outside of the foot will help improve the level of subtlety in young players. The use of the hips to deceive opponents can also become a feature of play for nine and ten year olds.
Tom Turner is a U.S. Soccer National Staff Coach, Region II Boys ODP Coach, Ohio North State Director of Coaching. He can be reached at [email protected]. | https://coachdeck.com/blogs/news/basic-coaching-concepts-for-children-under-11 |
- Published:
A key role of the basal ganglia in pain and analgesia - insights gained through human functional imaging
Molecular Pain volume 6, Article number: 27 (2010)
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Abstract
The basal ganglia (BG) are composed of several nuclei involved in neural processing related to the execution of motor, cognitive and emotional activities. Preclinical and clinical data have implicated a role for these structures in pain processing. Recently neuroimaging has added important information on BG activation in conditions of acute pain, chronic pain and as a result of drug effects. Our current understanding of alterations in cortical and sub-cortical regions in pain suggests that the BG are uniquely involved in thalamo-cortico-BG loops to integrate many aspects of pain. These include the integration of motor, emotional, autonomic and cognitive responses to pain.
Introduction
The basal ganglia (BG) consist of the striatum (caudate (C), putamen (Pu) and the core of the nucleus accumbens), the external segment of the globus pallidus (GP), the internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi), the subthalamic nucleus (STh), and the substantia nigra (SN) [1–3] (Figure 1). Although best known for their role in motor systems, these regions are a major site for adaptive plasticity in the brain, affecting a broad range of normal behaviors and neurological and psychiatric conditions .
The first section of this review, Basal Ganglia: Pain Processing, summarizes the role of the BG in pain processing as has been reported in specific research and review papers. In the section titled Basal Ganglia: Functional Imaging Studies of Pain in Humans, we describe functional imaging studies in humans reporting activation of the BG in acute pain, chronic pain, and in response to analgesics. The third section titled Basal Ganglia: Lessons Learned from Functional Imaging attempts to integrate the information about lessons learned from functional imaging. The final section, Basal Ganglia: Imaging and Improved understanding of Clinical Applications, describes how imaging may provide insight to how and why certain therapies may be useful. Future measures of BG function may contribute significantly to our understanding about the brain changes associated with chronic pain and specific therapies that may change the brain in a manner that corresponds with therapeutic effects.
Basal Ganglia: Pain Processing
Both preclinical and clinical data support a role for the BG in pain processing [6, 7].
Data supporting a role for the BG in pain and analgesia processing have been derived from numerous preclinical studies. These studies include electrophysiology [8, 9], analgesic effects of microinjections into these regions , electrolytic lesion studies , chemical lesions of dopaminergic terminals [12, 13], activation of striatal dopamine systems producing analgesia in rats and imaging drug effects in neuropathic rat models . In addition, novel pain pathways, for example those projecting from the spinal cord to the globus pallidus , have been discovered. Since the major review on the involvement of the basal ganglia in pain [6, 7], the examples of preclinical studies noted above are not exhaustive and more recent studies have included numerous other contributions (e.g., [9, 10, 17–19]).
In the clinical domain, two disease patterns epitomize the role of the BG in pain - Parkinson's disease (PD) and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). In PD, the initial pathology involves the BG (i.e., loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra ) that results in movement disorders, and affected subjects frequently have chronic pain [21–24]. In CRPS the initial event is most often relatively minor damage to a peripheral nerve [25, 26], but with time expression of frequently associated movement disorders may become evident, thereby implicating BG involvement [27–30]. Both conditions are associated with movement disorders and both are associated with pain. In chronic pain, alterations of multiple sub-cortical and cortical processing, including sensory, emotional/affective, cognitive and modulatory systems, are present. Independent of specific somatosensory regions and pain modulation (e.g., SI and pain intensity, PAG and pain facilitation/inhibition), recent functional neuroimaging data suggest that the BG appear to be intimately involved in these processes.
Lesions of the BG in patients have offered further insights into the potential role of BG in pain and analgesia. Infarction of the lenticular nucleus (composed of the putamen and globus pallidus) may result in sensory deficits including pain in some patients . Both unilateral and bilateral deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus have been reported to improve pain by approximately 70%, and this improvement may persist for a significant period of time . In Parkinson's disease, bilateral pallidotomy produces pain relief . Taken together, these data provide insights into the potential contributions of the BG in chronic pain in humans.
Multisensory integration takes place in the BG [34, 35] that serves an important role in behavioral actions including motor responses . The BG receives inputs from all cortical areas (including medial and orbital, prefrontal, dorsolateral, premotor and motor cortex, sensorimotor and parietal cortex) and the thalamus. Multiple cortical areas receive afferents from a single thalamic nucleus and send back information to different thalamic nuclei . Efferent pathways from the BG project to frontal lobe areas including prefrontal, premotor and supplementary motor areas (used in motor planning). Thus the BG are well positioned to have influences on cortical regions involved in motor responses, in behavior relating to predicting events, and involved in attention and learning . Using probabilistic tractography, a recent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study on connectivity patterns of the BG in humans showed segregated and overlapping loops that include prefrontal, premotor, and motor networks to BG sub-regions (see Figure 2). In the cat for example, electrophysiological recordings have shown that neurons in the BG respond to visual, auditory and somatosensory information . How this integration takes place is not well understood, but BG circuits are in a unique position to integrate cortical information to increase the speed of data processing tasks [40–42]. Similar processing may take place with emotional and cognitive information. Such processing is relevant to pain because the response to acute or chronic pain involves sensory, motor, autonomic, cognitive and emotional integration.
Figure 3 shows the connectivity patterns of the BG with respect to possible pain processing. Pain inputs into the BG may be considered to be from two major sources: (1) Afferent inputs from pain sensing systems via direct (e.g., spino-BG) and indirect (e.g., spino-thalamic-BG) pathways; and (2) from cortical and sub-cortical brain regions that contribute to the BG-Thalamic-Cortical loops. Cortical regions involved in these feedback loops are also known to have important roles in pain processing. These areas include the ACC, regions of the frontal lobe (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPF), orbitofrontal cortex (Gob)), parietal, insular, and hippocampal regions. Chudler and Dong have also reported putative nociceptive pathways into and out of the basal ganglia [6, 7].
Basal Ganglia: Functional Imaging Studies of Pain in Humans
Functional imaging studies in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pain have supported a growing role of the BG in pain processing. Previous work has suggested that the BG may be involved in most aspects of pain processing including sensory-discriminative, emotional/affective, cognitive dimension of pain and pain modulation . Given our current understanding of these brain regions in the pain brain phenotype (i.e., functional brain changes in healthy and disease (see ) and our understanding of the basic integrative role the BG may play neural processing, it is suggested that the BG play a pivotal role in the behavioral manifestations of chronic pain. Although a large literature exists on the role of the BG in non-motor activities , brain imaging studies of acute and chronic pain have contributed to supporting preclinical and clinical work as playing an increasingly important role in acute and chronic pain processing and in the effects of some analgesics on brain function (Tables 1, 2 and 3).
Since there are multiple sub-regions within the BG, preclinical studies using specific methods cannot easily define how these interact at the same time to integrate such information, including pain. Understanding the functional processing of pain and analgesia in these regions might afford insights into complex behaviors of brain systems in acute and chronic pain and help us understand how analgesics might affect pain processing. Brain imaging in humans includes a number of methods such as functional MRI (fMRI), pharmacological MRI (phMRI), morphometric/anatomical measures (diffusion tensor imaging and gray matter volumetric analysis), and positron emission tomography (functional PET (fPET) and ligand binding/displacement (phPET)) that allow whole brain evaluation of specific circuits.
Basal Ganglia Activation in Acute Pain (Figure 4, Tables 1, 2 and 3)
Noxious Stimuli
Early studies of pain using fMRI indicated activation patterns in the BG including the putamen and globus pallidus. These early observations have now been replicated in a number of functional imaging studies of experimental pain in humans, examples of which are shown in Tables 1 and 2. As noted in the tables, a considerable similarity exists in the activation patterns from multiple stimuli, including thermal (heat and cold), mechanical (in a hyperalgesic capsaicin model), painful electrical and visceral pain. Subsequent studies showed what seemed to be specific regional activation in other BG structures including the nucleus accumbens and putamen [46, 47]. However, most studies have evaluated or reported activation patterns and observed striatal involvement in a general context.
Tables 1 and 2 show positive activation is present in the caudate nucleus across multiple studies and across multiple modalities. In addition to those mentioned in the tables, activation in the caudate is present in "prickle" sensation evoked by cold stimuli . In our own studies, cold has previously been shown to activate basal ganglia including the caudate . Activation in the caudate nucleus to noxious stimulation has been suggested to be part of a pain modulatory system [50, 51]. In support of this, electrical stimulation of the caudate in non-human primates diminished pain reactivity . The authors suggested that the results indicate that the effect of caudate stimulation is to reduce the affective components of pain elicited by noxious electrocutaneous stimuli.
A few studies have evaluated specific activation in the putamen and nucleus accumbens. As noted in Tables 1 and 2, the putamen is commonly activated across most acute pain imaging studies. Pain activated the putamen bilaterally and a somatotopic organization for hand- and foot-related responses was only present in the contralateral putamen . In healthy women, pain-evoked putaminal activation occurred during their follicular phase .
Activation of globus pallidus following painful stimulation has been shown in healthy subjects (Tables 1 and 2). Unlike the caudate and putamen, fewer studies have specifically reported activation in this BG structure. However, like the caudate and putamen, the globus pallidus has neurons that respond to noxious stimulation .
The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain substrate known to be involved in reward-aversion processing, has been shown to respond with opposite BOLD signal valence to rewarding or aversive stimuli [45, 55]. Using a pain onset (aversive) and pain offset (rewarding) prolonged stimulus, a negative signal change with pain onset and a positive signal change with pain offset was observed in the NAc contralateral to the stimulus. The study supports the idea that the NAc fMRI signal may provide a useful marker for the effects of pain and analgesia in healthy volunteers. A parallel study on NAc activation in response to the direct effects of the analgesic (pain offset) morphine, showed the same increased (rewarding) BOLD signal in the structure . Direct afferents from the trigeminal nucleus to the nucleus accumbens have been demonstrated in the rat; these have contralateral projections from lamina I but bilateral with contralateral predominance from lamina V . These anatomical studies seem to agree with other studies showing contralateral activation in the NAc [45, 55]. Subsequent studies indicated two components of activation within the NAc - an anterior, superior, and lateral component and another component that was posterior, inferior, and medial within the structure. The anatomical segregation may correlate with the functional components of the NAc (i.e., shell and core) that have been defined in other species (see ). The results support heterogeneity of function within the NAc and have implications for understanding the contribution of NAc function in processing of pain and analgesia . The NAc has a pivotal role in aversive and rewarding (hedonic) processing .
Given that the reward system is part of the pain network , and that the placebo response is clearly involved in analgesia [60, 61], it is not surprising that functional imaging has been the ideal technology to better understand neural networks involved in placebo in humans [62, 63]. Recent reviews suggest that multiple brain regions (e.g., anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, prefrontal cortex and periaqueductal grey) are important in the placebo response . Other studies strongly implicate the NAc and ventral BG in the placebo response .
Basal Ganglia Activation in Chronic Pain (Figure 4, Tables 1, 2 and 3)
An increase in gray matter in the BG has been reported in chronic back pain patients , in fibromyalgia , and in chronic vulval pain , suggesting some underlying functional alterations that drive these changes. In other chronic pain conditions, alterations in activation in BG regions have been demonstrated [55, 69] where stimulation to the affected neuropathic regions produces significant activation in the BG. Specifically, contrast analysis between the affected and unaffected regions resulted in increased activation in the globus pallidus and putamen to mechanical and cold allodynia, as well as decreased activation in the caudate nucleus to mechanical, cold and heat allodynia . Taken together these data appear to show a consistent decrease in the caudate nucleus to pain produced across multiple painful stimuli. Similarly, functional imaging of pain in a group of pediatric patients with CRPS has shown significant activation in the BG with cold and brush stimuli, and also displays decreased activation in the caudate nucleus .
Chronic pain has also been shown to alter BG structure with measures of gray matter volume and white matter tract integrity. In a more recent report, measures of gray matter morphometry and white matter anisotropy were measured in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) . Alterations in morphometry indicated atrophy in a single cluster encompassing the right insula, right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), and right NAc. Additionally, decreased connectivity was reported between the ventromedial prefrontal cortices to the BG .
Alterations in dopaminergic and opioidergic function in the BG have been reported in clinical pain conditions. In patients with burning mouth syndrome, decreases in dopamine in the putamen suggest reduced dopaminergic inhibition may contribute to the chronic pain condition . In addition, both atypical facial pain and fibromyalgia patients show an abnormal dopamine response. Such data are consistent with other conditions associated with decreased dopamine, including Parkinson's disease [75, 76]. In addition to the alterations in dopamine, decreased μ binding in chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia may contribute to altered pain processing . In psychiatric disorders, pain produces increased activation in putaminal regions in post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, that when considered with the diminished pain sensitivity reported in this patient group may also be caused in part to abnormalities within the BG.
Basal Ganglia Activation and Analgesics (Figure 4, Tables 1, 2 and 3)
Functional imaging of drug effects (also known as pharmacological MRI or phMRI) has been done in the context of BG function in preclinical and clinical [80, 81] conditions. The evaluation of direct brain changes in functional activity in response to known analgesic drugs has been limited to a small group that include morphine , naloxone , remifentanil and buprenorphine . Direct effects of μ opioid agonist or antagonist infusions both show activation in the BG, including the NAc. In these experiments, the direction of BOLD signal is opposite with increased activation following morphine infusion and a decreased activation following infusion of naloxone in healthy volunteers. The opposite direct pharmacological effects indicate some specificity of response but may also underlie NAc drive with respect to pain and analgesia. An increased activation may be part of an endogenous analgesic drive or emotional drive since increased activation patterns within the NAc are also seen in other fMRI experiments on reward [85–87]. The increase (hyperalgesic) pain response (inhibition of tonic opioid drive) to pain was observed in brain regions following naloxone that included concurrent activation in the globus pallidus, caudate and putamen. Opioids may produce changes in the BG including increases in D2 receptor binding . However not all imaging studies report BG activation in response to opioids, either because they were not specifically focused on these regions or they used less sensitive methods (e.g., alfentanil ; remifentanil ).
Few authors have evaluated the effects of non-opioid analgesics on BG responsiveness. In one example, although not specifically referred to in their paper, gabapentin reduced activation in the BG ; specifically, for gabapentin vs. placebo comparison in a hyperalgesic paradigm, deactivation in the caudate was present in the single dose study in healthy volunteers.
Other drugs, considered to be analgesics, have been evaluated using imaging in a similar manner to that noted above, and these studies report alterations in the human striatum. For example tetrahydrocannabinol (known to be an analgesic ) produces dopamine release in the striatum . Similar results have been shown for the NMDA antagonist ketamine (reviewed by ).
Lessons Learned from Imaging
Based on imaging data of pain as well as a growing literature on pain in conditions with abnormalities of BG function, it is clear that a constellation of brain regions plays an important role in acute and chronic pain (see Tables 1, 2 and 3). With the exception of studies on the NAc and the pallidum (see above), few functional imaging studies in humans have attempted to evaluate other regions of the BG function in pain. Nevertheless there is increasing evidence for the important roles of the region in neural systems' adaptation to pain.
Putamen (P) shows consistent increase in activation across multiple pain imaging studies
The putamen, a structure that shows somatotopic activation to pain , is consistently activated during acute and chronic pain conditions and is affected by analgesic administration. Chronic pain has also been shown to increase putamen volume (see ) suggesting, perhaps, that a continuous drive producing increased activation may result in processes that enhance gray matter volume in the structure. This region may receive direct inputs from sensory systems, but also from cortical inputs. Some studies (e.g., ) have suggested delayed functional activation in BG circuits (e.g., caudate) following remifentanil, implicating that activation in these regions occurs as a consequence or subsequent to initial activation of thalamo-cortical circuits. Activation seems to be present with painful stimuli but missing with non-painful stimuli .
Opposite Signal Changes in Caudate and NAc in Acute vs. Chronic Pain
In contrast to increases in putaminal activation for acute pain, BOLD signals are opposite in chronic pain across multiple pain studies. The reason for this observation is not known although the nature of reward processing in acute vs. chronic pain is clearly different [45, 59, 71].
Smaller Nuclei (ST, SN) are not clearly defined in many fMRI studies
Only a few brain imaging studies have reported activation in the smaller nuclei of the BG even though they may be present. Although there are studies in animals investigating SN mechanisms of pain , future brain imaging studies in humans will contribute to our understanding of the role of these nuclei in pain processing. Developments such as accurate automated identification of sub-nuclei within the basal ganglia should be helpful in measures of functional brain changes .
Feed-forward and Feedback Loops - Integrating, Modifying, and Modulating the Pain Experience
The BG are involved in the integration of information between cortical and thalamic regions and in particular the three domains of pain processing - sensory, emotional/cognitive and endogenous/modulatory. Some investigators have suggested that these regions have evolved as a "centralized selection device to resolve conflicts over access to limited motor and cognitive resources" . Phylogenetically older, sub-cortical connections exist between the BG and brainstem regions involved in sensorimotor processing , and more recent evidence points to BG involvement through direct connections from sensory inputs not involving cortical loops . Dysfunctional cortico-BG-thalamic loops may contribute to the maintenance of chronic pain and the evolution of altered neural processing that may be a basis for co-morbid behaviors. Whether brain processing of pain is dependent on external neural drive (i.e., peripheral/feed-forward inputs) or internal neural drive (i.e., subcortical or cortical drive/feedback), the BG are central processors that may play a role in integrating these divergent inputs that may modify pain over time.
Basal Ganglia: Imaging and Improved Understanding of Clinical Applications
Cortical Stimulation and Chronic Pain - Acting via Cortico-Striatal-Thalamic Loops
Cortical stimulation has been used either directly with electrodes placed on the motor cortex or through the use of repetitive transcranial stimulation (rTMS) . Some investigators have postulated that motor cortex neurostimulation produces an analgesic effect by modulation of the affective components of pain and not of the sensory components . In support of this hypothesis, stimulation of the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), but not motor cortex, results in increased pain thresholds and altered discriminative capacity to pain . A combination of motor cortex stimulation (MCS) and postoperative fMRI showed an inhibiting effect on the primary sensorimotor cortex as well as on the contralateral primary motor and sensitive cortices without changes in BG. Others have argued that MCS may act through activation of perigenual cingulate and orbitofrontal areas to alter the emotional appraisal of pain or cortical-brainstem (e.g., PAG) activation that enhances inhibition of pain or alterations in endogenous opioid systems . Given the cortico-striatal loops, stimulation of a number of cortical regions may thus be involved in pain reduction. Stimulation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, motor cortex or sensory cortices may have different effects based on the specificity of cortico-striatal loops. In addition, connectivity between the BG and modulatory regions including the PAG/brainstem or through the NAc [108–110] may also contribute to the potential mechanism of cortical activation resulting in analgesia.
Anterior Cingulate Lesions and Pain Control
Both clinical and preclinical studies have suggested that the ACC results in alterations of pain processing. The interesting issue seems to be the dissociation of pain intensity from pain affect (caring about the pain) [113, 114]. The ACC in humans may be involved with linking reward-related information and with alternative actions, since destruction of the ACC results in errors related to planning . The ACC has projections to the caudate nucleus and the NAc , and ACC lesions may produce an attenuation of a negative pain affect through a combination of neural networks that include these circuits.
BG and Learned Behaviors
Pain is clearly a complex process that affects multiple brain systems. It debatable if pain is a learned behavior, but the BG may have a role in learning due to its involvement in habit and stimulus-response learning . Such learning may be derived from pain related regions involved in sensory (e.g., pain intensity coding regions such as SI), affective (e.g., cingulate or anterior insula) or cognitive functioning (medial and lateral prefrontal cortices). Similar to the notion of "chunking action repertoires" for motor action, it may be that pain related repertoires include motor related changes.
BG and Emergence of Central Pain
Aside from CRPS, other conditions including depression and Parkinson's disease have BG pathology that may be important in their clinical presentation of centralized pain . In Parkinson's disease with central pain, electrophysiological measures of pain pathways are normal, but hyperalgesia to repetitive stimuli is present; this is attenuated by L-dopa , and altered central processing in these conditions results in generalized pain symptoms. Although the basis for these changes is unknown, it may be the result of altered chemicals in the BG, such as central dopamine, or related to aberrant networks that induce a kindling-like pain . Changes in neural connectivity that produce changes in increased synaptic strength and could include pain facilitatory circuits may also underlie these changes. Although the basis for these changes is unknown, alterations may then lead to other changes such as abnormal gating of sensory-motor function involving parallel changes thalamic regions . Imaging patients with depression in whom non-dermatomal sensory deficits were present shows that hypometabolic patterns (FDG-PET) of activation in the putamen was observed .
Regions of the thalamus including the paramedian and anterolateral are known to be involved with central pain (e.g., post stroke pain) [38, 127]. The striatum receives excitatory input from the thalamus. The centromedian (CM) and parafascicular (Pf) thalamic nuclei are important sources of thalamostriatal projections and send connections to the putamen and caudate [128, 129]. Moreover, the topography of these connections corresponds with cortical sensorimotor territory observed following cortical injections .
Basal Ganglia and Opioid Systems
The BG has high levels of endogenous opioids, and high binding of opioid receptors are present within the BG . In a number of chronic pain conditions, receptor-binding studies indicate a decreased opioidergic tone. Many analgesics act at the level of the basal ganglia and may contribute to both analgesic and addictive processes. An understanding of how these functional processes are differentiated by different endogenous chemicals (e.g., opioidergic vs. dopaminergic (see )) may contribute to better analgesics since opioidergic tone might be abnormal .
Dopaminergic Drugs and Pain
Given that pain now has a functional basis in terms of regions activated including those that are classically involved in reward , and that chronic pain may be a reward deficit syndrome , modulating dopamine may have important possibilities for pain treatment. Parkinson's disease patients have improved pain control when treated with L-dopa [21, 121]. Changes in dopamine are a critical element in Parkinson's disease where abnormal pain processing is present in both conditions. Recent imaging data have reported a direct correlation between striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptors and sensory thresholds as being selective for the modality of pain but not for non-painful stimuli . Striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptors may control a modulatory pathway producing a parallel shift in the stimulus-response function for sensory signals . Others have suggested differential processing of pain within the BG - a more dorsal DA D2 receptor-mediated neurotransmission in the caudate and putamen that correlates with subjective ratings of sensory and affective qualities of the pain, along with a more ventral system involving the NAc, is associated with emotional processing . Such differences may be important in drug effects on pain. The use of antipsychotic medications for pain is not new , and the number needed to treat (NNT; this is the number of patients to be treated for the first subject to show a 50% analgesic effect) of 2.6 is very competitive with the best drugs available for chronic pain . However, these drugs have extrapyramidal and sedative effects, and atypical antipsychotics that have fewer side effects may have analgesic properties as assessed in a limited number of studies . Newer drugs that target specific dopamine receptors may prove to be more useful.
BG Deep Brain Stimulation and Strategies for Pain Relief
Brain imaging affords the possibility to measure changes in brain circuits that may be altered as a result of deep brain stimulation. Some of these have shown specific changes in BG circuitry . In the latter, stimulation of the ventroposterior medial thalamus (VPM) resulted in decreases in activation of the substantia nigra when activation prior to stimulation vs. post stimulation that provided pain relief was measured (pain, no stimulation vs. no pain, no stimulation). Thalamic stimulation may activate thalamo-cortical-BG loops that contribute to the analgesic response .
Conclusions
Functional imaging of pain has shown clear and consistent changes in the BG in pain conditions. Table 4 summarizes the salient features of each sub-region of the BG as it pertains to overall putative function and specific functions in pain, and Figure 5 summarizes potential alterations in BG outputs affecting behaviors in acute and chronic pain. Future work should help contribute to further understanding functional and anatomical connectivity of inputs and circuits that show how the BG may be involved in acute and chronic pain. Such findings may present an increasing and important role of these brain regions in the centralization of chronic pain and the contribution to the altered brain in chronic pain conditions. Future studies, using a combination of imaging approaches, will help define the specificity of BG in pain processing. For example, functional connectivity analysis can demonstrate probable correlations between BG subdivisions and other brain regions .
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by NINDS K24 NS064050 (DB) and the L Herlands Grant for Pain Research (DB and LB). We would like to thank N. Maleki for help with some of the brain images.
Additional information
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
DB and JU conceptualized the paper. All authors contributed to the drafting of the paper. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Authors’ original submitted files for images
Below are the links to the authors’ original submitted files for images.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Borsook, D., Upadhyay, J., Chudler, E.H. et al. A key role of the basal ganglia in pain and analgesia - insights gained through human functional imaging. Mol Pain 6, 27 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-8069-6-27
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Published: | https://molecularpain.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-8069-6-27 |
What you need to know about Pattern Recognition
In the digital world, patterns are significant. Some patterns can be seen or identified by the naked eye, while others are only detected after applying mathematical algorithms.
What is Pattern Recognition?
Pattern recognition is simply recognizing patterns by applying machine learning patterns. The pattern recognition method involves classifying data based on existing knowledge or statistical data extracted from patterns and their representations. There are countless applications of pattern recognition.
Some examples of pattern recognition include speech recognition, speaker identification, and others.
Most pattern recognition applications process and convert raw data into a form that is amendable to machines. The method of pattern recognition primarily involves the classification and cluster of patterns.
A training pattern or domain knowledge set is used to generate an abstraction that is used to assign a class label to a pattern. Supervised learning typically uses the process of classification.
As a result of clustering, the data is partitioned to facilitate decision-making, specifically the activity of decision-making that interests us. Unsupervised learning uses clustering.
There are three features: continuous, discrete, and discrete binary. It quantifies one or more significant characteristics of an object based on one or more measurements.
Pattern recognition features
Some features of pattern recognition include:
- It can recognize patterns with precision
- Pattern recognition helps computer systems identify different objects from different angles accurately
- Patterns can be recovered if there are instances where data is missing
- Partly hidden data can be discovered by pattern recognition systems
The Importance of Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence advances by duplicating the capabilities of the human brain’s neural networks. Computer science is based on four cornerstones, one of which is pattern recognition.
Mathematical thinking and problem-solving depend on finding and understanding patterns. Seeing patterns embodies wisdom since patterns represent structure and order, which helps us organize our work and make it more accessible. Often, pattern recognition is required to solve practical computer science problems.
Pattern recognition is essential for other reasons, too, such as:
- A hidden or untraceable bit of data can be detected and predicted by it
- Data that is unseen can be classified using it
- Learning techniques are used to make valuable predictions
- An object can be recognized and identified from a distance
- In addition to making practical, actionable recommendations, it helps create projections based on unseen data
Applications of pattern recognition
- Pattern recognition can be used and applied in various areas, including the following:
- Pattern recognition is utilized in the process of digital image analysis to enable machines to automatically study images and gather the information that is meaningful and can be used in future processes from them. It provides machine systems with the intelligence they need to process images.
- An earthquake’s impact on rocks, buildings, and soils is the subject of seismic analysis. Seismic patterns can be discovered and interpreted using pattern recognition.
- The healthcare sector, too, makes use of pattern recognition to enhance its services. Patient information is gathered and stored to be analyzed by medical practitioners. This process also aids in the detection of diseases in humans.
- Pattern recognition is integrated into computers and other smart devices to identify fingerprints. Most modern smartphones are equipped with fingerprint identification features that enable one to access their smartphones after fingerprint verification.
- Computer applications also utilize pattern recognition to extract information from image samples. Various tasks, including object recognition and medical imaging, have been completed with computer vision assistance.
Advantages and disadvantages of pattern recognition
Pattern recognition offers the following advantages:
- Pattern recognition can help solve categorization problems. Furthermore, it eliminates problems associated with fake biometric detection.
- Robotics and medical fields have extensively used it.
- This method can identify a specific type of object from a different angle. Furthermore, it can detect the clot pattern in blind individuals with visual impairment.
- Machines can use pattern recognition to solve classification problems.
- Interpretation of DNA sequences is possible.
- It facilitates speaker diarization.
Pattern recognition has the following disadvantages:
- In addition to being extremely slow, this type of recognition is difficult to perform.
- Pattern recognition cannot clarify the reason for identifying an object based on patterns. Additionally, this recognition requires a larger dataset to improve accuracy.
The future of pattern recognition
The recognition of patterns and regularities in data is enhanced using pattern recognition techniques. This process has been used in many applications in the last few years. Training, testing, and classifier data have been used in these applications to address real-life challenges.
Pattern recognition and Machine learning is advancing rapidly and has the potential to transcend into a more intelligent, intuitive process that is capable of supporting several digital technologies. In particular, humanoid robots can be trained more effectively using this technique, which can contribute to advancements in robotics and automation.
The pattern recognition process will most likely be integrated extensively into the development of autonomous cars. Since autonomous driving is gaining traction in the etch world, so is the importance of pattern recognition, as it is required to detect objects, cars, humans, animals, and traffic lights. | http://ainews.today/pattern-recognition/ |
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
RELATED APPLICATIONS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/360,428, for TAKE-DOWN SEATING, filed on Feb. 6, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,548.
This application claims priority to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/355,652 filed on Feb. 7, 2002.
The present invention relates to a seat assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multi-piece seat assembly.
In the boating industry, a typical method of installation of a seat assembly in boats or other watercraft is to first manufacture and assemble the seat assembly in its entirety at a supplier's facility. The entire seat assembly, as assembled, is then shipped to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or distributor's facility where the seat assembly is subsequently mounted to the watercraft.
In such a situation, shipping the entire seat assembly in its fully-assembled form is not only expensive, but inefficient, particularly considering the amount of space that is wasted when an entire assembly is shipped. However, there is also difficulty in shipping the seat assembly components separately. Typically, the seat assembly comprises several components including large and small pieces that can be lost or damaged and that require excessive assembly time at the OEM's facility. In other words, it is generally more efficient for a company in the business of making boat seats to assemble the seat assembly than it is for the OEM purchasing the seat assembly.
As a result, there is a need in the boating industry to fabricate the seat assembly in such a manner as to reduce the shipping expense without creating additional hardships in the final assembly of the seat assembly.
The present invention provides a seat assembly for use on a support surface such as a deck of a watercraft. The seat assembly comprises a first portion and a second portion spaced from the first portion. At least one connector panel is separable from and independent of the first and second portions. The connector panel interconnects the first and second portions. A first locking tab is attached to one of the first portion and the connector panel. A first slot is defined in the other of the first portion and the connector panel to receive the first locking tab to connect the first portion to the connector panel. A second locking tab is attached to one of the second portion and the connector panel. A second slot is defined in the other of the second portion and the connector panel to receive the second locking tab to connect the second portion to the connector panel. A mounting mechanism is attached to the connector panel to mount the connector panel to the support surface thereby securing the first and second portions to the support surface.
A method of assembling the seat assembly on the support surface is also provided. The method comprises the steps of positioning the first and second portions on the support surface, interconnecting the first and second portions with the connector panel, and mounting the connector panel to the support surface to secure the connector panel and the first and second portions to the support surface.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a seat assembly having separate components, i.e., the first portion, the second portion, and the connector panel. Furthermore, the seat assembly includes the locking tabs to hold the components together and the mounting mechanism to secure the seat assembly to the support surface. Such a system allows suppliers to ship the disassembled components to the OEM or distributor thereby saving packing space and reducing shipping expenses. Furthermore, the ease of assembly reduces assembly time at the OEM's facility.
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FIG. 1
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, a seat assembly is generally shown at . Referring to , the embodiments of the present invention presented herein illustrate the seat assembly's use in a watercraft such as a pontoon boat. It is to be understood, however, that the seat assembly of the present invention is not limited to use in the watercraft . Such seat assemblies may be used in a variety of applications including multi-resident housing, family housing, institutional living, government facilities, shopping centers, business offices, prisons, and so on.
FIG. 1
FIGS. 8-8B
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Referring to , multiple seat assemblies are supported by a support surface . The support surface can be a floor of a building, a deck of the watercraft , a wall, and so on. Two embodiments of the seat assembly are best shown in and -B, respectively.
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Each of the seat assemblies comprise first and second portions, having the appearance of furniture pieces, wherein the first portion is spaced from the second portion on the support surface . The first and second portions each comprise an outer wall having a predetermined thickness. The first and second portions are preferably formed from rotational molded plastic, i.e., roto-molded plastic, and are hollow and unitary bodies.
FIGS. 2-2C
FIGS. 3-3C
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Referring to and -B, in one embodiment, the first portion has left , right , and center sections. A bench support surface and back support surface are included at each of the left , right , and center sections. A mounting base is integrally formed with the first portion at the center section to secure the first portion to the support surface . Referring to and -B, the second portion is generally in the form of a support block having a curved outer face and a semi-circular base . In this embodiment, the first and second portions are used to form a corner bench seat .
FIGS. 6-6B
FIGS. 7-7C
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In another embodiment, referring to and -B, the first portion defines an elongate storage opening therein and has a bench support surface and a back support surface . Referring to and -B, the second portion includes an outer face that is curved and an inner face defining a ledge therein spaced from the outer face . A hinged door may be pivotally mounted to the first portion and received in the ledge to create a storage access point. In this embodiment, the first and second portions are used to form a side bench seat .
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The portions ,, shown in the attached FIGS., are not intended to limit the present invention, but instead are provided for illustrative purposes only. In other words, the present invention does not rely on the configuration of the portions ,, but the interconnection of the portions , to create the seat assembly .
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In each embodiment, first and second connector panels that are separable from and independent of the first and second portions interconnect the first and second portions. In other words, the first portion , second portion , and first and second connector panels are separate components. Thus, the seat assembly of the present invention can be characterized as being a sectional seating assembly or a take-down seating assembly. The connector panels , may assume any shape. The shape of the connector panels , is not intended to limit the present invention. The connector panels , are preferably solid bodies formed of plastic, more preferably, roto-molded plastic.
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A plurality of projections , hereinafter referred to as locking tabs are attached to each of the connector panels , to connect the connector panels , to the portions ,. In particular, a plurality of slots are defined in each of the portions , and the locking tabs are inserted into the slots to interconnect the first and second portions. Hence, each combination of locking tab and slot forms a mechanical interlocking mechanism. It should be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, the locking tabs may be attached to the portions , and the slots may be defined in the connector panels ,, or any combination thereof.
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Preferably, each of the first and second portions define four slots therein for receiving two locking tabs from the first connector panel and two locking tabs from the second connector panel . Hence, each of the connector panels , have four locking tabs attached thereto and extending therefrom into four slots , two disposed in the first portion and two disposed in the second portion . For ease of assembly and manufacture, the connector panels , and locking tabs of each connector panel , are identical. Therefore, for purposes of description, only the locking tabs of the first connector panel shall be described in detail. However, it should be understood that the locking tabs of the second connector panel operate in the same manner as the first connector panel .
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FIGS. 8-8B
For purposes of describing orientation, the locking tabs of the first connector panel shall be referred to as first , second , third , and fourth locking tabs in and -B. Likewise, four of the slots defined in the first and second portions shall be referred to as first , second , third , and fourth slots. The first , second , third , and fourth locking tabs correspond respectively to the first , second , third , and fourth slots.
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The first locking tab is attached to a first end of the first connector panel and is inserted into the first slot defined in the first portion . The second locking tab is attached to a second end of the first connector panel and is inserted into the second slot defined in the second portion . The third locking tab is attached to the first end of the first connector panel below the first locking tab and in the same plane as the first locking tab . The third locking tab is inserted into the third slot defined in the first portion . The fourth locking tab is attached to the second end of the first connector panel below the second locking tab and in the same plane as the second locking tab . The fourth locking tab is inserted into the fourth slot defined in the second portion .
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The number of locking tabs attached to the connector panels , and the number of slots defined by the portions , for receiving the locking tabs is not to be limited to eight, i.e., four locking tabs from each of the connector panels , and four slots defined in each of the portions ,.
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The locking tabs may come in a variety of shapes and can be separate components that are mechanically connected to the connector panels ,. Preferably, however, the locking tabs are integrally formed with the connector panels ,. Hence, the locking tabs are formed from roto-molded plastic. Each of the connector panels , have outer and inner side faces and the locking tabs are flush with the inner side face and offset from the outer side face such that the outer side face is flush with the outer walls of the first and second portions when the connector panels , are connected thereto.
FIGS. 8B and 10B
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Referring to , each of the locking tabs are generally hook-shaped and include a front face , a top face parallel to and spaced from a bottom face , and first and second angled faces interconnecting the front face and the top and bottom faces.
FIG. 10B
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Still referring to , each of the locking tabs have a length L between the top and bottom faces equal to a length L of each of the slots to provide a snug fit between the connector panels , and the portions ,. Preferably, the length L between the top and bottom faces of each of the locking tabs is at least sixteen percent of a height H of each of the connector panels , and at least sixteen percent of a width W of each of the connector panels ,. More preferably, the length L between the top and bottom faces of each of the locking tabs is between eighteen and twenty percent of the height H of each of the connector panels ,. These proportions provide relatively large locking tabs to provide a robust seat assembly thereby strengthening the connections between the connector panels , and the first and second portions.
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In addition, the top and bottom faces of each of the locking tabs have an equal width matching a width of each of the slots and an equal depth matching a thickness of the outer walls . The thickness of the outer walls relates to the depth of the slots since the slots are disposed in the outer walls . Ultimately, the dimensions of each locking tab between the top and bottom faces matches the dimensions of each slot to further provide the snug fit between the connector panels , and the portions ,.
FIG. 8B
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Referring to , the first angled face of each of the locking tabs is at a first angle α1 to a horizontal plane P and the second angled face of each of the locking tabs is at a second angle α2 to a horizontal plane P. The second angle α2 is greater than the first angle α1. For instance, the first angle α1 may be between zero and sixty degrees, more preferably, forty-five degrees, and the second angle α2 may be between forty and ninety degrees, more preferably, fifty-three degrees.
FIG. 8B
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Still referring to , the front face of each of the locking tabs has a length L that is greater than the length L of each of the slots . This assists the locking tabs in cradling the outer wall of each of the portions , when the locking tabs are inserted into the slots . The cradling is a result of the locking tabs extending below the slots once the locking tabs are in place within the slots and the bottom face of each of the locking tabs engaging a bottom of each of the slots . A tip of each of the locking tabs , defined between the front face and the second angled face , may be flexible to facilitate entry of the locking tabs into the slots . Likewise, the outer walls of each of the portions , may be flexible to facilitate entry of the locking tabs into the slots .
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A mounting mechanism is attached to each of the connector panels , to mount the connector panels , to the support surface thereby securing the first and second portions to the support surface . Each of the connector panels , includes a base and each of the mounting mechanisms includes a mounting bracket attached to the base . The mounting bracket is integral with the base , and thus, the mounting bracket is also formed of roto-molded plastic. The mounting bracket extends perpendicularly to the base of each of the connector panels , and the locking tabs . The connector panels , and the first and second portions define an open cavity (not shown) therebetween when assembled, and the mounting bracket of each of the connector panels , extends into the open cavity to hide the mounting brackets when the seat assembly is trimmed and finished.
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It should be appreciated that the mounting mechanism could include any suitable mechanism for mounting the connector panels , to the support surface . For instance, the mounting mechanism could be a hinge, a plurality of fasteners extending through the connector panels , into the support surface , a snap-fit tab attached to the connector panels , for inserting into a snap-fit groove in the support surface , a tongue and groove lock, a weld, a bolted connection, and the like.
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The mounting brackets define a plurality of mounting holes extending therethrough. A semi-circular notch surrounds each of the mounting holes to provide access to the mounting holes . Preferably, the mounting brackets are rectangular in shape and define two mounting holes accessible through two semi-circular notches formed in a front edge of each of the mounting brackets . Fasteners are used to connect the mounting brackets via the two mounting holes to the support surface . A variety of fasteners can be used including screws, nuts and bolts, rivets, and the like. The fasteners may be corrosion resistant to be optimal for use with watercraft . best shows the mounting of the first connector panel to the support surface . Of course, the second connector panel is mounted to the support surface in the same fashion. As will be appreciated, by securing the connector panels , to the support surface , the first and second portions are secured in place due to the interaction of the locking tabs and slots .
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FIG. 1
Each of the connector panels , defines a plurality of mounting bores therethrough having equal size. The mounting bores are concentrically defined within outer receiving bores to receive fasteners to mount trim pieces to the connector panels ,. The mounting bores could also be used to connect adjacent connector panels , of adjacent seat assemblies . For instance, referring back to , the pontoon illustrated therein has three abutting seat assemblies . Each of the seat assemblies is adjacent to at least one other seat assembly . Hence, these seat assemblies could be further secured together by locking adjacent connector panels ,.
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FIG. 9
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FIG. 9
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FIG. 1
First and second trim pieces, best shown in and -C, may be mounted to the outer side faces of the connector panels ,. The first and second trim pieces can be attached via the fasteners extending through the plurality of mounting bores . The fasteners may be similar to the fasteners used to mount the connector panels , to the support surface . Referring to , the first and second trim pieces each include an armrest and beverage holder . The trim pieces , can serve a variety of purposes to refine the seat assembly and provide added utility and aesthetic appeal. In , the first and second trim pieces are shown to finish the side bench seat . In , no trim pieces are shown, but a combination of two seat assemblies of (each with only one of the trim pieces ,) can be connected to the corner bench seat of , as illustrated in .
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Once the trim pieces , are in place, a bench seat can be attached to the bench support surface of the first portion , to a top edge of each of the connector panels ,, and to a support surface of the second portion . In addition, a back cushion can be attached to the back support surface of the first portion . The bench seat and back cushion can be attached by any conventional methods known to those skilled in the art, and each may comprise a rigid panel and foam cushion enclosed by a vinyl or leather cover.
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Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although the first and second portions, the connector panels ,, the locking tabs , and the mounting bracket are described as being formed by rotational molded plastic, these components could be formed by other materials and/or methods. For instance, these components could be formed from injection molded plastic, or they could be thermoform components.
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A method of assembling the seat assembly on the deck or other support surface will now be described. To start, the first and second portions are positioned on the support surface and spaced from one another. The first and second portions are then interconnected by the first and second connector panels by inserting the plurality of locking tabs into the corresponding slots . Finally, the connector panels , are mounted to the support surface . This includes fastening the mounting brackets to the support surface .
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The method of assembling the seat assembly further includes cradling the outer walls of the first and second portions with the plurality of locking tabs to further secure the portions , to the support surface . The trim pieces , are attached as needed. To finish the seat assembly , the bench seat , supported by the first and second portions and the connector panels ,, is attached and the back cushion is attached to the first portion .
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a watercraft having a deck supporting multiple seat assemblies of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of a first portion of the present invention;
FIG. 2A
FIG. 2
is a top view of the first portion of ;
FIG. 2B
FIG. 2
is a left-side elevational view of the first portion of ;
FIG. 2C
FIG. 2
FIG. 2A
2
2
is a cross-sectional view of the first portion of taken along line C-C of ;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of a second portion of the present invention;
FIG. 3A
FIG. 3
is a bottom view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 3B
FIG. 3
is a right-side elevational view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 3C
FIG. 3
is a rear elevational view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 4
is a perspective view of a first trim piece;
FIG. 4A
FIG. 4
is a top view of the first trim piece of ;
FIG. 4B
FIG. 4
FIG. 4A
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4
is a cross-sectional view of the first trim piece of taken along line B-B of ;
FIG. 4C
FIG. 4
FIG. 4A
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is a cross-sectional view of the first trim piece of taken along line C-C of ;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of a second trim piece;
FIG. 5A
FIG. 5
is a top view of the second trim piece of ;
FIG. 5B
FIG. 5
FIG. 5A
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is a cross-sectional view of the second trim piece of taken along line B-B of ;
FIG. 5C
FIG. 5
FIG. 5A
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is a cross-sectional view of the second trim piece of taken along line C-C of ;
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of a first portion of an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6A
FIG. 6
is a front elevational view of the first portion of ;
FIG. 6B
FIG. 6
is a left-side elevational view of the first portion of ;
FIG. 7
is a perspective view of a second portion of the alternative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7A
FIG. 7
is a top view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 7B
FIG. 7
is a rear elevational view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 7C
FIG. 7
is a left-side elevational view of the second portion of ;
FIG. 8
is an exploded view of a seat assembly of the present invention illustrating the interconnection of the first and second portions by first and second connector panels;
FIG. 8A
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of the seat assembly of when fully assembled;
FIG. 8B
is a blow-up view illustrating a locking tab and slot for receiving the locking tab;
FIG. 9
is an exploded view of a seat assembly of the alternative embodiment illustrating the interconnection of the first and second portions by first and second connector panels;
FIG. 9A
FIG. 9
is a perspective view of the seat assembly of when fully assembled;
FIG. 9B
is a blow-up view illustrating a mounting bracket attached to a support surface;
FIG. 10
is a perspective view of a connector panel;
FIG. 10A
FIG. 10
is a top view of the connector panel of ;
FIG. 10B
FIG. 10
is a front elevational view of the connector panel of ; and
FIG. 10C
FIG. 10
is a left-side elevational view of the connector panel of . | |
How two minutes made a mindful difference
We didn't expect to be sitting in a hotel bar with our eyes closed as part of a Happiness Project experiment. Yet for our month four meet-up, we did and we highly recommend it.
Mindfulness has been getting a fair bit of exposure over the last year; the psychologists latest equivalent to the nutritionalists sugar ban.
Being mindful, if you didn't already know, is about being in the present and appreciating the moment. It's about allowing yourself to just be and with doing so - noticing the world around you. To not reflect, and neither to rush. It's a great feeling when you do it and if you're like us you'll have a whole manner of things racing around in your head the first time you attempt it.
The key is to focus on your breathing, which needs to be slow - in through the nose, and out through the mouth. It is helpful to count slowly as you breathe out. Imagining breathing out a lengthening string from your pursed lips also helps.
Then just stop and observe. Notice what is around you from the smells to the sounds and the colours; even the textures. Consider how your body comes in to contact with the chair you're sitting on. Through your mind you will take a mental snapshot of your situation - your present moment.
We all agreed that the conversations taking place at nearby tables became magnified and found it quite amusing that one particular table's discussion fascinated us all! Yet we also found that the two minutes gave us an oasis of calm in what was in reality a noisy environment.
The moments of silence granted out of marks of respect are examples where the mind can wander. I clearly recall the two minute silence we were to observe shortly after the Queen Mother died.
Dreadful timing on my part meant I was in a changing room rushing to get, ironically, an outfit for a funeral. For a brief moment the responsibility I had been given of being part of a large community showing respect was overshadowed by this overwhelming surge of remembering my own mum, who had herself only recently passed away. There I was in tears in this changing room. Those two minutes had not only allowed me to respect a woman who the nation admired, but also prompted me to finally succumb to the grief of losing the person I admired the most.
The busyness of life has led most of us to do most things mindlessly. Be it rushing to get the kids to school and not appreciating the beauty of the moment; the youthfulness, the rising sun outside, how the cat purrs through the chaos of it all, or the gratitude of seeing water run from the tap. The routine of everyday life and 'feeling like a robot' becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yet it's for us to change that sometimes proves difficult. Yet we can all do it. We all have a conscious choice to make the most of our lives and to enjoy each precious moment more.
To be fully focussed in the present and fully enjoying something is akin to a passionate doctor who is performing a surgical operation. He enjoys what he does, has to be fully focussed and can not let his mind wander. Any coach will agree that to fully listen to a client requires full concentration and focus.
Our two minutes of closing our eyes in the bustling hotel bar gave us clarity to realise what changes we needed to make in our lives to ensure we become fully present.
- Even when there is a morning rush, deadlines to meet, things seemingly going wrong - take a deep breath;
- When the house is in disarray and the mountain of clutter becomes an overwhelming burden - assign time to get through it, in little chunks, giving each item its full attention;
- Take even ten minutes per day to practice meditation - be still, focussing on your breath;
From our meet-up session last month I can honestly say that my pen pot has never been more organised! Meanwhile, I'm a lot more relaxed and most of all so much more appreciative of all that I have and all that surrounds me.
A wonderful quote: | https://lifelabs.psychologies.co.uk/posts/3205-how-two-minutes-made-a-mindful-difference |
Natalie Nelson: Data Analytics and Integrative Modeling in Aquatic Ecosystems
Dr. Natalie Nelson recently joined the faculty at NC State in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Having spent significant time conducting research, Dr. Nelson now uses her experience to mentor NC State students in their research projects, specifically pertaining to aquatic systems. We spoke to Dr. Nelson to learn about her background and her eagerness to help her students pursue research projects in data analytics and integrative modeling to make a difference for water-based ecosystems.
NC State: Tell me briefly about your academic background. Why did you decide to pursue this field? What brought you to NC State?
Natalie Nelson: My fondest memories from my childhood all center around the water. I grew up in Florida and had opportunities to explore the wide diversity of water resources present in my home state – from the rivers of grass in the Everglades to the artesian springs of North and Central Florida. This love of water and the outdoors, combined with a knack for math and biology, led to my pursuing a field that centers around applying engineering principles to develop solutions to land and water resource issues.
My degrees are in agricultural and biological engineering from the University of Florida, where I also pursued an interdisciplinary concentration in hydrologic sciences as a doctoral student. During my doctoral studies, I utilized a range of data analytic and integrated modeling approaches to investigate harmful algal bloom dynamics across freshwater and coastal systems in Florida. The main goal of my doctoral research was to shed light on the underlying causes of these blooms and to improve researchers’ and practitioners’ abilities to prevent blooms from occurring in our irreplaceable water resources.
I love research and mentoring students and knew that I wanted to build a career as an academic researcher. This career goal led me to NC State. Here, I have endless opportunities to work with bright and motivated students to develop strategies for natural resources management and contribute to the “Think and Do” mission of the university.
NC State: Generally, what is the focus of your research? Please describe one particular research project, including intent and anticipated outcomes.
NN: I lead the Biosystems Analytics Lab, studies from which take a data-intensive, management-focused and interdisciplinary approach to the study of complex biological system dynamics. “Biosystems” are systems in which biological processes play a consequential role (e.g., ecosystems). Biosystems studied in the lab range from agricultural to aquatic, though most investigations presently focus on estuarine resources.
One project that I’m particularly excited about is being carried out by my Ph.D. student, Lise Montefiore. Lise is analyzing large public datasets to identify estuaries in the Southeast United States that are at risk of becoming degraded as a function of future climate and land use change. From this work, Lise will highlight projected “hotspots” of expected estuarine change, results from which will inform regional planning related to urban and natural resources management.
NC State: How do you use data analytics and integrative modeling in your research on aquatic ecosystems? How does it work? Why do you think it is effective?
NN: From extra-terrestrial satellites to sensors that are installed in the field, our natural resources are increasingly outfitted with novel instruments designed for high-resolution monitoring. The advent of cost-efficient sensors now allows for a huge variety of biological, physicochemical and socioeconomic factors to be observed at unprecedented rates and scales, but these sensors are producing data at rates that often exceed what we’re able to process using traditional approaches for data analysis.
New statistical methods (e..g, data analytics) have been developed to extract useful information from these data. These approaches are at the center of my research program. Data analytic methods identify patterns and relationships in data, and we can use this information to make inferences about the dynamics of the system from which the data were collected. We can also use similar approaches (e.g., integrated models) to simulate the relationships and patterns that we uncover from observational data, thus allowing us to make predictions about how a system’s dynamics will change under different scenarios (e.g., various environmental conditions).
NC State: How do you engage students in your research?
NN: My research is driven by student involvement. In addition to Lise, I have another Ph.D. student starting in Fall 2018 and three undergraduate research assistants who are analyzing a variety of datasets. I am always eager to recruit enthusiastic and motivated students into this team of up-and-coming researchers!
Check back each month as we discuss different topics in Biological and Agricultural Engineering and take a closer look at the online programs. | https://online.bae.ncsu.edu/2018/04/natalie-nelson-data-analytics-integrative-modeling-aquatic-ecosystems/ |
---
abstract: 'In this paper, we consider Problem 14.44 in the Kourovka notebook, which is a conjecture about the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group. While elementary, this conjecture is still open and appears to elude any straightforward proof, even in the soluble case. However, we do prove that a minimal soluble counterexample must have certain properties, in particular that it must have Fitting height at least $3$ and order at least $2000$.'
author:
- |
Colin Reid\
School of Mathematical Sciences\
Queen Mary, University of London\
Mile End Road, London E1 4NS\
[email protected]
title: A problem in the Kourovka notebook concerning the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group
---
*Keywords*: Group theory; character theory; finite soluble groups; conjugacy classes
Introduction
============
#### Notation
We will denote by ${\mathbb{P}}$ the set of prime numbers, $\pi$ some subset thereof, and $\pi'$ its complement in ${\mathbb{P}}$. Given groups $H \leq K$, and $k$ a subset of $K$, we will use $H_k$ to mean the centraliser in $H$ of $k$, and $k^H$ to mean $\{k^h | h \in H\}$. Given $k \in K$, we write $H_k$ for $H_{\{k\}}$ and $k^H$ for $\{k\}^H$. The number of conjugacy classes of the group $H$ is denoted ${\mathrm{ccl}}(H)$, and ${\mathrm{ccl}}_\pi(H)$ is the number of conjugacy classes of $\pi$-elements. If $\Gamma$ is a set of subgroups of $K$, then $\Gamma \cap H$ means $\{ S \cap H | S \in \Gamma \}$. The derived subgroup of $H$ will be denoted $H'$. Given a finite soluble group $G$ and a set of primes $\pi$, ${\mathrm{O}}_\pi(G)$ is the largest normal $\pi$-subgroup of $G$.\
This paper concerns the following open conjecture, part (i) of which is Problem 14.44 in the Kourovka notebook ([@1]):
#### Conjecture
Let $G$ be a finite group with subgroups $A$ and $B$ such that $G = AB$ and $(|A|,|B|)=1$. Then:
\(i) ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A) {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$;
\(ii) ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(A) {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ if and only if $G \cong A \times B$.\
As noted in [@1], if the condition $(|A|,|B|)=1$ is relaxed to $A \cap B = 1$, the conjecture becomes false, with a counterexample given by $G$ dihedral of order $4pq$ where $p$ and $q$ are distinct primes,$A$ dihedral of order $2p$, and $B$ dihedral of order $2q$. On the other hand, it is clear that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(H)|G:H|$ for any subgroup $H$, so certainly ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ if either $A$ or $B$ is abelian and $A \cap B = 1$.\
This conjecture has received very little attention in the existing literature. The most important published contributions to date can be found in a paper of Gallagher ([@2]), and a subsequent paper by Vera López and Ortiz de Elguea ([@3]). Although these papers precede the appearance of Problem 14.44 in the Kourovka Notebook and do not consider it directly, they are concerned with enumeration of conjugacy classes in a manner relevant to this problem and effectively prove the conjecture in certain special cases. The main result arising from these papers is as follows:
\[nsgpconpi\]([@2], in the case $\pi = {\mathbb{P}}$; [@3] for other $\pi$) Let $G$ be a finite group, let $N \unlhd G$, and let $\pi$ be a set of primes. Then ${\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi}(N){\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi}(G/N)$. Equality occurs if and only if $h \in NG_g$ whenever $g$ is a $\pi$-element and $h$ is any element of $G$ for which $[g,h] \in N$.
Gallagher’s paper also gives a character-theoretic proof in the case $\pi = {\mathbb{P}}$, with a different condition for equality: equality occurs if and only if each irreducible character of $N$ extends to $N \langle g,h \rangle$ for every $g,h \in G$ such that $[g,h] \in N$.\
A natural context in which to consider the conjecture is that of finite soluble groups. For a detailed account of what is known about finite soluble groups, see [@4].
#### Definitions
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group. A *Hall $\pi$-subgroup* is a subgroup whose order is a $\pi$-number and whose index is a $\pi'$-number. The set of Hall $\pi$-subgroups of $G$ is denoted ${\mathrm{Hall}_\pi}(G)$. Note that the conditions $G=AB$ and $(|A|,|B|)=1$ taken together are equivalent to requiring $A$ to be a Hall $\pi$-subgroup and $B$ a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G$ for some $\pi$. A *Sylow system* for $G$ is a lattice $\Sigma$ of pairwise permutable Hall subgroups of $G$ such that $\Sigma$ contains exactly one element of ${\mathrm{Hall}_\pi}(G)$ for any $\pi$. A *complement basis* for $G$ is a set of Hall $\{p\}'$-subgroups of $G$, one for each prime $p$ dividing the order of $G$.\
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group. The set ${\mathrm{Hall}_\pi}(G)$ is nonempty for every $\pi \subseteq {\mathbb{P}}$, and every $\pi$-subgroup of $G$ is contained in a Hall $\pi$-subgroup. Every complement basis of $G$ is contained in a unique Sylow system $\Sigma$ of $G$ (in fact, the complement basis generates $\Sigma$ as a lattice). Any lattice of pairwise permutable Hall subgroups is contained in at least one Sylow system. $G$ acts transitively on the set of Sylow systems of $G$ (or equivalently on the set of complement bases) via $$\Sigma^g := \{S^g|S \in \Sigma\}.$$
As a consequence, any finite soluble group $G$ will admit a suitable factorisation $G=AB$, for any $\pi \subseteq {\mathbb{P}}$, and the isomorphism types of $A$ and $B$ are determined uniquely by the isomorphism type of $G$. We will make frequent use of the following hypothesis, which will generally be assumed whenever subgroups $A$ and $B$ of $G$ are referred to:\
\[solhyp\]$\pi$ is some set of primes, $G$ is a finite soluble group, $\Sigma$ is a Sylow system of $G$, and $A$ and $B$ are elements of $\Sigma$ such that $A \in {\mathrm{Hall}_\pi}(G)$ and $B \in {\mathrm{Hall}_{\pi'}}(G)$.
For convenience, we also define two properties of finite soluble groups relating to the conjecture.
#### Definition
We say $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ if ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$, in other words $G$ agrees with part (i) of the conjecture, and $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ if either ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) < {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ or $G \cong A \times B$, that is, $G$ agrees with both parts of the conjecture.\
It is immediate that a group is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ if and only if it is $\mathrm{Con}_{\pi'}$, and similarly for ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$. Nilpotent groups are clearly ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ for every $\pi$, and by Gallagher’s result, a group with a normal Hall $\pi$-subgroup is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. Our aim is to generalise these results in the soluble case by imposing weaker conditions on the group $G$.\
Both parts of the conjecture remain open for finite soluble groups (indeed, no counterexamples of any sort are known). Although the conjecture is elementary, and concerns a basic invariant in finite group theory, it does not appear to admit an easy proof. One approach which can be seen to fail is as follows:\
Given an element $g \in G$, it can be written in a unique way as $xy$, where $x \in A$ and $y \in B$. We might compare $|G_{xy}|$ with $|A_x||B_y|$, given the following: $$|G|{\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \sum_{g \in G}|G_g| = \sum_{x \in A}\sum_{y \in B}|G_{xy}|$$ $$|G|{\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B) = |A||B|{\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B) = \sum_{x \in A}\sum_{y \in B}|A_x||B_y|$$ However, if $x$ and $y$ do not commute, the centralisers of $x$ and $y$ may bear little relation to the centraliser of $xy$. Even if $xy=yx$, this only ensures $A_{xy} \leq A_x$ and $B_{xy} \leq B_y$; it does not mean that $A_{xy}$ and $B_{xy}$ are Hall subgroups of $G_{xy}$. So it is possible that $|G_{xy}|>|A_{xy}||B_{xy}|$, or indeed $|G_{xy}|>|A_x||B_y|$. An example of this is as follows:\
Let $G$ be a group of the form $(H \times K) : {\mathrm{Sym}(4)}$, where $H$ is elementary abelian of order $p^4$ and $K$ is elementary abelian of order $q^4$, for $p$ and $q$ distinct primes such that $p>3$ and $q>2$, such that ${\mathrm{Sym}(4)}$ permutes generators $\{e_1,e_2,e_3,e_4\}$ of $H$ and $\{f_1,f_2,f_3,f_4\}$ of $K$. Let $\pi=\{2,p\}$, let $x=e_1e^{-1}_2$, and let $y=f_1f^{-1}_2$. Then $x$ and $y$ commute, and indeed have the same centraliser in $G$, a subgroup of index $12$. So $|G_{xy}|=2p^4 q^4$. But if we take $A$ to be $p^4:D$, where $D$ is the subgroup of $Sym(4)$ generated by $(12)(34)$ and $(1234)$, we see $D_x$ is trivial (since $D$ does not contain the element $(34)$) and so $A_x$ has order $p^4$. Any choice for $B$ will give $B_y$ of order $q^4$, so $|A_x||B_y|=p^4 q^4 < |G_{xy}|$.\
The example above also illustrates that $A_x$ need not be a Hall subgroup of $G_x$ even for $x \in A$, something which also occurs within ${\mathrm{Sym}(4)}$ itself: $(12)(34)$ has a centraliser of order $8$ in ${\mathrm{Sym}(4)}$, but is not centralised by $D$.\
One might also try to proceed by considering a finite soluble group $G$, all of whose proper sections are ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ (where ‘section’ is used here to indicate a quotient of a subgroup, with no further restrictions).\
An elementary approach along these lines would be to take a normal subgroup $N$ of prime index (let us suppose $B \leq N$), observe that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(N) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(N \cap A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$, and hope that $$f({\mathrm{ccl}}(G))-f({\mathrm{ccl}}(N)) \leq f({\mathrm{ccl}}(A)) - f({\mathrm{ccl}}(N \cap A))$$ where $f$ is some increasing function. This argument can be seen to fail in the case where $G$ and $N$ have shapes $7:6$ and $7:2$ respectively, and $\pi=\{3,7\}$: ${\mathrm{ccl}}(N) = 5$ and ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = 7$, so ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) > {\mathrm{ccl}}(N)$, but ${\mathrm{ccl}}(N \cap A)=7$ and ${\mathrm{ccl}}(N) = 5$, so ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A) < {\mathrm{ccl}}(N \cap A)$.\
This example illustrates another complication: given a group $G$ and a subgroup $H$, it is possible for ${\mathrm{ccl}}(H)$ to be greater than ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G)$. The importance of this obstacle is illustrated by the following, which is easily proved:
\[easysgp\] Assume Hypothesis \[solhyp\]. Suppose that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(S_x) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$ for every $\pi$-element $x$, where $S_x$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G_x$ (and hence isomorphic to a subgroup of $B$, by Hall’s theorem). Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If in addition ${\mathrm{ccl}}(S_x) < {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ whenever $S_x$ is not isomorphic to $B$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
We are also able to prove the following special case, as an elementary consequence of Hall’s theorem:
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group, and suppose $G/({\mathrm{O}}_{\pi}(G){\mathrm{O}}_{\pi'}(G))$ has a normal Hall $\pi$-subgroup. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
However, the erratic behaviour of the orders of centralisers when passing to subgroups, even normal subgroups and Hall subgroups, means there is limited scope for further results by purely elementary means. More promising is to consider ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G)$ as the number of irreducible complex characters of the group.
#### Notation
Given a finite group $H$, we denote by ${\mathrm{Irr}}(H)$ the set of irreducible complex characters of $H$. Given a subgroup $K$ of $H$ and $\theta \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(K)$, the set ${\mathrm{Irr}}(H|\theta)$ consists of all $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(H)$ such that $[\chi_K, \theta] \neq 0$, where $\chi_K$ is the restriction of $\chi$ to $K$. We define an action of $\mathrm{N}_H (K)$ on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(K)$, given by $\theta^h(k^h) = \theta(k)$ for all $k \in K$ and $h \in \mathrm{N}_H (K)$. The *centraliser* $H_{\theta}$ of $\theta$ is the set $$\{h \in H|K^h = K, \theta^h = \theta\}$$ and ${\mathrm{Irr}}_H(K)$ consists of all $\theta \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(K)$ such that $H_{\theta} = \mathrm{N}_H (K)$. Similarly, if $T$ is a set of automorphisms of $H$, $${\mathrm{Irr}}_T(H) = \{ \chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(H) | \chi^t = \chi \; \forall t \in T \}$$
Characters are at least somewhat well-behaved when passing to normal subgroups, thanks to Clifford’s theorem. There are also character-theoretic results concerning coprime action, the most important of which for this paper is a correspondence due to Glauberman ([@5]): for every pair of groups $G$ and $S$ such that $S$ is soluble and acts on $G$ and $(|G|,|S|)=1$, there is a canonical bijection from ${\mathrm{Irr}}_S(G)$ to ${\mathrm{Irr}}(G_S)$. (See [@5] or Chapter 13 of [@6] for a detailed description of this bijection. A more general form of this correspondence, incorporating work of Isaacs, is now also known as the Glauberman-Isaacs correspondence.)\
Using this correspondence, we obtain the following:
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group and let $N \lhd G$ such that $G/N$ is cyclic and $(|N|,|G/N|)=1$. Suppose that every subgroup of $N$ (including $N$ itself) is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If in addition $N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
Another situation in which character theory will pay dividends is when $N$ is an elementary abelian normal subgroup of $G$ satisfying certain extra conditions, the most important of which is given below.
#### Definition
Let $N$ be an elementary abelian normal subgroup of $G$; we may suppose without loss that $N \leq A$. Say $G$ has *balanced action* on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ if $A_\nu$ is a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G_\nu$ for all $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$. (We make a similar definition if $N \leq B$. Note that thanks to Hall’s theorem, the choice of $A$ and $B$ is unimportant.)\
Note that in every $G$-orbit of ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, there exists some $\nu$ such that $A_\nu$ is a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G_\nu$, and if $N$ is of prime order, all non-trivial characters have the same centraliser, namely the centraliser of $N$ in $G$. So in particular, if $N$ is cyclic then $G$ automatically has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$.\
An example of imbalanced action is given by $G = \mathrm{Sym}(4)$, with $\pi=\{2\}$, and $N$ the normal subgroup of order $4$. The three non-trivial $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ are conjugate in $G$, each with centraliser containing a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G$, but only one of these is invariant in $A$.\
For the next theorem, we will also need to define a new property of finite soluble groups. Say $G$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ if it satisfies the following conditions:
\(i) $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$;
(ii)whenever $N$ is a central subgroup of $G$ of order $p \in \pi$, the following holds:
$${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(G/N) \leq ({\mathrm{ccl}}(A) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/N)){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$
(iii)whenever $N$ is a normal subgroup of $G$ of order $p \in \pi'$, an analogous condition to (ii) holds.\
As with ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, the following question is currently unanswered:
#### Question
Are there any finite soluble groups which are not ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$?
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group, and $N$ an elementary abelian normal subgroup of $G$. Suppose $G$ has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, and that $G_{\nu}/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ for every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$. Suppose also that one of the following holds:\
(i)Every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ extends to $G$. (For this to occur, it is sufficient that $N$ be complemented in $G$.)\
(ii)For every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, the group $H=G_\nu/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.\
Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If $G/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
The conditions for ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ may be stronger than ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ in general. However, if $Z(G) \cap G'=1$, we can obtain ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ from ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. Note that if $G$ has trivial centre, $G$ is evidently ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ if and only if it is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group. Suppose that for some central subgroup $M$ of prime order, every subgroup of $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ and $M \cap G' = 1$. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If in addition $Z(G) \cap G'=1$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$. If $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
We also give a possible inductive approach to showing $\mathcal{K}$-groups are ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, where $\mathcal{K}$ is a class of finite soluble groups closed under taking quotients:
Let $\mathcal{K}$ be a class of finite soluble groups closed under quotients. Suppose that any $\mathcal{K}$-group $G$ satisfies the following:\
Assume Hypothesis \[solhyp\]. The number of faithful irreducible complex characters of $G$ is at most $|{\mathrm{Irr}}_G(A \times B)|$, where ${\mathrm{Irr}}_G(A \times B)$ consists of those irreducible complex characters $\chi$ of $A \times B$ such that ${\mathrm{ker}}(\chi)$ does not contain any subgroups of $A$ or $B$ that are normal in $G$.\
Then every $\mathcal{K}$-group is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.
The hypotheses of Theorem E give rise to the following question:
#### Question
Under Hypothesis \[solhyp\], is it possible for the number of faithful irreducible complex characters of $G$ to be greater than $|{\mathrm{Irr}}_G(A \times B)|$?
A negative answer to this question would imply that every finite soluble group is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ for every $\pi$.\
Here is a summary of what has been shown about minimal soluble counterexamples to part (i) of the conjecture.
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group, such that $G$ is not ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, but every proper section of $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. Then:
\(i) $G/({\mathrm{O}}_{\pi}(G){\mathrm{O}}_{\pi'}(G))$ does not have a normal Hall $\pi$-subgroup or a normal Hall $\pi'$-subgroup.
\(ii) Every prime for which $G$ has a non-trivial cyclic Sylow $p$-subgroup divides the order of $G'$.
\(iii) Let $N$ be an elementary abelian normal subgroup of $G$. If $G$ has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, then there exist $\nu,\nu' \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ such that $\nu$ does not extend to $G_{\nu}$ and $H=G_{\nu'}/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu')$ fails to be ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.
(iv)The centre of $G$ is contained in $G'$.
\(v) $G$ has an image $K$ which is an irreducible linear group, such that $K$ fails to satisfy the conditions of Theorem E.
As a demonstration of the applicability of the results in this paper, and as empirical evidence for the conjecture, we prove the following:
Let $\pi$ be a set of primes, and let $G$ be a finite soluble group which is a minimal counterexample to the assertion ‘every finite soluble group is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$’. Then $|G|>2000$.
This could proved by direct calculation, as the isomorphism groups of order up to $2000$ (with the exception of groups of order $1024$, which are obviously ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$) have been explicitly enumerated by Besche, Eick and O’Brien ([@7]). Such a database is available in the *MAGMA Computational Algebra System* and its Small Groups Library ([@8]), and therefore Theorem F could be verified using this system alone. But in fact, all groups of order up to $2000$ can be ruled out by hand using the previous theorems, with the exception of the following group orders: $$336, 672, 1008, 1200, 1296, 1344, 1680$$ There are fewer than $20000$ groups of these orders, which can therefore be checked directly and relatively quickly by use of [@8]. No counterexamples to ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ were found.\
Finally, a remark about $\pi$-special characters. Although none of the new results in this paper are obtained using $\pi$-special characters, they appear to be closely related to the problem at hand, and so deserve mention. These characters are discussed in detail in Chapter VI of [@9], with all the necessary references.
#### Definitions
Let $G$ be a finite group, with $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G)$, and $\pi$ a set of primes. Then $\chi$ is *$\pi$-special* if:
\(i) $\chi(1)$ is a $\pi$-number;
\(ii) Given any subnormal subgroup $S$ of $G$, and $\theta \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(S)$ such that $[\chi_s,\theta] \not= 0$, the determinantal order of $\theta$ is a $\pi$-number.\
We say $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G)$ is *$\pi$-factorable* if it can be expressed as the product of a $\pi$-special character and a $\pi'$-special character.
Let $G$ be a finite $\pi$-separable group, and let $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G)$. Let $A$ be a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G$.
\(i) If $\chi$ is $\pi$-factorable, its factorisation is unique.
\(ii) If $\chi$ is primitive, it is $\pi$-factorable.
\(iii) Restriction of characters defines an injective map from the $\pi$-special characters of $G$ to ${\mathrm{Irr}}(A)$.
An obvious consequence of this is that we have a canonical way of sending the $\pi$-factorable characters of $G$ to ${\mathrm{Irr}}(A \times B)$, where $B$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G$, such that the map so defined is injective. In particular:
Let $G$ be a $\pi$-separable group, with Hall $\pi$-subgroup $A$ and Hall $\pi'$-subgroup $B$. Then the number of $\pi$-factorable characters of $G$ is at most ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$.
If a method could be found to estimate the number of non-$\pi$-factorable characters of $G$ (which are necessarily imprimitive) by similar means, this could answer the conjecture for $\pi$-separable groups, or at least provide an inequality resembling that of the conjecture. However, no such method is known, even under the assumption that $G$ is soluble.
Centralisers
============
In this section, we obtain Theorem A more or less directly from Hall’s theorem together with some elementary centraliser formulae for ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G)$. The most basic of these is the following: $$\label{basic}
{\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \frac{1}{|G|} \sum_{g \in G} |G_g|$$
Given subsets $H$ and $K$ of $G$, we use $(H,K)$ to denote the set of ordered pairs of elements $(h,k)$ such that $h \in H$ and $k \in K$, and $hk = kh$. If $H$ and $K$ are subgroups of $G$, we define a function to indicate how often elements of $H$ and $K$ commute, taking values between 0 and 1: $${\mathrm{pr}}(H,K) := \frac{1}{|H||K|}\sum_{h \in H} |K_h|$$
Note that ${\mathrm{pr}}(H,K) = {\mathrm{pr}}(K,H) = |(H,K)|/|H||K|$ and ${\mathrm{pr}}(G,G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(G)/|G|$.
Let $G$ be a finite group, let $H$ and $L$ be subgroups of $G$, and let $K < L$. Then $$\frac{{\mathrm{pr}}(H,K)}{|L:K|} < {\mathrm{pr}}(H,L) \leq {\mathrm{pr}}(H,K)$$ For the second inequality, equality occurs if and only if $L = \bigcap_{h \in H}(L_h K)$.
Clearly $(H,K) \subseteq (H,L)$, and in fact the containment is strict, as $(H,L)$ also contains $(1,l)$ for any $l \in L \setminus K$. This gives the first inequality.
For any element of $H$, we have $|h^K| \leq |h^L|$, with equality if and only if $L = L_h K$. By the Orbit-Stabiliser Theorem, this means $|L_h : K_h| \leq |L:K|$ with the same condition for equality. This gives the second inequality and the stated condition for equality.
\[sgpccl\] Let $G$ be a finite group with $K < G$. Then $$\frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}(K)}{|G:K|} < {\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(K)|G:K|$$
Every element of a finite group $G$ can be written in a unique way as $xy$ where $x$ is a $\pi$-element, $y$ is a $\pi'$-element and $xy=yx$. Thus we can identify $G$ with the set of pairs $(x,y)$ of elements of $G$ satisfying these conditions, and consider the conjugation action of $G$ on such pairs. We obtain the following formula by considering for each $\pi$-element $x$ the orbits occurring in $(x,Q)$, where $Q$ is the set of $\pi'$-elements commuting with $x$: $$\label{pp1}
{\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \sum_{r \in R} {\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_r)$$ where $R$ is a set of representatives of the conjugacy classes of $\pi$-elements of $G$.\
Now specialise to the case of finite soluble groups.
#### Definition
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group, and let $\Sigma$ be a Sylow system for $G$. Let $H$ be a subgroup of $G$. We say $\Sigma$ *reduces into* $H$ (written $\Sigma \searrow H$) if $S \cap H$ is a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $H$ for every $\pi \subseteq {\mathbb{P}}$, where $S$ is the Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G$ occurring in $\Sigma$.\
The following is easily obtained from Hall’s theorem and the definition of a Sylow system:
\[xilem\]Let $\Sigma$ be a Sylow system for the finite soluble group $G$.
\(i) Let $g \in G$ such that $\Sigma \searrow G_g$. Then $g$ is contained in every $S \in \Sigma$ for which $|g| \mid |S|$.
\(ii) Let $H$ be any subgroup of $G$. Then there exists $g \in G$ such that $\Sigma \searrow H^g$.
\(iii) Suppose $\Sigma \searrow H$. Then $\Sigma \cap H$ is a Sylow system of $H$. For any subgroup $L$ of $H$, this Sylow system of $H$ reduces into $L$ if and only if $\Sigma$ reduces into $L$.
For the remainder of this paper, Hypothesis \[solhyp\] is assumed unless otherwise stated.\
We can now demonstrate Proposition \[easysgp\]. By Hall’s theorem, ${\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_r)$ is at most ${\mathrm{ccl}}(K)$, where $K$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G_r$. The weaker condition in Proposition \[easysgp\] now makes the assumption that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(K) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$. So we have: $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq \sum_{r \in R} {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ and again by Hall’s theorem, $|R| \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$.\
Now suppose that for every $\pi'$-element $y$ of $G$ and $S_y$ a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G_y$, we have either $S_y$ isomorphic to $B$ or ${\mathrm{ccl}}(S_y) < {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$. Then the only way it is possible for ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G)$ to equal ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ is if $G_r$ contains a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G$ for every $r \in R$. By choosing the representatives $r$ such that $\Sigma \searrow G_r$, we can ensure $R \subseteq A$ and $B$ centralises $R$. Every conjugate of an element of $A$ is of the form $r^{ba}=r^a$ for some $a \in A$, $b \in B$ and $r \in R$. Hence $A$ is normal in $G$, which means $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ by Theorem \[nsgpconpi\] (or by Theorem A, the proof of which does not use Proposition \[easysgp\]).\
We will also use a slightly different form of Eq. . Given finite groups $H \leq K$ and $h \in H$, define $f^K_H (h)$ to be the number of distinct conjugacy classes of $H$ found in the set $h^K \cap H$. Note that if $k \in K$ and $h^k \in H$, we always have $f^K_H (h^k) = f^K_H (h)$, a fact which will be useful later. Since $G$ is soluble, in we can insist $R \subset A$, giving the following: $$\label{pp2}
{\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_t)}{f^G_A (t)}$$ where $T$ is a set of representatives of the conjugacy classes of $A$.\
Interestingly, if $G$ has a normal Hall $\pi$-subgroup, it is guaranteed to satsify the stronger condition in Proposition \[easysgp\], a fact which has consequences for a wider class of groups. This can be derived from the Glauberman correspondence. However, we do not need the full strength of the correspondence at this stage, so instead a proof is given below that is elementary with the assumption of Hall’s Theorem.
\[alhdg\]Suppose $A \lhd G$, and let $y \in B$. Then ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A_y) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$, with equality if and only if $A_y = A$.
Without loss of generality, we may assume $B={\langle y \rangle}$. Note that under this assumption, all elements of $B$ lie in distinct conjugacy classes of $G$.\
Using Eq. , we obtain $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi}(G)|y|$$ with equality if and only if $B_r = B$ for every representative $r$ of the $\pi$-conjugacy classes of $G$. As this holds regardless of choice of representatives, equality occurs if and only if $A_y = A$.\
If $|y|$ is prime, applying again with $\{|y|\}$ in place of $\pi$ gives $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi}(G) + (|y|-1){\mathrm{ccl}}(A_y)$$ Combining this with the previous inequality gives ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A_y) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}_\pi(G)$, with equality if and only if $A_y = A$. Finally, it is clear that ${\mathrm{ccl}}_\pi(G) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$ and equality occurs if $A_y = A$.\
If $|y|$ is not prime, we proceed by induction on $|G|$. Choose an integer $n$ so that $|y^n|$ is prime. Note that $A_{y^n}$ is precisely the set of elements of $A$ whose orbits under $y$ have size dividing $n$, so $A_{y^n}$ is normalised by $y$.\
If $A_{y^n} < A$, then by considering the proper subgroup $\langle A_{y^n},y \rangle$ of $G$, we obtain by induction $${\mathrm{ccl}}(A_y) = {\mathrm{ccl}}((A_{y^n})_y) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A_{y^n})$$ with equality if and only if $A_y = A_{y^n}$.
Since $|y^n|$ is prime, ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A_{y^n}) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$, with equality if and only if $A_{y^n} = A$.
If $A_{y^n} = A$, then $Y = \langle y^n \rangle$ is central in $|G|$. Considering the proper quotient $G/Y$ gives $${\mathrm{ccl}}(A_y) = {\mathrm{ccl}}((AY/Y)_{yY}) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(AY/Y) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$$ with equality if and only if $(AY/Y)_{yY} = AY/Y$, which holds if and only if $A_y = A$, because $Y \cap [A,B] = 1$.
Combining these inequalities gives the required result in all cases.\
We now define subgroups of $G$ analogous to the Fitting series of a finite soluble group, as follows: $$G{_{\lhd 0}}:= 1 \; ; \quad \frac{G{_{\lhd i+1}}}{G{_{\lhd i}}} := \frac{{\mathrm{O}}_\pi(G){\mathrm{O}}_{\pi'}(G)}{G{_{\lhd i}}}$$ Where $i=1$, it will generally be omitted.\
Write $A{_{\lhd i}}$ for $A \cap G{_{\lhd i}}$ and $B{_{\lhd i}}$ for $B \cap G{_{\lhd i}}$. Note that $A{_{\lhd}}={\mathrm{O}}_\pi(G)$ and $B{_{\lhd}}={\mathrm{O}}_{\pi'}(G)$. Define the *height* of the product as follows:
Consider the least $i$ such that $A{_{\lhd i}}= A$ or $B{_{\lhd i}}= B$ (this will always occur; indeed $G{_{\lhd i}}= G$ whenever $i$ is at least the Fitting height of $G$). If $A{_{\lhd i}}= A$ and $B{_{\lhd i}}= B$, we say the product has height $i$; if exactly one of these equalities holds, we say the product has height $(i + \frac{1}{2})$. So for example the direct product is the only product with height 1, and all (non-degenerate) semidirect products of $A$ and $B$ have height $1 \frac{1}{2}$.\
Since $G$ is soluble, it is clear that the height of $G$ depends only on $\pi$ and the structure of $G$, not on the choice of $A$ and $B$. So we may refer to the $\pi$-height $\mathrm{ht}_\pi(G)$ of $G$ without ambiguity. Note that $\mathrm{ht}_\pi(G)$ is always at most the Fitting height of $G$, which is the motivation for the fractional numbering. Our next aim is to prove the Conjecture for $G$ soluble satisfying $\mathrm{ht}_\pi(G) \leq 2 \frac{1}{2}$; this is Theorem A.\
Define $$G{^{\rhd}}:= \mathrm{N}_G(A) \cap \mathrm{N}_G(B) \; ; \quad A{^{\rhd}}:= G{^{\rhd}}\cap A \; ; \quad B{^{\rhd}}:= G{^{\rhd}}\cap B$$ From now on we will assume $\Sigma \searrow G{^{\rhd}}$: there will certainly be some Sylow system containing $A$ and $B$ for which this is the case, so we may assume that $\Sigma$ has been chosen accordingly. Note that in this case $G{^{\rhd}}= A{^{\rhd}}\times B{^{\rhd}}$.\
Suppose $A{_{\lhd 2}}= A$, and let $x,y \in A$. Then:
(i)$B = B{^{\rhd}}B{_{\lhd}}$;
\(ii) $B_x = {B{^{\rhd}}}_x {B{_{\lhd}}}_x$;
\(iii) if $x$ and $y$ are conjugate in $G$, they are also conjugate in $AB{^{\rhd}}$;
\(iv) If $\Sigma \searrow G_x$, then $f^G_A (x) = |B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_x|$.
$A{_{\lhd 2}}= A$ means $AG{_{\lhd}}/G{_{\lhd}}\lhd G/G{_{\lhd}}$, so $AB{_{\lhd}}\lhd G$, so all conjugates of $A$ in $G$ lie in $AB{_{\lhd}}$. $B$ acts on the set of conjugates of $A$ by conjugation, and so does $B{_{\lhd}}$; by Hall’s theorem applied to $G$ and to $AB{_{\lhd}}$, both actions are transitive. Since $B{_{\lhd}}\leq B$, it follows that $B = B{^{\rhd}}B{_{\lhd}}$, as $B{^{\rhd}}$ is the stabiliser of $A$ in the action of $B$.\
Given $b{^{\rhd}}\in B{^{\rhd}}$ and $b{_{\lhd}}\in B{_{\lhd}}$, we have $x^{b{^{\rhd}}} \in A$ and if $x^{b{^{\rhd}}b{_{\lhd}}} \in A$, then $x^{b{^{\rhd}}}b{_{\lhd}}= b{_{\lhd}}x^{b{^{\rhd}}}$. So $x^{b{^{\rhd}}b{_{\lhd}}} = y \Rightarrow x^{b{^{\rhd}}} = y$. This proves (ii) and (iii).\
Suppose $\Sigma \searrow G_x$. Then it follows from Lemma \[xilem\] that $(AB{^{\rhd}})_x = A_x {B{^{\rhd}}}_x$. Since $B{^{\rhd}}$ acts as automorphisms of $A$, it can only fuse conjugacy classes of $A$ of equal size. Hence $$f^{A{B{^{\rhd}}}}_A (x) = \frac{|x^{A{B{^{\rhd}}}}|}{|x^A|} = |x^{B{^{\rhd}}}| = |B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_x|$$ $f^G_A (x) = f^{A{B{^{\rhd}}}}_A (x)$ by (iii).
Suppose $\mathrm{ht}_\pi(G) \leq 2 \frac{1}{2}$. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
We assume $A{_{\lhd 2}}= A$. Start with Eq. : $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_t)}{f^G_A (t)}$$ The summands are not affected by replacing each $t$ by some other element $z_t$, so long as $z_t$ is conjugate to $t$ in $G$ and $z_t \in A$. By Lemma \[xilem\], we can do this in such a way that $\Sigma \searrow G_{z_t}$.\
Given $y \in A$, define $B_{*y} = \bigcap_{z \in {\langle y \rangle}} B^z$. It is clear that $B_y B{_{\lhd}}\leq B_{*y}$, so $|B:B_{*y}| \leq |B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_y|$. Since $y$ normalises $B_{*y}$, it follows from Lemma \[alhdg\] that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{*y}) \geq {\mathrm{ccl}}(B_y)$, with equality if and only if $B_{*y} = B_y$.\
Now applying previous results: $$\begin{aligned}
{\mathrm{ccl}}(G) &= \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_{z_t})}{f^G_A (z_t)} \\
&= \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}_{\pi'}(G_{z_t})}{|B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_{z_t}|} \\
&\leq \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{z_t})}{|B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_{z_t}|} \\
&\leq \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{*z_t})}{|B{^{\rhd}}:{B{^{\rhd}}}_{z_t}|} \\
&\leq \sum_{t \in T} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{*z_t})}{|B:B_{*z_t}|} \\
&\leq \sum_{t \in T} {\mathrm{ccl}}(B) \\
&= {\mathrm{ccl}}(A) {\mathrm{ccl}}(B).\end{aligned}$$\
For equality to occur, we must have equality at every stage. In particular, for each $z_t$ we must have ${\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{z_t}) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{*z_t})$, which means $B_{z_t} = B_{*z_t}$, and ${\mathrm{ccl}}(B_{*z_t})/|B:B_{*z_t}| = {\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$, which means that $B_{*z_t} = B$. So $$z^G_t = z^{BA}_t = z^A_t \subset A$$ for each $z_t$. But the $z_t$ represent every conjugacy class of $\pi$-elements in $G$, so $B$ normalises $A$. This means $B{_{\lhd 2}}= B$, so by the same argument again with the roles of $A$ and $B$ reversed, $A$ normalises $B$. Hence $G \cong A \times B$.
Character theory
================
Preliminaries
-------------
Using character theory, in certain situations we can conclude that $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ from the fact that certain proper sections of $G$ are ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, and similarly for ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.\
Here are some known results which will be used to prove Theorems B, C and D. In the following, let $H$ be a finite group, with $N \lhd H$, and let $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ and $\eta \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(H|\nu)$.
$$\eta_N = e(\nu_1 + \dots + \nu_k)$$ where $e$ is a positive integer and $\{\nu_1, \dots \nu_k\}$ is the set of conjugates of $\nu$ under the action of $H$.
\(i) There is a 1-1 correspondence between ${\mathrm{Irr}}(H|\nu)$ and ${\mathrm{Irr}}(H_\nu|\nu)$.
\(ii) Suppose $\nu=\phi\theta$, for $\phi, \theta \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, such that $\phi$ and $\theta$ are invariant in $H_\nu$ and $\theta$ extends to $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(H_\nu)$. Then $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(H_\nu|\nu)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}(H_\nu|\phi)|$.
(iii)If $K$ is any subgroup of $G$ containing $N$, then $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(K|1_N)|={\mathrm{ccl}}(K/N)$.
\(i) See Theorem 6.11 (b) of [@6].
\(ii) See Theorem 6.16 of [@6].
\(iii) ${\mathrm{Irr}}(K|1_N)$ consists of precisely those $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(K)$ for which ${\mathrm{ker}}(\chi) \geq N$. These characters are in 1-1 correspondence with ${\mathrm{Irr}}(K/N)$ in an obvious way.
\[irrcor\] $${\mathrm{ccl}}(H) = \sum_{\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)} \frac{|{\mathrm{Irr}}(H_\nu|\nu)|}{|H:H_\nu|}.$$
\[extnthm\] Suppose one of the following holds:
\(i) $H_\nu/N$ is cyclic;
\(ii) $(|H_\nu/N|,|N|)=1$;
\(iii) $N$ is abelian and complemented in $H_\nu$.
Then $\nu$ extends to $H_\nu$.
\(i) This is Corollary 11.22 of [@6].
\(ii) This is a special case of Corollary 6.28 of [@6].
\(iii) See Problem 6.18 of [@6].
\[glaub\] Let $T$ be a soluble subgroup of ${\mathrm{Aut}}(H)$ such that $(|H|,|T|)=1$. Then $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}_T(H)| = {\mathrm{ccl}}(H_T)$$ If ${\mathrm{Irr}}(H) = {\mathrm{Irr}}_T(H)$ then $T=1$.
Theorem B
---------
Given Hypothesis \[solhyp\], we can define a bijection $*$ from $G$ to $A \times B = G^*$ given by $(ab)^* = (a,b)$. Similarly, given a subset $X$ of $G$, we may define $X^*$ to be the image of $X$ under $*$. Consider now a subgroup $H$ of $G$. In general, $H^*$ may not be a group. In fact, $H^*$ is a group precisely if $H = (H \cap A)(H \cap B)$. In this case we say $H$ is *split* under the given factorisation of $G$.\
For $H$ to split, it is certainly sufficient that $\Sigma \searrow H$. Lemma \[xilem\] thus ensures that every subgroup of $G$ is conjugate to a split subgroup. In particular, all normal subgroups of $G$ are split, and moreover if $N \unlhd G$ then $N^* \unlhd G^*$. Note also that if $N_1, N_2 \unlhd G$, then $(N_1 N_2)^* = N^*_1 N^*_2$.
\[extnlem\] Let $G$ and $*$ be as above, with $N \lhd G$ such that $G/N$ is cyclic and $(|G/N|,|N|)=1$. Define $$\iota_k(N;G) = |\{\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)||G_{\nu}:N| \geq k \}|$$ and suppose that $$\iota_k(N;G) \leq \iota_k(N^*;G^*) \quad \forall k \geq 0$$ Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, and the inequality given in the Conjecture is an equality if and only if $$\iota_k(N;G) = \iota_k(N^*;G^*) \quad \forall k \geq 0$$
Since every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ extends to its centraliser $G_\nu$ and $G/N$ is abelian, $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = \sum_{\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)} \frac{{\mathrm{ccl}}(G_{\nu}/N)}{|G:G_{\nu}|}= \sum_{\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)} \frac{|G_\nu:N|^2}{|G:N|}$$ by Corollary \[irrcor\], and a similar formula holds for ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A \times B)$. The result now follows from the fact that $|G_\nu:N|^2/|G:N|$ is a strictly increasing function of $|G_\nu:N|$.
Let $G$ and $N$ be as in (ii) above with $G/N$ a $\pi$-group. Suppose that every subgroup of $N$ (including $N$ itself) is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If in addition $N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
We shall prove that the inequalities given in the previous lemma hold in this case, and then consider conditions for equality.\
Let $|G/N|=m$. By induction on $|G|$, we may assume $$\iota_k(N;G) \leq \iota_k(N^*;G^*) \quad \forall 0 \leq k < m$$ so we may restrict our attention to the inequality in the case $k=m$. Since every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ extends to $G_\nu$, but no further, and similarly for $G^*$, the following holds: $$\iota_m(N;G) = |{\mathrm{Irr}}_G(N)| \; ; \quad \iota_m(N^*;G^*) = |{\mathrm{Irr}}_{G^*}(N^*)|$$ By Hall’s Theorem, $B \leq N$ and we can take $T \leq A$ such that $G$ is the semidirect product of $N$ by $T$ and $T$ normalises $B$. By assumption $(|N|,|T|)=1$, and by induction on $|G|$ we may assume $T$ acts faithfully on $N$ and regard it as a subgroup of ${\mathrm{Aut}}(N)$. Now applying Proposition \[glaub\]: $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}_G(N)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}_T(N)| = {\mathrm{ccl}}(L)$$ $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}_{G^*}(N^*)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}_T(N^*)| = {\mathrm{ccl}}(Y)$$ where $L$ is the centraliser in $N$ of $T$, and $Y = (L \cap A)\times B$. Consider $t \in T$ acting on $x \in A$ and $y \in B$ by conjugation. If $(xy)^t = xy$ then $x^t = x$ and $y^t = y$, since $T$ normalises both $A$ and $B$. In other words, $L = (L \cap A)(L \cap B)$. Since $L \leq N$, by assumption $${\mathrm{ccl}}(L) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(L \cap A ){\mathrm{ccl}}(L \cap B)$$ Now $L \cap B = B_T$, so ${\mathrm{ccl}}(L \cap B) = |{\mathrm{Irr}}_T(B)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}(B)|$ by Proposition \[glaub\]. Hence $$\iota_m(N;G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(L) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(L \cap A ){\mathrm{ccl}}(B) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(Y) = \iota_m(N^*;G^*)$$ This proves that $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.\
Suppose now ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$, and that $N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$. Then by Lemma \[extnlem\] $${\mathrm{ccl}}(N) = \iota_1(N;G) = \iota_1(N^*;G^*) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(N \cap A ){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ which means $(N \cap A)$ centralises $B$. We must also have $|{\mathrm{Irr}}_T(B)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}(B)|$. This means that $|{\mathrm{Irr}}_{\{t\}}(B)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}(B)|$ for every $t \in T$, so by Proposition \[glaub\], $B_t = B$. In other words, every element of $T$ centralises $B$. Hence $A=(N \cap A)T$ centralises $B$, so $G \cong G^*$ as required.
Theorems C and D
----------------
Corollary \[irrcor\] gives a potential approach to the Conjecture for finite soluble groups in general. Consider an abelian normal subgroup $N$, with $N \leq A$ say, and use the formula in Corollary \[irrcor\] to compare ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G)$ and ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A \times B)$. To prove $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ it suffices to show, for each $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$:
$$\frac{|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|}{|G:G_\nu|} \leq \frac{|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|{\mathrm{ccl}}(B)}{|A:A_\nu|}$$\
There are however two difficulties here. The first is that $A_\nu$ may not be a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $G_\nu$. The second is that there is in general no way of calculating $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$ exactly in a way that transfers easily to a calculation of $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|$.\
The first difficulty does not arise if we insist $G$ has balanced action on $N$, as defined in the Introduction. In such a situation $|G:G_\nu| = |A:A_\nu||B|/|S_\nu|$, where $S$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G$ chosen to that $S_\nu$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G_\nu$, and the inequality reduces to the following: $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)||S_\nu| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|{\mathrm{ccl}}(B)|B|$$
Certainly ${\mathrm{ccl}}(B)|B|/|S_\nu| \geq {\mathrm{ccl}}(S_\nu)$, by Corollary \[sgpccl\]. So in fact, it suffices to show the following: $$\label{baineq}
|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|{\mathrm{ccl}}(S_\nu)$$
The second difficulty may be less serious, as a result in [@2] implies that $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)| \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(G_\nu/N)$, and similarly for $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|$, and the same paper also provides a method for calculating $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$ exactly. However, the method described in $\cite{2}$ appears difficult to carry out in such a way that would allow easy comparison between $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$ and $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|$ in a general situation; if such a comparison could be achieved, it could lead to a generalisation of Theorem C.\
In any case, the difficulty is overcome if $\nu$ extends to $G_\nu$, as in this case $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|={\mathrm{ccl}}(G_\nu/N)$ and similarly for $A$. It can also be overcome by considering the group $G_\nu/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$, together with the assumption that this group is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$, as defined in the introduction.\
As a result we obtain the following:
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group, and $N$ an elementary abelian normal subgroup of $G$. Suppose $G$ has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, and that $G_{\nu}/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ for every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$. Suppose in addition that at least one of the following holds:\
(i)Every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$ extends to $G$. (In particular, this will be the case if $N$ is complemented in $G$, by Theorem \[extnthm\].)\
(ii)For every $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, the group $H=G_\nu/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.\
Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If $G/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.\
Assume case (i), and assume $N \leq A$. From the above discussion, we see that to show $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, it suffices to show, for each $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$: $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G_\nu/N) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A_\nu/N){\mathrm{ccl}}(S_\nu)$$
This inequality follows immediately from the hypothesis that $G_\nu/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.\
Now assume case (ii). Fix $\nu \not=1_N$; by balanced action, $G_\nu$ factorises as $A_\nu S_\nu$. If $N$ is cyclic, the non-trivial irreducible characters of $\nu$ are transitively permuted by a Galois automorphism. This implies $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$ and $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|$ do not depend on the choice of $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N) \setminus \{1_N\}$, so $$\label{cyceq}
{\mathrm{ccl}}(G_\nu) = |{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|1_N)| + (p-1)|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)| = {\mathrm{ccl}}(G_\nu/N) + (p-1)|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$$ and similarly for $A$.\
More generally, given $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)$, then ${\mathrm{ker}}(\nu) \leq {\mathrm{ker}}(\chi)$, since by Clifford’s theorem, $\chi_N$ is a multiple of $\nu$. A similar situation holds for ${\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)$. So $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|=|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu))|\nu')|$, where $\nu'$ is the character of $N/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$ corresponding to $\nu$, and $N/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$ is necessarily cyclic since $\nu$ is an irreducible linear character. We now observe, via Eq. applied to $H$ and $A_\nu/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu)$: $${\mathrm{ccl}}(H) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(H/K) = (p-1)|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)|$$ $${\mathrm{ccl}}(U) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(U/K) = (p-1)|{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|$$ where $U$ is a Hall $\pi$-subgroup of $H$, and $K=N/{\mathrm{ker}}(\nu) \leq Z(H)$. From the fact that $H$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$, we obtain $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G_\nu|\nu)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}(A_\nu|\nu)|{\mathrm{ccl}}(V)$$ where $V$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $H$. Since $V \cong S_\nu$, this is equivalent to inequality .\
Now suppose $\nu=1$. The inequality becomes:
$$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|1_N)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}(A|1_N)|{\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ which is equivalent to $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G/N) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/N){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ By assumption, $G/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ so this inequality is satisfied. This concludes the proof that $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.\
Suppose ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$, in either case (i) or case (ii). Then we must have equality in for each $\nu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(N)$, and furthermore, by our use of Corollary \[sgpccl\] in obtaining , $S_\nu$ must be isomorphic to $B$, rather than to a proper subgroup of $B$; in other words $S_\nu$ is a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup of $G$. In the case where $\nu$ is a $G$-invariant character (such as the trivial character), equality in means ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G/N) = {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/N){\mathrm{ccl}}(BN/N)$. If $G/N$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, for this to happen $BN/N$ must centralise $A/N$ in $G/N$, which implies $A \lhd G$. Hence $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, by Theorem A.
Case (ii) above depends on the condition ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$, which is stronger than ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. The following gives some circumstances under which ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ can be obtained.
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group. Suppose that for some central subgroup $M$ of prime order, every subgroup of $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$ and $M \cap G' = 1$. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$. If every central subgroup of $G$ of prime order satisfies these conditions, then $G$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$. If $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
Without loss of generality we may assume $M \leq A$. As $M$ is central, $G$ has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(M)$. Since $M \cap G' = 1$ and $G'$ is the intersection of the kernels of all linear characters of $G$, there is a linear character $\chi$ of $G$ which extends some $\mu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(M) \setminus \{1_M\}$. The same applies to all $\mu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(M)$, since the non-trivial characters are all equivalent via a Galois automorphism, and $1_M$ extends to $1_G$. We are now in the situation of case (i) of Theorem C, and so $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$, and if $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.\
Now assume every central subgroup of prime order satisfies the stated conditions. To show $G$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$, it suffices to consider a given $M \leq G$, assume $M \leq A$, and show $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(G/M) \leq ({\mathrm{ccl}}(A) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/M)){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ which is equivalent by Eq. to showing the following, for any $\mu \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(M) \setminus \{1_M\}$: $${\mathrm{Irr}}(G|\mu) \leq {\mathrm{Irr}}(A|\mu){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ But since $\mu$ extends to $G$ (and hence also to $A$), the above inequality is equivalent to the following: $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G/M) \leq {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/M){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ This inequality follows immediately from the fact that $G/M$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.
Theorem E
---------
Recall the bijection $*$ defined in the discussion for Theorem B, where it was noted that if $N \unlhd G$, then $N^* \unlhd G^*$. However, in general $*$ only defines an injection from normal subgroups of $G$ to normal subgroups of $G^*$. We associate to each $K \unlhd G^*$ a normal subgroup of $G$ as follows: define the *$G$-level* ${\mathrm{Lev}_G}(K)$ to be the join of all $N$ such that $N \unlhd G$ and $N^* \leq K$. ${\mathrm{Lev}_G}(K)$ is thus the largest normal subgroup of $L$ of $G$ such that $L^* \leq K$.\
We may associate to any complex character $\chi$ of $G$ a normal subgroup of $G$, namely ${\mathrm{ker}}(\chi)$. Given a complex character $\phi$ of $G^*$, we may also associate a normal subgroup of $G$ to it, namely ${\mathrm{Lev}_G}({\mathrm{ker}}(\phi))$. This gives a way of comparing irreducible complex characters of $G$ to those of $G^*$. Given a set $X$ of normal subgroups of $G$, let ${\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)$ denote those $\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G)$ for which ${\mathrm{ker}}(\chi) \in X$, and ${\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)$ denote those $\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G^*)$ for which ${\mathrm{Lev}_G}({\mathrm{ker}}(\phi)) \in X$. If $X$ is a singleton $\{N\}$, write ${\mathrm{Irr}}(G|N)$ and ${\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|N)$.\
Using $G$-levels, we can potentially reduce the question of whether a finite soluble group is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$ (and hence ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$) to a question about those quotients which are irreducible complex linear groups:
Let $\mathcal{K}$ be a family of finite soluble groups closed under quotients. Suppose that $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|1)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|1)|$ for every group $G \in \mathcal{K}$, where $*$ indicates the bijection given by $(ab)^*=(a,b)$ from $G$ to a direct product of a Hall $\pi$-subgroup $A$ and a Hall $\pi'$-subgroup $B$ of $G$.\
Then every group in $\mathcal{K}$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.
Let $G \in \mathcal{K}$. For every $N \unlhd G$, we have $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|N)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}(G/N|1)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}^{G/N}(G^*/N^*|1)| = |{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|N)|$$ For every set $X$ of normal subgroups of $G$, we have $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)| = \sum_{N \in X}|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|N)|$$ and similarly $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)| = \sum_{N \in X}|{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|N)|$$ from which we conclude that $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)|$ for any set $X$. If $X$ is the set of all normal subgroups of $G$, this proves that $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}$.\
Now suppose $M$ is a central subgroup of $G$ of prime order. We may assume $M \leq A$. We must show $${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(G/M) \leq ({\mathrm{ccl}}(A) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(A/M)){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$$ which follows from $$|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)| \leq |{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)|$$ where $X$ is the set of normal subgroups of $G$ not containing $M$. So $G$ is ${\mathrm{SCon}_{\pi}}$.
It is not known in general which families of groups have the required properties. Indeed, it is not known whether there are any finite soluble groups which violate the conditions of Theorem E. However, the following proposition suggests it may be helpful to use character degrees when trying to obtain bounds on the number of faithful characters.\
\[sumchisq\] Let $X$ be a set of normal subgroups of $G$. Then
$$\sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)} \chi(1)^2 = \sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)} \phi(1)^2$$
Assume $G$ is a minimal counterexample. To prove the result for $X$, it is sufficient to consider singleton subsets $\{ N \}$ of $X$ individually. If $N \not=1$, then $$\sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G|N)} \chi(1)^2 = \sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G/N|1)} \chi(1)^2$$ $$\sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|N)} \phi(1)^2 = \sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*/N^*|1)} \phi(1)^2$$ By minimality of $|G|$, $$\sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G/N|1)} \chi(1)^2 = \sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*/N^*|1)} \phi(1)^2$$\
So the equation claimed in the Proposition holds when $X$ is the set of all non-trivial normal subgroups of $G$. But then $$\sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)} \chi(1)^2 + \sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G|1)} \chi(1)^2 = |G| = \sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|X)} \phi(1)^2 + \sum_{\phi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|1)} \phi(1)^2$$
Hence the result also holds for $X= \{1\}$. This proves the result in all cases.
There are known results concerning finite soluble irreducible complex linear groups of small degree, which given the above proposition may have some bearing on this problem. Of particular relevance here is the following:
Let $G$ be a soluble irreducible linear group of degree $n$. Suppose that a Sylow $p$-subgroup of $G$ is not normal. Then $n$ is divisible by a prime power $q > 1$ such that $q \equiv \epsilon$ modulo $p$, where $|\epsilon|\leq 1$.
We use this to give a numerical condition, which may be useful in ruling out counterexamples of small order to the hypothesis of Theorem E.
Let $G$ be a finite soluble group such that $|{\mathrm{Irr}}(G|1)| > |{\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|1)|$, with $*$ defined as before. Let $\alpha$ be the set of primes $p$ for which $G$ has a non-normal Sylow $p$-subgroup. Let $\sum_{\chi \in {\mathrm{Irr}}(G|X)} \chi(1)^2 = k$. Then $k$ is expressible in two ways as the sum of squares: $$k = a^2_1 + \dots + a^2_l = b^2_1 + \dots + b^2_m$$ such that $l > m$, every $a_i$ and $b_j$ divides the order of $G$, and for every $a_i$ and every $p \in \alpha$, either $p$ divides $a_i$ or $a^2_i$ is divisible by a prime power $r>1$ such that $r \equiv 1$ modulo $p$.\
If in addition, there is no normal subgroup $L$ of $G^*$ such that ${\mathrm{Lev}_G}(L)=1$ and $G^*/L$ is cyclic, then we may require $b_j > 1$ for each $b_j$.
The numbers $a_i$ are the degrees of the faithful irreducible characters of $G$, and the $b_j$ are the degrees of characters in ${\mathrm{Irr}}^G(G^*|1)$. The conditions on them follow from Winter’s theorem and Proposition \[sumchisq\].
Soluble groups of small order
=============================
This section concerns soluble groups of order at most $2000$. Non-nilpotent groups up to this order have been enumerated, and are available for processing in computerised mathematics systems. It is therefore possible to test the conjecture directly on these groups.\
However, for all but seven values of $n$ at most $2000$, we can show that every soluble group of order $n$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ for every $\pi \subseteq {\mathbb{P}}$, by application of the other results in this paper. It is therefore only necessary to search the database for groups of the remaining seven orders.\
In this section, the order of $G$ will be denoted $n$. Note that we do not need to specify $\pi$, as all possible $\pi$ will be considered (with the usual observation that ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ is equivalent to $\mathrm{Con}^*_{\pi'}$).
\[p3lem\] Suppose $A$ is either abelian, or of order $p^3$, where $p$ is a prime. Then $G$ is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
Using Proposition \[easysgp\], it suffices to show that ${\mathrm{ccl}}(H) < {\mathrm{ccl}}(A)$ for every proper subgroup $H$ of $A$. If $A$ is abelian this is obvious. If $A=p^3$ and $A$ is non-abelian, we note that $Z(A) >1$, and the centraliser of every element properly contains $Z(A)$; in other words, every centraliser has order at least $p^2$. This means each conjugacy class has size at most $p$, and there are central conjugacy classes, so ${\mathrm{ccl}}(A) > p^2$. But ${\mathrm{ccl}}(H) \leq |H| \leq p^2$.
\[fewprimes\]Suppose $G$ is not ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$ and the prime divisors of $|G|=n$ are a subset of $\{p,q,r\}$. Then we may assume $\pi$ is a singleton, say $\pi=\{p\}$, and in this case $n$ is divisible by $p^4$ and $G$ does not have a normal Sylow $p$-subgroup. If $r$ does not divide $n$, then $n$ is divisible by $p^4 q^4$ and $G$ has no non-trivial normal Sylow subgroups. In particular, if $r$ does not divide $n$ and $n \leq 2000$, then $n=1296$.
Denote by $F(G)$ the Fitting subgroup of $G$, that is the largest normal niplotent subgroup. Note that in a finite soluble group, the Fitting subgroup always contains its own centraliser. We will denote by $m$ the order of $F(G)$.
\[fitlem\]Let $S$ be a Sylow subgroup of $G$ of order $p$. Suppose $G$ is a minimal soluble counterexample to ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$. Then $p$ does not divide $m$, and $F(G)$ has a coprime automorphism of order $p$.
Suppose $p$ divides $m$. Then $S \leq F(G)$ and $S$ is normal in $G$. Since $S$ is cyclic, $G$ has balanced action on ${\mathrm{Irr}}(S)$, and since $S$ is a normal Sylow subgroup, every irreducible character of $S$ extends to $G$. A contradiction follows by applying Theorem C, case (i).
\[nlplem\]Let $H$ be a finite nilpotent group. Suppose the prime $p$ divides $|{\mathrm{Aut}}(H)|$, but not $|H|$. Then $|H|$ is divisible by a prime power $r$ such that $p$ divides $r-1$.
Any coprime automorphism of $H$ must act faithfully on $H/\Phi(H)$, where $\Phi(H)$ is the Frattini subgroup. $H/\Phi(H)$ is the direct product of characteristic elementary abelian subgroups, one for each prime dividing its order, so ${\mathrm{Aut}}(H/\Phi(H))$ is the direct product of general linear groups. (See [@4].) The result follows by considering the order of these general linear groups.
From now on, we make the additional assumptions that $n \leq 2000$, and that $G$ is a minimal counterexample to ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$.
\[peplem\](i)The order $n$ of $G$ cannot be divisible by $r=p^{e(p)}$ for any $p$, where $e(2)=7$, $e(3)=5$, $e(5)=4$, $e(7)=3$, and $e(p)=2$ otherwise.
(ii)The order $m$ of $F(G)$ divides $2^6.3^4.5^3.7^2$.
(iii)Let $H$ be a nilpotent group of order dividing $2^6.3^4.5^3.7^2$. Then ${\mathrm{Aut}}(H)$ is a $\{2,3,5,7,13,31\}$-group.
(i)Assume for a contradiction that $r$ divides $n$. We may assume $p \in \pi$. In each case, $n/r <16$. So $|B| < 16$, and by Lemma \[p3lem\] we may assume $B$ is non-abelian and $|B| \not= 8$. Hence $|B| \in \{6,10,12,14\}$. Clearly $p>2$, and $|A| \leq 333$, which rules out $p=5$ and $p=7$. If $p=3$, we must have $|B| \in \{10,14\}$, so $|A| \leq 200$. But $p^{e(p)}=243>200$ in this case. So we may assume $p>7$. This means $|A|$ is at least $2p^2 > 200$ by Lemma \[p3lem\], and $|B|=6$. Since $|A|$ is coprime to $2$ and $3$ and divisible by $p^2$, it must be at least $5p^2$. But then $n = |A||B| \geq 30p^2 > 2000$, a contradiction.\
(ii)For each prime $p>7$, we note $p^2$ does not divide $n$, so $p$ does not divide $m$. The conclusion now follows from part (i).\
(iii)This is a consequence of Lemma \[nlplem\].
Let $\pi$ be a set of primes. Let $G$ be a finite soluble group of order at most $2000$, and suppose $G$ is a minimal counterexample to the assertion ‘every finite soluble group is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$’. Then $|G|$ is one of the following: $$336, 672, 1008, 1200, 1296, 1344, 1680$$
Assume $2 \in \pi$. By previous results, $G$ is a $\{2,3,5,7,13,31\}$-group and $F(G)$ is a $\{2,3,5,7\}$-group. We claim in fact $G$ is a $\{2,3,5,7\}$-group. By Corollary \[fewprimes\], we may assume $n$ has at least three prime divisors.\
If $31$ divides $n$ then $F(G)$ must admit an automorphism of order $31$. The only possibility is if $2^5$ divides $m$. But $2000/(2^5.31) < 3$, so no more prime divisors are possible.\
If $13$ divides $n$ then $F(G)$ must admit an automorphism of order $13$. The only possibility is if $3^3$ divides $m$. By Corollary \[fewprimes\], $n$ must also either involve at least four primes, or involve three primes and be divisible by a fourth power. Both however are impossible as $2000/(3^3.13) < 6$.\
Suppose $n$ is divisible by more than three primes. Then the prime divisors are $2$, $3$, $5$ and $7$. If $7^2$ divides $n$, the only possibility is $n=2.3.5.7^2=1470$, but then $F(G)$ cannot have an automorphism of order $5$, contradicting of Lemma \[fitlem\]. Hence $7$ divides $n$ but not $7^2$, so $F(G)$ must have a coprime automorphism of order $7$, which implies $2^3$ divides $m$.\
If $2^4$ divides $n$, then $n$ must be $2^4.3.5.7=1680$, so we may assume this does not occur. Since $2^3.3^4.5.7 > 2000$ and $2^3.3.5^2.7 > 2000$, neither $3^4$ nor $5^2$ divides $n$. Hence $m$ divides $2^3.3^3$ and $F(G)$ cannot have an automorphism of order $5$, leading to a contradiction of Lemma \[fitlem\].\
We may now assume $n$ has exactly three prime divisors. By Corollary \[fewprimes\], $n$ is divisible by a fourth power $p^4$ say, such that $G$ does not have a normal Sylow $p$-subgroup, and Hall $p'$-subgroups are non-abelian. By Lemma \[peplem\], $p$ must be $2$ or $3$, and $n$ is in addition divisible by $q$, where $q$ is $5$ or $7$. If $p=3$, then $n/(p^4 q)$ is at most $4$. As this is less than $q$, there must be a coprime automorphism of $F(G)$ of order $q$. The Hall $3'$-subgroup of $F(G)$ cannot have an automorphism of order $q$, so the Hall $3$-subgroup of $F(G)$ must have an automorphism of order $q$. As a result $3^4$ must divide $F(G)$, so $3^5$ divides $G$, contradicting Lemma \[peplem\].\
We have now established $2^4$ divides $n$. The numbers listed in the statement of the theorem include all multiples of $336 = 2^4.3.7$ which are at most $2000$, so we may assume $n$ is not divisible by $336$. Hence we may assume that the prime divisors of $n$ are $2$ and $5$ and exactly one of $3$ and $7$. In this case, a Hall $2'$-subgroup $H$ of $G$ must have order dividing $35$, $45$ or $75$. All groups of order dividing $25$, $35$ or $45$ are abelian, so $|H|$ is $75=3.5^2$. This means $n=2^4.3.5^2=1200$.
To complete the proof of Theorem F, we check for the seven group orders listed that every group is ${\mathrm{Con}_{\pi}}^*$, by calculating ${\mathrm{ccl}}(G) - {\mathrm{ccl}}(A){\mathrm{ccl}}(B)$ directly for all relevant $\pi$. This was done using [@8].
Acknowledgments
===============
This paper is based on results obtained by the author while under the supervision of Robert Wilson at Queen Mary, University of London. The author would like to thank John Bray and Robert Wilson for their advice in obtaining these results, and Charles Leedham-Green for his detailed corrections and feedback regarding the presentation of this paper.
[3]{} *Kourovka Notebook: Unsolved Problems in Group Theory*. Editors V. D. Mazurov, E. I. Khukhro. Novosibirsk 2006. P. X. Gallagher, *The number of conjugacy classes in a finite group*. Math. Z. 118 (1970) 175–179. A. Vera López, L. Ortiz de Elguea, *On the number of conjugacy classes in a finite group*. J. Algebra 115 (1988), no. 1, 46–74. K. Doerk, T. Hawkes, *Finite Soluble Groups*. de Gruyter 1992. G. Glauberman, *Correspondences of characters for relatively prime operator groups*. Canad. J. Math. 1968. I. M. Isaacs, *Character Theory of Finite Groups*. Academic Press 1976. H. U. Besche, B. Eick, E. A. O’Brien, *A millennium project: constructing small groups*. Internat. J. Algebra Comput. 12 (2002), no. 5, 623–644. W. Bosma, J. Cannon, C. Playoust, *The Magma algebra system. I. The user language*. J. Symbolic Comput., 24(3-4) (1997), 235-265. O. Manz, T. Wolf, *Representations of Solvable Groups*. CUP 1993. D. L. Winter, *On finite solvable linear groups*. Illinois J. Math. 1971.
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You can rephrase this question as: “How much variation (the difference between individuals) in height is attributable to genetic consequences and how much to environmental and nutritional effects?” The basic answer to this question is that nearly 70-85 percent of the difference in height between people is settled by genetic factors, whereas 10-20 percent can be attributed to significant environmental effects, principally nutrition. This answer is based on assessments of the “heritability” of human height: the proportion of the height (size) variation due to genetic reasons.
Human height is a metric, or quantitative trait, i.e., a feature measured in quantity and regulated by environmental factors and multiple genes. Many studies have evaluated the heritability of human height. These studies often determine heritability by measuring the degree of resemblance between different relatives. One can separate genetic effects from environmental factors by comparing the genetic similarity between relatives (siblings, twin, offspring, and parents) with their height proportion. To precisely measure how similar relatives are (genetically), one can count the number of genetic markers they really share.
So, what are the different factors that decide a human’s height?
- Around the world, modern-day humans can learn more about the factors determining their height by evaluating genetics and nutrition.
- The incidence of social equality, diseases, GDP, and health expenditure also play a significant role.
- The nutrition quality in many wealthy nations has been declining during the last 2–3 decades, and so, that is also affecting the height of the modern generation.
Genetics- Summary
Scientists predict that about 80 percent of a person’s height is decided by the DNA sequence variants they have directly inherited, but which genes these modifications are in and what they do to affect height are only somewhat understood. Some isolated gene mutations have unique effects on height (for instance, variants in the FGFR3 gene is the primary cause of achondroplasia, a rare condition identified by short stature).
For most people, though, height is primarily controlled by a mixture of genetic variants. Each has more moderate effects on height, plus a smaller contribution from environmental factors, such as nutrition. More than 700 such gene variants have been identified, and many more are expected to be identified in the near future. Some of these modifications are in genes that indirectly or directly affect the cartilage in growth plates, which are regions in the long bones of the arms and legs where new bone is produced, lengthening the bones as kids grow. The function of many other height-associated genes still remains unknown. | https://nykdaily.com/2021/02/what-is-the-role-of-genetics-in-human-height/ |
As Mark Trade, an investigative reporter on the Los Angeles based International Inquirer, you receive a telegram from an archaeologist friend, Daphney, who with her uncle Jason is excavating at Caer Arazok, the tomb on an unknown druid priest in Scotland. It appears that uncle Jason has gone missing and your help is needed. When you arrive you find that Daphney has also disappeared. The local who drops you off on the road not far from the ruined temple leaves you in a hurry. You are the only person who is prepared to search for Daphney and her uncle. | http://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C19/Arazok%27s+Tomb.html |
A group of Indian youth has taken to Twitter to express their displeasure with the lack of news in the country, while also venting about the lack and the lack-lustre of social media.
The group of students at the Central University of Technology (CUST) on Wednesday uploaded a series of tweets, mostly in Hindi, in an attempt to get the news on the social media platform.
The students, who belong to a class called “Diaspora,” are part of a group called the “Voidless Society” (VS) which aims to spread awareness about their Indian identity and the culture of their country.
A similar group of about 500 students is also working to bring more information to the Indian people through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
“This is the second time we have attempted to launch a news project like this in India and have failed,” said Vikas Kumar, an associate professor at CUST and the main author of the Twitter campaign.
“We tried to raise awareness about our country’s identity and culture through social networking, but so far we have failed.”
Vikas also criticised the lack on social platforms of Indian people who are not “diaspora Indians.”
“The Indian youth are mostly non-diasporic Indians.
The idea that they have to learn how to use Facebook and how to interact on Twitter is absurd.
This is not a case of a diaspora community learning how to live in a society, it is a society learning how a daspora community should live in the society,” he said.
The hashtag #diasphobia has been trending in India since Tuesday.
In a recent poll conducted by the Indian government’s media arm, the Centre for Research on Public Opinion, over a quarter of the respondents said they would be willing to switch their social media profiles from one Indian identity to another if they could not access their news on Twitter.
The government has been pushing for the use of Indian media in the media, with a recent proposal to require all newspapers to be published in the Indian language and the use and distribution of Hindi.
A separate survey released by the CUST in June suggested that around 70 per cent of Indian adults, or around 1.2 billion people, said they use social media to find out what’s going on in the world.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos-Mori for the Ministry of Information Technology (MIT), also found that an overwhelming majority of Indians — 78 per cent — said they are comfortable with the fact that their country has a media market and not just a market for entertainment.
“When we think about it, we have to understand that Indian culture is a media culture, not a consumer culture.
Indian culture has not changed and its a culture of media,” said Kumar.
On the other hand, the lack in social media has not stopped the “diverse and diverse” communities who have formed around the Indian diaspora from sharing their experiences and thoughts.
The VS group has also been active on social networking platforms like Instagram and Twitter in recent days.
Vikas Kumar said that the lack is due to the fact of the way Indian media outlets have been covering the Indian situation.
Some people have even made a derogatory comment about Indian people by saying that they are lazy, ignorant and not ready to be called Indian.
This is not because we are lazy.
We are not lazy.
This statement is because our Indian culture and our Indian language are not ready for such derogatory statements.
People from the VS group are not happy with the media outlets who are trying to make Indian culture, their culture, synonymous with India.
They say that their identity and their culture should be discussed in an objective way and that it should not be a subject for derogatory statements by the media.
Kumar said that, at the very least, they are calling out the media for their lack of journalistic standards.
He also suggested that the VS groups be invited to share their views on issues and ideas with media outlets to highlight their point of view. | https://crazyminds99.com/archives/98 |
New Report Calls for Comprehensive Redesign of Process for Updating Dietary Guidelines for Americans
WASHINGTON – Although the process used to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) has become more evidence-based since its inception more than 30 years ago, it is not currently positioned to effectively adapt to changes such as food diversity and chronic disease prevalence, while also ensuring the integrity of the process, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should comprehensively redesign the process for updating the DGA to improve transparency, promote diversity of expertise and experience, support a deliberative process, foster independence in decision-making, and strengthen scientific rigor.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide nutritional and dietary information to promote health and prevent chronic disease. Reviewed and updated every five years, the guidelines underpin all federal nutrition policies and programs, such as the National School Lunch Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The process for updating the DGA begins with an independent evaluation of the scientific evidence by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) -- a group selected and convened by USDA and HHS. The conclusions and recommendations of the DGAC are then submitted to the secretaries of USDA and HHS in the form of a scientific report. The DGAC's report is only advisory and does not constitute draft policy, though it does serve as the scientific evidence base for updating the subsequent edition of the DGA. The DGA themselves are then developed by USDA and HHS.
“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans have the promise to empower Americans to make informed decisions about what and how much they eat to improve health and reduce the risk of chronic disease,” said Robert Russell, professor emeritus of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University and chair of the National Academies' committee that conducted the study and wrote the report. “Despite this potential, fewer than 10 percent of Americans consume a diet fully consistent with the DGA. A more trustworthy, agile, and effective process can improve the relevance and usefulness of the DGA, which may ultimately improve adherence to the guidelines. The process to update the DGA should be redesigned to increase transparency and allow for the appropriate expertise and time to focus on each step of the process, which can be achieved by reallocating the steps to a balanced and expanded set of multidisciplinary experts.”
The juxtaposition of the five-year DGA cycle and the two-year term for each DGAC constrains the overall system, including the time available to complete necessary tasks, the report says. The DGAC conducts all tasks associated with scientific review, limiting opportunities for a truly deliberative process with the nutrition community, technical experts, and the public. The report recommends a redistribution of the tasks of the DGAC to three separate groups with more targeted expertise in order to leverage the five-year cycle more effectively: 1) a Dietary Guidelines Planning and Continuity Group to monitor for and curate new evidence, identify and prioritize topics for inclusion in the DGA, and provide strategic planning support across DGA cycles; 2) technical expert panels to provide content and methodological consultation during evidence evaluation; and 3) a Dietary Guidelines Scientific Advisory Committee to interpret the scientific evidence and draw conclusions.
The report recommends that the secretaries of USDA and HHS carry out several other actions in a number of areas as part of the process redesign.
Enhance Transparency: A clear explanation should be given when the DGA omit or accept only parts of conclusions from the DGAC Scientific Report. Enhancing transparency -- for example, by appropriately balancing individual biases and conflicts of interest -- is vital to engendering public trust in the process, as well as providing assurance that decisions were made free of undue influences. Opportunities for participation and engagement from stakeholders including the public, academia and researchers, advocacy groups, professional organizations, the food sector, and federal agencies should be enhanced, as it is critical to fostering diversity and increasing trustworthiness of the process.
Strengthen the Evidence Base: Methodological approaches and scientific rigor for evaluating the evidence should be strengthened by using validated, standardized processes and methods with the most up-to-date data. It is critical that, for example, the Nutrition Evidence Library is aligned with best practices for conducting systematic reviews and uses appropriate methods.
Advance Methods Used: Processes and actions should be based on the best available evidence, requiring that the analyses used be continuously improved and advanced. Food pattern modeling should better reflect complex interactions, variabilities in food composition and consumption, and range of possible healthful diets. In addition, standardizing the methods and criteria for establishing “nutrients of concern” would lead to consistent development of quantitative thresholds of inadequacy or excess. To help more clearly define the roles and limitations of diet in reducing chronic disease risk, the report recommends a systems science approach, which accounts for complex relationships, for example, biological, behavioral, social, and environmental interactions and pathways.
In terms of the guidelines’ scope, future DGA should focus on the general public across the entire life span, not just healthy Americans ages 2 years and older, the report says. Given the range in health status and the prevalence of chronic diseases in the population, as well as the importance of nutrition to pregnant women and children from birth to 24 months, it is essential that future DGA be developed for all Americans whose health could benefit by improving diet. The breadth and content of each DGAC report could vary because not all topics may require a detailed review every five years; only those topics with enough new data to generate a full review would be considered for in-depth evaluation in the next DGA cycle.
The first National Academies report of this study released in February recommends ways to improve the selection process for the DGAC to provide more transparency, manage bias and conflicts of interest, and include committee members with a range of viewpoints.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.
Copies of Redesigning the Process for Establishing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at www.nap.edu or by calling 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
Health and Medicine Division
Food and Nutrition Board
Committee to Review the Process to Update the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Robert M. Russell (chair)Professor EmeritusNutrition and MedicineTufts University School of MedicineBoston, MA
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Starch industry development as a strategy for agro-food based rural industrialization to identify the key policy issues related to the promotion the industry has strong linkages with rural development as many rural households become involved in processing through small enterprises rural. Dynamic process of agriculture-led and resource-based industrialization achieving good manufacturing practices in agro-processing and industrial activities in promote rural industrialization through an agricultural development led industrialization. In providing large employment opportunities at comparatively lower capital cost than large industries but also help in industrialization of rural industries and the ministry of agro and rural industries were merged which is one of the major agro based rural. Opportunities for smes in agro-based sector shamsuddin memon provincial project director there is no separate agro industrial and lack of promotion of smes in rural areas and agro sector. Export-oriented industrialization (eoi) the ability of a government to do this, it is argued, is probably limited as it will not have occurred through the natural interaction of the market forces of supply and demand additionally.
Suggested ways of revamping agro-based industries in nigeria activities as well as promote even development of the country through industrial dispersal promotion of similar rural institutions therefore. [epub download] rural industrialization through promotion of agro baswd industries rural industrialization through promotion of agro baswd industries. Capital and labour are transferred from agriculture to the expanding agro-industrial and related service sectors the development of rural agro-industries can play a major strategic role in stabilizing and regenerating countries and in consolidating rural and agro-based smes. Related book pdf book rural industrialization through promotion of agro baswd industries : - acids bases and salts for class 10 cbse notes pdf. The role of industrialization in the economic development of india thus our economy is based on industrialization to a large extent promotion of industries in rural areas vi removal of regional imbalances vii. Industrial sector a major source of of rural development has evolved through time as a result of changes in the perceived mechanisms and/or goals of development a planned change by public agencies based outside the rural areas such as the national.
34 an introduction to agro-based clusters from developing countries 13 volunteer in the fao rural infrastructure and agro-industries division united states of america agro-based clusters in developing countries agro-based clusters in developing countries 4. Agro-meteorology cooperative-based seed production cooperative and african countries to drive agricultural transformation and rural industrialization ethiopia promotes export commodities at major international trade shows through ata and mot facilitation continue reading 2 months.
Posts about agro based enterprises written by it was designed to provide concessionary funding to small farmers through credit guarantees and the government targeted rural development with integrated plans for agriculture promotion, rural industrialization and. Agro based industries - free download as powerpoint presentation industries which are based on agricultural produce and industries which support agriculture come under agro-based industries ` agro-produce processing improve the purchasing power of rural people through income. Industrialization is the process in which a society transforms itself from a primarily industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the people left rural areas in large numbers, seeking potential.
Related book epub books rural industrialization through promotion of agro baswd industries : - domains of knowledge about human nature 5th edition pdf. United nations industrial development organization to use agro-based industrial development as an effective means to create formulate a programme to restructure and rehabilitate nine rural technology promotion. The ilo in partnership with unido is implementing a one un joint pilot project, which aims at improving the livelihood and working conditions in the selected agro-food value chain in gilgit baltistan province of pakistan the project- through a set of gender-responsive interventions will engage with partners and producers address the deficits.
Introduction the ministry of agro and rural industries (moari) street lighting, road transport etc which hampers the smooth movement of various industrial activities this is a major problem faced by rural types of rural industries agro based industries: like sugar industries. There continues to be the recognition that agro-industrial development rural and national development vibrant agro-industrial activities can expand the markets thus in many respects other crucial constraints to the development of the agro-processing sector are the lack of proper. In agriculture and agro-based industry of myanmarof myanmar ye min aung secretary-general • the seminars on export promotion, marketing and r&d are food aid through agro products export. Small scale enterprises (smes) and agricultural transformation: the nigeria smes are largely dominated by small and medium scale agro-based enterprises specializing in b a (2008a): fruit production and processing option for rural industrialization and poverty alleviation in. •agro-processing industry in ghana is described to be in its nascent stages •promotion of small-scale farming through the establishment of fasdep ii aimed to promote agro-based industrial activities. Economic importance of agriculture for sustainable development and poverty reduction: in the rural area differential income patterns across agro-ecological zones. Role of agro processing industries in rural development small farmers and local small agro-industrial firms this debate is industries are agro-based, with a value added of nearly 22 percent, food.
Agro-industrial parks provide networks of contacts the integrated agro industry parks are set to be established at coffee another area of potentially linked to the promotion of agro-industry parks is the leather and leather products subsector which registered high growth in. As a rural development strategy is closely related with the discussion agro-tourism as a rural development strategy in korea 69 pects that the diversification of rural economy will be stimulated based on the promotion of procession industries of primary goods and of leisure and tour. Globalization happens through three channels: trade in goods & services development have observed that 'the promotion of small scale industries has been widely enterprises (vii) food and agro-based industries (viii. Government of india has been continuously assigning increasing importance and support for the promotion and growth of rural thus, we can say, entrepreneurship precedes industrialization definition: rural industries and business organisations in rural agro based industries. Through the adoption of integrated rural development rural development and agro-industrial promotion in nigeria 93 addition to the two existing ones (sokoto and rima under a new constitution based on the presidential system of government second. Development of agricultural cooperatives value-addition through agro-processing of agricultural products including the development of export-oriented crops through contract farming, promotion of universal membership, and strengthening of legal. Vi development of non-farm rural activities especially through rural industries, and expanded infrastructures for power supply, transport and communication, housing a rural industrialization (i) adjust systems off seal incentives. | http://jncourseworkuoxm.skylinechurch.us/rural-industrialization-through-promotion-of-agro-based.html |
Definition - What does Green Computing mean?
Many IT manufacturers and vendors are continuously investing in designing energy-efficient computing devices, reducing the use of dangerous materials and encouraging the recyclability of digital devices. Green computing practices came into prominence in 1992, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Energy Star program.
Green computing is also known as green information technology (green IT).
Green computing aims to attain economic viability and improve the way computing devices are used. Green IT practices include the development of environmentally sustainable production practices, energy-efficient computers and improved disposal and recycling procedures.
Government regulatory authorities also actively work to promote green computing concepts by introducing several voluntary programs and regulations for their enforcement. | https://www.techopedia.com/definition/14753/green-computing |
PRIORITY
This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/570,475, filed on Dec. 15, 2014, entitled “Optical Item Management System,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,348,869, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
Retailers, wholesalers, and other product distributors typically maintain an inventory of various items that may be ordered, purchased, leased, borrowed, rented, viewed, and so forth, by clients or customers. For example, an e-commerce website may maintain inventory in a fulfillment center. When a customer orders an item, the item is picked from inventory, routed to a packing station, packed, and shipped to the customer. Likewise, physical stores maintain inventory in customer accessible areas, such as in a shopping area, and customers can pick items from inventory and take them to a cashier for purchase, rental, and so forth.
Many physical stores also maintain inventory in a storage area, fulfillment center, or other facility that can be used to replenish inventory located in the shopping areas or to satisfy orders for items that are placed through other channels (e.g., e-commerce). Other examples of entities that maintain facilities holding inventory include libraries, museums, rental centers, and so forth. In each instance, for an item to be moved from one location to another, it is picked from its current location and transitioned to a new location. It is often desirable to monitor quantity of inventory within the facility.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items or features.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram illustrating a materials handling facility (facility) having optical sensor arrays, according to some implementations.
FIG. 2
is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the facility, according to some implementations.
FIG. 3
is a block diagram of a server configured to support operation of the facility, according to some implementations.
FIG. 4
is a block diagram of additional data that may be used by the server to support operation of the facility, according to some implementations.
FIG. 5
illustrates a block diagram of a tote, according to some implementations.
FIG. 6
illustrates a side view of an inventory location that includes an optical sensor array, according to some implementations.
FIG. 7
illustrates enlarged top and side views of a portion of the optical sensor array, according to some implementations.
FIG. 8
illustrates partitioned areas on the optical sensor array and footprints of items, according to some implementations.
FIG. 9
illustrates enlarged views of a portion of an optical sensor array using a light source adjacent to an optical sensor, according to some implementations.
FIG. 10
illustrates sensor image data, binary image data, and a contour of a footprint of an item, according to some implementations.
FIG. 11
depicts a flow diagram of a process for determining a quantity of items at an inventory location using sensor image data from the optical sensor array, according to some implementations.
FIG. 12
depicts a flow diagram of a process for generating information indicative of a footprint, according to some implementations.
FIG. 13
depicts a flow diagram of another process for determining a quantity of items at an inventory location, according to some implementations.
While implementations are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the implementations are not limited to the examples or figures described. It should be understood that the figures and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit implementations to the particular form disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
This disclosure describes systems and techniques for determining inventory levels of items stored at inventory locations in a materials handling facility (facility) or other setting. The facility may include, or have access to, an inventory management system. The inventory management system may be configured to maintain information about items, users, condition of the facility, and so forth. For example, the inventory management system may maintain data indicative of a number of items at a particular inventory location, what items a particular user is ordered to pick, how many items have been picked or placed at the inventory location, requests for assistance, environmental status of the facility, and so forth. Operation of the facility may be facilitated by using one or more sensors to acquire information about the facility.
Inventory levels may include information about the quantity and location of items present in the facility. For example, the inventory management system may keep track of four inventory locations in the facility where a particular item is stored and how many of that item are present at the four inventory locations.
Described in this disclosure are devices and techniques for gathering and processing data that may be used to generate information about inventory levels in the facility. An optical sensor array comprising a plurality of optical sensors is placed next to where items are stored in an inventory location. Each of the optical sensors may generate light intensity values indicative of how much light has reached them.
The optical sensor array may comprise the optical sensors arranged in a two-dimensional array, such as a rectangular grid pattern. Light from a light source falls upon the inventory location and may reach the optical sensors or interact with one or more items at the inventory location. The interaction of the one or more items with the light casts a shadow upon one or more of the optical sensors. Items may have transparency ranging from opaque to transparent. For example, a bag of flour may be opaque while a bottle of water may pass at least some light to the optical sensors below. The shadow may be detected as a change in the light intensity values generated by one or more of the optical sensors.
A relative arrangement of the optical sensors within the two-dimensional array is known. For example, where the two-dimensional array is in a grid array denoted by rows and columns, an arrangement of an optical sensor at coordinates (1, 1) (row, column) is known to be adjacent to another optical sensor at coordinates (1, 2).
In one example, the inventory location may comprise a shelf upon which items may rest, with the shelf including an optical sensor array. Light emitting diode (LED) lights above the shelf may emit light down towards the shelf and the optical sensors below.
Sensor image data is acquired from the optical sensor array. The sensor image data may comprise information indicative of a light intensity value determined by an optical sensor at particular coordinates. The sensor image data may be expressed using a variety of different data structures. For ease of illustration and discussion, the sensor image data is discussed and illustrated as an image or picture comprising pixels in a two-dimensional array. One pixel in the image may correspond to the output of one optical sensor.
The sensor image data is processed to generate footprint data. The footprint data is indicative of the shadow cast by the items onto the optical sensor array. By comparing the footprint data with previously stored information, a count of items at the inventory location corresponding to the optical sensor array or a portion thereof may be determined. For example, previously stored item data for a single bag of flour may indicate that the single bag of flour has a footprint area of 100 pixels. The sensor image data may be processed to determine footprint data indicating the bags of flour on the shelf have an area of 1000 pixels. By dividing the area of the footprint data by the area of a single item known to be stored on that shelf, a count of items may be determined. Continuing the example, the area of the footprint of the bags of flour may be 1000 pixels, divided by 100 pixels per bag results in a count of 10 bags on that shelf.
Footprint data may be acquired at different times, and differences between the footprint data may be used to determine when items have been added to or removed from an inventory location. For example, the sensor image data acquired at successive times may be compared to look for changes in the pixels between the sensor images. Should a change be detected, a count of “before” and “after” may be determined and used to update inventory levels of that inventory location.
In some implementations, a single optical sensor array may be associated with the storage of different items. Continuing the example above, the inventory location may comprise a shelf that incorporates the optical sensor array. The shelf may support a quantity of items “A” and items “B”. Groups of the different items may be arranged in “lanes” on the shelf. In this example, a group of items “A” may be on a left half of the optical sensor array while a group of items “B” may be on a right half. Partition area data may be used to designate a particular portion or section of the optical sensor array, the resulting sensor image data, or both, are associated with the different items. Continuing the example, the partition area data may indicate the area of the left half of the shelf is associated with items “A” while the area of the right half of the shelf is associated with items “B”. The partition area data may be associated with a particular item identifier, optical sensor array, inventory location, and so forth.
The system may maintain or access item data. The item data may include, but is not limited to, area of a footprint of a single item, absorption threshold data indicative of transparency of the item, shape of a contour of the footprint, and so forth. In some implementations, the item data may be acquired during intake of the item to the facility. For example, a sample of a single item may be processed at intake using an optical sensor array and light source to generate the footprint data of a single item.
In other implementations, data about the items already stowed at an inventory location may be used. In this implementation, an assumption may be made that the footprint for each individual item is the same. For example, all boxes of the same stock keeping unit (SKU) have the same shape and resulting footprint. Based on this assumption, per-item footprint data may be generated based on a total footprint of items at the inventory location divided by a count indicated by quantity data. The quantity data may be obtained from data acquired by other sensors, a user manually counting the number of items at the inventory location, and so forth. For example, a manual count may indicate that a quantity of ten items is present at an inventory location. Given a total detected footprint of this quantity having an area of 1000 pixels, the area for an individual item may be calculated as 100 pixels.
The optical sensor array and the sensor image data therefrom may be used to support other aspects of the facility. For example, the sensor image data may be processed to assess tidiness of the items at the inventory locations. Continuing the example, information indicative of several small footprints (rather than a single large one) at an inventory location may be indicative of a lane that needs to be faced or otherwise cleaned up.
By using the devices and techniques described herein, operation of the facility may be improved. Inventory levels of items at particular inventory locations may be maintained in real-time. As items are picked or placed at inventory locations, information about the changing inventory levels may be used to order additional items, direct pick or place personnel within the facility, and so forth. As a result, stockouts, wasted time due to users travelling to unstocked inventory locations, and so forth, may be reduced or eliminated, improving throughput and reducing operating costs of the facility.
Illustrative System
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An implementation of a materials handling system configured to store and manage inventory items is illustrated in . A materials handling facility (facility) comprises one or more physical structures or areas within which one or more items (), (), . . . , (Q) may be held. As used in this disclosure, letters in parenthesis such as “(Q)” indicate an integer value. The items comprise physical goods, such as books, pharmaceuticals, repair parts, electronic gear, and so forth.
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The facility may include one or more areas designated for different functions with regard to inventory handling. In this illustration, the facility includes a receiving area , a storage area , and a transition area .
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The receiving area may be configured to accept items , such as from suppliers, for intake into the facility . For example, the receiving area may include a loading dock at which trucks or other freight conveyances unload the items .
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The storage area is configured to store the items . The storage area may be arranged in various physical configurations. In one implementation, the storage area may include one or more aisles . The aisle may be configured with, or defined by, inventory locations on one or both sides of the aisle . The inventory locations may include one or more of shelves, racks, cases, cabinets, bins, floor locations, or other suitable storage mechanisms for holding, supporting, or storing the items . The inventory locations may be affixed to the floor or another portion of the facility's structure. The inventory locations may also be movable such that the arrangements of aisles may be reconfigurable. In some implementations, the inventory locations may be configured to move independently of an outside operator. For example, the inventory locations may comprise a rack with a power source and a motor, operable by a computing device to allow the rack to move from one location within the facility to another.
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One or more users (), (), . . . , (U) and totes (), (), . . . , (T) or other material handling apparatus may move within the facility . For example, the user may move about within the facility to pick or place the items in various inventory locations , placing them on the tote for ease of transport. The tote is configured to carry or otherwise transport one or more items . For example, the tote may include a basket, cart, bag, bin, and so forth. The tote is discussed in more detail below with regard to . In other implementations, other material handling apparatuses such as robots, forklifts, cranes, aerial drones, and so forth, may move about the facility picking, placing, or otherwise moving the items . For example, a robot may pick an item from a first inventory location () and move the item to a second inventory location ().
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FIG. 2
One or more sensors may be configured to acquire information in the facility . The sensors may include, but are not limited to, optical sensors, cameras, three-dimensional (3D) sensors, weight sensors, radio frequency (RF) receivers, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, vibration sensors, and so forth. The sensors may be stationary or mobile, relative to the facility . For example, the inventory locations may contain cameras configured to acquire images of picking or placement of items on shelves, of users in the facility , and so forth. In another example, the floor of the facility may include weight sensors configured to determine a weight of the user or other object thereupon. The sensors are discussed in more detail below with regard to .
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While the storage area is depicted as having one or more aisles , inventory locations storing the items , sensors , and so forth, it is understood that the receiving area , the transition area , or other areas of the facility may be similarly equipped. Furthermore, the arrangement of the various areas within the facility is depicted functionally rather than schematically. For example, in some implementations, multiple different receiving areas , storage areas , and transition areas may be interspersed rather than segregated in the facility .
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The facility may include, or be coupled to, an inventory management system . The inventory management system is configured to interact with users or devices such as sensors , robots, material handling equipment, computing devices, and so forth, in one or more of the receiving area , the storage area , or the transition area .
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During operation of the facility , the sensors may be configured to provide information suitable for tracking the location of objects within the facility , their movement, and so forth. For example, a series of images acquired by the camera may indicate removal of an item from a particular inventory location by the user and placement of the item on or at least partially within the tote . Objects may include, but are not limited to, items , users , totes , and so forth.
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FIG. 1
The facility may be configured to receive different kinds of items from various suppliers and to store them until a customer orders or retrieves one or more of the items . A general flow of items through the facility is indicated by the arrows of . Specifically, as illustrated in this example, items may be received from one or more suppliers, such as manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and so forth, at the receiving area . In various implementations, the items may include merchandise, commodities, perishables, or any suitable type of item , depending on the nature of the enterprise that operates the facility .
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Upon being received from a supplier at the receiving area , the items may be prepared for storage in the storage area . For example, in some implementations, items may be unpacked or otherwise rearranged. The inventory management system may include one or more software applications executing on a computer system to provide inventory management functions. These inventory management functions may include maintaining information indicative of the type, quantity, condition, cost, location, weight, or any other suitable parameters with respect to the items . The items may be stocked, managed, or dispensed in terms of countable units, individual units, or multiple units, such as packages, cartons, crates, pallets, or other suitable aggregations. Alternatively, some items , such as bulk products, commodities, and so forth, may be stored in continuous or arbitrarily divisible amounts that may not be inherently organized into countable units. Such items may be managed in terms of measurable quantity such as units of length, area, volume, weight, time, duration, or other dimensional properties characterized by units of measurement. Generally speaking, a quantity of an item may refer to either a countable number of individual or aggregate units of an item or a measurable amount of an item , as appropriate.
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After arriving through the receiving area , items may be stored within the storage area . In some implementations, like items may be stored or displayed together in the inventory locations such as in bins, on shelves, hanging from pegboards, and so forth. In this implementation, all items of a given kind are stored in one inventory location . In other implementations, like items may be stored in different inventory locations . For example, to optimize retrieval of certain items having frequent turnover within a large physical facility , those items may be stored in several different inventory locations to reduce congestion that might occur at a single inventory location .
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When a customer order specifying one or more items is received, or as a user progresses through the facility , the corresponding items may be selected or “picked” from the inventory locations containing those items . In various implementations, item picking may range from manual to completely automated picking. For example, in one implementation, a user may have a list of items they desire and may progress through the facility picking items from inventory locations within the storage area , and placing those items into a tote . In other implementations, employees of the facility may pick items using written or electronic pick lists derived from customer orders. These picked items may be placed into the tote as the employee progresses through the facility .
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After items have been picked, they may be processed at a transition area . The transition area may be any designated area within the facility where items are transitioned from one location to another or from one entity to another. For example, the transition area may be a packing station within the facility . When the item arrives at the transition area , the item may be transitioned from the storage area to the packing station. Information about the transition may be maintained by the inventory management system .
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In another example, if the items are departing the facility , a list of the items may be obtained and used by the inventory management system to transition responsibility for, or custody of, the items from the facility to another entity. For example, a carrier may accept the items for transport with that carrier accepting responsibility for the items indicated in the list. In another example, a user may purchase or rent the items and remove the items from the facility . During use of the facility , the user may move about the facility to perform various tasks, such as picking or placing the items in the inventory locations .
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The inventory management system may include or be in communication with an optical item management system . The optical item management system may be configured to access item data . The item data may comprise information about one or more of the items . The item data may include, but is not limited to, area data indicative of an area of the footprint or shadow of a single item , shape of the footprint of the single item , information indicative of a particular inventory location at which the item is stowed, and so forth.
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An item at an inventory location may exhibit a footprint with respect to an optical sensor array . The footprint is illustrated with a dotted line in this figure. In one implementation, the optical sensor array may be located below the item , such as within a shelf upon which the item is supported. The footprint may comprise a shadow of the item as cast onto the optical sensor array . The footprint may be of a single item or a group of items stored at the inventory location . The footprint may be the shadow of the item cast upon the optical sensor array regardless of position of the shadow with respect to the item . For example, where the optical sensor array is on a vertical wall behind the items , the footprint may comprise the shadow cast on that wall.
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The optical sensor array may comprise one or more sensors , such as optical sensors. The optical sensors may be arranged in a regular, repeating, or periodic two-dimensional arrangement such as a grid. Each of the optical sensors may be configured to provide output indicative of a light intensity value. For example, the optical sensors may generate an 8-bit value indicative of an intensity of light ranging from value 255 indicating maximum intensity to value 0 indicating minimum intensity. In another implementation, the light intensity value may be a 1-bit value of 0 or 1. Implementations of the optical sensor array are described below in more detail, such as with regard to .
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A single optical sensor array may be associated with several different items . For example, the inventory location may comprise a shelf that includes an optical sensor array . The shelf may have sufficient space to allow for storage of several different kinds of items . Items may be grouped together and placed within a partitioned area . For example, a left half of the shelf may store a first kind of item , while a right half of the shelf may store a second kind of item . The optical item management system may be configured to access partition data indicative of which portion of the optical sensor array , or an output thereof, is associated with a particular item . For example, the partitioned area may comprise a lane or row of identical items positioned one in front of another.
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The optical sensor array may generate sensor image data . The sensor image data may comprise a plurality of pixels. Each pixel may correspond to a position within the two-dimensional arrangement of the optical sensors and also comprises the light intensity value from the optical sensor at the position. In some implementations, the sensor image data may comprise a subset of the optical sensors within the optical sensor array . For example, the sensor image data may comprise information from the optical sensors within a particular partitioned area . In another example, sensor image data from an optical sensor array having a plurality of partitioned areas may be segmented into the respective partitioned areas for further processing.
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The optical item management system is configured to use the item data and the sensor image data to generate information associated with operation of the facility . For example, a quantity of items at a partitioned area may be determined. Item data that includes previously stored information such as an area of a footprint of an individual item may be retrieved. Using the sensor image data , an area of a current footprint may be determined. By dividing the area of the current footprint by the previously stored area of the footprint of an individual item , a count of the number of items within the partitioned area may be generated.
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The optical item management system may provide data to the inventory management system , and vice versa. For example, quantity data for the inventory location associated with the partitioned area may be provided to the inventory management system . In another example, the inventory management system may provide quantity data to the optical item management system such as from a manual count by the user or another sensor system such as a weight system. The optical item management system may be configured to generate at least a portion of the item data such as the footprint of an individual item using information from other systems. Continuing the example, a known quantity of 10 items at the partitioned area of the inventory location may be accessed by the optical item management system . Using the optical sensor array to generate sensor image data , a total footprint area of 1000 pixels may be determined. The optical item management system may calculate the per item area by dividing the total footprint by the known quantity. In this example, each item may be determined to have a footprint with an area of 100 pixels.
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In some implementations, items may be processed, such as at the receiving area , to generate at least a portion of the item data . For example, an item not previously stored by the inventory management system may be placed on an optical sensor array and a footprint may be generated as part of a process to receive the item into the facility . Continuing the example, the item data generated may include an area footprint, absorption threshold comprising data indicative of transparency of the item , and so forth.
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By using the optical item management system , the inventory management system is able to maintain item data such as inventory levels of a particular item at a particular inventory location without manual intervention by a user . As a result, the inventory management system may be better able to allocate resources and items to maintain the smooth operation of the facility . For example, based on the optical item management system , item data may be generated indicating that a particular inventory location is low on stock of a particular item . By using this information, the inventory management system may perform one or more actions including generating an order for additional items , generating instructions to transfer stock from elsewhere in the facility to replenish the particular inventory location , and so forth.
FIG. 2
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is a block diagram illustrating additional details of the facility , according to some implementations. The facility may be connected to one or more networks , which in turn connect to one or more servers . The network may include private networks such as an institutional or personal intranet, public networks such as the Internet, or a combination thereof. The network may utilize wired technologies (e.g., wires, fiber optic cables, and so forth), wireless technologies (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, acoustic, optical, and so forth), or other connection technologies. The network is representative of any type of communication network, including one or more of data networks or voice networks. The network may be implemented using wired infrastructure (e.g., copper cable, fiber optic cable, and so forth), a wireless infrastructure (e.g., cellular, microwave, satellite, and so forth), or other connection technologies.
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The servers may be configured to execute one or more modules or software applications associated with the inventory management system , the optical item management system , and so forth. While the servers are illustrated as being in a location outside of the facility , in other implementations, at least a portion of the servers may be located at the facility . The servers are discussed in more detail below with regard to .
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The users , the totes , or other objects in the facility may be equipped with one or more tags . The tags may be configured to emit a signal . In one implementation, the tag may be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag configured to emit a RF signal upon activation by an external signal. For example, the external signal may comprise a radio frequency signal or a magnetic field configured to energize or activate the RFID tag . In another implementation, the tag may comprise a transmitter and a power source configured to power the transmitter. For example, the tag may comprise a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitter and battery. In other implementations, the tag may use other techniques to indicate presence of the tag . For example, an acoustic tag may be configured to generate an ultrasonic signal , which is detected by corresponding acoustic receivers. In yet another implementation, the tag may be configured to emit an optical signal .
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The inventory management system may be configured to use the tags for one or more of identification of the object, determining a location of the object, and so forth. For example, the users may wear tags , the totes may have tags affixed, and so forth, which may be read and, based at least in part on signal strength, used to determine identity and location.
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Generally, the inventory management system or other systems associated with the facility may include any number and combination of input components, output components, and servers .
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The one or more sensors may be arranged at one or more locations within the facility . For example, the sensors may be mounted on or within a floor, wall, at a ceiling, at an inventory location , on a tote , may be carried or worn by a user , and so forth.
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The sensors may include one or more cameras (). The one or more cameras () may include imaging sensors configured to acquire images of a scene. The imaging sensors are configured to detect light in one or more wavelengths including, but not limited to, terahertz, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and so forth. The imaging sensors may comprise charge coupled devices (CCD), complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices, microbolometers, and so forth. The inventory management system may use image data acquired by the cameras () during operation of the facility . For example, the inventory management system may identify items , users , totes , and so forth, based at least in part on their appearance within the image data acquired by the cameras (). The cameras () may be mounted in various locations within the facility . For example, cameras () may be mounted overhead, on inventory locations , may be worn or carried by users , may be affixed to totes , and so forth.
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One or more 3D sensors () may also be included in the sensors . The 3D sensors () are configured to acquire spatial or 3D data, such as depth information, about objects within a field of view of a sensor . The 3D sensors () include range cameras, lidar systems, sonar systems, radar systems, structured light systems, stereo vision systems, optical interferometry systems, and so forth. The inventory management system may use the 3D data acquired by the 3D sensors () to identify objects, determine a location of an object in 3D real space, and so forth.
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One or more buttons () are configured to accept input from the user . The buttons () may comprise mechanical, capacitive, optical, or other mechanisms. For example, the buttons () may comprise mechanical switches configured to accept an applied force from a touch of the user to generate an input signal. The inventory management system may use data from the buttons () to receive information from the user . For example, the tote may be configured with a button () to accept input from the user and send information indicative of the input to the inventory management system .
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The sensors may include one or more touch sensors (). The touch sensors () may use resistive, capacitive, surface capacitance, projected capacitance, mutual capacitance, optical, Interpolating Force-Sensitive Resistance (IFSR), or other mechanisms to determine the position of a touch or near-touch. For example, the IFSR may comprise a material configured to change electrical resistance responsive to an applied force. The location within the material of that change in electrical resistance may indicate the position of the touch. The inventory management system may use data from the touch sensors () to receive information from the user . For example, the touch sensor () may be integrated with the tote to provide a touchscreen with which the user may select from a menu one or more particular items for picking, enter a manual count of items at an inventory location , and so forth.
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One or more microphones () may be configured to acquire information indicative of sound present in the environment. In some implementations, arrays of microphones () may be used. These arrays may implement beamforming techniques to provide for directionality of gain. The inventory management system may use the one or more microphones () to acquire information from acoustic tags , accept voice input from the users , determine the location of one or more users in the facility , determine ambient noise level, and so forth.
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One or more weight sensors () are configured to measure the weight of a load, such as the item , the user , the tote , and so forth. The weight sensors () may be configured to measure the weight of the load at one or more of the inventory locations , the tote , on the floor of the facility , and so forth. The weight sensors () may include one or more sensing mechanisms to determine the weight of a load. These sensing mechanisms may include piezoresistive devices, piezoelectric devices, capacitive devices, electromagnetic devices, optical devices, potentiometric devices, microelectromechanical devices, and so forth. The sensing mechanisms of weight sensors () may operate as transducers that generate one or more signals based on an applied force, such as that of the load due to gravity. The inventory management system may use the data acquired by the weight sensors () to identify an object, determine a location of an object, maintain shipping records, and so forth.
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The sensors may include one or more optical sensors (). The optical sensors () may be configured to provide data indicative of one or more of color or intensity of light impinging thereupon. For example, the optical sensor () may comprise a photodiode and associated circuitry configured to generate a signal or data indicative of an incident flux of photons. As described below, the optical sensor array may comprise a plurality of the optical sensors (). For example, the optical sensor array may comprise an array of ambient light sensors such as the ISL76683 as provided by Intersil Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., USA, or the MAX44009 as provided by Maxim Integrated of San Jose, Calif., USA. In other implementations, other optical sensors () may be used. The optical sensors () may be sensitive to one or more of infrared light, visible light, or ultraviolet light. For example, the optical sensors () may be sensitive to infrared light, and infrared light sources such as LEDs may provide illumination.
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The optical sensors () may include photodiodes, photoresistors, photovoltaic cells, quantum dot photoconductors, bolometers, pyroelectric infrared detectors, and so forth. For example, the optical sensor () may use germanium photodiodes to detect infrared light.
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One more radio frequency identification (RFID) readers (), near field communication (NFC) systems, and so forth, may be included as sensors . For example, the RFID readers () may be configured to read the RF tags . Information acquired by the RFID reader () may be used by the inventory management system to identify an object associated with the RF tag such as the item , the user , the tote , and so forth. For example, based on information from the RFID readers () detecting the RF tag at different times and RFID readers () having different locations in the facility , a velocity of the RF tag may be determined.
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One or more RF receivers () may also be included as sensors . In some implementations, the RF receivers () may be part of transceiver assemblies. The RF receivers () may be configured to acquire RF signals associated with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, 3G, 4G, LTE, or other wireless data transmission technologies. The RF receivers () may provide information associated with data transmitted via radio frequencies, signal strength of RF signals , and so forth. For example, information from the RF receivers () may be used by the inventory management system to determine a location of an RF source, such as a communication interface onboard the tote or carried by the user .
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The sensors may include one or more accelerometers (), which may be worn or carried by the user , mounted to the tote , and so forth. The accelerometers () may provide information such as the direction and magnitude of an imposed acceleration. Data such as rate of acceleration, determination of changes in direction, speed, and so forth, may be determined using the accelerometers ().
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A gyroscope () provides information indicative of rotation of an object affixed thereto. For example, the tote or other objects may be equipped with a gyroscope () to provide data indicative of a change in orientation of the object.
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A magnetometer () may be used to determine an orientation by measuring ambient magnetic fields, such as the terrestrial magnetic field. The magnetometer () may be worn or carried by the user , mounted to the tote , and so forth. For example, the magnetometer () mounted to the tote may act as a compass and provide information indicative of which direction the tote is oriented.
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The sensors may include other sensors (S) as well. For example, the other sensors (S) may include proximity sensors, ultrasonic rangefinders, thermometers, barometric sensors, hygrometers, biometric input devices including, but not limited to, fingerprint readers or palm scanners, and so forth. For example, the inventory management system may use information acquired from thermometers and hygrometers in the facility to direct the user to check on delicate items stored in a particular inventory location , which is overheating, too dry, too damp, and so forth.
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In some implementations, the camera () or other sensors may include hardware processors, memory, and other elements configured to perform various functions. For example, the cameras () may be configured to generate image data, send the image data to another device such as the server , and so forth.
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The facility may include one or more access points configured to establish one or more wireless networks. The access points may use Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, or other technologies to establish wireless communications between a device and the network . The wireless networks allow the devices to communicate with one or more of the sensors , the inventory management system , the optical sensor arrays , the tag , a communication device of the tote , or other devices.
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Output devices may also be provided in the facility . The output devices are configured to generate signals, which may be perceived by the user or detected by the sensors . In some implementations, the output devices may be used to provide illumination of the optical sensor array .
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Haptic output devices () are configured to provide a signal that results in a tactile sensation to the user . The haptic output devices () may use one or more mechanisms such as electrical stimulation or mechanical displacement to provide the signal. For example, the haptic output devices () may be configured to generate a modulated electrical signal, which produces an apparent tactile sensation in one or more fingers of the user . In another example, the haptic output devices () may comprise piezoelectric or rotary motor devices configured to provide a vibration, which may be felt by the user .
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One or more audio output devices () are configured to provide acoustic output. The acoustic output includes one or more of infrasonic sound, audible sound, or ultrasonic sound. The audio output devices () may use one or more mechanisms to generate the acoustic output. These mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, the following: voice coils, piezoelectric elements, magnetostrictive elements, electrostatic elements, and so forth. For example, a piezoelectric buzzer or a speaker may be used to provide acoustic output.
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The display devices () may be configured to provide output, which may be seen by the user or detected by a light-sensitive sensor such as a camera () or an optical sensor (). In some implementations, the display devices () may be configured to produce output in one or more of infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light. The output may be monochrome or color.
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The display devices () may be emissive, reflective, or both. An emissive display device (), such as using LEDs, is configured to emit light during operation. In comparison, a reflective display device (), such as using an electrophoretic element, relies on ambient light to present an image. Backlights or front lights may be used to illuminate non-emissive display devices () to provide visibility of the output in conditions where the ambient light levels are low.
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The display mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), spatial light modulators, electroluminescent displays, quantum dot displays, liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) displays, cholesteric displays, interferometric displays, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electrophoretic displays, and so forth. For example, the display device () may use a light source and an array of MEMS-controlled mirrors to selectively direct light from the light source to produce an image. These display mechanisms are configured to emit light, modulate incident light emitted from another source, or both. The display devices () may operate as panels, projectors, and so forth.
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The display devices () may be configured to present images. For example, the display device () may comprise an addressable display ()(). The addressable display ()() comprises elements that may be independently addressable to produce output, such as pixels. For example, the addressable display ()() may produce an image using a two-dimensional array of pixels.
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In some implementations, the display devices () may be configured to provide non-image data, such as text characters, colors, and so forth. For example, an addressable display ()() may comprise a segmented electrophoretic display device (), segmented LED, and so forth, and may be used to present information such as a SKU number, quantity on hand, and so forth. The display devices () may also be configurable to vary the color of the segment, such as using multicolor/multi-wavelength LED segments.
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The display devices () may include image projectors ()(). For example, the image projector ()() may be configured to project an image onto objects, illuminate at least a portion of an optical sensor array , and so forth. The image may be generated using MEMS, LCOS, lasers, and so forth.
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The display devices () may include a light array ()(). The light array ()() may comprise a plurality of discrete emissive elements configurable to emit light. The discrete emissive elements (or assemblies thereof) may be separated from one another by a distance such that, when image data of the light array ()() is acquired, one emissive element may be distinguished from another. For example, the light array ()() may comprise a plurality of infrared LEDs separated by at least 0.5 centimeters.
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Other display devices ()(D) may also be used in the facility . The display devices () may be located at various points within the facility . For example, the addressable displays ()() or the light arrays ()() may be located on inventory locations , totes , in or on the floor of the facility , and so forth.
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Other output devices (P) may also be present. For example, the other output devices (P) may include scent/odor dispensers, document printers, 3D printers or fabrication equipment, and so forth.
FIG. 3
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illustrates a block diagram of a server configured to support operation of the facility , according to some implementations. The server may be physically present at the facility , may be accessible by the network , or a combination of both. The server does not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. Common expressions associated with the server may include “on-demand computing”, “software as a service (SaaS)”, “platform computing”, “network-accessible platform”, “cloud services”, “data centers”, and so forth. Services provided by the server may be distributed across one or more physical or virtual devices.
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One or more power supplies are configured to provide electrical power suitable for operating the components in the server . The one or more power supplies may comprise batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, photovoltaic cells, wireless power receivers, conductive couplings suitable for attachment to an external power source such as provided by an electric utility, and so forth. The server may include one or more hardware processors (processors) configured to execute one or more stored instructions. The processors may comprise one or more cores. One or more clocks may provide information indicative of date, time, ticks, and so forth. For example, the processor may use data from the clock to associate a quantity of items with a particular point in time.
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The server may include one or more communication interfaces such as input/output (I/O) interfaces , network interfaces , and so forth. The communication interfaces enable the server , or components thereof, to communicate with other devices or components. The communication interfaces may include one or more I/O interfaces . The I/O interfaces may comprise Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), Serial Peripheral Interface bus (SPI), Universal Serial Bus (USB) as promulgated by the USB Implementers Forum, RS-232, and so forth.
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The I/O interface(s) may couple to one or more I/O devices . The I/O devices may include input devices such as one or more of a sensor , an optical sensor array , keyboard, mouse, scanner, and so forth. The I/O devices may also include output devices such as one or more of a display device (), printer, audio speakers, and so forth. In some embodiments, the I/O devices may be physically incorporated with the server or may be externally placed.
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The network interfaces are configured to provide communications between the server and other devices, such as the totes , routers, access points , and so forth. The network interfaces may include devices configured to couple to personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and so forth. For example, the network interfaces may include devices compatible with Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and so forth.
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The server may also include one or more busses or other internal communications hardware or software that allow for the transfer of data between the various modules and components of the server .
FIG. 3
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As shown in , the server includes one or more memories . The memory comprises one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media (CRSM). The CRSM may be any one or more of an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, a quantum storage medium, a mechanical computer storage medium, and so forth. The memory provides storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the operation of the server . A few example functional modules are shown stored in the memory , although the same functionality may alternatively be implemented in hardware, firmware, or as a system on a chip (SOC).
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The memory may include at least one operating system (OS) module . The OS module is configured to manage hardware resource devices such as the I/O interfaces , the I/O devices , the communication interfaces , and provide various services to applications or modules executing on the processors . The OS module may implement a variant of the FreeBSD operating system as promulgated by the FreeBSD Project; other UNIX or UNIX-like variants; a variation of the Linux operating system as promulgated by Linus Torvalds; the Windows operating system from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., USA; and so forth.
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Also stored in the memory may be a data store and one or more of the following modules. These modules may be executed as foreground applications, background tasks, daemons, and so forth. The data store may use a flat file, database, linked list, tree, executable code, script, or other data structure to store information. In some implementations, the data store or a portion of the data store may be distributed across one or more other devices including the servers , network attached storage devices, and so forth.
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A communication module may be configured to establish communications with one or more of the totes , sensors , display devices (), other servers , or other devices. The communications may be authenticated, encrypted, and so forth.
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The memory may store an inventory management module . The inventory management module is configured to provide the inventory functions as described herein with regard to the inventory management system . For example, the inventory management module may track items between different inventory locations , to and from the totes , and so forth.
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The inventory management module may include one or more of a data acquisition module or a processing module . The data acquisition module may be configured to acquire and access information associated with operation of the facility . For example, the data acquisition module may be configured to acquire sensor image data from one or more optical sensor arrays . This information may be stored in the data store as part of the sensor data .
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The processing module may be configured to process the sensor image data to generate information such as a quantity of items at an inventory location , change in quantity over time, and so forth. The processing module may also be configured to use one or more of item data , partition data , or sensor data to generate intermediate data . The intermediate data may be used to generate footprint data . The intermediate data is discussed in more detail below with regard to .
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Processing of the sensor data , intermediate data , or other data may be performed by the processing module or other modules implementing at least in part one or more of the following tools or techniques. In one implementation, processing described in this disclosure may be performed, at least in part, using one or more tools available in the OpenCV library as developed by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., USA; Willow Garage of Menlo Park, Calif., USA; and Itseez of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, with information available at www.opencv.org. In another implementation, functions available in the OKAO machine vision library as promulgated by Omron Corporation of Kyoto, Japan, may be used to process the sensor data .
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Techniques such as artificial neural networks (ANN), active appearance models (AAM), active shape models (ASM), principal component analysis PCA, and so forth, may also be used to process the sensor data , intermediate data , and so forth. For example, the ANN may be a trained using a supervised learning algorithm such that object identifiers are associated with images of particular objects within training images provided to the ANN. Once trained, the ANN may be provided with the sensor data such as the sensor image data , image data from a camera (), and so forth, and may provide as output the object identifier.
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Operation of the processing module and the various types of data involved are described in more detail below with regard to .
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Other modules may also be present in the memory as well as other data in the data store . For example, the other modules may include an accounting module while the other data may include billing data. The accounting module may be configured to assess charges to accounts associated with particular users or other entities, while the billing data may include information such as payment account numbers.
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is a block diagram of additional data that may be used by the server to support operation of the facility , according to some implementations. As described above with regard to , the inventory management module may use the sensor image data to generate other information such as a quantity on hand of a particular item .
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The processing module may access item data . The item data may include an item identifier . The item identifier may be used to distinguish one item from another. For example, the item identifier may include a SKU, Universal Product Code (UPC) number, and so forth. The items that are of the same type may be referred to by the same item identifier . For example, one-pound bags of “Road Runner” brand flour may be represented by the item identifier value of “983901181”.
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The item data may include one or more of area data , shape data , or absorption threshold data . The area data may comprise information indicative of an area of a footprint of the item . For example, the area data may comprise an area as measured in pixels, square centimeters, and so forth. The area data may be for a single item , or a package or kit of objects considered to be a single item .
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The shape data comprises information indicative of the shape of the footprint . The shape data may comprise information indicative of one or more contours of the footprint . For example, the shape data may comprise information indicating that the footprint of the item is a rectangle measuring three pixels by seven pixels.
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The absorption threshold data provides information indicative of how transparent the item is to the light detected by the optical sensor array . For example, the absorption threshold data may comprise a 75percentile value of the light intensity values of the pixels that are within a contour of the footprint of the single item . The absorption threshold data may be used to generate intermediate data , such as binary image data described below. Generation of the absorption threshold data is discussed below in more detail.
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The item data may include one or more inventory location identifiers (IDs) . The inventory location IDs are indicative of a particular inventory location that is designated for stowage of the item . The item data may also include quantity data . The quantity data may comprise a count or value indicative of a number of items . The count may be an actual or estimated value. The quantity data may be associated with a particular inventory location ID , such as when the same item is stowed at several different inventory locations .
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The partition data may include one or more of a partition identifier , inventory location ID , sensor identifier , or partition coordinates . As described above, in some implementations, a single optical sensor array may service several different kinds of items , with each item being associated with a different item identifier . For example, the optical sensor array may be incorporated into a shelf of the inventory location . Three different items (), (), and () may be stored on that same shelf serviced by a single optical sensor array , with each item in a partitioned area (), (), (), respectively.
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The partition identifier comprises data indicative of a particular partition area . The partition identifier may be unique in the context of a particular inventory location , aisle , facility , or globally across multiple facilities . The inventory location ID included in the partition data associates the particular partition identifier with a particular inventory location . The particular inventory location may then be associated with the item identifier indicative of the items stored therein.
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The sensor identifier comprises data indicative of a particular optical sensor array . The sensor identifier may be unique in the context of a particular inventory location , aisle , facility , or globally across multiple facilities .
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The partition coordinates specify an area that encompasses the partition area . For example, the partition coordinates may specify two or more of corners of a rectangular partitioned area .
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The sensor data may be acquired by one or more the sensors , the optical sensor array , and so forth. For example, the weight sensors () may generate sensor data indicative of weight. The sensor data may include the sensor image data .
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The sensor image data may include one or more of the sensor identifier , a timestamp , and one or more pixels . The sensor identifier indicates the one or more optical sensor arrays that generated the sensor image data . The timestamp may be indicative of a date or time at which the sensor image data was acquired. The pixels may comprise data acquired from one or more of the optical sensors (). In one implementation, a single optical sensor () may be represented by a single pixel . Each pixel may include information indicative of a light intensity value . The light intensity value provides information indicative of a flux of light impinging upon the optical sensor () at a particular time. For example, the light intensity value may comprise an 8 or 16-bit value produced by the optical sensor (). The pixel may also include information indicative of a coordinate or relative position of the pixel with respect to other pixels or an origin point. For example, the coordinates may indicate that a particular pixel is at an intersection of a particular row and column. The coordinates may express a relative position within the two-dimensional arrangement of the optical sensor array . In one implementation, the sensor image data may be represented as a two-dimensional matrix.
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In some implementations, the pixels may also include color or spectral data. For example, each pixel may have a plurality of light intensity values , with each of the light intensity values indicative of an intensity of a different wavelength or range of wavelengths of light.
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The processing module may access the item data , the partition data , and the sensor data and generate intermediate data . The processing module may access threshold data and generate binary image data from the sensor image data .
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The threshold data may be used to distinguish whether a pixel in the resulting binary image data will be designated as a binary “0” value or binary “1” value. For example, the binary image data may be generated by comparing the light intensity value of each pixel with a threshold value. In this example, the threshold value may be an 8-bit value of “50”. The pixels having a light intensity value below 50 may result in a pixel in the binary image data having a binary value of “1”. In other implementations, the opposite values may be used, such as values below the threshold value being assigned a binary value of “0”.
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By thresholding in this fashion, the resulting binary image data may be more easily processed to determine edges or contours. For example, the OpenCV function “threshold” may be used to generate the binary image data . In other implementations, other thresholding techniques may be used.
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The processing module may be configured to generate contour data using the binary image data . The contour data may provide information indicative of a shape having a closed or complete perimeter. In some implementations, the contour data may be indicative of a curve or open perimeter. For example, an edge appearing in the footprint may be incomplete. This may occur due to an optical anomaly, erroneous reading by an optical sensor (), and so forth. The processing module may be configured to close an open perimeter.
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The contour data may comprise the coordinates of the pixels within the binary image data having a binary value of “1” or “0”. In other implementations, the contour data may comprise a vector value, matrix of values, or other information representative of the perimeter of a footprint . For example, the OpenCV function “FindContours” may be used to generate the contour data .
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In some implementations, the binary image data may be further processed to reduce noise, simplify later processing, and so forth. For example, an erosion function may be applied to the binary image data . In one implementation where the contour is represented by binary “1” s, in the binary image data , the erosion function may be configured to set to a value of “0” those pixels adjacent to, but not part of, a contour. For example, the OpenCV function “erode” may be used. In some implementations, the erosion may use a 1 pixel neighborhood boundary. Second binary image data may be generated as a result of this processing, or the original binary image data may be modified.
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The intermediate data may also comprise differential data . The differential data may be indicative of a change or difference between sensor image data at different times. For example, the differential data may result from subtraction of one binary image from another, one sensor image from another, and so forth. In other implementations, the differential data may comprise data indicative of results of a comparison. For example, the differential data may indicate whether or not a change has occurred.
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The footprint data may comprise one or more of a partition identifier , area data , shape data , perimeter data , or other information generated from or indicative of the footprint . The partition identifier indicates the particular partition data associated with the footprint . For example, a particular footprint may be associated with a particular partition area and the item stowed thereby. The area data indicates an area of the footprint . In one implementation, the area data may comprise an area of the contour expressed by the contour data . For example, the OpenCV function “contourArea” may be used to generate the area data .
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The shape data may comprise information indicative of the shape of the footprint . For example, the shape data may comprise information indicating the footprint of the item is a rectangle measuring 3 pixels by 7 pixels. In some implementations, the OpenCV function “cv2.approxPolyDP” may be used to determine regular polygons, the function “houghcircle” to determine a circle, and so forth, in the sensor image data .
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The perimeter data may comprise information indicative of a perimeter of one or more contours within the footprint . The perimeter data may include perimeter length, indicative of a distance along an edge of the contour. For example, the perimeter data may comprise information indicating the footprint includes four contours, each having a perimeter length of 4 pixels, and having a total perimeter length of 16 pixels.
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The item data may provide information about an individual item , while the footprint data comprises information about one or more of the items as detected by the optical sensor array . The processing module may use the information in the data store to generate additional information such as quantity data . For example, the area value expressed by the area data (for a footprint that may include a plurality of an item ) may be divided by the area value expressed by the area data (for a footprint of a single item ) to determine the quantity data .
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In another implementation, the processing module may determine a total perimeter length of a total area bounded by one or more contours. For example, the footprint may have four discrete contours, each with a perimeter length of 4 pixels. An item perimeter length of a single item may be retrieved. Continuing the example, a single item may be determined during intake as having a perimeter length of 4 pixels. Data indicative of a relationship, such as an algorithm expressing a relationship between perimeter length and number of items may be accessed. The quantity data may be determined using the total perimeter length and the relationship. Continuing the example, a perimeter of 6 pixels may be determined to provide quantity data assuming the items are square and the squares are adjacent to one another. In one implementation, the perimeter may be determined using the “cv2.arcLength( )” function of OpenCV.
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In one implementation, the processing module may generate other information about the items stowed at the inventory location . For example, where the contour data indicates a plurality of footprints such as where items in the partitioned area are arranged in a haphazard fashion, an alert may be provided to a user of the facility indicating that these items should be faced or rearranged into a tidy configuration.
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In another implementation, the processing module may generate information indicating that an item has been misplaced in an incorrect partitioned area . For example, the shape data may be compared with the shape data . Based on a mismatch, it may be determined an item has been incorrectly stowed in the wrong partitioned area .
FIG. 5
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is a block diagram of the tote , according to some implementations. The tote may include several form factors such as a wheeled cart, hand-carried cart, bag, and so forth. For example, the tote may include a plurality of wheels enabling the tote to be moved within the facility .
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In some implementations, the tote may have identifiers, tags , or other indicia thereupon. The tag may be affixed to, integral with, or otherwise associated with the tote . For example, a machine-readable optical code, such as a barcode, may be affixed to a side of the tote .
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The tote may comprise a structure . The structure may include components comprising one or more of metal, plastic, composite materials, ceramic, wood, and so forth. For example, the structure may comprise a carbon-fiber frame. One or more inventory locations may be integral with, or attached to, the structure . For example, the structure may comprise a frame with wheels while the inventory location comprises a basket to hold one or more items during use.
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The tote may include a power supply . The power supply is configured to provide electrical power suitable for operating the components in the tote or coupled thereto. For example, the power supply may comprise batteries, capacitors, fuel cells, photovoltaic cells, wireless power receivers, conductive couplings suitable for attachment to an external power source, and so forth.
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The tote may include one or more hardware processors (processors) configured to execute one or more stored instructions. The processors may comprise one or more cores. One or more clocks may provide information indicative of date, time, ticks, and so forth. For example, the processor may use data from the clock to trigger a preprogrammed action, generate a timestamp for sensor data acquired by the sensors onboard the tote , and so forth.
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In some implementations, the tote may include one or more motors or other motive devices. The motor may be configured to move or assist the user in moving the tote from one location to another within the facility . For example, in one implementation, the tote may comprise a wheeled vehicle able to move within the facility , such as from one aisle to another.
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The tote may include one or more communication interfaces such as I/O interfaces , network interfaces , and so forth. The communication interfaces enable the tote , or components thereof, to communicate with other devices or components. The communication interfaces may include one or more I/O interfaces . The I/O interfaces may comprise I2C, SPI, USB, RS-232, and so forth.
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The I/O interface(s) may couple to one or more I/O devices . The I/O devices may include one or more of the input devices such as the sensors . As described above, the sensors may include cameras (), buttons (), touch sensors (), accelerometers (), gyroscopes (), magnetometers (), and so forth.
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The I/O devices may include the output devices such as the haptic output devices (), audio output devices (), display devices (), and so forth. For example, the tote may comprise a display device () configured to present a graphical user interface (GUI) to the user . In some embodiments, the I/O devices may be physically incorporated with the tote or may be externally placed.
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The network interfaces are configured to provide communications between the tote and other devices, such as other totes , routers, access points , servers , and so forth. The network interfaces may include devices configured to couple to PANs, LANs, WANs, and so forth. For example, the network interfaces may include devices compatible with Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, LTE, and so forth.
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The tote may also include one or more busses or other internal communications hardware or software that allow for the transfer of data between the various modules and components of the tote .
FIG. 5
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As shown in , the tote includes one or more memories . The memory comprises one or more CRSM as described above with regard to memory on server . The memory provides storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data for the operation of the tote . A few example functional modules are shown stored in the memory , although the same functionality may alternatively be implemented in hardware, firmware, or as a SOC.
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The memory may include at least one OS module . The OS module is configured to manage hardware resource devices such as the I/O interfaces , the I/O devices , the communication interfaces , and provide various services to applications or modules executing on the processors . The OS module may implement a variant of the FreeBSD operating system as promulgated by the FreeBSD Project; other UNIX or UNIX-like variants; a variation of the Linux operating system, such as Android as promulgated by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., USA. Other OS modules may be used, such as the Windows operating system from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., USA; the LynxOS from LynuxWorks of San Jose, Calif., USA; and so forth.
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One or more of the following modules may also be stored in the memory . These modules may be executed as foreground applications, background tasks, daemons, and so forth. The data store may use a flat file, database, linked list, tree, executable code, script, or other data structure to store information. In some implementations, the data store or a portion of the data store may be distributed across one or more other devices including servers , network attached storage devices, and so forth.
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A communication module may be configured to establish communications with one or more of the sensors , servers , or other devices. The communications may be authenticated, encrypted, and so forth.
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The memory may also store a tote item tracking module . The tote item tracking module is configured to maintain a tote item identifier list . The tote item identifier list may comprise data indicating one or more items associated with the tote . For example, the tote item tracking module may receive input from a user by way of a touch screen display with which the user may enter information indicative of the item placed in the tote . In another example, the tote item tracking module may receive input from one or more I/O devices , such as the weight sensor (), an RFID reader (), and so forth. The tote item tracking module may send the list of items to the inventory management system . The tote item tracking module may also be configured to receive information from the inventory management system . For example, a list of items to be picked may be presented within a user interface on the display device () of the tote .
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A unique identifier may also be stored in the memory . In some implementations, the unique identifier may be stored in rewritable memory, write-once-read-only memory, and so forth. For example, the unique identifier may be burned into a one-time programmable, non-volatile memory, such as a programmable read-only memory (PROM). In some implementations, the unique identifier may be part of a communication interface . For example, the unique identifier may comprise a media access control (MAC) address associated with a Bluetooth interface. The communication module , the tote item tracking module , or other modules may use the unique identifier when communicating with other devices such as the server . For example, the unique identifier may be used to identify data sent by the tote .
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The memory may include a display module . The display module may be configured to present information, such as information received from the one or more servers or generated onboard the tote . For example, the display module may comprise a markup language rendering engine configured to process user interface data received from the server to generate a user interface. In some implementations, the display module may also process input made to the user interface by way of input devices, such as the sensors .
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Other modules may also be stored within the memory . In one implementation, a data handler module may be configured to generate data indicative of the user , the tote , or another of one or more objects in range of the sensors of the tote . For example, the data handler module may be configured to acquire data from one or more sensors of the tote and generate sensor data . For example, the sensor data may comprise information from the magnetometer () indicative of orientation of the structure . The sensor data may be stored in the data store and may be sent to the server for further processing. Other data may also be stored within the data store . For example, configuration settings, pre-stored activation sequences, user interface preferences, item data , and so forth, may be stored within the data store .
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The other modules may also include a user authentication module, which may be configured to receive input and authenticate or identify a particular user . For example, the user may enter a personal identification number (PIN) or may provide a fingerprint to a fingerprint reader to establish their identity.
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illustrates a side view of an inventory location that includes an optical sensor array , according to some implementations. In this illustration, the inventory location comprises a shelf on a rack.
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Above the shelf is a light source , configured to emit light . The light source may comprise one or more of LEDs, quantum dots, electroluminescent devices, incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, and so forth. The light source may be configured to emit light in one or more wavelengths including, but not limited to, infrared, visible, or ultraviolet. In some implementations, to reduce dazzling the eyes of the user , the light source may be configured to emit infrared light .
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The light source emits light that is detectable by at least a portion of the optical sensors () in the optical sensor array . In some implementations, the light source may be located elsewhere with respect to the optical sensor array . For example, the light source may comprise an overhead light fixture that provides general illumination to the inventory location .
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The shelf may incorporate the optical sensor array as illustrated in . For example, the shelf may comprise a structure such as a piece of glass or plastic that is transparent to the wavelengths of light . The items may rest upon the structure, as illustrated here, or may hang above the structure, such as from a peg or arm.
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As a result of the light impinging upon the item , a shadow is cast upon at least a portion of the optical sensor array . The intensity of light within the shadow may be dependent upon the transparency of the item . For example, a clear glass bottle holding water may cast a light shadow , while a black plastic bottle holding hydrogen peroxide may cast a very dark shadow .
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The optical sensor array is configured to provide sensor image data to the inventory management module . The sensor image data may then be processed by the processing module to generate information about the inventory location , such as a quantity of items stowed thereby.
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The light source may be configurable to modulate the light . The light may be modulated such that the optical sensor array is able to filter out or disregard other light sources and obtain sensor image data based on the light coming from the known position of the light source . Modulation of light may include, but is not limited to, carrier modulation, amplitude shift keying, pulse position modulation, Manchester encoding, and so forth. The optical sensor array may be configured to process the data from the optical sensors () to generate light intensity values for the light having the predetermined modulation. For example, data values associated with non-modulated light may be disregarded or filtered out.
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In another implementation, operation of the light source and the optical sensor array may be time synchronized. For example, the light source may be configured to emit light at a particular time and for a particular duration, such as 60 milliseconds (ms). The optical sensor array may be configured to acquire data from the optical sensors () while the light source is emitting light . In some implementations, first sensor image data () acquired while the light source is active may be compared with second sensor image data () acquired while the light source is inactive. A comparison may be made between the first sensor image data () and the second sensor image data () to filter out or otherwise calibrate the system for ambient light.
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is an illustration of the optical sensor array , according to some implementations. In this illustration, a top view and a side view are presented.
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As shown by the top view , the optical sensor array may comprise a plurality of optical sensors (). The optical sensors () may be arranged in a two-dimensional arrangement, such as the grid arrangement depicted here. The arrangement shown here comprises an array with an inter-sensor distance that is approximately the same along the X and Y axes. For example, the inter-sensor distance may be at least 5 millimeters (mm) between the centers or the edges of the optical sensors (). In some implementations such as described below with regard to , the inter-sensor distance may be representative of a distance between optical elements .
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In other implementations, other arrangements of the optical sensors () may be used. For example, the arrangement may comprise a triangular space filling array with an optical sensor () located at each vertex.
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The distribution or arrangement of the optical sensors () may be asymmetrical. In one implementation, the inter-sensor distance may be varied. For example, a central region of the optical sensor array may be sparsely populated with optical sensors () such that the inter-sensor distance along the X and Y axes is greater than side regions flanking the central region. Within the side regions, the inter-sensor distance may be lesser than that within the central region where the optical sensors () are sparsely populated.
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For illustrative purposes, an item outline of an item is depicted in the top view . The item outline and corresponding footprint are discussed in more detail below.
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A controller may be coupled to the optical sensors () of the optical sensor array . The controller may comprise a microcontroller or other device configured to read out or otherwise acquire information from the optical sensors (). The controller may be configured to use the input from the optical sensors () to generate the sensor image data .
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The side view depicts additional components of the optical sensor array . In some implementations, the optical sensors () may be optically coupled to one or more optical element devices. The optical elements may comprise optical waveguides, optical fibers, mirrors, lenses, or other devices configured to direct, focus, control, or distribute at least a portion of incident light to one or more of the optical sensors (). The optical elements may be arranged in the two-dimensional arrangement, while the optical sensors () may be otherwise arranged. For example, in one implementation, the optical sensors () may be located along an edge of the optical sensor array , and the optical elements may comprise optical fibers mounted and configured as an array to gather the light and direct the light to the optical sensors ().
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As described above, in some implementations, a structure may provide physical support for an item , may protect the optical sensor array from damage, and so forth. The structure may comprise a material transmissive to the wavelengths of light that are detectable by the optical sensors (). For example, the structure may comprise glass or plastic that is transparent or translucent. In some implementations, the structure may comprise a mesh or a material with holes through which light may pass.
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In the implementation depicted here, the item rests upon the structure . In other implementations, the item may be supported or suspended from above the structure . The footprint may comprise the shadow cast by the hanging items . For example, the items may be hanging from a peg or a hook.
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In the implementation depicted here, the optical sensor array is located below the item . The optical sensors () detect light from above the structure , such as passing through the shelf. In other implementations, the optical sensor array may be located in other positions relative to the item , such as above or behind. For example, the light source and the optical sensor array depicted in may be transposed, such that the light beneath the structure is emitted and directed upward toward the optical sensor array . The footprint may comprise the shadow cast by the light source below onto the optical sensor array above. In another example, the optical sensor array may be arranged vertically, such as to the rear or one side of the partitioned area , to gather data about height of items .
FIG. 8
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is an illustration of partitioned areas on the optical sensor array and footprints of items , according to some implementations. As described above, in some implementations, a single optical sensor array may service an inventory location that contains several different kinds of items . Partition data may be generated that designates a particular portion or area of the optical sensor array or of the sensor image data as being associated with a particular partitioned area .
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In this illustration, the optical sensor array has been partitioned into a first partitioned area () and a second partitioned area (). A buffer zone may be provided to improve distinction between the partitioned areas . The processing module may access the partition data for each of the partitioned areas and determine the item identifier associated with each. Based on the item identifier , the processing module may retrieve item data , such as area data for an individual item . As depicted here, the area data is indicative of an area of a single item . The area data for different items may differ. For example, the area data () for item () is 2 pixels, while the area data () for the item () is 8 pixels.
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In comparison, the area data comprises the total area of the quantity of the item in the partitioned area . In some implementations, the area data may comprise a contiguous footprint , such as when the items are adjacent to one another as depicted here. In other implementations, the area data may comprise a sum of the individual footprints of the items within the partitioned area . The footprint corresponding to the area data is indicated here by a dotted line around the perimeter of the items .
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In another implementation, the optical sensor array may be mounted to gather footprint data of a stack of items. For example, the optical sensor array may be located on a side wall or partition separating the partitioned area () from (). The light source may be arranged on the opposite side of the partitioned area . In this implementation, the footprint and corresponding area data may be used to determine a quantity of items that are stacked one upon another.
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A plurality of optical sensor arrays may be used in conjunction with the same inventory location , partitioned area , and so forth. For example, two or more optical sensor arrays mounted perpendicular to one another may be used to generate two sets of footprint data of items . Based at least in part on this footprint data, a volume occupied by the items may be determined, and the quantity determined.
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As described above, the processing module may calculate quantity data for a particular partitioned area at a particular inventory location . The calculation may comprise dividing the area data by the area data , and rounding the resulting value to a nearest integer value. The integer value may then be used as the quantity data .
FIG. 9
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illustrates another implementation of an optical sensor array . This implementation may be utilized in situations such as where the inventory location is open from above or an overhead light source is otherwise infeasible for design, aesthetic, or engineering reasons.
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In this implementation, the light source is included in the optical sensor array . For example, the light sources may comprise LEDs that are configured to emit light toward where the item may be stowed. The light may be reflected from the item , the reflected light may be detected by one or more of the optical sensors (). In some implementations, the light may be distributed from the light source using an optical waveguide, fiber optic fibers, or other features.
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In one implementation, the optical sensor array may comprise a plurality of optical proximity sensors. The optical proximity sensors may use data indicative of proximity of an object such as the item to generate the sensor image data .
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In other implementations, non-optical proximity sensors may be used. For example, an array of capacitive proximity sensors may be used to generate the sensor image data .
FIG. 10
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illustrates sensor image data , binary image data , and a contour of a footprint of an item , according to some implementations.
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As described above, the sensor image data may comprise information about a plurality of pixels . The pixels provide information about the light intensity value at a particular set of coordinates . For illustrative purposes only, and not by way of limitation, the pixels are depicted in this figure as being spaced with regard to one another at the inter-sensor distance . However, during processing of the sensor image data , the pixels may be visualized or processed as if they were immediately adjacent one another with no intervening inter-sensor distance .
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Presence of the item adjacent to the optical sensor array as illuminated by the light will cast a shadow upon the optical sensors () in the optical sensor array . In this illustration, low light intensity value pixels are depicted as being those pixels for which the item completely covers or obscures the light . In this illustration, the item outline is circular, and as a result, some of the optical sensors () are only partially covered, allowing more of the light to impinge thereupon. These partially obscured pixels thus exhibit a medium light intensity value . In comparison, the unobscured pixels thus exhibit a high light intensity value .
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In some implementations, the sensor image data may be visualized as a grayscale image. As described above, the processing module may generate binary image data from the sensor image data . For example, the threshold value may be 200. As a result of the thresholding process, the pixels having a light intensity value of less than or equal to 200 may then be set to a binary “1”.
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The processing module may process the binary image data to determine the contour data . The contour data may comprise information about one or more contours within the binary image data . For example, a single contour is depicted in . The processing module may also determine an area of the contour . For a single item , such as determined during the intake process, the area encompassed by the contour may be stored as the area data . For example, the area data for the contour depicted may be 9 pixels.
Illustrative Processes
FIG. 11
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depicts a flow diagram of a process for determining a quantity of items at an inventory location using sensor image data from the optical sensor array , according to some implementations. In some implementations, the process may be implemented at least in part by the inventory management module . In different implementations, one or more of the blocks described below may be omitted, the sequence of the process using these blocks may vary from that depicted, and so forth.
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Block accesses sensor image data obtained from optical sensors () within a subset or a partitioned area of the optical sensor array . For example, the sensor image data may be divided or segregated into subsets according to the partitioned area . The portion of the sensor image data corresponding to the partitioned area may be processed as described herein. Pixels outside of the partitioned area may be disregarded.
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Block accesses item data associated with the partitioned area . For example, the partition data may indicate an inventory location ID . The item data may be retrieved using the inventory location ID to determine the item identifier associated with the items stored therein.
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Block determines one or more contours in the sensor image data of the partitioned area . For example, the processing module may use the techniques described above such as thresholding the sensor image data to generate binary image data . The binary image data may then be processed to determine the contour data indicative of one or more contours present in the sensor image data .
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Block determines footprint data using the one or more contours . For example, processing module may calculate the area data using the one or more contours .
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Block determines quantity data indicative of a quantity of the items at the inventory location based on the footprint data and the item data . The quantity data may be an estimate of the quantity of the item . The determination of the quantity data may include blocks through described next.
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Block determines a first area value indicative of a total area bounded by the one or more contours of the footprint . For example, the first area value may comprise a sum of the areas of the individual items in the partitioned area of the inventory location .
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Block accesses a second area value indicative of a total area of an individual item . For example, the second area value may comprise information obtained during an intake processing and registration of the item with the facility .
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Block generates a quotient value by dividing first area value by second area value.
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Block rounds the quotient value to an integer value. For example, the quotient value may be rounded to the nearest whole number.
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Block stores the integer value as the quantity data .
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Changes to the quantity data may be determined by comparing quantity data acquired at different times. For example, first quantity data () may be determined at a first time. Second quantity data () may be determined at a second time later than the first time. A variance indicative of a change in the quantity of items at the inventory location may be determined by subtracting the first quantity data () from the second quantity data ().
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The process to determine the quantity data may be determined at predetermined time intervals, such as every 200 ms as indicated by the clock . In another implementation, the quantity data may be determined and variance calculated after a change between subsequently acquired sensor image data meet or exceed a threshold value. For example, the processing module may compare the first sensor image data () with the second sensor image data (). When the values of a threshold number of pixels have exceeded a threshold change level, a change may be determined to have occurred at the inventory location , and the variance may be calculated.
FIG. 12
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depicts a flow diagram of a process for generating information indicative of a footprint , such as item data or footprint data , according to some implementations. In some implementations, the process may be implemented at least in part by the inventory management module . In different implementations, one or more of the blocks described below may be omitted, the sequence of the process using these blocks may vary from that depicted, and so forth.
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The process depicted may be used to generate item data such as for an item being added to the facility . In particular, the process described by blocks through may be implemented to generate item data .
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The process may also be used to generate footprint data for items that have been previously processed to generate item data . In particular, the process described by blocks - and - may be implemented to generate the footprint data .
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Block generates light intensity values from the plurality of optical sensors (). For example, the controller may receive from or read out signals from the individual optical sensors ().
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Block generates sensor image data . As described above, the sensor image data may comprise a plurality of pixels . Each pixel in turn may comprise the light intensity value at a particular relative position in the two-dimensional arrangement of the optical sensors ().
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Block accesses the sensor image data comprising the plurality of pixels . For example, the sensor image data may be retrieved from the data store .
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Block generates, using a threshold light intensity value, a first binary image. For example, the processing module may access the threshold value and generate first binary image data (). In some implementations, the threshold value may be manually determined such as from input by a programmer or user . In other implementations, the threshold value may be determined such as by applying one or more mathematical operations to the light intensity values . For example, the threshold value may comprise a statistical mode indicating an intensity value that occurs most frequently within the sensor image data .
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The processing module may generate the first binary image from the plurality of pixels , wherein pixels in the first binary image are assigned a value of “1” when the light intensity value is less than or equal to the threshold value and “0” when the light intensity value is greater than the threshold value.
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Block determines one or more contours present in the first binary image. In some implementations, the determination may be made as to the largest contour present in the first binary image. For example, the processing module may use the “findContour” function of OpenCV to generate the contour data from the first binary image data (). The contour having one or more of the largest area, largest perimeter, greatest width, greatest length, and so forth, may be designated as a largest contour . For example, the contour having the greatest area expressed as a sum of pixels within the boundaries of the contour may be designated as the largest contour .
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Block may apply one or more filters or functions to the first binary image. In one implementation, an erode or erosion function such as the “erode” function of OpenCV may be applied to the first binary image data (). The erode function may be configured to set to a value of “0” those pixels in the first binary image adjacent to, but not part of, the first largest contour . For example, the erode function may be used to reduce noise in the binary image data .
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Block determines an absorption threshold based on the light intensity values from the plurality of pixels within the first largest contour . As described above, the absorption threshold is indicative of a transparency of an item . In one implementation, percentiles for the light intensity values for the pixels within the first largest contour may be determined. The absorption threshold data may comprise the light intensity value corresponding to the 75percentile of the light intensity values for the pixels within the first largest contour . In some implementations, the percentile used may vary based at least in part on an item type or other item data .
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Block generates, using the absorption threshold data , second binary image data () from the sensor image data . The second binary image data () may thus be representative of the pixels that are within the 75percentile.
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The second binary image may be generated from the plurality of pixels , wherein the pixels in the second binary image have a value of “1” when the light intensity value is less than or equal to the absorption threshold and “0” when the light intensity value is greater than the absorption threshold.
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Block determines a second largest contour () within the second binary image. For example, as above with regard to block , the “findContour” function may be used to determine the contour within the second binary image data ().
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In some implementations where the process is being used for an item for which item data is available, the absorption threshold data may be retrieved from the item data . As described above, the absorption threshold data is indicative of transparency of an item . The second binary image data () may then result from a comparison of the light intensity values with respect to the value of the absorption threshold data .
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Block generates area data or indicative of an area of the second largest contour (). For example, the OpenCV function “contourArea” may be used to process the second binary image data () to generate the area data or . As described above, the area data may be indicated in terms of pixels, units of linear measurement, and so forth.
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Block generates shape data or indicative of a shape of the second largest contour (). For example, the contour data of the second binary image data () may be processed using one or more classifiers to characterize the shape.
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In some implementations, the process may be iterated multiple times to generate additional versions of one or more of area data or shape data. For example, additional sensor image data may be acquired. One or more statistical operations may be applied to the data produced thereby. For example, the area data resulting from the processing of ten consecutive pieces of sensor image data acquired at consecutive points in time may be acquired. The values from these ten consecutive pieces of sensor image data may then be averaged to generate the area data .
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Block stores one or more of the area data or the shape data as item data or footprint data .
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Block may generate quantity data . The quantity data may comprise an estimate of the number of items . The generation of the quantity data may include one or more of the following blocks (not depicted). A partitioned area of the sensor image data associated with stowage of a particular item is determined. The item data associated with the particular item is accessed. As described above, the item data may include area data indicative of an area of a single one of the item . The quantity data may be generated by dividing the area data of the footprint by the area data of the single one of the item .
FIG. 13
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depicts a flow diagram of another process for determining a quantity of items at an inventory location , according to some implementations. In some implementations, the process may be implemented at least in part by the inventory management module . In different implementations, one or more of the blocks described below may be omitted, the sequence of the process using these blocks may vary from that depicted, and so forth.
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Block illuminates an optical sensor array . As described above, the optical sensor array may be proximate to an inventory location .
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Block determines item data of items associated with the optical sensor array . As described above, the item data may include information indicative of an area of a shadow of a single item , such as the area data .
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Block determines a partitioned area indicative of an area of the optical sensor array associated with a particular item identifier .
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Block determines, in first sensor image data (), a shadow cast by one or more items between a light source and the optical sensor array on a partitioned area at the inventory location . For example, the first sensor image data () may be acquired from the optical sensor array .
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Block determines one or more characteristics of the shadow . For example, the characteristics of the shadow may include the area, shape, perimeter length, width, length, and so forth.
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Block determines, using the one or more characteristics of the shadow , a count of at least a portion of the items stowed at the inventory location . For example, the area of the shadow may be divided by the area of the shadow of a single item to generate the count of the one or more items .
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In some implementations, the determination of the shadow or the characteristics thereof may be responsive to a change between sensor image data acquired at different times. For example, second sensor image data () may be acquired from the optical sensor array at a time later than the first sensor image data (). Duration of the time may be predetermined or variable. In one implementation, the time may be specified at about 300 ms to minimize incorrect output due to changes in the footprint resulting from handling of the items still being in progress. The processing module may determine that the second sensor image data () differs from the first sensor image data () by a threshold value. For example, the first sensor image data () may be subtracted from the second sensor image data (). When a count of the number of pixels having a difference other than “0” exceeds the threshold value, the processing module may determine that a difference or change has occurred.
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In another implementation, the determination of the shadow or the characteristics thereof may be responsive to constancy (such as indicated by a lack of change) between sensor image data or other sensor data acquired at different times. For example, the processing module may determine a change between sensor image data acquired at different times. The process may further determine that third sensor image data () acquired at a third time, such as 300 ms after the second sensor image data (), does not differ from the second sensor image data () by a threshold value, indicative of constancy between the sensor images. Instead of, or in addition to time, the comparisons to determine changes may be made between sensor image data , such as every “n” sensor images, where n is a positive non-zero integer. Based on the apparent constancy of the images, the processing module may proceed to process the sensor image data .
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The processing by the processing module of the sensor image data may thus be responsive to a determination that the inventory location has gone from a first stable (relatively unchanging) state to an unstable state (such as during addition or removal of items ) and returned to a second stable state. For example, the footprint data , quantity data , and so forth, may be generated using sensor image data acquired while in the first stable state and the second stable state. Responsive to this determination that the sensor image data is now stable, the processing module may then determine the shadow or characteristics thereof, footprint data , and so forth using the stable sensor image data . To determine changes occurring at the inventory location , the processing module may compare the sensor image data acquired while in the first stable state with that acquired at the second stable state.
The processes discussed herein may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the described operations represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the recited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. Those having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that certain steps or operations illustrated in the figures above may be eliminated, combined, or performed in an alternate order. Any steps or operations may be performed serially or in parallel. Furthermore, the order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation.
Embodiments may be provided as a software program or computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions (in compressed or uncompressed form) that may be used to program a computer (or other electronic device) to perform processes or methods described herein. The computer-readable storage medium may be one or more of an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, a quantum storage medium, and so forth. For example, the computer-readable storage media may include, but is not limited to, hard drives, floppy diskettes, optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, or other types of physical media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Further, embodiments may also be provided as a computer program product including a transitory machine-readable signal (in compressed or uncompressed form). Examples of transitory machine-readable signals, whether modulated using a carrier or unmodulated, include, but are not limited to, signals that a computer system or machine hosting or running a computer program can be configured to access, including signals transferred by one or more networks. For example, the transitory machine-readable signal may comprise transmission of software by the Internet.
Separate instances of these programs can be executed on or distributed across any number of separate computer systems. Thus, although certain steps have been described as being performed by certain devices, software programs, processes, or entities, this need not be the case, and a variety of alternative implementations will be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.
Additionally, those having ordinary skill in the art readily recognize that the techniques described above can be utilized in a variety of devices, environments, and situations. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the claims. | |
Is there any evidence that challenge leads to better learning in science? Well, I suppose it depends on what we mean by challenge. Challenge does not simply mean difficult. Challenge refers to a moderate level of difficulty that allows students to experience a sense of mastery and competence when they succeed.
Challenging students motivates them. It makes assessment of learning visible, allowing rapid feedback and responsive teaching. And, if used effectively, it can help students reorganise their thinking. Below I have considered some of the key people of who have influenced my thinking around challenge.
There is a more recent update on structuring struggle here.
Jean Piaget proposed that intellectual growth was the result of cognitive conflict, a specific form of challenge. When a learner meets new information or a new experience that does not align with their current way of thinking, they must form new mental structures that allow this new information to be accommodated. In this way, challenge can bring about cognitive change, involving the reorganisation of children’s ideas.
We can help students progress by actively challenging their misconceptions. Students enter classrooms with a multitude of misconceptions, such as plants don’t respire, cannon balls fall faster than paper clips and light travels from our eyes to the object (Driver et al., 2013). Science teachers must challenge these misconceptions to ensure students arrive at the ‘right’ way of thinking that allows them to make sense of the world around them.
It is also important that the level of challenge is appropriate. Vygotsky (1978) established the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This can be thought of as an area of challenge where students are unable to succeed alone, and instead need the help of more capable peers or teachers. “What is the Zone of Proximal Development today will be the actual developmental level tomorrow” (Vgotsky p.87).
This differs to ideas proposed by Piaget, who believed children construct understanding for themselves. Indeed, Vygotsky believed intelligence should not be measured when students solve problems independently. Instead, he thought what a child achieved with adult or peer support was more indicative of their mental development.
Science teachers must challenge students at the upper end of their ZPD to help them progress. But it is a fine balance. If students are challenged too much, they are likely to become disinterested and fail as the cognitive demand exceeds the capacity of students’ working memory. Being over challenged in this way makes students likely to adopt surface approaches to learning.
Challenge has an important role in self-efficacy. Bandura describes self-efficacy as, “how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations” (Bandura, 1982). Various studies have shown that self-efficacy plays an important role in motivating students. Once source of self-efficacy is experience. If students are set challenging tasks, and succeed, then this increases their self-efficacy. In this way, successes raise self-efficacy and create motivated learners so we need to create opportunities for learners to feel successful through mastering a problem. Explore this interview with Bandura.
Click here for ideas on how to structure struggle/challenge.
Bandura, A (1977). “Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change”. Psychological Review. 84 (2): 191–215.
Bandura, Albert (1982). “Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency”. American Psychologist. 37 (2): 122–147.
Driver, R., Rushworth, P., Squires, A. and Wood- Robinson, V. (2013) Making sense of secondary science: Research into children’s ideas. Routledge.
Piaget, J. and Cook, M.T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children, WW Norton & Co. | https://thescienceteacher.co.uk/challenge/ |
Meysan Partners pride itself to be one of the most active regional law firms in providing assistance, support, and advice for deserving causes throughout its CSR program. Our CSR strategy enables our lawyers to use their skills and talents to make a real contribution to the wider society in which we operate.
We believe it is our responsibility to support the community through pro bono and charitable activities, and we rely on our lawyer’s commercial expertise, cross-practice, and cross-border network to deliver such support which translates into a real positive impact on our community.
We believe that our role as a law firm goes beyond our core activity, and that we have a genuine responsibility to serve our local communities in a meaningful and effective manner.
Pro bono legal service is a fundamental part of who we are and is very important to those whom we assist. We believe that supporting our community through pro-bono legal work is a critical component of our profession and an important factor in establishing our true excellence as a law firm.
Meysan Partners promote and practice equal opportunities within our workplace. Diversity is an essential part of our CSR policy. We continue to build and maintain a culture that values and gathers strength from difference.
The ability to successfully combine work and personal life is important for the well-being of our employees, and we strive to protect this work-life balance. Achieving this culture of work-life balance is tangible, so we make sure that we do not impose unreasonable work demands, by promoting strategies involves identifying flexible working options that satisfy both the needs of the employees and the firm, without compromising on the quality or the delivery of our commitments to the clients.
Such as creating flexible work arrangements, allowing work-from-home, flexible working hours, sabbaticals, and paternity leave. These are some of the ideas that Meysan endorse to help establishing a work-life balance.
Mutual trust and respect is a key facet of the way we work and its part of our culture and belief. We recognise the importance of maintaining mutual trust and confidence and respect. We believe it is important to value colleagues and their different perspectives. We recognise that employees at all levels in our organisation have something to contribute to our business and are encouraged to express their opinions and share their views. | http://www.meysan.com/csr/ |
Sign Languages and Sign Language Research: Myriam Vermeerbergen and Mieke Van Herreweghe
In the past, sign languages were generally ignored, not only in mainstream society, but also in linguistic research. The main reason for this indifference was that sign languages were not considered to be genuine natural languages. Before the start of modern sign linguistics, it was often assumed that all deaf people across the world used a kind of universal, primitive system of gestures and pantomime. At the same time, many people seemed (and some still seem) to believe that “sign language” is nothing but a word for word transliteration of the local spoken language in which the signs are produced simultaneously with the spoken (content) words. Neither assumption is correct and these false beliefs only gradually started to change after the publication of the book Sign Language Structure by the American linguist William Stokoe in 1960. One of the effects of the publication was that interest into sign linguistics was steadily aroused, and today, even though still not all linguists and nonlinguists are equally convinced of the linguistic status of sign languages, linguistic research into sign languages has conquered a solid position in various linguistic subdisciplines. Among other things, Stokoe maintained in this book that the signs used in American Sign Language (or ASL) should not be considered unanalyzable wholes but should be regarded as consisting of various smaller meaning-distinguishing component parts. As such he was the rst to show that a sign language exhibits duality of patterning, exactly as is the case for spoken languages.* ASL could be considered a genuine human language as in mainstream linguistics duality of patterning is considered to be a:
Stokoe’s (1960) rst modern linguistic analysis of a sign language* received a great deal of attention and particularly during the 1970s, other researchers began to express an interest in the linguistic structure of signs and sign languages, rst mainly in the USA, and from the 1980s onward also in other countries. This has led to detailed analyses of ASL and other sign languages in various linguistic domains. Providing a survey of all of this research lies outside the scope of this paper, but to give some idea, attention has been paid to various aspects in phonetics/phonology (Loncke, 1983 and Demey, 2005 for Flemish Sign Language; Van der Kooij, 2002 and Crasborn, 2001 for Sign Language of the Netherlands), morphology (Bergman, 1983 for Swedish Sign Language; Pizzuto, 1986 for Italian Sign Language; Engberg-Pedersen, 1993 for Danish Sign Language; Brennan, 1990 for British Sign Language), syntax (Deuchar, 1984 for British Sign Language; Vermeerbergen, 1996 and 1997 for Flemish Sign Language; Rissanen, 1986 for Finnish Sign Language), and lexicography/lexicology (Johnston, 1989 for Australian Sign Language; De Weerdt, Vanhecke, Van Herreweghe, & Vermeerbergen for Flemish Sign Language, 2003), and so on.†
Early modern sign linguistics often emphasized the differences between sign languages. Publications from the 1970s and 1980s regularly begin by stating that there is not one universal sign language but instead many different, mutually unintelligible sign languages.‡ At that time, cross-linguistic sign language studies were rare and the limited amount of comparative research mainly concentrated on the lexicon, more specically on signs belonging to the established lexicon. Toward and in the 1990s, there was an increase in the number of sign languages being studied (although this evolution remained mostly limited to North America, Australia, and Western Europe). Johnston (1989, p. 208) noted in his doctoral dissertation on Auslan or ASL:
Apart from such explicit references to the similarities between the grammars of different sign languages, it seemed to be common practice for researchers to compare their own interpretation of a specic grammatical mechanism in sign
language A to the interpretation of another researcher studying the same mechanism in sign language B as if both researchers were dealing with one and the same language-or at least with one and the same mechanism across the sign languages (e.g., Van Herreweghe, 1995). From this, it seemed that a high degree of similarity was at least implicitly assumed. And indeed, the overall picture one obtains from the body of sign language literature available at that time was that sign languages are typologically more similar than spoken languages. | https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203848005/chapters/10.4324/9780203848005-44 |
Given their history, one might have expected India and China to be two of the most vocal critics of Russia’s invasion and effort to in essence colonize, or recolonize, Ukraine. And yet neither country has done so. Indeed, both have seen the Russian invasion as an opportunity to improve ties and expand trade, especially in fossil fuels, with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Colonization is defined as “the act of taking control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force, and sending people from your own country to live there.” Sounds a lot like what imperial Russia is up to in Ukraine.
Of course, part or all of what is now Ukraine has long been the object of foreign invasion, domination and colonization, especially by Russia, Poland and the Soviet Union. But with the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine declared its independence in 1991. Though not without its challenges, the country has been free and independent for 30 years.
India, too, has a long and troubled history of being colonized, primarily by Great Britain. The British, under the auspices of the British East India Company, first landed in India in 1608 to engage in trade, especially tea and spices.
But the East India Company expanded its power and control, with India formerly becoming part of the British Empire in 1765.
India’s people eventually undertook a decades-long struggle to free themselves from British colonial rule, obtaining their independence in 1947, only 44 years before Ukraine became independent. But not before thousands of Indians were imprisoned, injured or killed in the effort. That struggle saw the rise of Mahatma Gandhi, who became an international role model for how to lead a nonviolent revolution.
If India believes it’s acceptable, or at least not too problematic, for Russia to invade Ukraine to drag the country kicking and screaming back under Russian rule, would it also be acceptable if Great Britain were to decide to drag India back into the British empire?
Of course not, which is why India’s silence on the Russian invasion is so troubling.
China is not India, and it was never colonized the way India was. But China did experience decades of European colonizing powers, including Great Britain, knocking at its door, demanding trade.
Those conflicts led to what’s known as the 19th century Opium Wars. The British were heavy consumers of some of China’s most important products, especially tea, silk and porcelain. But China required traders to pay for those products with silver.
British merchants were transferring so much silver to China that Great Britain’s silver reserves began running low. The Brits needed a product the Chinese were eager to buy to get that silver back. The solution was opium, mostly made in India.
When the Chinese government took steps to stop, or at least limit, the opium trade, the first Opium War erupted (1839-42). The British won that war easily, and imposed an expansive treaty known as the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, which included ceding control of Hong Kong to Great Britain. China simply had not developed the technology and military skills to stand up to Great Britain.
The second Opium War (1856-60) included the British and the French against the Chinese, and again the Chinese lost.
The Opium Wars were devastating and humiliating defeats for China, leading to a series of what were seen as inequitable treaties. The country was one of the world’s oldest and largest civilizations, and at times it had been one of the most prosperous. The Opium Wars still loom large in the minds of many Chinese today.
Yes, China still claims Taiwan, but then it never agreed to its partition, which isn’t and shouldn’t be a justification of its current threats to Taiwan. Even more troubling is that China has been using trade as an excuse for its own expansion into other countries. Let’s hope China doesn’t transition from being a target of colonizers to being a colonizer.
European colonization, which included North and South America, has a long and checkered history. There were some benefits to both the colonies and colonizers, but the human rights abuses, especially in Latin America and parts of Africa and Asia, which includes India and China, were atrocious.
Imperial Russia is, once again, seeking to expand its empire. Those countries that were once the subject of colonizing efforts should be the loudest voices in opposition. | https://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/article_detail.asp?name=why-arent-india-and-china-opposing-russias-ukraine-colonization |
How are composite materials obtained?
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Question by: Fabio D’angelo | Last updated: September 20, 2021
Rating: 4.8 / 5
(8 votes)
The matrix of current composite materials consists exclusively of thermosetting substances, or synthetic organic resins. The most used are: epoxy (better mechanical characteristics), polyester (more common and cheaper), phenolic (greater resistance to corrosion and flammability).
How are composite materials produced?
Filament winding is generally used to produce composite materials as follows:
- dispersed phase: in carbon, glass or aramid fibers;
- matrix: in epoxy, polyester, vinylester or phenolic resins.
What are composite materials?
By composite material we mean any element consisting of two or more simple substances. … In nature there are various composite materials: wood, for example, which derives from the union of lignin (reinforcement) with cellulose (matrix).
Where are composite materials used?
In the furniture and design sector, for example, composite materials with a thermosetting resin matrix are used, which generally includes polyester, epoxy, vinyl ester and phenols, and carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforcement.
Where are composite fibers used?
This material is mainly used by the automotive, space and wind industries. In addition, it finds numerous applications in the production of sporting goods, building components and other fields.
Find 38 related questions
What are the latest generation composites?
The market also offers latest generation composites, equipped with an adaptive filling system capable of obtaining a reconstruction that is very faithful to the original. These new materials guarantee excellent light diffusion and reflection capabilities, making them very similar to ceramic inlays.
Why are composite materials used?
The composites have a high capacity of resistance to chemical agents in particular to acids, alkaline substances and solvents. Unlike other materials, they never rust and last over time.
What does delamination mean?
delamination In embryology, detachment of a layer of cells from the one below. It occurs, for example, in the formation of the endoderm in the d. … morula In embryology, blastocele-free type of blastula, in which the internal cells do not reach the surface. The morula stage is found in the Coelenterates.
Why a helmet is a composite material?
The carbon caps are the result of an accurate process of joining filaments composed of carbon atoms and a matrix, a resin whose purpose is to keep the fibers in place, so that they maintain the correct orientation in absorbing impacts, protect the fibers and naturally maintain the …
What composites are used in the dental field?
The composite materials used in dentistry consist of a fluid resin and a solid filler. The resin is made up of a set of monomers (monomers are molecules). The solid filler consists of particles of glass, quartz, silicon.
What does composite reconstruction mean?
Composite dental reconstruction is a widely used technique, usually when the teeth are partially damaged. It is done by the dentist. A soft and malleable material is inserted into the missing part of the tooth, which the dentist carves to recreate the original shape of the missing tooth.
What are the functions of the matrix in reinforced plastics?
high mechanical resistance. high corrosion resistance. high thermal insulation. high dielectric and non-magnetic properties.
How is fiberglass produced?
Fiberglass (PRFV, polyester resin reinforced with glass fiber) is a composite material that is generated by the union of various types of resins (orthophthalic, isophthalic, bisphenolic, vinyl ester) with different glass fibers (C glass, mat, mat, roving, paratank).
How do you make carbon fiber?
To produce the carbon filaments, oxidation and thermal pyrolysis of long-chain organic molecules of different types are carried out. This starting material, in the form of thin filaments, undergoes a complex oxidation process in an inert atmosphere, at temperatures that can reach 2000 ° C.
What is glass fiber used for?
Glass fibers are widely used in the production of structural composites in the aerospace, nautical and automotive fields, associated with different matrices, for example polyamide or epoxy, but in any case synthetic resins.
What fiber is glass fiber?
Glass fibers are the most commonly used fibers for the reinforcement of many polymer products; to give rise to a composite of lightweight reinforced plastic called GRP, popularly known as “glass fiber”.
How is the motorcycle helmet made?
How the helmet is made
The outer shells (which can be made in one or more sizes, to ensure a better fit or fit) are divided into two macro-families. On the one hand those in molded thermoplastic, on the other those in composite materials: carbon, kevlar, aramidic fiber, fiberglass.
How is a motorcycle helmet built in order to contain the driver’s possible impact injuries?
Modern helmets use two categories of materials: thermoplastic polymers such as polycarbonate and ABS or composite fibers consisting mainly of glass, carbon or Aramid.
How long does a fiber helmet last?
Five years on average
But it is precisely an average duration. The deterioration of the helmet in fact does not happen so much outside.
What is the etchant used for?
The cavity is cleaned with manual instruments to be sure, with the tactile perception, that all the cavities have been removed; We proceed with the etching: the etchant is an acid gel that creates micropores to facilitate the adhesion of the filling material.
What are the dental veneers like?
Dental veneers also called veneers (Anglo-Saxon term) are thin ceramic or composite sheets with a very thin thickness ranging from 0.5 to 0.7 millimeters; these thin plates are glued to the external surface of the anterior teeth of the upper and / or lower arch.
How does a tooth fill?
A standard filling operation is performed as follows: We proceed with local anesthesia to the carious tooth, so as not to cause pain to the patient during the operation, and wait a few minutes to give the anesthetic time to take effect. Caries is eliminated with the appropriate instrumentation.
What objects can be made with fiberglass?
Since the 1950s, fiberglass has been used for the construction of objects exposed to atmospheric agents, in particular: cars and boats, swimming pools, tanks, skylights, telephone boxes.
How to recognize fiberglass?
From the inside as well as being dusty, you can see the classic fiberglass texture as shown in the photo above .. Touching the fiberglass bumper is more rigid and “sounds” even in a different way. Raw plastic is slightly more porous and rough, fiberglass is smooth because there is already a coat of product on it.
What to use as a release agent for fiberglass?
Then there are the polyvinyl alcohol-based film-forming release agents, Polivinol, which perform an important complementary action in the non-stick treatment.
- WAX GLOSS. …
- LIQUID WAX. …
- PRO MIRROR WAX. …
-
RELEASING SPRAY. …
- POLIVINOL.
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Radiation occurs when energy is emitted by a source and then travels through a medium, such as air, until it is absorbed by matter. Radiation can be described as two basic types, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
People use and are exposed to non-ionizing radiation sources every day. This form of radiation does not carry enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules.
Microwave ovens, global positioning systems, cellular telephones, television stations, FM and AM radio, baby monitors, cordless phones, garage-door openers, and ham radios all make use of non-ionizing radiation. Other forms include the earth’s magnetic field, as well as magnetic field exposure from proximity to transmission lines, household wiring and electric appliances. These are defined as extremely low-frequency (ELF) waves.
Some types of radiation have enough energy that they can knock electrons out of their orbits around atoms, upsetting the electron/proton balance and giving the atom a positive charge. Electrically charged molecules and atoms are called ions. The radiation that can produce ions is called ionizing radiation.
Alpha radiation: Alpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons, and since they have no electrons, carry a positive charge. Due to their size and charge, alpha particles are barely able to penetrate skin and can be stopped completely by a sheet of paper.
Beta radiation: Beta radiation consists of fast moving electrons ejected from the nucleus of an atom. Beta radiation has a negative charge and is about 1/7000th the size of an alpha particle and so is more penetrating. However, it can still be stopped by a small amount of shielding, such as a sheet of plastic.
Gamma radiation: Gamma radiation is a very penetrating type of radiation. It is usually emitted immediately after the ejection of an alpha or beta particle from the nucleus of an atom. Because it has no mass or charge, it can pass through the human body, but will be absorbed by denser materials such as concrete or lead.
X-rays: X-rays are a form of radiation similar to gamma radiation but they are produced mainly by artificial means rather than from radioactive substances.
Neutron radiation: Neutron radiation occurs when neutrons are ejected from the nucleus by nuclear fission and other processes. The nuclear chain reaction is an example of nuclear fission, where a neutron being ejected from one fissioned atom will cause another atom to fission, ejecting more neutrons. Unlike other radiations, neutron radiation is absorbed by materials with lots of hydrogen atoms, like paraffin wax and plastics.
People are constantly exposed to small amounts of ionizing radiation from the environment as they carry out their normal daily activities; this is known as background radiation. We are also exposed through some medical treatments and through activities involving radioactive material.
People are constantly exposed to small amounts of ionizing radiation from the environment as they carry out their normal daily activities; this is known as natural background radiation.
Radiation has always been present and is all around us. Life has evolved in a world containing significant levels of ionizing radiation. Our bodies are adapted to it.
The following section outlines sources of natural background radiation. For information on dose levels from these sources, visit the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC's) Radiation Doses page and fact sheet on natural background radiation.
The earth's outer atmosphere is continually bombarded by cosmic radiation. Usually, cosmic radiation consists of fast moving particles that exist in space and originate from a variety of sources, including the sun and other celestial events in the universe. Cosmic rays are mostly protons but can be other particles or wave energy. Some ionizing radiation will penetrate the earth's atmosphere and become absorbed by humans, which results in natural radiation exposure.
The doses due to natural sources of radiation vary depending on location and habits. Regions at higher altitudes receive more cosmic radiation. The following map shows how levels of cosmic radiation vary with elevations above sea level and longitude and latitude.
The composition of the earth's crust is a major source of natural radiation. The main contributors are natural deposits of uranium, potassium and thorium which, in the process of natural decay, will release small amounts of ionizing radiation. Uranium and thorium are “ubiquitous”, meaning they are found essentially everywhere. Traces of these minerals are also found in building materials so exposure to natural radiation can occur from indoors as well as outdoors.
Most of the variation in exposure to natural radiation results from inhalation of radioactive gases that are produced by radioactive minerals found in soil and bedrock. Radon is an odourless and colourless radioactive gas that is produced by the decay of uranium. Thoron is a radioactive gas produced by the thorium. Radon and thoron levels vary considerably by location depending on the composition of soil and bedrock. Once released into the air, these gases will normally dilute to harmless levels in the atmosphere but sometimes they become trapped and accumulate inside buildings and are inhaled by occupants. Radon gas poses a health risk not only to uranium miners, but also to homeowners if it is left to collect in the home. On average, it is the largest source of natural radiation exposure. More information on radon gas and the means to control it can be found on Health Canada's website.
Trace amounts of radioactive minerals are naturally found in the contents of food and drinking water. For instance, vegetables are typically cultivated in soil and ground water which contains radioactive minerals. Once ingested, these minerals result in internal exposure to natural radiation.
Naturally occurring radioactive isotopes, such as potassium-40 and carbon-14, have the same chemical and biological properties as their non-radioactive isotopes. These radioactive and non-radioactive elements are used in building and maintaining our bodies. Natural radioisotopes continually expose us to radiation. The table below identifies the amount of radioactivity from potassium-40 contained in about 500 grams of different food products. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity, equal to one transformation (decay) per second.
The human body also contains several radioactive isotopes. The table below contains a list of some of the isotopes naturally found in the body.
Atmospheric testing: The atmospheric testing of atomic weapons from the end of the Second World War until as late as 1980 released radioactive material, called fallout, into the air. As the fallout settled to the ground, it was incorporated into the environment. Much of the fallout had short half-lives and no longer exists, but some continues to decay to this day. People and the environment receive smaller and smaller doses from the fallout every year.
Medical sources: Radiation has many uses in medicine. The most well known use is X-ray machines, which use radiation to find broken bones and diagnose disease. X-ray machines are regulated by Health Canada and provincial authorities. Another example is nuclear medicine, which uses radioactive isotopes to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer. These applications of nuclear medicine, as well as the related equipment, are regulated by the CNSC. The CNSC also licenses those reactors and particle accelerators that produce isotopes destined for medical and industrial applications.
Industrial sources:Radiation has a variety of industrial uses that range from nuclear gauges used to build roads to density gauges that measure the flow of material through pipes in factories. It is also used for smoke detectors, some glow-in-the dark exit signs, and to estimate reserves in oil fields. Radiation is also used for sterilization which is done by using large, heavily shielded irradiators. All these uses are licensed by the CNSC.
Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Nuclear power plants (NPPs) use uranium to drive a chain reaction that produces steam, which in turn drives turbines to produce electricity. As part of their normal activities, NPPs release regulated levels of radioactive material which can expose people to low doses of radiation. Similarly, uranium mines, fuel fabrication plants and radioactive waste facilities release some radioactivity that contributes to the dose of the public.
Normally, there is little that we can do to change or reduce ionizing radiation that comes from natural sources like the sun, soil or rocks. This kind of exposure, while never entirely free of risk, is generally quite low. However, in some cases, natural sources of radioactivity may be unacceptably high and need to be reduced, such as radon gas in the home.
The ionizing radiation that comes from man-made sources and activities is controlled more carefully. In these settings, a balance is struck between the benefits that the radiation provides to society and the risks it imposes on people and the environment. Dose limits are set in order to restrict radiation exposures to both workers and members of the public. In addition, licensees are required to keep all radiation doses as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), social and economic factors being taken into account. Also, there has to be a net benefit to the use of radiation. For example, smoke detectors are permitted to use radioactive isotopes because smoke detectors save lives. | http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/resources/radiation/introduction-to-radiation/types-and-sources-of-radiation.cfm |
This article proposes a technique to animate a Chinese style painting given its image. We first extract descriptions of the brush strokes that hypothetically produced it. The key to the extraction process is the use of a brush stroke library, which is obtained by digitizing single brush strokes drawn by an experienced artist. The steps in our extraction technique are first to segment the input image, then to find the best set of brush strokes that fit the regions, and, finally, to refine these strokes to account for local appearance. We model a single brush stroke using its skeleton and contour, and we characterize texture variation within each stroke by sampling perpendicularly along its skeleton. Once these brush descriptions have been obtained, the painting can be animated at the brush stroke level. In this article, we focus on Chinese paintings with relatively sparse strokes. The animation is produced using a graphical application we developed. We present several animations of real paintings using our technique. | https://researchwith.njit.edu/en/publications/animating-chinese-paintings-through-stroke-based-decomposition |
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to on-premises paging and communication systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant communication system and method that utilizes communication devices mounted one each table in the restaurant, each communication device having a data input device through which a customer identifier number may be input to the communication device.
2. Description of Related Art
Many restaurants use a service method in which customers order their food at a central service counter, and then select their own table where they sit and wait for their food to be prepared. The customers may give their names to a server at the central counter, or the server may give each customer a number that will be called when the customer""s food is ready. In either case, when the food is ready, a public address (PA) system is used to call out the name or number of the customer whose food is ready. The called customer then proceeds to the central counter and picks up his food. A disadvantage of the central service counter method is that many noisy PA system announcements must be made within the restaurant, thereby making the restaurant a less pleasant place to eat.
In other restaurants, customers must wait in a waiting area for a table to become available before they can sit down and order their food from a waitperson. Some of these restaurants utilize an on-premises paging system to alert waiting customers when their table is available. When the customer first arrives at the restaurant, he is given an on-premises pager by the receptionist who then enters the code number of the pager into the on-premises paging system. When the table is available, an on-premises paging transmitter pages the customer""s pager with the proper code number, and the customer is alerted. A disadvantage of this paging method is that customers sometimes leave the restaurant before their table is ready, and they take their assigned pager with them. The loss of such pagers can be very expensive to the restaurant.
Some restaurants using the central service counter method have also attempted to utilize on-premises pagers to alert customers when their food is ready rather than using the noisy PA system. While this approach has been successful at lowering the noise level, it still suffers from the disadvantage that expensive pagers are lost.
In still other restaurants, the customer orders his food at a central service counter, and is given some sort of identifier such as a number or letter printed on a block or other device. The customer selects a table, places the identifier on his table, and waits for his food to be prepared. When the food is ready, a server from the restaurant brings the food to the table rather than requiring the customer to return to the central service counter to pick it up. However, this is a very inefficient process because the server must wander through the restaurant until he sees the proper identifier on a customer""s table. When the restaurant is crowded, this can take a considerable amount of time. In addition, the process is unnerving for the customer who sees a server wandering around with a food order, but does not know whether the order is his. The customer may think that the order is his, and the server just does not see his identifier. This is made even worse when the food order is what the customer ordered, but it is actually intended for someone else. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have an on-premises communication system for restaurants with central service counters that solves these problems. The present invention provides such a system.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant communication system for communicating an identifier for a customer""s table to a central service counter. The system may include means in the central service counter for encoding a data token with a customer identifier number that is provided to the customer when the customer places a food order. The system also includes a communication device mounted on the customer""s table. The communication device includes a data memory that stores the table identifier; data input means for inputting the data token and extracting the customer number therefrom; and a communication transmitter that transmits a message containing the table identifier and the extracted customer number. The central service counter includes a communication receiver that receives the message and extracts the customer number and the table identifier therefrom; and a user interface that receives the extracted customer number and table identifier from the communication receiver and informs a food server of the table identifier for the customer""s table. The food server can then deliver the customer""s food order without wandering around the restaurant looking for an identifier.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a restaurant communication device that includes means for mounting the device on a table in the restaurant; means for storing a table identifier; and means for receiving a customer number from a customer. The device also includes means responsive to receiving the customer number, for sending a message that includes the table identifier and the customer number to a central service counter.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of providing a table location where a particular customer is sitting to a food server located at a central service counter in a restaurant having a plurality of tables. The method includes the steps of mounting a communication device on each of the plurality of tables in the restaurant; storing a unique table identifier for each of the plurality of tables in the communication device mounted on each table; and providing the particular customer with a data token on which a customer number is encoded. After the customer selects a table, the method includes reading the particular customer""s customer number with a data input device at a particular communication device mounted on the selected table; and sending a message from the particular communication device to the central service counter in response to reading the particular customer""s customer number. The message includes the unique table identifier and the particular customer""s customer number. The central service counter extracts the unique table identifier and the particular customer""s customer number from the received message; determines a table location from the extracted table identifier; and provides the food server with the table location for the particular customer.
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How to Become a Forensic Medical Expert: Sure Guide
Would you like to become a forensic medical expert and are looking for insight about it? If yes, then you are in the right place, this post has good information to help you chart a career in the field of forensic medicine, read on.
Who is a forensic medical expert?
Forensic medicine, also known as medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the application and establishing of medical facts to legal (criminal and civil) issues.
Forensic medical experts are therefore professionals who provide medical advice in legal issues. Such legal issues may be relating to medical confidentiality, child paternity, mental illnesses, rape, violent injuries and even death.
Others may include competency to stand trials and medical malpractice trials, which have need of a medical professional to produce evidence and make an appearance in court as an expert witness.
The practice of medical jurisprudence began in the university of Edinburgh in 1807, and is concerned with a lot of medical, legal and ethical issues bothering on human rights and individual rights, because the duties of physicians also is to the interests of their patients.
Educational requirements and training in becoming a forensic medical expert
Before a choice is made on whether to enroll for a forensic medical degree program, you need to weight your personal interests’ against the requirements of a career in medical forensics.
The requirements vary greatly from whether it is an associate degree or a medical degree.
The field though a specialist field encompasses an extensive area of medical subjects, having such branches as forensics pathology, forensic odontology, forensic toxicology, and forensic nursing.
Training to become a forensic medical expert entails at least a four year program, earning a Doctor of Medicine degree.
To be able to practice as an expert in forensic medicine, you may be required to have a Bachelor’s degree first, preferably in the sciences.
Some people may even take up degrees in forensic science. The first two years of the training is often referred to as the pre-clinical years, while the latter two years are the clinical years.
Here, candidates are trained majorly to perform basic medical procedures, diagnose patients, interpret tests, and plan treatments.
The courses that students will take may include anatomy, pharmacology, physiology, and medical examinations.
Online courses also exist in forensic medicine by partaking in online classes, which entails virtual training and communication with professors and other students via chat rooms.
The course work requires intense study of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, and importantly, an internship with an expert forensic medical practitioner to gain more insight.
Forensic medical expert certifications
The American College of Forensic Examiner awards certification to medical experts in various levels:
- Certified Medical Investigator I: Applicants must have five years practice in the related field, and have a firm understanding of forensic medicine.
- Certified Medical Investigator II: Applicants must be CMI-I or a coroner, medical examiner, or forensic professional. They must also pass a second examination.
- Certified Medical Investigator III: Applicants must have successfully passed the CMI-II and have 5 years’ experience in a forensic field. Exam here is more intense.
- Certified Medical Investigator IV: Applicants must be a CM-III with a doctorate degree in a forensic medical field, and will have to pass a more intense exam.
- Certified Medical Investigator V: Applicants must have also passed the CM-IV level with years of experience in forensic, investigative, and medical practice, and must be able to pass a final test.
Institutions for forensic medical training
A number of institutions provide courses in forensic medicine; Kaplan University, Liberty University, UEI College, South University, Blake Austin College, and West Coast University.
You can do a personal research on these schools to find the one that best suit your needs and convenience.
Roles, duties, and responsibilities of a forensic medical expert
Here are the duties and responsibilities you will likely perform working as an expert in forensic medicine:
A forensic medical expert works closely with the judicial system by offering medical opinion concerning legal issues by way of examining a patient and offering medical reports usually requested by one or either parties to any legal case, as an assistant to the court process rather than to any party to the case.
He/she may be needed to also appear as a witness to the court, having his/her opinion tested or cross examined to diminish any claim from the opposing side.
He/she interprets the needed facts based on medical knowledge and is expected to convey his/her findings without sentiments in areas usually involving anatomy, pathology, and psychiatry.
These experts may be featured where cases of suspected foul play is involved.
Forensic medical expert skills
The most important skill of a forensic medical expert is sound knowledge of the subject matter under contention; others are good communication skills and ability to properly convey findings and opinion.
Training in report writing and court room presentation are also of immense importance to the success of forensic medical experts.
Others include enjoying detailed complicated scientific procedures, math, and the sciences.
A number of other skills can be developed while passing through training.
Career opportunities for forensic medical experts
Experts in the forensic medical field are usually employed by the government; they can also work in private practice as consultants.
Experts who work as forensic medical practitioners may also gain additional knowledge to become:
- Forensic physician assistants: Qualified to perform medical procedures.
- Medical Examiner: Qualified to investigate and analyze legal cases that fall into categories like homicide, accidents, disaster, suspicious and unknown deaths, offering documentations, and oral reports to facilitate understanding.
- Forensic Pathologist: Perform tests to determine information or cause of death or other malicious actions.
- Crime Lab Director: Qualified to manage a team of technicians analyzing a criminal case.
Salary expectations for forensic medical expert
The US Bureau for Labor Statistics says there will be an increase in forensic medical experts as the year goes by, with average salaries going up as much as $189,000 annually.
Job Assessment Tests: How to Top Your Competition
As part of the hiring process, most applicants that passed the initial Resume/CV screening phase are required to pass an assessment test for the job or apprenticeship position they are applying for.
The goal of this phase is to determine if the candidate has the appropriate set of skills and qualities to excel on the job.
Find out the tests you will be needing to take for the position you are applying for; get lots of success proven Practice materials to prepare with now: Sure way to make high scores in job tests. | https://jobdescriptionandresumeexamples.com/how-to-become-a-forensic-medical-expert/ |
Urban agriculture offers an alternative land use for integrating multiple functions in densely populated areas. While urban agriculture has historically been an important element of cities in many developing countries, recent concerns about economic and food security have resulted in a growing movement to produce food in cities of developed countries including the United States. In these regions, urban agriculture offers a new frontier for land use planners and landscape designers to become involved in the development and transformation of cities to support community farms, allotment gardens, rooftop gardening, edible landscaping, urban forests, and other productive features of the urban environment. Despite the growing interest in urban agriculture, urban planners and landscape designers are often ill-equipped to integrate food-systems thinking into future plans for cities. The challenge (and opportunity) is to design urban agriculture spaces to be multifunctional, matching the specific needs and preferences of local residents, while also protecting the environment. This paper provides a review of the literature on urban agriculture as it applies to land use planning in the United States. The background includes a brief historical perspective of urban agriculture around the world, as well as more recent examples in the United States. Land use applications are considered for multiple scales, from efforts that consider an entire city, to those that impact a single building or garden. Barriers and constraints to urban agriculture are discussed, followed by research opportunities and methodological approaches that might be used to address them. This work has implications for urban planners, landscape designers, and extension agents, as opportunities to integrate urban agriculture into the fabric of our cities expand. | https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/multifunctional-urban-agriculture-for-sustainable-land-use-planni |
Applications of genome editing tools in stem cells towards regenerative medicine: An update : Review Article
Precise and site specific genome editing through application of emerging and modern gene engineering techniques, namely zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) have swiftly progressed the application and use of the stem cell technology in the sphere of in-vitro disease modelling and regenerative medicine. Genome editing tools facilitate the manipulating of any gene in various types of cells with target specific nucleases. These tools aid in elucidating the genetics and etiology behind different diseases and have immense promise as novel therapeutics for correcting the genetic mutations, make alterations and cure diseases permanently that are not responding and resistant to traditional therapies. These genome engineering tools have evolved in the field of biomedical research and have also shown to have a significant improvement in clinical trials. However, their widespread use in research revealed potential safety issues, which need to be addressed before implementing such techniques in clinical purposes. Significant and valiant attempts are being made in order to surpass those hurdles. The current review outlines the advancements of several genome engineering tools and describes suitable strategies for their application towards regenerative medicine.
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Use and reproduction: | https://www.openagrar.de/receive/openagrar_mods_00075840 |
# Nagwa Abdel Meguid
Nagwa Abdel Meguid is an Egyptian geneticist and 2002 winner of the L’Oreal UNESCO Award for Women in Science for Africa and the Middle East. Her research has "identified several genetic mutations that cause common syndromes such as the fragile X syndrome and Autism".
Meguid has a Ph.D. in Human Genetics. Nagwa Abdel Meguid’s research interests include clinical genetics, neurodevelopmental disorders, human DNA technology, and dysmorphology.
## Life
Meguid graduated from Arabian Gulf University. She is a fellow of Uppsala University.
## Education
Meguid is head of a laboratory researching DNA and biochemical changes in genetic disorders such as autism and fragile X syndrome. She is the head of the Department of Research on Children with Special Needs at the National Research Center (NRC) located in Egypt. Meguid is a Senior Geneticist at the Genetics Institute in Pasadena, California.
Meguid holds memberships in the Regional Bio-Ethics Society and Gender Research in Africa into Information Communication Technologies for Empowerment (GRACE).
## Awards
Meguid has prestigious awards for her research in genetics such as the National Award for Scientific Excellence (2009), National Research Centre Appreciation Prize in Medical Sciences (2011), and the Distinctive Arab Female Scientist Prize to name a few. She has also won the prize for the state of Scientific Excellence in Advanced Technology (2008).
## Research on Genetic Disorders
Meguid has contributed to the research and discovery of gene mutations causing common genetic disorders in the Egyptian population. These genetic disorders include phenylketonuria, Duchene muscular dystrophy, congenital sensorineural hearing loss and fragile X-syndrome. Meguid has developed methods to prevent certain genetic mutations, which includes heterozygous detection and prenatal diagnosis.
She has diagnosed autosomal recessive disorders in Egyptians as a result of a high prevalence of consanguinity in the population.
### Fragile X Syndrome and Autism Research
Meguid first discovered the prevalence of fragile X mutation among Egyptian males. The mutation occurred 0.9 per 1000 Egyptian males. There was a 6.4% prevalence that the mutation would occur in males who were mentally subnormal. Meguid determined that the high prevalence of fragile X in Arab mentally subnormal males may be a result of awareness or diagnoses of the disease. Egyptian males had a late recognition of this genetic mutation past their childhood. The genetic mutations could be predicted as the disease was related to an increased percentage of consanguineous marriages in the Arab population. A delayed awareness of the genetic mutation was also a common cause of other disorders related to mental subnormality. Meguid concluded that the high prevalence of fragile X syndrome should promote special education for those affected. She suggested that an individualized treatment plan starting in preschool could allow students to be more successful in their educational years.
Meguid analyzed brain morphology in both fragile x syndrome with autistic features and autism patients and determined if there are any significant differences in the genetic disorders. 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used. No significant differences were found in brain morphology including "total brain volume, regional volume, gyrification index, sulcal depth, and cerebral cortical thickness." Autistic patients had a decrease in the medial prefrontal bilaterally and left anterior cingulate cortices of the brain. The medial prefrontal and the anterior cingulate were found to be significant in social cognition and autistic and fragile X patients were deficient in both. The deficiency in brain morphological features accounted for a social cognitive deficit. Fragile X with autistic features reflected selectively higher scores on social withdrawal scales - deficits were significantly different than those of autistic individuals. Fragile X autistic characteristics were shared with that of idiopathic autism however.
Meguid developed a simple molecular screening method to detect premutation carriers of fragile X syndrome. A premutation carrier is an individual who has between 55-200 CGG repeats in the Fragile X (FMR1) gene. The full mutation has over 200 CGG repeats. The procedure included a rapid modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based screening tool for expanded Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) alleles. The results showed that 16 males out of 53 males had the CGG abnormal repeats characteristic of Fragile X gene. 10 of their mothers and 4 of their sisters also had the FMR1 premutation. 66.6% consanguineous marriages were present in the families studied. It was concluded that fragile X syndrome was ruled out of families with consanguineous parents. Instead, fragile X syndrome could be contributed to earlier carrier detection, which may reduce the number of affected children. By isolating the mutation early, the effects of the disease could be reduced in children and in their development.
### Discoveries of Genetic Mutations
#### Discovery of Inactivating Mutations in the gene Branched Chain Ketoacid Dehydrogenase Kinase
Meguid discovered mutations in the gene Branched Chain Ketoacid Dehydrogenase Kinase (BCKDK). Mutations found in BCKDK were found in consanguineous families with epilepsy, autism, and intellectual disabilities. Previously, the BCKDK was known to cause Maple Syrup Urine disease (MSUD). Mutations in this gene could potentially treat autism and epilepsy. The protein is capable of phosphorylation-mediated inactivation of E1α subunit of branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKDH). If a patient has a homozygous mutation (an identical mutation in both paternal and maternal alleles), then reductions are induced in BCKDK messenger RNA and protein, E1α phosphorylation, and amino acids of the plasma membrane.
#### Recessive Non-syndromic Deafness: Mutation in GJB2 gene
Meguid described a new mutation for the GJB2 gene ( a gene responsible for recessive non-syndromic deafness) with a deletion of thymine (T) at the position 59 (c.59delT) in the intracellular domain of connexin 26. This mutation caused a frameshift mutation at the 20th amino acid leading to premature termination. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagwa_Abdel_Meguid |
partnering with your school
Partnerships between schools and other community organizations and families are helping to create supports that enable children and youth to learn and succeed and help families and communities to thrive. These partnerships bring together diverse individuals and groups, including parents, educators and administrators, school boards, community-based organizations, youth development organizations, and health and human service agencies to expand opportunities for children with low vision and their families.
An important first step is to assess the broad range of resources that are currently available within or connected to their school. Some of these programs and services may be directly supported by the school; others may be supported by community organizations as well as local county and state agencies. Parents should ask and take inventory of the programs and services already administered by the school and its community partners. Once you know what programs and services exist, your challenge is to make sure these programs and services are coordinated and implemented to achieve desired results and to identify new programs and services that may be needed.
Building the “Team”
No one person has all the necessary specialized knowledge and skills to meet a low vision child's unique need. For this reason, the concept of the "team" is fundamental when it comes to promoting your child's growth, development, and learning. Throughout your child's school years, you will be working with a variety of professionals to ensure that your child gets the educational services he needs for a successful foundation in life.
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the law that governs the education of students with disabilities, the educational team has a central role in a low vision child's education. While the team consists of the school, community, and local agency professionals who work with your child and plan his education, every child's team will be different, depending on the particular needs of that child and family as well as his age. For very young children, the team works directly with the family as well as the child (known as "Early Intervention Services"), and develops an Individual Family Service Plan (ISFP)to detail the services that are needed to meet the needs of both the child and the family as a whole. Once your child turns three years old, his educational team will focus on his individual and educational needs and will write an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that outlines his educational goals and the services that will help meet them. Some of the team members provide what are considered "related services" under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Related services are those services required to help your child benefit from his special education.
Your Role as a Parent
One thing to never forget is that the parents are an equal member of your child’s team. Over your child's lifetime, members of his team will change regularly, but you will remain the one constant. As a parent, you are the critical and integral member of the team. You know your child best, having seen his / her behavior. You have witnessed his / her progress under all kinds of circumstances. Over time, you have seen your child develop and grow as well as have a better understanding of his / her limitation. Your input is crucial for understanding both his abilities and needs. Team members who are professionals trained in the education and rehabilitation of visually impaired students as you have the specialized knowledge and skills to assess and instruct. When their efforts are combined with yours, your child gets the maximum benefit.
Team Membership
Important members of the team will be professionals who specialize in working with children who are visually impaired and those who work directly with him in the classroom include:
Special Educator: The Special Education Teacher is normally the “case manager” or special educator advocate. The Special Educator coordinates and manages the appropriate curriculum, accommodations, and assessments as well as leads the Team in developing the optimal education plan for the low vision student.
Teacher of students with visual impairment (TVI): The TVI has specialized training in how a visual impairment affects a child's development and learning and in the strategies and tools that can assist your child in learning about the world, performing everyday activities, and participating in the regular curriculum in school. The TVI is the central member of your team.
Classroom teacher: Most students with visual impairments today attend a public school and are taught in general education classrooms with their sighted peers. In a regular classroom, the general education classroom teacher will be a key member of his educational team. This teacher will work closely with the Special Educator and TVI to get information about the best ways to teach your child and get his class materials. The classroom teacher has the responsibility for teaching the school's core curriculum.
Orientation and Mobility (O&M) specialist: The O&M specialist helps children learn to travel safely and independently in their environments. They also teach concepts about the body, space and direction, movement, and the physical environment to children of all ages. Even before a baby is crawling or walking, the O&M specialist can give parents ideas on how to help their child learn about his/her own body and the world around them. Orientation and mobility is considered a related service under IDEA.
Para-educator: Para-educators (who are also called teachers' aides or teaching assistants (TA’s), paraprofessionals, school aides) are often assigned to work with students who are visually impaired under the supervision of the classroom teacher and TVI. They may be assigned to the classroom or to the individual student who is visually impaired.
Early interventionist: If your child is younger than three years old, your team may include an early interventionist; this is a professional who is trained to support families of young children with disabilities. Many early interventionists have a strong background in child development. However, the early interventionist on your team may or may not have experience and expertise related to working with a child with a visual impairment. Therefore, if your early interventionist is not a trained TVI, it is critical for the early interventionist to collaborate with the TVI on the team.
Other members of your child's educational team may be specialists in other areas, depending each child’s unique individual needs. These team members may or may not have experience with children who are visually impaired. Some professionals who are related service personnel commonly found on educational teams include:
Occupational therapist: An occupational therapist focuses on the development of your child's fine motor skills. These are the skills he uses for eating, dressing, keyboarding at a computer or electronic note-taker, and other tasks mostly using his hands.
Physical therapist: The physical therapist's specialty is your child's gross motor skills—those used for activities such as crawling, sitting, walking, and running.
Speech therapist: Speech therapists—also known as speech and language pathologists—focus on helping young children learn to communicate, improving speech and communication, and developing alternative methods of communication for children with multiple disabilities. Many speech therapists also have expertise in helping young children learn eating skills.
Assistive Technology Specialist: With rapid increases in technology, many schools have Assistive Technology Specialists to use technology to assist in the learning for children with special needs. For visually impaired children, assistive technology has limitless applications to assist students in the classroom. The AT specialist is critical in tailoring and customizing technology for each child’s unique needs.
Principal, Assistant Principal, or other School Administrator:While not always present at each Team meeting, Principals, Assistant Principals, or School Administrators are an important part of the team as they can assist in guiding the team, resolving conflict, and negotiating solutions when the team struggles with agreements on assessments, optimal accommodations, and appropriate services.
The educational team might also include any of the following professionals, and if your child has multiple disabilities, there may be others as well:
· Psychologist
· Social worker
· Pediatrician or medical doctor
· Audiologist
Team Responsibilities
Your child's educational team is responsible for assessing his strengths and needs, setting goals for his education on the basis of these assessments, and providing the services to help him meet those goals. Your child's IFSP or IEP is the product of the team's efforts and is intended to guide his educational path. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the minimum frequency with which the team needs to meet, conduct assessments, and review your child's IFSP or IEP. The team is required to notify you when meetings are held and to arrange to hold them at times convenient for you.
Written by Donna and Chuck Walls
Sources / Bibliography for PRRF Article: “Partnering with Your School”
The Understood Team. “Understanding IEPs.” Retrieved from:
https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/ieps/understanding-individualized-education-programs
Perras, C. “Effective Parent-Teacher Partnerships: Considerations for Educators.” Retrieved from:
https://www.ldatschool.ca/effective-parent-teacher-partnerships/
Virginia Department of Education. “Collaborative Family-School Relationships for Children’s Learning.” Retrieved from:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/student_family/family-school_relationships/collaborative_family-school_relationships.pdf
Ebenstein, B. “IEP (Individualized Education Program).” Retrieved from:
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr18/issue1/f180109.htm
Family Connect. “The Central Role of the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments.” Retrieved from: | https://www.pediatricrrf.org/partnering-with-your-school |
Literary Terms and Definitions
What is a literary term? These are the words and descriptors that help us to talk about literature and poetry and articulate a work’s characteristics, meaning and broader significance. Literature can be much more than a good story. Often an author is writing to express ideas, opinions and greater truths about the world and human nature. Literary devices help authors express their ideas and intentions in a meaningful, purposed way. These are some of the most common literary devices and terms for describing literature.
Allegory
An allegory is a work of literature, in which the surface narrative is the vehicle for a deeper, symbolic or metaphorical meaning or intent. An entire work may be allegory or merely parts of it. The story, which may be very simple and entertaining, is used to communicate a more profound, sometimes even hidden, meaning.
Alliteration
When sounds are repeated in succession within a sentence you have an example of alliteration. Alliteration may refer to words that rhyme with each other, such as “how now brown cow,” or it may describe a succession of words that begin with the same letter or sound, such as “Sally sold seashells by the seashore.”
Allusion
An allusion is made when an author mentions or refers to a person, event, or well-known idea. Allusions are often made to famous works of literature or literary characters.
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the practice of giving human characteristics to a deity. This is a device commonly seen in Greek and Roman mythology where the gods make assume any number of human characteristics and emotions. It sometimes refers to giving human characteristics to animals as well.
Euphemism
When an author wants to express a word or an idea that may be offensive or too explicit, they may use a euphemism, which is a milder word or way of expressing an idea. Instead of saying, “Grandma is dead,” which can sound harsh to some, a writer may use the euphemism “passed away.” Euphemisms are frequently used to stand in for swear words or sexual terms.
Foil
A foil is a character that an author uses to highlight or demonstrate essential qualities in another character. Rather than explicitly describe the protagonist, or main character, the author may use secondary characters to set up contrasts, which will reveal the true nature of the primary character.
Genre
Genres are categories for different types of literature. Drama, detective fiction, fantasy, Young Adult (YA) and romance are examples of literary genres. Genre tells you what type of book or work it is.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is another word for exaggeration. This literary device can help an author convey a point by overstating it. “We were dying of hunger,” may be used to express that the characters were indeed very hungry, but not actually in danger of perishing for lack of food.
Irony
When an author employs irony in his or her writing, he or she is using words or events to say one thing while actually meaning another.
Metaphor
A metaphor expresses a comparison by calling one thing another. Unlike simile, there is no use of the words “like” or “as.” An expression like, “That exam was a beast,” is an example of metaphor. Metaphor can also be used in a broader sense to express larger concepts and ideas about life in general.
Motif
A story, poem, or play’s motif is the theme or idea that recurs throughout the work and often dominates the plot. A literary work may have more than one motif. Common examples of motifs are justice, love or redemption.
Onomatopoeia
This type of word, when pronounced verbally creates the sound it is describing. “Swoosh,” “slurp,” “quack,” and “clunk,” are examples of onomatopoeia.
Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a paradox or contradiction in two words. The two words, when put together, actually contradict each other. Popular examples include “jumbo shrimp” or “modest wealth.” The effect is often humorous, satirical and witty.
Personification
Personification endows non-human entities with human traits and emotions. An author may personify animals, plants or other inanimate objects. For example, “The wind fought against the runners coming up the hill.” This is bestowing the human characteristic of being able to fight upon wind, an inanimate entity.
Plot
The plot of a work is its storyline; the sequence of events that take place. In their most simplified form, plots contain rising action, climax, and falling action. This is also referred to as the story’s narrative arc.
Point-of-View
Every written work has a point of view. Who is telling the story? Through whose eyes do we understand what is happening? Who is the narrator? Does the narrator know everything or only some of what is going on? When a story is told from the perspective of “I,” it is in first-person point-of-view. If an outside narrator is telling the story for characters which are referred to as “he” or “she,” then this describes third-person point-of-view.
Satire
Satire is the device of looking at or conveying a serious situation or event in a humorous way. With wit and even sarcasm, the author brings a light-hearted or amusing spin on something grave and seeks to elicit the same response in their reader. Satire may also be used to point out hypocrisy or moral failing by revealing the ridiculousness of their subject.
Setting
Setting refers to the world in which the story takes place. It includes the physical location, but also the time period, the people that inhabit the world in which the story takes place and the prevailing customs and beliefs. The setting may be entirely fictional and fantastical or may contain elements of real world settings, events and environmental characteristics..
Simile
A simile is used to make a comparison and it involves the use of the words “like” or “as.” For example, “Her eyes were like shining stars,” is an example of the use of simile.
Symbol
A symbol is a real-life object that an author uses to represent another deeper meaning or idea. The symbol will often recur throughout the work to emphasize its meaning and significance. For example, a literal object like a dove or an olive branch may be used to represent peace.
Learn more about literary terms and rhetorical devices: | http://www.teachercertification.org/generalteaching/literary-terms-and-definitions.html |
NDLEA arrests 23 cocaine pushers in Kano
The Commandant, Kano State Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Dr. Ibrahim Abdul has revealed that, 23 suspected cocaine pushers have been arrested in the state within one month.
The Commandant disclosed this yesterday, while briefing newsmen on his achievement as the new NDLEA boss in Kano.
Abdul, who assumed duty in December, 2018, said 20 of the suspects, who were arrested at Sabon Gari area in the Kano metropolis, were not indigenes of the state, but came from the southern part of the country.
According to him, the arrest of the suspected cocaine pushers was part of the command’s efforts towards ending drug abuse in Kano.
He added that, “as the commandant of the NDLEA in Kano, i will not recent in my efforts towards ensuring the success of the agency and also keeping the state free from drug abuse.
The commandant, however, revealed that, the command had arrested a suspect operating a clandestran laboratory, where he produces fake drugs, especially antibiotics like Augmenting and Articimet.
According to him, the suspects, Ikenna Daniel, was arrested with over 8 cartons of fake Augmenting, weighing 115 kilograms and Articimet of about 136 kilograms.
Abdul added that 86 suspects were arrested by the Command within the last one month, with different types of illicit drugs weighing 1.4 tons.
He explained that they are making all the necessary arrangements to take all the suspects to court.
According to Abdul, “We intercepted 17.1 grams of Cocaine, Cannabis 761.5 kilograms, Heroin 20 grams, tramadol182.3 kilograms, Codeine 75.2 kilograms while D5 we intercepted 12.5 kilograms”.
He added that, the command had also intercepted 10.4 kilograms of Pentazocine and also 314 grams, saying they have confiscated the total of 1,042.516 kilograms which is over one ton of the illicit drugs. | |
These Antarctic vegetables were grown without pesticides, daylight, or even soil — but they look absolutely delicious.
Germany’s southernmost workplace, the Neumayer-Station III, has harvested the first crop of Antarctic vegetables. Biologists report that they’ve successfully grown 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) of salad greens, 18 cucumbers and 70 radishes grown inside a high-tech greenhouse, as temperatures around the research station were plummeting to -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).
The plants were grown without soil, in a closed-water circle. No outside lighting was used — instead, researchers optimized and used an LED system. The carbon dioxide cycle was also closely monitored.
While this is a solid crop already, researchers are expecting much more in the future. The German Aerospace Center DLR, which coordinates the project, said that in the coming months, they expect to harvest 4-5 kilograms of fruit and vegetables a week.
NASA has already grown delicious vegetables aboard the International Space Station using a somewhat similar system, but the DLR says that they want to grow a much wider range of fruits and veggies, and they also want to create a more substantial harvest.
If we want to go to other planets, we’ll ultimately have to find a way to sustainably grow food on spaceships, or places like the Moon or Mars. This type of mission will prove instrumental to the success of those missions. | https://www.zmescience.com/science/scientists-harvest-first-batch-antarctic-vegetables/ |
[This article is part of a dossier on Tankra Tamazight, Amazigh Revival, and Indigeneity in North Africa, edited by Brahim El Guabli. To read other articles in this dossier, read the introduction here.]
Ancient historians have frequently borne witness to the Amazigh people’s abundant narrative tradition, passed down orally through the generations up to the modern era, when it was virtually absorbed by modern means of communication such as school, radio, and especially television, which invaded Amazigh culture with the allure of globalism. Television in particular invaded Amazigh culture and made Amazigh speakers feel backward and culturally stagnant, resulting in a gradual abandonment of this tradition. Thus, an ancient Amazigh narrative tradition was gradually obliterated and now risks extinction. What remains of this tradition is simply what lives in the memory of the elders, especially those who absorbed this tradition at an early age, throughout the Amazigh territories. Even this last bastion will vanish if it is not preserved.
Driven by obvious colonial motives, the European colonizers who conquered North Africa between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, collected and recorded parts of this tradition, but despite those motives they did Tamazight (Amazigh language) a favor by safeguarding part of that tradition which otherwise could have disappeared. After having been exposed to the literature of other nations, subsequent generations of Imazighen (Amazigh people) became aware of the importance of preserving their literary tradition by drawing on modern schools of thought. They realized that their literary tradition was as significant as that of the other peoples, noticing that those peoples did not only preserve their tradition, but also drew on it to create new genres in accordance with the requirements of the age.
During the post-independence period, and in the framework of the near-extinction which threatened the Amazigh language and culture, modern literature in Amazigh has only managed to see the light of day recently despite the fact that its roots go deeper into history. Yet the historical writing in Tamazight was for a religious goal and was, in large part, merely doctrinal, whereas the new style of writing is distinguished by its comprehensiveness and broadened horizons. It has endeavored to crystallize aspects of the Amazigh identity and cultural embodiment. Language in this new form of Amazigh literary writing is not employed merely to convey a religious message, but has become a prerequisite in itself as it constitutes an essential element of identity.
Credit: Tirra Association
The first hints of this new writing started in the forties of the last century in Algeria, and at the end of the sixties in Morocco. The first literary works surfaced during this period, though they were often met with hostility, but its pioneers defied the odds and resolutely began experimenting with creativity in different literary genres that were previously unknown to the Amazigh people. But since my goal in this brief article is not to talk about all the genres of written Amazigh literature, my focus will be on two narrative forms: the short story and the novel. These two literary genres appeared in Europe after the industrial revolution and the advent of the printing press and became important forms of human expression in our modern world. Amazigh literature is not to be excluded from the process of establishing and employing these literary genres.
Since any account of the details of experimentation with these two genres in every country and in every region requires a review of the circumstances that contributed to its emergence and the stages of its development up to the present –something that this brief article does not allow—I will concentrate more on a specific area in the territory of written Amazigh literature, that is the region that speaks Tashlḥyt in central and southern Morocco. This does not prevent me from making brief comparative comments on other regions within Morocco or Algeria, especially given the fact that the produced writing in those genres relatively earlier than Morocco; the first novel was published in Tamazight in Algeria under the title: "Lawālī n Udrār" (The Saint of the Mountain) in 1946 by the novelist Belaid N Ait Ali, while the first collection of short stories was published in Morocco under the title: "Imarayn" by Ed Belkacem Hassan in 1988. However, the first published Moroccan Amazigh novel was published only in 1997 by the novelist Mohamed Chacha, a Moroccan novelist who lived in the Netherlands, where his novel was published. Although I do not currently have accurate data regarding the number of novels published in Algeria up to the present day, I am confident that the amount of Amazigh novels published in Morocco, until mid-2021, is close to ninety novels; fifty-five of them were published in the Tashlḥyt-speaking region, while short stories probably exceeded one hundred and fifty, and again, one hundred and seventeen short stories were published in the Souss region referred to above.
The discrepancy in the amount of narrative literature published in the regions of Morocco is due to various factors. Some of these factors relate to the fact that Tashlḥytophone region had an ancient tradition of writing in Amazigh compared to the rest of the regions. Other factors include the wide geographical space and the proportion of the population, and the relative distance from the impacts of Arabization. However, the key factor in this disparity consists in the emergence of Tirra (Writing) Association for Amazigh writers which, established in Agadir in 2009, continuously works to encourage writing in Amazigh in general and pay special attention to narrative literature among young people in particular, increasing the percentage of publications in the Souss region. The association has published forty novels out of a corpus of fifty-five and seventy-three collections of stories from the existing one hundred and seventeen. Women have played an important role in this literary and narratological achievement. Out of more than seventy writers, the association published works by more than twenty-five women.
The points of convergence and divergence between these two forms in Amazigh literature, be it oral or written, are important to examine. The importance of this question stems from the fact that the Amazigh narrative literature is still in the process of institutionalization. By this assumption, I do not intend to underestimate a number of narrative works distinguished by their quality and originality, but by institutionalization I mean the official and social establishment of this literature. Amazigh language, which is the core of Amazigh literature, was made official in the two countries that currently produce this literature, namely Morocco and Algeria, after the first decade of the third millennium. The Amazigh language was made official in Morocco in 2011 and in Algeria in 2016.
Credit: Tirra Association
Let us start from the indisputable postulate which argues that no written literature originates from the void. Initially, most of world literatures tend to have intertextual links with oral texts that were completed before. Written literature starts to relatively disentangle itself from the body of texts that preceded it only when it achieves a substantial, both quantitative and qualitative, accumulation in terms of production. From there it begins to proliferate through intertextuality. However, since the written Amazigh literature burgeoned under special circumstances, notably its blooming in the margins against contesting forces, it did not accumulate a precociously massive literary corpus and was not widely circulated despite the relatively extended period of its continuous institutionalization. It is not surprising that the Amazigh storyteller and novelist rely on stored, oral texts that they were transmitted to them by their families and through interactions with Amazigh speakers. While embarking on their creative work, such writers succumb to two kinds of authority: the authority of the oral texts, which consist of the subject matter on which they work creatively ( this subject matter, in all its forms, was received somehow through their environment in the form of tales, myths, anecdotes, proverbs and enigmas…), and to the authority of texts written in languages they learned academically.
The majority of Tamazight writers nowadays have never received any academic training in the literature or in the language in which they write. Only recently did Moroccan embrace this literature and launched departments and degree programs. The writers who graduated from those departments are still a very small minority. It is therefore natural that the written literary works, be they stories or novels, intersect with the oral texts that preceded them. The presence of those oral texts varies not only from one writer to another, but also frequently from the same author’s different texts. This intertextual presence may occur spontaneously or deliberately.
The observer of the output of the narrative literary works completed up to this date will find out about the various ways in which the writers deal with the oral legacy in written texts:
A. Some of these works are almost identical to traditional oral texts to the extent that the scrutinizing reader can hardly discern the differences between them, either in form or content. However, this type of text is not the most predominant when one considers the majority of publications. Take, for example, Mohamed Ohmou’s collection of short stories Izmaz n Targin, Mohamed Karhou’s Irzag Yimim, and Mohamed Moustaoui’s novel Tiktay. Although these three works are almost exact copies of the oral texts, they are distinguished by the writers’ conscious preoccupation with aesthetics. Mohamed Karho’s collection of short stories is truly a masterpiece, which draws all its components from the traditional Amazigh tale, while Mohamed Ohmou’s fictional works are closer to the traditional tale than to the modern short story. Mohamed Moustaoui’s stories give the impression that they are merely a reproduction of the recorded ordinary speech. These three works are all preceded, in terms of their date of publication, by other narrative works. Yet pioneering characteristics of the modern story are evident in them, either in terms of the issues they raise or in terms of the aesthetic molds in which they were written. As a model for the first type, I would like to mention Hassan Ed Belkacem’s Imarayn and Assafi Moumin Ali’s Tighri n Tabrat" and, as an example of the second type, Mohamed Achiban’s Anzlef.
B. Some writers rely more on rhetorical figures that are based on metonymy, metaphor, and simile that shape the presumed literary image. These figures of speech were formulated in the traditional oral narrative over the centuries and are disseminated in the narrative texts, and sometimes in the vernacular. Writers rely on such devices to endow their creative texts with an authentic aesthetic flavor that characterizes Amazigh narrative and tempers the general taste of Amazigh speakers in different varieties.
The following are some examples of the rhetorical figures that permeate any written narrative text. Sometimes the writer uses them unconsciously. I deliberately gleaned these examples from Hassan Ibrahim Amore’s recently published novel Titberin Tihrdad as this writer seems to have deliberately used them in his text:
- “Ar twargan azal tqd issk” means “they daydream.” If translated literally from Amazigh, it would mean: “They dream during the day while it scorches the horn.” The sentence is loaded with a metonymy used to describe a state of delusion and absent-mindedness. This idiomatic expression recurs repeatedly in the ordinary language. The phrase: “Ar twargan azal,” is a figurative expression based on an implicit metaphor. The phrase "tqd isk" which means “it scorches the horn”, the horn of an animal such as a cow, contains a second omitted metonymy which alludes to the omitted "sun" referred to by the subject pronoun.
- “T fitaghtin a Said" means “you missed the opportunity, Said.” Translated literally, the sentence would mean something like “ O Said, you poured it.”
- “Wa ndadana” means “O year that went by”. It is an idiomatic expression based on a metaphor, referring to a kind of loss of touch with reality or an absence of awareness of current events and developments.
- “Yout Ofalko nes Akjaja” means literally “ his falcon hit the trunk.” This is a wonderful literary image based on a metonymy that refers to failure to hit the target.
- “Izouzl khf wa sghim” means, if translated literally, “ he sleeps on pebbles.” This is a metonymy that describes gloomy and distressing living.
C. Some writers employ the aesthetic structure of the oral tale to convey a modern content as one notices in Mohamed Akounad’s short stories “Ait Touf Tamashout” and “Tabatiti,” published in his collection Tagufi n oumiyn that borrowed its title from an oral tale in a manner similar to Mohamed Ousous’s “Ait Iqjder d Oukhsay.” Some of these writers use common expressions borrowed from tales that have a familiar ring among the Amazigh audience as Mohamed Achiban did in his collection of stories entitled Anzlef.
- Some other writers employ common expressions such as proverbs. This type of expression is remarkably reoccurring in some fictional works such as: Tawarget Demik, Innakofen, and Tamurt n Ilfawn. Amazigh proverbs in Innakofen are abundant and they are used consciously for aesthetic purposes, whereas in Tamurt n Ilfawn they tend to be alluded to by indications that help the reader identify them .
Whoever reviews the output of the accumulated narrative corpus and compares it with the traditional oral heritage will notice that, in addition to those relationships and interactions between the oral and written, there are divergences between them as well. Such distinctions are more palpable since the major goal of the Amazigh writer, when he or she first embarked on the adventure of writing, was to transcend the shackles of orality that reigned over Amazigh literature for a long period of time and chained it to a heavily influential past. The new Amazigh writer is keen on being contemporaneous both in terms of form and content.
Credit: Tirra Association
What distinguishes written Amazigh literature in general, and particularly the narrative genre, is that the space of its formation and reception is primarily urban. It is a literature that has evolved to target a literate public. Thus, in addition to some international capitals as Paris and Amsterdam, Amazigh literature emerged in urban spaces, like Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Nador, Oujda, Fez, Tizi Ouzou, Bejaia, Algeria, where it continues to through publication and reading. The village remains the ideal space for traditional forms of narrative. The village is home of erudite practitioners, and it is there that oral worked as produced and transmitted.
Several elements distinguish the written Amazigh literature. The issues it tackles, the characters involved, and the chronotropes within which they evolve adhere more closely to the genres of short story and novel rather than tales and legends. I previously claimed that the writers of the Amazigh short story and novel rely on two different sources: the ancient Amazigh oral heritage of their youth and the written sources of their academic training. The latter source is illustrated by several forms of intertextuality:
- an instance of this intertextuality resembles the art of ‘al mu‘āraḍa’ or “opposition” in poetry, which is structured around the production of a literary text that imitates a written text that preceded it. An example of this poetic opposition lies in Lahcen Zahour’s novel Aghyul d Wizugen which imitates an ancient text by Lucius Apuleius The Golden Ass, which is considered the first novel ever written.
- Intertextuality with the religious heritage, such as the Qur'an and Hadith. For instance, Tamurt n Ilfawn refers to Surah An-Naml ( Chapter 27th in the Qur’an), while Tawarget d Imek refers to “Adrar n Qaf,” a mythical mountain mentioned in some theology books like Badāi‘ al-zuhūr fi gharā’ib ad-duhūr.
- Intertextuality with poetry collections, modern Amazigh novels, quotes by philosophers and thinkers. This can be illustrated by Fadna Faras’s novels Dawa ouchidad n tchaka nm and Ebiw N Tarir, and Hicham Goghoult’s Tamdayat d and Sinsi.
- Intertextuality also takes place by evoking characters from ancient Amazigh history, like in Zahour his collection of short stories entitled Tayri d Izilid in which he refers to the character of Cleopatra Selene, the wife of Juba II. Also, as in Tarik Ben Ziyad’s collection of short stories Issggassn n Tkrist, and lastly Salh Ait Salh’s allusion to the character of Juba II in his collection of short stories Tojojt n Irifi in a similar way to what Zahra Dikr did in her novel Tiske Tarjdalt, which was inspired by "Tin Henan," the historical figure that the Tuareg consider their grandmother.
The Amazigh writers endeavor to simultaneously sow the seeds of and establish narrative forms that were previously unknown on Amazigh cultural soil, and to ingrain their robust identity in the Amazigh culture on the other hand. They do so with a growing awareness that a decisive break with their great legacy of narratives is indeed flawed and complicates their task. The more they try to burn the stages, the more they fall into ambiguity and vagueness that sap literary creativity. Such ambiguity and vagueness only strain the readers and deprive them of that sacred pleasure that secures a positive interaction between the writer and the reader. The Amazigh writer has begun to understand and appreciate this fact, an attitude that gradually provides the modern Amazigh narrative scene with original creative works from which readers derive the pleasure that literature in other languages has long offered.
[This article has been translated from the Arabic version by El Habib Louai.]
Ibn Khaldoun. Al-muqaddimah (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, 1999),175.
Emile Laoust. Contes berbères du Maroc ( Rabat: Institut Royal de la Culture Amazigh et université Mohammed V, 2012).
The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture has recorded and published a great deal of oral literature, for instance the anthology entitled Imarirn: Twentieth-Century Renowned Ahwash Poets which contains fifty poets.
For ambiguous reasons, history has not preserved for us relatively long texts with the Libyan script or Tifinagh script from which it branched, except for the tombstones, yet a great deal of what was written in Arabic script has reached us after the Muslim conquest of North Africa. We have, for instance, Ibn Ghanem’s pamphlet, and the two books “Al-Hawd” and “Ocean of Tears,” two religious homelies composed by the jurist Muhammad Ali Awzal, who lived until the mid-eighteenth-century.
The establishment of the Amazigh Association for Exchange and Berber Academic Cultural Research in Paris coincided with the establishment of he Moroccan Association for Research and Cultural Exchange in Rabat in the same year 1967. See The Amazigh Cause in Morocco and Algeria. Roots and Challenges for More than Two Centuries by Houcine El Yacoubi, second edition (Agadir: Sous Impression Agadir).
Mohamed Afkir, Return to the Narrative in the Moroccan novel written in the Amazigh language: The Borders between the Real and the Imaginary (Ait Melloul: Terra Association for Writers in Amazigh, first edition 2019).
See statistics issued and updated every year by Terra Association for Writers in Amazigh.
One of the most famous collections of short stories published by Mohamed Ahmou is entitled Izmaz n Trgin (Agadir: Aqlam Press, 2008).
The short story collection Irzag Yimimis the first by Mohamed Karhou published by Dar Al Qalam Press in Agadir in 2010.
"Tawssna” publications, Idoukl Press in Rabat, 2012.
Al-Maarif Al Jadida Press, Rabat, 1988.
Publications of the Moroccan Association for Research and Cultural Exchange, Fidérant Press, Rabat, 1998.
Tirra publications, The Central Press of Souss, 2020.
Publications of Tirra League for Books in Amazigh.
Tirra Publications, Dar Assalam Press, Rabat, 2015.
Publications of The Moroccan Association for Research and Cultural Exchange, Al Maarif Al Jadida Press, Rabat, 2009.
Mohamed Akounad’s first novel, Bourgrag Press, Rabat, 2002.
Mohamed Oussous’s first novel issued by Tirra, Central Press, Ait Melloul, 2017.
Mohamed Akounad’s third novel, Dar Assalam Press, Rabat, 2012.
Tirra publications, Central Press, Ait Melloul, 2018.
Published by Mohamed Al Hanfi, Dar Al Koutoub wa Al Wata’iq Al Qawmiya, Cairo, 2008.
Tirra Publications, Central Press, Ait Melloul, 2015.
Tirra Publications, Central Press, Ait Melloul, 2020.
Tirra Publications, Central Press of Souss, Ait Melloul, 2020.
Tirra Publication, Dar Assalam Press, Rabat, 2014.
Aqlam Press, Agadir, 2009.
Ibid, Dar Assalam Press, Rabat, 2015.
Tirra Publications, Central Press of Souss, Ait Melloul, 2018. | https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/43438 |
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in phase shift analyzes of pion-nucleon scattering.
Exotic tetra-, penta- and hexa-quarks have been discussed in the frame-work
of QCD and various approximations thereof for more than three decades.
The generally accepted point of view was that such states which certainly
should exist are numerous, broad and hence blend in a continues background.
The anomalous lightness of the Nambu-Goldstone pions allows most exotics to
decay into a stable baryon and pions or just into pions with large phase
spaces in all cases. It was also argued that decay rates of non exotics
as mesons or baryons requiring the creation of an
extra and often even specific pair are suppressed
relative to the ”fall-apart” decay of exotics like the
,
where all final quarks are already present in the initial state.
If pionic decays are partially blocked by the Zweig rule, suppressing annihilation into the lighter or quarks, the relevant states like the and , which following Jaffe we take as 111 refers to the lightest quarks , to heavy quarks and the intermediate is mentioned explicitly. configurations, can have reasonable widths despite of the large phase space for pionic decays. It was then suggested that in certain heavier quark systems, such as the penta-quark [4, 5, 6] or -hexa-quark states, the favorable strong hyperfine interaction can generate stable multi-quark states which decay only weakly. It has been noted by several authors [8, 9, 10] that tetra-quarks, particularly the or , are even more likely to be discovered. This was indeed verified in the Belle experiment , where a remarkable narrow peak was found in the channel. This state which we believe has the quantum numbers of a in -wave, namely , forms readily in the decay involving two charm quarks in close spatial proximity and with reasonably low relative momenta. Its annihilation into and pions is still suppressed by the need to have the in the configuration causing its remarkable narrowness. This may be the first of a host of other exotica with . If the Babar state is a rather than -wave state , QCD inequalities suggest the existence of a third member in the series starting with , namely the state with a mass and a narrow width decaying into .
A penta-quark resonance at has been seen in invariant mass distributions in various real photon experiments off deuterons [16, 17] and protons by analyzing the and final states without being swamped by multiple pion complex final states. This resonance has also been reported in -Xenon scattering and the possible existence of a very weak evidence in cross section data in the PDG (Particle Data Group compilation) was noted .
The most remarkable feature of the new state is the narrow width seen in and experiments where this upper bound is given by the experimental resolution. A much more stringent bound of follows from the lack of a prominent enhancement of the scattering cross section in the relevant momentum interval whose size is fixed by the Fermi motion in the deuteron. An even stronger upper bound of is derived from a phase shift analysis and by analyzing along similar lines the charge exchange reaction .
Motivated by this new development we would like to suggest schemes where the width can be as small as and to dispel the belief that, when decays into pseudo scalar particles are allowed and the Zweig rule does not apply, the exotics are always extremely broad. Thus a very different explanation why multi-quark exotics have not been seen before emerges. Their widths are no longer too large but too small, causing the production cross sections for these exotic states scaled by their widths to be so tiny that the peaks in the invariant mass distribution escaped detection in earlier lower statistics and/or lower resolution experiments.
A state with a width of , and has been predicted in an extended SU(3)-flavor Skyrme model [24, 25]. It appears as the isospin singlet tip of an anti-decuplet where the corresponding doublet has been identified with the state. Diakonov, Petrov and Polyakov also suggest that the and states are the remaining penta-quark states of this anti-decuplet, leaving only the to be discovered.
With the and the corresponding measured at hand we should anchor the penta-quark scale at and look for other even lighter penta-quark states comprising and quarks and anti-quarks.
In the anti-decuplet the is obtained from the by the U spin lowering operator, that replaces in either one by a or one by a , yielding
|(1)|
The matrix element of the SU(3) breaking Lagrangian in the state is and in the case of . is an effective and quark mass difference which subsumes also the hyperfine mass splitting effects. The mass differences between these and penta-quark states is then
|(2)|
This large effective strange versus up or down quark mass difference
in the penta-quark system is more than
three times larger than the difference in the standard baryonic
decuplet that is traditionally
identified with the constituent mass difference between the
strange and non-strange quarks. As we indicate next
a large could be a better
prediction reflecting the large hyperfine splittings in case
of the Nambu-Goldstone pions associated with the
spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking which the Skyrme model
incorporates.
General arguments based on QCD inequalities motivate
|(3)|
This conjecture constituting a stronger variant of Vaffa-Witten’s rigorous result will be addressed separately in detail. The masses on the left are those of the lowest lying states with given consisting of the same subsystem with an extra or quark in the same overall state and are the current quark masses. is smaller than the standard of in common quark models. It has been noted [27, 28] that monotonically decreases with . This is expected from the decrease of the attractive hyperfine interaction.
|(4)|
The sum extends over all the quarks and anti-quarks in the hadron
and is the relative wave-functions at zero separation
of the various or
pairs in the hadron . The components of
are the Pauli matrices with
and those
of are the Gelman
matrices with representing
the eight SU(3) color generators in the and
basis of
quarks and anti-quarks. For pseudo-scalar hadrons this differences
starting for light quarks
with decrease all the way down
to for quarks. Nussinov and
Shrock have conjectured that indeed the latter mass
difference more correctly represents the current quark mass difference
in agreement with lattice results .
One has to correct for running quark masses
since, due to the increased reduced mass, the state
is smaller than the corresponding state.
The empirical strange non-strange values
of can now be explained by this smaller
and hyperfine interactions using constituent quark masses similar
to those in the mesons and the fact that the hyperfine splitting
in baryons is reduced relative to that in mesons due to
.
Next we would like to identify the likely non-strange analogue of the penta-quark and estimate in the same manner .
In many multiplets like the vector and tensor meson nonets the physical mass eigenstates are adequately represented by the non-strange and strange quark states and are far from the SU(3) flavor singlet and octet state. This is due to the fact, manifested in the Zweig rule, that the off diagonal matrix elements are smaller than the mass difference between the two strange and two non-strange ( or ) quarks.
An important exception to this are the mesons , , and of the pseudo-scalar octet with a strong coupling to the pure glue channel, often attributed to the U(1) axial anomaly. The Skyrme model contains the U(1) axial anomaly and the Skyrmions can be viewed as a coherent fields. Hence the emergence in first order of the SU(3) symmetric anti-decuplet of Diakonov, Petrov and Polyakov can be understood . Note however that a detailed analysis of the radiative widths suggests that also the and are intermediate states between the mixed and pure SU(3) flavor states.
We explore the possibility that the lowest lying partners of the are essentially the pure non-strange and penta-quark states and .
In the penta-quark state we encounter for the first time two di-quarks taken in the simplest model [33, 21] to be the standard strongly bound and with an relative angular momentum . The task of estimating the difference between the analog states where is obtained by exchanging in by or seems easier,
|(5)|
where we sum only over the hyperfine interactions between the
anti-quark and the four quarks in the penta-quark state because
the remaining mutual interactions cancels out.
Since each of the di-quarks has the
expectation value of each of the four hyperfine interactions
vanishes. In this lowest order approximation we thus find
.
But this result has to be questioned because the penta-quark state
with two rigid di-quarks is only justified if
the remaining anti-quark is a heavy or quark with
small mutual hyperfine interactions.
This is no longer the case when the anti-quark is a or
because lower energies are obtainable if a
admixture in the di-quark is allowed while benefiting from the
very large hyperfine interaction with .
The scale for the strength of this hyperfine interaction is set
by . This as
well as the large mass splitting in the Diakonov, Petrov and
Polyakov anti-decuplet widens the likely range
from up to .
Such a non-strange penta-quark , with a mass of and could be seen in but not in system. A new resonance cannot be ruled out by phase shift analyzes, if the resonance is as narrow as and its cross section small 222The total formation cross section at the maximum of the resonance in the channel of is smaller than the one in the channel at of 37 mb .. The full circle in the Argand diagram is completed within an interval requiring a high energy resolution and a small step width of less than to measure the Argand diagram, not taking into account that even in bins the total to cross section ratio is only . In one of the few high resolution experiments narrow peaks in channel have indeed been seen in the reaction at MAMI . The high missing mass resolution of allows to identify two narrow states at an invariant mass of and that have been interpreted as bound states. Interestingly a narrow resonance with a mass of and a width of was found to diminish the of partial wave analyzes based on the SAID data base .
The most puzzling aspect of the is the narrow width established by nuclear scattering data. If the will survive further experimental scrutiny and even more so if lighter narrow analogues exist, then finding a credible scenario for such narrow widths is a challenge to QCD, which should at least qualitatively explain all hadronic data. The penta- and tetra-quark are more complex than ordinary baryons and mesons. In a chromoelectric flux tube model (CFTM) mesons are tubes with the radius b of chromoelectric flux extending between the quark and anti-quark at both ends. It generates a confining linear potential where is the string tension [36, 37]. This picture is particularly appropriate for states with large angular momenta and length . In this limit linear Regge trajectories with a slope arise and in the limit of a string like model emerges.
In the CFTM baryons consist of three flux tubes which join at a junction . The tetra- and penta-quarks have more elaborate color networks with two and three junctions respectively (see Fig.1). The complexity of the penta-quark state suppresses its formation in hadronic collisions due to the specific rearrangements that are required. By detailed balance the system will then also be trapped for a long time while finding the specific path back to the original hadrons. The CFTM offers a concrete realization of this general concept. To allow for the penta-quark state to decay into baryon and meson or for the tetra-quark state to decay into two mesons a junction and the anti-junction have to annihilate before the flux tubes can reconnect to generate the final two hadrons.
A necessary but not sufficient condition for the annihilation is that
and are within a relative distance smaller than the flux
tube radius .
In a simplistic terta-quark model we identify the centers of mass of the
di-quarks and with the junctions
and . These junctions are treated as scalar particles with
the mass of the di-quarks . These particles
are in the color representation and with the
same linear
potential as between the quarks in a meson. The two junctions are in a
relative -wave. Let in the lowest state be .
Since the wave-function decreases linearly in the small region,
the probability is approximately . For
we estimate, using the minimum of the radial
potential and the curvature at this minimum, that
is larger than .
For in the range of
the probability is smaller than .
To estimate the decay rate note that the relative coordinate changes by during a period exceeding . During each period annihilation occures with a probability which is smaller than . Hence the decay rate is . In the penta-quark either of the two junctions (see Fig.1) can annihilate with , therefore we expect roughly twice this width.
The crucial flux tube radius can be determined by pure gluo-dynamics up to small corrections. The large mass of the lightest glue-ball is expected to be above . This sets the scale for the radius of the flux tube to . A full QCD lattice simulation, recently performed for baryons with three quarks pinned down at relative distances of , clearly reproduces the shape of the flux structure shown in an action density contour plot . The corresponding flux junction radius is . Even in the ground state nucleons, where the light quarks move so fast that the short flux tubes get tangled up into a more uniform spherical distribution than in the case of the penta-quark states, the flux junction radius will remain the same.
On the other hand the distance between and in tetra-quarks is related to the distance between the quark and anti-quark in mesons, because both have the same color charges and the same flux tubes. In mesons is essentially the charge radius of the pion . The di-quark masses are instead of for the light quarks. For a linear potential this scales the size by . However here, the two di-quarks are in a -wave. The resulting additional centrifugal barrier effectively doubles the kinetic energy reducing the mass by a factor of about , which restores back to out initial estimate of about .
Acknowledgments
We like to thank A. Casher for many illuminating discussions of the flux tube model.
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Q:
Why does the Cauchy-Goursat theorem not apply here?
Let $C$ denote the positively oriented boundary of the half disk $0 \le r \le 1, 0 \le \theta \le \pi$, and let $f(z)$ be a continuous function defined on that half disk by writing $f(0) = 0$ and using the branch
\begin{align}
f(z) = \sqrt{r} e^{\frac{i \theta}{2}}
\end{align}
Show that
\begin{align}
\int_C f(z) \, dz = 0
\end{align}
by evaulating separately the integrals of $f(z)$ over the semicircle and the two radii which make up $C$. Why does the Cauchy-Goursat theorem not apply here?
Note: My only question is the last part of the problem statement, where I made the text boldface. (I have figured out everything else in this problem!)
I believe the CG Theorem does not apply because the function is not analytic at some point in the half-circle.
A:
The answer depends on the exact formulation of Cauchy-Goursats's theorem in your textbook. The theorem is probably only formulated for functions that are holomorphic (analytic if you prefer) on an open neighbourhood of the closed domain bounded by your curve. In that case, $f(z) = \sqrt{z}$ (for a suitable choice of branch) is holomorphic on the open half-disc but not on any neighbourhood of the closed half-disc, due to the branch point at $z=0$.
On the other hand, it is possible to formulate Cauchy-Goursat for functions that are continuous on $\bar\Omega$ and holomorphic on $\Omega$ (where $\Omega$ is the domain bounded by the curve $C$) and in that case Cauchy-Goursat would be applicable.
The devil in in the details!
| |
For many of my hard-working friends, wine is the reward for a day well done. In fact, for one, it’s a inviolable ritual.
At the end of every excruciating midweek slog, my buddy hauls home around 7pm (if he’s lucky), drops his briefcase, slips into a hoodie, and pours himself a big glass of Cab.
Ahh. The evening can begin.
Many people can relate to this. Substitute a glass of Cab with phone browsing, a Taco Combo grab on the way home, or video gaming—really, anything pleasurable—and you have modern American society in a habit-happy nutshell.
Such is the power (and curse) of reward.
With 2018 still young, our minds are consumed with resolutions. And some of us have even been faithful to those promises, made under the influence of late 2017 optimism (and perhaps several glasses of Cab). But just as many of us have already fallen off the resolution wagon.
“Aw, next year,” we shrug, unsure of why every year’s fit of goal-setting ultimate crumbles by February.
Are we really so incapable of sticking to our goals? Of building the habits we actually want?
Well, maybe. Recent studies are shedding light on a whole new psychological theory that pins our habit change success on “rewiring” rather than tearing down ingrained systems and laboriously building news one.
Observing those who have had repeated success at “building good habits,” scientists are now suggesting that these individuals’ method is about realigning the three pillars of habit—environmental cues, routine, and reward—not striking down shameful habits by sheer willpower.
Let’s use my Cab-loving friends as an example. The environmental cues that trigger his evening routine are almost always the same. He arrives home, drops his briefcase, changes into a hoodie, and indulges in a glass of wine.
But what if he were to change his activities, reordering them to throw his environmental cues off?
He’s tried. He’s kept his work clothes on. He’s taken the dog for a walk before changing. He’s gone for a run. Nothing seems to work—or at least, not consistently. Whenever he’s done with his reordered activities, he still wants a glass of wine.
That leaves the reward. So what is it about the glass of wine that’s so compelling? It triggers a happy reaction—a euphoric calm courtesy of the depressive effects of alcohol.
But if my buddy ever starts to worry about his glass of Cab becoming two, and then three, and then four, and then alcoholism, it’s fair to find a replacement reward for finishing up a long day.
So what equally calming reward can he use to replace the effects of a glass of Cab?
As it turns out, he’s also shuffling laundry between the washer and dryer, prepping ingredients for dinner, cleaning up after the dogs and getting their dinners ready, and sifting through bills. In other words, he’s using the calming reward of wine to keep him going without pause. The wine takes care of the stress; he takes care of everything else.
But what if he were to devote 15 minutes after getting home to quiet meditation or listening to music in his bedroom with the door closed? He could turn his phone off and lie still on the bed (still outfitted in a hoodie) and consciously let go of the pressures of his day. And to put a tangible cherry on top, he could indulge in something pleasurable when meditation is over: a piece of chocolate, a short bath, or dog cuddles.
Recent studies are shedding light on a whole new psychological theory that pins our habit change success on “rewiring” rather than tearing down ingrained systems and laboriously building news one.
For the the first two weeks, he should be engaging in meditation at the same time that he would ordinarily be drinking his glass of wine. This constant repetition is critical to rewiring his habits. After clocking 15 minutes of calm, he can get up and slowly make his way through the evening’s to-dos. Nothing else has changed—no other activities or cues. Just the reward that cements a new calming routine.
The reward should incorporate something physical or sensory, like a piece of candy or brief pleasurable activity.
He shouldn’t try to tackle more than one habit at a time. Focus is the key to success.
He should stick with his chosen new routine/reward for six months. Any less and he could easily slip back into old ways.
Okay, you say—he’s successful for a week. But how is that any different than a resolution that tumbles after a couple of weeks or a month?
First of all, this reward-centric approach to changed behavior relies on keen self-awareness. It means that you know your habits, good and bad, and you know the cues that trigger them and the rewards that cement them. Resolutions are often just a half-hearted way of acknowledging one’s own bad habits with a passing interest in changing them. Not much self-awareness there.
Second, this reward-fixing has follow-through. The first two weeks, it’s critical that the new routine is engaged daily. But even after this, you can’t simply drop a new routine (and reward) with the hopes that your habits have changed for good. You need to change your schedule of reinforcement.
While there are several ways to do this, the easiest way is to taper off your daily commitment to your new routine with intermittent routines.
Intermittent new routines after the first two weeks keep the association between routine and reward strong; in other words, unscheduled but ongoing activity continues to train the mind to accept that your new routine will deliver the reward you seek, and will shift from conscious activity to automatic habit.
Pick a handful of days during the week to engage in your new routine/reward, but not always the same days. If you’re like my friend, you’ll soon find that you crave meditation at the end of a long day instead of a glass of wine.
Of course, if the reward you’re after is less stress, there are other options that obviate the need for an evening calming agent altogether—like a new job, fewer extra-curricular activities, etc.
At the end of the day, the answer isn’t wine or fast food. These “answers” come before we have even asked the critical question: What reward are we seeking? And how are we going about finding it in our lives? When we uncover the cues, routines, and rewards that frame our habits, we can ultimately take control and shift behavior to what is positive, healthy, and self-sustaining.
Don’t get me wrong—there’s nothing wrong with a glass of Cab. But there might be something wrong with wine as medication to ensure sanity. If that’s our daily reality, our reward system must change.
For most of us, the process of routine-building is onerous. But there are tools you can use to make it easier and support systems that will keep you on track.
That’s why you should get your own copy of “The Perfect Day Formula” (for FREE)!
It gives you the wisdom and advice you need to map out a path to habit change, personal growth, and success—as YOU define it. Plus, it’s FREE, so what do you have to lose? | https://www.earlytorise.com/the-quiet-power-and-possibility-of-reward/ |
One of our top CPG clients is looking for a Asset Manager who will report to the Director of Packaging Design, the Senior Asset Manager leads the evaluation, recommendation and implementation of a consolidated and centralized asset management platform corporate wide. In addition, this manager will implement, govern and optimize asset standardization in a pilot program. He/she will also be responsible for the supervision of an Asset Coordinator that will be allocated to a specific HW project.
Skills:
Extensive experience and knowledge with Asset Management best practices and systems are a must. Strong communication and interpersonal skills required. Must be detail oriented and extremely organized. Should be able to work towards identifying best practices and systems to sort and manage all digital assets. Needs to have a base understanding of the web environment, app development, and some knowledge of design, creative, and production process. Must be able to quickly adapt to the department process and constantly seeks solutions for efficiency and improvement for the team.
- Evaluate existing DAM system infrastructure to identify company-wide solutions to implement as a centralized asset management system
- Assess and manage asset management needs for Hot Wheels within a complicated infrastructure
- Research, evaluate and present to executive teams a best-in-class system, workflow, and plan based on key learnings of current internal capabilities and needs
- Implement and govern asset standardization across the company
- Implement, govern and optimize a continuous structured asset management workflow
- Manages a HW Asset Coordinator
Additional Requirements Include:
- Ability to lead the gathering and analyzing of data to provide recommended solutions while navigating a complex corporate structure
- Ability to build strong relationships and open communication with overseas partners
- Project Management experience, training or general knowledge a plus
- Strong leadership skills, experience managing/supervising others
- Project budget management, analysis and reporting
- High sense of urgency
- Strong interest and passion for emerging technologies
- Proficient understanding of design applications, file formats and sizes
- Flawless attention to detail and memory
- Ability to prioritize requests and remain calm/composed
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS REQUIRED: | https://aquent.com/our-expertise/job-description-library/Asset-Manager-128226 |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to coatings that are applied to surfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to multilayer coatings having properties which are a combination of the properties of the individual layers.
THE PRIOR ART BACKGROUND
In the past, various types of coatings have been applied to substrates to provide protection for the substrate. For example, a layer of material may be applied which forms the exterior layer over a substrate for improving a property or properties such as wear resistance, corrosion resistance, lubricity, hardness, oxidation resistance, ductility, strength and elasticity. Unfortunately, these properties or many of them are mutually exclusive for a given material. Thus, a single material or composition may possess good hardness but may not have lubricity or some other property that is needed or desired. For example, a coating of aluminum oxide is very inert and hard, but lacks lubricity, a desirable property for the machining of parts. Similarly, lubricious materials such as germanium and fluorocarbons, may not possess sufficient hardness or wear resistance, for example. The resulting coating then is often a compromise which results in optimizing one or more properties but compromises the others.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for a coating and method which exhibits one or more properties, such as hardness, wear resistance, lubricity, oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, ductility, strength and elasticity such that the exhibited properties are a combination of the properties of the individual constituents thereof.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, protective coatings are provided which are formed on a surface or substrate. The purpose of the coatings is to provide protection from wear, such as that which occurs from cutting and grinding operations and from other hostile environments which may tend to cause oxidation, corrosion and heat degradation, for example. Generally, the surface or substrate is rigid. As used herein, the surface or substrate may include a coating or coatings not in accordance with the invention.
The protective coatings comprise a plurality of superimposed multilayer units. As used herein, "multilayer unit" means two or more superimposed thin layers in which at least two layers are compositionally different. Preferably, each multilayer unit has the same number and types of layers, although this is not necessary. Most desirably, the coating comprises a plurality of repeating multilayer units. The resulting coating has properties that are a combination of the properties of the individual layers.
The layers should be sufficiently thick to obtain the bulk coating properties of the material or composition. Generally, each layer is at least about 50 Angstroms thick to obtain the bulk coating properties of the material and usually less than about 5000 Angstroms. Usually, for wear related applications, the maximum thickness of each layer will be less than the characteristic surface microstructure of the substrate. Generally, this requirement is easily met when the thickness of the layers are about 5000 Angstroms or less. "Characteristic surface microstructure" as used herein refers to the microscopic surface relief of the substrate. Typical highly polished surfaces have surface reliefs of .+-.0.5 micrometers (5000 Angstroms) over a distance along the surface of about 0.002 inch. A coarser surface could have correspondingly thicker layers. For example, fine grind carbide tools may have a surface roughness of about .+-.2.5 micrometers. Thus, for such a surface, the layers which make up the coating can be in the range of from about 50 angstroms to about 50,000 angstroms and can be less than the characteristic surface microstructure of the substrate. By limiting the thickness of the layers as described, when a surface is subjected to wear for a sufficient time, a plurality of the individual layers becomes exposed and the surface exhibits properties that are a combination of the properties of the individual layers. This occurs even if the surface is planar on a macroscopic scale. However, the thickness of each layer can be thicker if desired, up to about 8 micrometers.
Each layer of a multilayer unit can be chosen to provide a desired characteristic or characteristics such as, but not limited to, hardness, wear resistance, lubricity, oxidation resistance, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, adherence, elasticity, strength and ductility and combinations thereof. In accordance with a more specific aspect, wear resistant coatings are provided that contain layers for providing hardness and/or wear resistance and layers for providing lubricity.
Generally, at least ten multilayer units will be provided, although as few as two may be utilized. There is no upper limit as to the number of multilayer units that may be utilized, although generally it will be less than about 1,000. The total thickness of the coating will often be in the range of from about 0.5 to about 10 micrometers.
Any material or composition which has a desired property can be utilized as a layer in the multilayer unit. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the specific materials set forth herein, which are provided by way of example and not as limitations. Each layer should exhibit suitable adherence and compatibility to the adjacent layers. A layer or layers may be included in the coating for improving adherence or compatibility of otherwise adjacent layers.
The specific materials chosen for the coating will, of course, depend on the properties that are desired and the conditions to which the coating will be subjected. The following are examples of different types of materials which may be used to form layers of the multilayer units.
Materials which may be chosen for a layer or layers of a multilayer unit to provide hardness and/or wear resistance include, for example, elements, alloys, stoichiometric compounds, and nonstoichiometric compositions, where applicable, of: titanium and boron; titanium and carbon; tungsten and boron; molybdenum and boron; carbon; aluminum and oxygen; silicon and nitrogen; boron and nitrogen; tungsten and carbon; tantalum and carbon; titanium and nitrogen; zirconium and oxygen; and combinations of such materials. These materials are generally also useful for providing strength. Preferred compositions include Ti.sub. x B.sub.1-x, W.sub.x B.sub.1-x and Mo.sub.x B.sub.1-x where x is less than or equal to 0.5, Si.sub.x N.sub.1-x where x is in the range of from 0.4 to 0.6, B. sub.x N.sub.1-x where x is in the range of from 0.5 to 0.6, Ti.sub.x N. sub.1-x where x is in the range of from 0. 5 to 0.7 and Ti. sub.x C.sub.1- x where x is in the range of from 0.4 to about 0.6.
Materials which may be chosen for a layer or layers of a multilayer unit to provide lubricity include, for example: germanium; fluorocarbon polymers (for example, tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) resins and fluorinated ethylenepolypropylene (FEP) resins); stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric transition metal borides and combinations of such materials. A preferred transition metal is molybdenum. A preferred composition is Mo.sub.x B.sub. 1-x where x is less than or equal to 0.5. Another preferred material for providing lubricity is disordered boron and carbon material. Such boron and carbon material usually has a composition on an atomic basis of B.sub. x C.sub.1-x where "B" represents boron, "C" represents carbon and "x" and "1-x" represent the relative amount of boron and carbon respectively, present in the coating, "x" being from about 0.60 to about 0.90. Most preferably, the coating is disordered boron carbide (B.sub.4 C), deposited by sputtering and is substantially amorphous. Preferably dc magnetron sputtering is utilized. Suitable disordered boron and carbon layers can be made by dc magnetron sputtering utilizing a hot pressed crystalline boron and carbon target. Usually, the substrate is at a relatively low temperature during sputtering, such as about 200° C. or less.
Materials which may be chosen for a layer or layers of a multilayer unit to provide for oxidation resistance include, for example: silicon; titanium; carbon (preferably disordered); stainless steel; aluminum; and stoichiometric compounds and nonstoichiometric compositions of aluminum and oxygen, silicon and oxygen, zirconium and oxygen, titanium and oxygen, including, for example, alumina (Al.sub.2 O. sub.3) As used herein, the term "oxidation resistant material" includes any of the foregoing materials in this paragraph. These materials are also generally suitable for providing corrosion resistance.
Examples of suitable materials which may be chosen for a layer or layers of a multilayer unit to provide elasticity and/or ductility include chromium and stainless steel.
The foregoing examples are set forth as illustrations of suitable materials. It is to be understood that the categories hardness, wear resistance, lubricity and so forth are relative terms and that certain of the materials set forth above may possess properties that are useful for more than one category.
The atomic structure of each layer may be crystalline or amorphous, independent of the other layers. It is believed that disordered wear resistant coatings perform better than single phase crystalline coatings. Disordered layers may be more susceptible than single phase crystalline layers to diffusive bonding between substrate and/or other layers, resulting in better adherence. Disordered materials also lack extended lattice planes through which fractures can propagate and in general can withstand relatively high deformation forces without fracture. Such materials are generally less susceptible to corrosion than single phase crystalline materials. It is believed that the foregoing advantages are more fully realized with amorphous or substantially amorphous coatings. As used herein, the term "disordered" includes amorphous, polycrystalline (and lacking long range compositional order), microcrystalline or any combination of those phases. By the term "amorphous" is meant a material which has long range disorder, although it may have short or intermediate order or even contain at times some crystalline inclusions.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the protective coatings provide wear resistance. The wear resistant coatings can include layers for providing wear resistance and/or hardness. Layers may also be included for providing lubricity or other properties, for example. Thus, a wear resistant coating could comprise a plurality of multilayer units with each unit having a layer for providing hardness and/or wear resistance and another layer for providing lubricity. Most desirably, the multilayer units are repeating units.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a wear resistant coating is provided that is applied or formed over a substrate and comprises a plurality of superimposed multilayer units, each unit comprising at least three compositionally different thin layers and each layer having a thickness to achieve its bulk coating properties, the properties of the coating being a combination of the individual properties of the layers. The three compositionally different layers are: oxidation resistant material; nitride material selected from the group consisting of titanium nitride and hafnium nitride; and disordered boron and carbon material.
Preferably, the oxidation resistant material is aluminum oxide. Other materials which may be useful include the materials previously disclosed for oxidation resistance.
It is desirable to utilize an adherence coating for this three layer multilayer unit to improve adherence to the substrate, especially for carbide substrates. One suitable adherence layer can be formed of titanium carbide. A thin layer of titanium nitride may also be used, preferably in combination with a layer of titanium carbide and deposited directly over the substrate.
The preferred sequence for the three layer multilayer unit is, in a direction from the substrate, oxidation resistant material, nitride material and disordered boron-carbon material.
If desired, a four layer multilayer layer unit can be utilized, the fourth layer being material such as titanium carbide and the other layers being as described with respect to the three layer multilayer unit. One sequence of layers for the four layer unit is: titanium carbide, oxidation resistant material, nitride material and disordered boron and carbon.
The layers present in the three or four layer multilayer unit coating and adherence layers can be produced by any suitable method. Preferably, the oxidation resistant material, nitride material and adherence layer or layers are produced by chemical vapor deposition and the disordered boron and carbon material is produced by sputtering. Suitable chemical vapor deposition techniques to produce layers of the oxidation resistant material, aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), for example, the nitride layers, titanium nitride, for example, and titanium carbide, are known to those skilled in the art.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a coated article is provided that includes a substrate portion having at least a portion of the substrate surface, working edge or working surface with a protective or wear resistant coating applied and adhered thereto. The coating is in accordance with the invention as previously described. A plurality of the layers will be exposed when the outer layer has been breached. For example, when the surface has been in use, such as in a wear application, so that at least a portion of the outer layer has been worn through, a plurality of the layers will be exposed over the surface of the coating. The exposed layers result in a surface having properties which are a combination of the properties of the individual exposed layers. In accordance with a more specific aspect, the protective coating is a wear resistant coating or has wear resistant properties.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for making coatings, which method includes depositing a plurality of multilayer units over the surface of a substrate. The multilayer units are as previously described and generally are deposited by depositing the individual layers that make up each multilayer unit.
In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, a method of machining a workpiece is provided. As used herein, "machining" is used in a broad sense and includes, but is not limited to, cutting, grinding, shaping, polishing, reaming, turning, drilling, broaching, sharpening and the like. The method comprises machining a workpiece with an article, such as a tool, for example, having on at least a portion of the article or on a working edge or surface thereof, coated with a multilayer coating in accordance with the invention. Preferably, the coating comprises layers that are thinner than the characteristic surface microstructure. After the article or tool having the protective coating thereon has been in use and sufficient wear has occurred such that at least the outer layer of the coating has been worn through over at least a portion of the coating, a plurality of the layers of the coating will be exposed.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of protecting a surface that comprises applying a protective coating of the invention on at least a portion of the surface of the article. The protective coating may be tailor-made to provide the desired protection and characteristics, such as, for example, wear resistance, hardness, lubricity, corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, heat resistance, fracture resistance (ductility), strength, and combinations thereof. The conditions to which the article will be subjected determines in the part the type of multilayer coating that is to be applied.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates in sectional view a multilayer protective coating in accordance with the invention applied to a substrate;
FIG. 2 illustrates in perspective view the substrate surface of FIG. 1 prior to application of the coating;
FIG. 3 illustrates the coating of FIG. 1 along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 illustrates the coating of FIG. 1 along lines 4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 illustrates in sectional view another multilayer protective coating in accordance with the invention applied to a substrate;
FIG. 6 illustrates in perspective view the substrate surface of FIG. 5 prior to application of the coating;
FIG. 7 illustrates the coating along lines 7--7 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 illustrates in sectional view another coating in accordance with the invention applied to a substrate; and
FIG. 9 illustrates, in sectional view another coating in accordance with the invention applied to a substrate.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the figures generally and in particular to FIG. 1, there is illustrated greatly enlarged in sectional view a protective coating 10 in accordance with the invention that has been applied to a substrate 12. As previously described, for wear applications, it is desirable that the substrate have microscopic surface relief or microscopic deviations from a planar surface. This allows a plurality of the layers of protective coating 10 to be exposed during use, allowing the exposed surface to exhibit the properties of the materials present in the individual layers.
Substrate 12 is illustrated in perspective view in FIG. 2 prior to application of protective coating 10. The surface 14 of substrate 12 to which protective coating 10 is applied is macroscopically planar but microscopically nonplanar having microscopic surface relief. In this case, the surface relief consists of a plurality of peaks 16. Peaks 16 are microscopic surface imperfections or defects which may or may not be essentially randomly oriented on surface 14. Peaks 16 are illustrative of one type of microscopic surface relief imperfection which may be encountered.
Another type of microscopic surface imperfection consists of "ridges", shown and hereinafter described with respect to FIGS. 5-7. Other microscopic surface imperfections may consist of, for example, combinations of peaks and ridges, or any type of variation from a planar surface. Virtually every surface that will be encountered will have such microscopic deviations from a planar surface.
Protective coating 10 may be a wear resistant coating which is made up of a plurality of repeating overlaying multilayer units 18. Each multilayer unit is made up of two compositionally different layers indicated in FIG. 1 by reference letters "a" and "b". One or both layers of multilayer unit 18 may be chosen for hardness or wear resistance, or one layer may be chosen for hardness or wear resistance (aluminum oxide, for example) and the other layer chosen for lubricity (molybdenum diboride or boron and carbon, for example).
Preferably, the multilayer units are repeating units, that is, the units have the same number, composition and order of layers. Thus, the multilayer units may comprise, for example, where each letter represents a different layer of material and each group of letters represents a multilayer unit: ab, ab, ab, etc.; abc, abc, abc, etc.; abcd, abcd, abcd, etc. Many combinations of multilayer units are possible: ab, abc, ab, etc. ; ab, ac, ab, etc.; abcd, abc, ab, abcd, etc.; abc, bac, abc, etc.; ab, cd, ef, etc.; abba, abba, etc. While each multilayer unit in the coating could have different materials, it is generally advantageous for the multilayer units to be repeating, since the application of the coating is facilitated. The foregoing combinations are merely set forth by way of example and not by way of limitation.
The thickness of each layer in a multilayer unit can be as desired within the previously described guidelines relating to bulk properties and characteristic microstructure where it is desired to expose a plurality of layers, such as in wear related applications. Preferably, each repeating multilayer unit will have about the same thickness and corresponding layers will also have about the same thickness.
When a coating in accordance with the invention, such as protective coating 10, is applied to a substrate, such as substrate 12, and used in a wear or similar application, as the surface of coating 10 is breached, in this case from wear, a plurality of the layers of the coating became exposed.
FIG. 3 is an illustration of the surface of protective coating 10 after a portion thereof has been breached along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of individual layers a and b are exposed providing a surface that has properties that are a combination of the properties of individual layers a and b.
Protective coating 10 is shown in FIG. 4 along lines 4--4 of FIG. 1 after further wear has taken place. In certain locations, protective coating 10 has been worn down to substrate 12 and these areas are depicted as circular in FIG. 4 and correspond to surface reliefs of substrate 12 in the form of peaks 16. The noncircular areas of FIG. 4 correspond to the layers of protective coating 10 that are exposed at the surface. Thus, the surface is made up of a plurality of areas of exposed layers of protective coating 10 and exposed areas of substrate 12.
It is to be understood that the illustrations of FIGS. 3 and 4 are provided by way of example only and that the actual wearing or breaching of the coating may not occur in a planar fashion as illustrated, although the result will still be that a plurality of layers are exposed.
Referring to FIG. 5 there is illustrated greatly enlarged in sectional view a protective coating 20 in accordance with the invention that has been applied to a substrate 22. In this illustration, substrate 22 has microscopic deviations or surface relief that consists of a plurality of ridges 24. Ridges 24 are better illustrated in FIG. 6, which shows substrate 22 prior to application of protective coating 20. Ridges 24 form part of the surface 26 of substrate 22.
Protective coating 20 is made up of a plurality of overlaying multilayer units 28. Each multilayer unit is made up of three layers, indicated in FIG. 5 by reference letters "a", "b" and "c". Each layer is smaller than the chararteristic surface microstructure or surface relief of substrate 22.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated the surface of protective coating 20 along lines 7--7 of FIG. 5 which is illustrative of the condition which may occur after a portion of protective coating 20 has been worn away. The various layers a, b and c that form the exposed surface of protective coating 20 result in a surface having properties that are a combination of the properties of the individual exposed layers.
An alternate embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. A substrate 30 is depicted as having a flat surface, although the surface may have surface reliefs as previously described. Substrate 30 has been coated with a layer 32 which has a columnar microstructure which consists of a plurality of columns or peaks 34. The spacing or packing density of the columns or peaks can be varied. Layer 32 can be utilized to provide a surface having a desired surface relief, for example, or can form part of a multilayer unit in accordance with the invention. Over layer 32 is a protective coating 36 similar to coating 10. If coating 36 is utilized in a wear related application or the like such that a portion of coating 36 is worn away, the exposed surface of coating 36 may be similar to that described in conjunction with FIG. 3, where a plurality of layers of coating 36 are exposed at the surface.
Still another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 9. A coating 38 is provided over a substrate 40. Coating 38 includes a plurality of multilayer units 42, each consisting of two layers, referred to in FIG. 9 by reference letters "a" and "b". The morphology of the "a" layers is non-columnar while the morphology of the "b" layers is columnar. The packing density of the columns in the "b" layers can be varied. For example, the columnar layers may have a very close packing density in which the columns of the layer are essentially adjacent, or the columns of the layer may be spaced to a lesser or greater degree.
The materials chosen for the coatings and the application thereof to a substrate should be such that suitable adherence to the substrate and suitable adherence between the individual layers is obtained.
Generally, suitable adherence can be achieved by proper selection of materials relative to the material that will be adjacent a particular material.
Proper selection can generally be accomplished by meeting any one or more of the following requirements for a layer relative to the layers or substrate immediately adjacent to that layer. Any of these requirements for one of the adjacent layers can be fulfilled independently of the requirement that is fulfilled for the other adjacent layer. The requirements are: (1) the presence of at least one element common to the particular layer and adjacent layers; (2) the presence of at least one element in the particular layer having about the same atom size as at least one element in the adjacent layers; (3) at least one element in the particular layer composition which, upon migration into an adjacent layer forms a composition in that layer having the same atomic structure as that layer prior to migration; (4) the presence of at least one element in the particular layer that is soluble in the adjacent layers; and (5) the presence of at least one element in the particular layer that has a high bond energy between at least one element in the adjacent layers.
A layer or layers in the coating or multilayer unit can be provided primarily for achieving good adherence of otherwise adjacent layers. The adherence layer can comprise one or more elements, an alloy or a compound, for example, that meets one or more of the foregoing requirements relative to adjacent layers.
The method of coating formation can also be important in making coatings that have suitable adherence. The coatings can generally be sputter deposited, although any suitable technique or combination of techniques, such as sputtering and chemical vapor deposition, can be utilized. Other techniques which may be suitable include other physical vapor deposition methods, such as evaporation and ion plating. Chemical vapor deposition, plasma spraying and electrodeposition processes may also be suitable. Sputtering allows the coatings to be applied at relatively low temperature and is less likely to affect the substrate properties than other techniques which require relatively high temperature.
One method of making the multilayer coatings by sputtering utilizes a carousel which carries the articles or tools that are to be coated. Targets for the sputtering are provided in spaced relation from each other outside the periphery of the carousel. Each target corresponds to the material that is to be deposited for a particular layer of a multilayer unit. During sputtering, the carousel is rotated so that each article carried by the carousel passes in front of each target. As a particular article passes a target, a thin layer of material from that target is deposited on the surface of the article. By adjusting the power that is applied to each target, the rate of deposition of each layer can be controlled, thereby controlling the layer thickness.
While sputter depositing techniques are generally known to those skilled in the art, to maximize the benefits of the invention, it is advantageous to form the desired coatings with sputtering techniques that are adapted to the particular geometry of the surface to be coated. Suitable general sputtering techniques, which are set forth as examples and not as limitations on the present invention, include rf diode, rf magnetron and dc magnetron sputtering. If desired, a dc or rf bias may be applied to the substrate during application of the coating by sputtering. The bias may improve adhesion of the coating formed on the substrate, reduce stress in the coating and increase the density of the coating. When applying the coating, the substrate geometry in part determines the most desirable sputtering technique for a particular application.
Prior to sputter depositing, generally it is important to provide an atomically clean surface on the portion of the tool or substrate surface that is to be coated (as used in this specification, "substrate" means that portion of a tool or substrate exclusive of a coating or coatings in accordance with the invention). This facilitates the formation of a uniform coating which adheres to the substrate surface. There are several methods known to those skilled in the art for providing an atomically clean surface for sputtering and any such method may be utilized. The following surface preparation method is provided by way of example only and is not to be construed as a limitation upon the present invention.
In accordance with one method for providing an atomically clean substrate surface, the substrate is degreased with a chlorinated hydrocarbon degreaser. Thereafter, the substrate is rinsed in methanol and is then subjected to either plasma or dry chemical etching. When plasma etching is utilized, preferably a fluorinated carrier gas, such as carbon tetrafluoride is utilized. The carrier gas decomposes and provides fluorine which cleans the substrate surface. The final step for providing an atomically clean surface for the coating is sputter etching in an argon plasma.
After an atomically clean surface has been provided on the substrate or at least on that portion of the substrate which is to be coated, the coating can be applied.
If sputtering is utilized, the preferred sputtering conditions will depend on surface geometry and the type of microstructure desired. Generally, it is desirable for the surface of the coating to be smooth, especially for many wear-related applications. The internal microstructure of the coating may be columnar or non-columnar. For some applications, a columnar surface for the exterior coating can be desirable.
When it is desired to produce a columnar microstructure, any type of sputtering technique known in the art which produces a columnar microstructure can be utilized. One technique for producing a columnar microstructure applies sufficient bias voltage to the substrate to cause formation of the columnar microstructure. For some coating materials and/or substrate geometries, a columnar microstructure may not be formed, even with a high bias voltage. As is known to those skilled in the art, bias sputtering is the process of maintaining a negative bias voltage on the substrate during deposition.
By applying a bias voltage to the substrate, the density, purity, adhesion and internal stress of the coating can be controlled. Generally, application of a bias voltage tends to increase the density, purity and adhesion and also tends to decrease internal stress of the coating.
The bias voltage applied to a substrate during sputtering may be varied in a desired sequence. The preferred bias sequencing depends on the substrate geometry and the desired coating microstructure. For complex shapes, or for surfaces having a relatively high (about 2.0 or greater) aspect ratio (which is the ratio of the macroscopic depth to the width of a surface, e.g. the aspect ratio of a planar surface is 0 and the aspect ratio of a surface having a depression whose depth equals its width is 1), it is desirable to initially sputter the materials onto the substrate at a relatively low bias voltage (for example, about -100 to - 200 volts) to insure complete coverage. Thereafter, the bias voltage is increased to a relatively high bias voltage (for example, about -1000 to - 2500 volts). The biasing voltage can be gradually increased (ramp increased) or step increased. Utilizing such a bias voltage tends to promote a more dense, purer coating having greater adhesion, less internal stress and also tends to promote columnar growth. It is believed that a columnar microstructure generally results in better adherence, possibly as a result of mechanical anchoring to the substrate. For a surface with a high aspect ratio, the bias voltage can be applied as for the adherence coating, except that if a smooth surface is desired, towards the end of the deposition the bias voltage is lowered (for example, generally to about -100 to -200 volts) or eliminated, which tends to allow formation of a smooth surface.
For a surface having an aspect ratio of about 0.5 to about 2.0, the coating is preferably sputtered at essentially a constant bias voltage, generally between -500 and -1000 volts. A higher voltage can be used if desired. Preferably, the bias voltage during application of the portion of the coating that forms the outer surface is such that a relatively smooth outer surface is provided.
For surfaces having relatively low aspect ratios (between 0 and about 0.5), preferably the bias voltage initially is higher (about -1000 to - 2500 volts) and can be decreased to low voltage (about -100 to -200 volts) or eliminated, in either step or ramp fashion.
Since sputtering can take place at relatively low substrate temperatures (generally about 200° C. or less, for example), the coatings can be formed while avoiding significant changes in the properties of the substrate material while providing a surface that has increased resistance to wear and excellent lubricity. Accordingly, the invention is particularly useful for coating materials such as tool steel, tungsten carbide, cemented carbides, graphite, plastics and other substrate materials that are adversely affected by elevated temperature, for example, since the processing temperature does not degrade the properties of these materials. Sputtering at low substrate temperatures also allows formation of the coatings in a disordered state. The invention is also particularly suitable for coating precisely dimensioned substrates, regardless of substrate composition.
It is to be understood that the interface between two particular layers of a multilayer coating in accordance with the invention may be a combination of the material present in the two layers. Thus, some mixing or overlap of the layers may be present. The amount of mixing or overlap can be controlled by adjusting the target power and/or bias and/or background gas utilized in sputtering a layer over another layer. Higher power, higher bias or increased background gas generally results in a greater amount of mixing or overlap at the interface of the existing layer and the layer being applied. In some cases, this may be desirable for providing improved adherence.
EXAMPLE 1
A multilayer protective coating in accordance with the invention was made by dc magnetron sputtering from individual targets of carbon, molybdenum, molybdenum carbide (Mo.sub.2 C), and silicon onto valve piston rings, resulting in successive layers of carbon, molybdenum, molybdenum carbide and silicon. The deposition continued until the total thickness of the coating was about 3.2 micrometers. The thickness of each multilayer unit of carbon, molybdenum, molybdenum carbide and silicon was about 380 angstroms. Silicon was provided for corrosion resistance.
EXAMPLE 2
A multilayer protective coating in accordance with the invention was made by dc magnetron sputtering alternating layers of tungsten carbide and chromium to both sides of a flat plate. Each side of the plate was separately sputtered. One side had a multilayer unit (a layer of tungsten carbide and a layer of chromium) thickness of about 740 angstroms and the other side had a multilayer unit thickness of about 1170 angstroms. Chromium was provided for elasticity and tungsten carbide was provided for hardness.
EXAMPLE 3
A specific type of multilayer unit was prepared and tested by depositing the multilayer unit as follows. The multilayer layer unit contained layers, in a direction from the substrate, of aluminum oxide (alumina), titanium nitride and disordered boron carbide. The multilayer unit was deposited on a series of cemented carbide inserts with boron carbide forming the external layer. Adherence layers of titanium nitride and titanium carbide were applied over the cemented carbide. The cemented carbide inserts were SANDVIK AB type RNMA 43 GC415 tapered tool inserts, 3/16 inch (4.7 mm) high by 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) diameter. The inserts had an inner layer, less than 1 micron thick, of titanium nitride and a 2 micron layer of titanium carbide atop the titanium nitride layer, a 5 micron layer of alumina atop the titanium carbide layer, and a one micron layer of titanium nitride. All of these layers had been applied by chemical vapor deposition.
Inserts 2 and 3 were then coated by dc magnetron sputtering. The sputtering target was B.sub.4 C, formed by hot pressing 99 percent pure, crystalline B.sub.4 C powder. Disordered boron carbide coatings approximately 2.5 microns thick were deposited atop the titanium nitride- titanium carbide-alumina-titanium nitride coated, cemented tool inserts 2 and 3. Insert 1 had no coating of boron carbide.
The inserts were tested for their ability to remove a 964L weldment from a four inch (10 cm) thick, 25 inch (63.5 cm) diameter die. The weldment had a Rockwell C hardness of 54 to 58 too.
Metal removal was carried out to remove a 0.100 inch (2.54 mm) cut depth of weldment along the perimeter of the die. The following results were obtained: ##TBL1##
While the invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. | |
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Interviews began in 1966 for the NLS older men, a group of 5,020 men ages 45-59. Older men were well into their careers, and were
on the threshold of decisions about the timing and extent of their labor force withdrawal. Data collection
focused on topics such as work and nonwork experiences, retirement planning, health conditions,
insurance coverage, and the ways in which respondents spent their leisure time. The survey also
tracked labor market decisions such as middle-age job changes, retirement expectations and
experiences, and reentry to the labor market after initial retirement. Interviews with this cohort ceased in 1981.
In 1990, information was collected from respondents and widows or other next-of-kin deceased sample members. Also includes
cause of death information collected from state vital records departments in 1990.
Interviews also began in 1966 for 5,225 young men, ages 14 to 24. The surveys of the young men
traced in detail their educational experiences including a separate survey of respondents' high
schools, training investments, and career choices, as well as marital and fertility histories.
Their work history is also followed, allowing for research on areas such as returns to schooling,
effects of teenage unemployment, the transition from school to work, job search, racial wage
differentials, and earnings mobility and inequality. Interviews with this cohort ceased in 1981. | https://www.bls.gov/nls/oldyoungmen.htm |
King's Rush is a board game variant of Chess that relies on traditional movement patterns of Chess pieces, while transforming the traditional chess board into a set of unique and entirely new gameplay scenarios through newly added mechanics and objectives.
2016
Trenches
Trenches is a two player world war one turn based strategy game for ages 12+. Players must successfully navigate their way into their opponent’s trench by outmaneuvering the fortifications placed to fend off their offense.
2015
Top Hats Board Game
An economy/strategy game for 3-6 players. | https://ttomasic.myportfolio.com/board-games |
Why is confocal microscopy better than fluorescence microscopy?
Confocal microscopy offers several distinct advantages over traditional widefield fluorescence microscopy, including the ability to control depth of field, elimination or reduction of background information away from the focal plane (that leads to image degradation), and the capability to collect serial optical …
Why do we use fluorescence microscopy?
Fluorescent microscopy is often used to image specific features of small specimens such as microbes. Confocal fluorescent microscopy is most often used to accentuate the 3-D nature of samples. This is achieved by using powerful light sources, such as lasers, that can be focused to a pinpoint.
What is the principle of electron microscopy?
An electron microscope uses an ‘electron beam’ to produce the image of the object and magnification is obtained by ‘electromagnetic fields’; unlike light or optical microscopes, in which ‘light waves’ are used to produce the image and magnification is obtained by a system of ‘optical lenses’.
How is fluorescence detected?
In some cases, when the light energy is absorbed by a molecule, it raises some of the electrons to an excited state. When these electrons return to the ground state and light is emitted, the process is referred to as fluorescence. Fluorescence detectors rely on this molecular property for detection.
Why is phase contrast microscopy advantages?
One of the major advantages of phase contrast microscopy is that living cells can be examined in their natural state without previously being killed, fixed, and stained. As a result, the dynamics of ongoing biological processes can be observed and recorded in high contrast with sharp clarity of minute specimen detail.
What is the principle of phase contrast microscopy?
The phase contrast microscopy is based on the principle that small phase changes in the light rays, induced by differences in the thickness and refractive index of the different parts of an object, can be transformed into differences in brightness or light intensity.
What is the difference between phase contrast microscopy and brightfield microscopy?
An amplitude specimen decreases the intensity (i.e. the amplitude) of the light. Phase specimens cause a phase shift of the light. Phase contrast microscopy is now capable of converting a difference in refractive index into a difference in brightness. …
What is phase shift in microscopy?
Phase-contrast microscopy is an optical microscopy technique that converts phase shifts in light passing through a transparent specimen to brightness changes in the image. Phase shifts themselves are invisible, but become visible when shown as brightness variations.
When would you use a bright field microscopy?
Bright-field illumination is useful for samples that have an intrinsic color, for example chloroplasts in plant cells.
- Comparison of transillumination techniques used to generate contrast in a sample of tissue paper (1.559 μm/pixel)
- Bright-field illumination, sample contrast comes from absorbance of light in the sample.
What is confocal microscopy used for?
As a distinctive feature, confocal microscopy enables the creation of sharp images of the exact plane of focus, without any disturbing fluorescent light from the background or other regions of the specimen. Therefore, structures within thicker objects can be conveniently visualized using confocal microscopy.
What is the meaning of microscopy?
The examination of minute objects
What is the purpose of microscopy?
The function of the microscope is to resolve, or distinguish, fine detail which our eyes alone cannot perceive. This cannot be done unless there is sufficient visibility, or contrast, which describes the magnitude of the differences in the image between the features of the image and its background.
What is microscopy used for?
A microscope is an instrument that can be used to observe small objects, even cells. The image of an object is magnified through at least one lens in the microscope. This lens bends light toward the eye and makes an object appear larger than it actually is.
What is microscopy and its types?
There are several different types of microscopes used in light microscopy, and the four most popular types are Compound, Stereo, Digital and the Pocket or handheld microscopes. Outside of light microscopy are the exciting developments with electron microscopes and in scanning probe microscopy.
What are the types of microscopy?
5 Different Types of Microscopes:
- Stereo Microscope.
- Compound Microscope.
- Inverted Microscope.
- Metallurgical Microscope.
- Polarizing Microscope.
What are the 3 major parts of microscope?
The three basic, structural components of a compound microscope are the head, base and arm.
- Head/Body houses the optical parts in the upper part of the microscope.
- Base of the microscope supports the microscope and houses the illuminator.
- Arm connects to the base and supports the microscope head.
What is the proper way to carry a microscope?
NOTES:
- Do not touch the glass part of the lenses with your fingers. Use only special lens paper to clean the lenses.
- Always keep your microscope covered when not in use.
- Always carry a microscope with both hands. Grasp the arm with one hand and place the other hand under the base for support.
What knob should be used at high power?
adjustment knob
What are the three uses of microscope?
Uses of Microscopes in Science
- Tissue Analysis. It is common for histologists to study cells and tissues using the microscope.
- Examining Forensic Evidence.
- Determining the Health of an Ecosystem.
- Studying the Role of a Protein within a Cell.
- Studying atomic structures.
How important is microscopy in the study of biology?
The microscope is important because biology mainly deals with the study of cells (and their contents), genes, and all organisms. Some organisms are so small that they can only be seen by using magnifications of ×2000−×25000 , which can only be achieved by a microscope.
How do microscope improves our life today?
A microscope lets the user see the tiniest parts of our world: microbes, small structures within larger objects and even the molecules that are the building blocks of all matter. The ability to see otherwise invisible things enriches our lives on many levels.
What are the main types of microscope?
Types of Microscopes
- Light Microscopes.
- Stereoscope (or Stereo Microscope)
- Compound Microscope.
- Confocal Microscope.
- ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.
- Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
- Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
- HELIUM ION MICROSCOPE. | https://www.mvorganizing.org/why-is-confocal-microscopy-better-than-fluorescence-microscopy/ |
When it comes to treating the symptoms of depression and anxiety, medications such as SSRIs or SNRIs have proven to be quite beneficial. However, in order to reap the full benefits of these medications, sometimes adjustments need to be made.
According to a meta-analysis study that was published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacological Therapy, called “Augmentation strategies for treatment-resistant depression,” it is estimated that 40 to 60 percent of SSRI users experience relief from their baseline depression and anxiety symptoms. At the same time, it is also estimated that at least one-third of all persons treated with these medications, will develop recurrent symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Fortunately, when a medication shows some level of efficacy and is well tolerated, there are several actions that your doctor can take, to help improve the effectiveness of the medicine.
Each of these methods is backed by clinical evidence proving that they can result in the improvement of symptoms.
Therefore, over the next few weeks, we’re going to take a look at some of the most common medication adjustments and augmentations that can improve the efficacy of an SSRI or SNRI.
We will look at:
1) Raising the dosage of the SSRI to see if that shows any improvement.
2) Switching to another SSRI to see if it lifts the depression more while continuing to decrease anxiety.
3) Switching to another class of antidepressants. For example, trying an SSRI first, then switching to an SNRI.
4) Adding another medication to the SSRI, such as a mood stabilizer, an antipsychotic, etc.
We will begin our series on the different strategies that could be implemented to improve the efficacy of an antidepressant, by looking at the very first step which is- watchful waiting. This begins with the understanding that these medications take time to work, and it’s important to give them an adequate amount of time to take effect.
Though initial improvement of symptoms can occur in one to two weeks after starting the medication, it is not uncommon for the full effect of SSRIs or SNRIs to take at least 4 – 6 weeks.
4 – 6 Weeks!?
Sometimes, yes. That’s not to say there won’t be major improvements day by day. However, whether it takes one week or 6 weeks, there is no way around the fact that there will be an adjustment period for your body and your brain.
During this time, it may feel as though some of your psychological symptoms are getting worse- especially when it comes to treating anxiety. This can be a result of the adjustment taking place in your brain regarding your neurotransmitters. And, it can also be due to the increased anxiety that can come with trying a new medication or medication in general for the first time.
Rest assured that this is completely normal, and you are not alone.
That being said, if you are experiencing initial side effects that are too difficult to handle, it’s important to be in contact with your doctor about this. Your doctor can work with you to help relieve these start-up symptoms by reducing the dosage or temporarily adding on a fast-acting anti-anxiety medication to help get you through the early days of adjusting to the medicine.
In our next article, we will look take a look at the typical starting doses for SSRI and SNRI medications, and potential dose adjustments that may improve their efficacy and decrease side effects. | https://didaganjoomdpsychiatry.com/blogs/medications-and-watchful-waiting/ |
Having been prompted -by my voices-to write a time travel romance, I've found that it's not as easy as it sounds. While I could make all the characters, ships and places fictional, that would be too easy! So, I've had to figure out how she travels. To which year she travels. Who is involved? And, how, or if, she returns to her own time. I assure you, this is as difficult as it sounds. Especially since I want things to be intertwined and feasible. Okay, as feasible as traveling through time can be. I begin my research buy turning on the computer, pulling up the search engine and hitting enter. Some questions evoke an immediate answer, others take a fair amount of rewording. As with most things an innocent search can produce some rather unsavory results. Note to self, always remember to turn on the safe search mode when doing research. Some things cannot be unseen. Also abundantly clear is, it does not take long to get diverted when a search for something leads you off track.
This morning, as I sat here mindlessly going from page to page, pouring over each tidbit of information, hoping to gleam something of interest to include within the pages of my manuscript, I wondered about my predecessors. Authors, from times long before the invent of the Internet. Writers who, unless blessed with a wealth of information at their fingertips, had to dredge through the library, wondering aimlessly amid stacks of books, hoping to find the information which they were seeking. I wondered what they would think of being able to sit in the comfort of their home and have information readily available at the click of a mouse. It was at that moment that my task no-longer felt as if it were taking me away from my work in progress. No, that realization made me abundantly aware of the gift that I've been given. The gift of writing, in a time when technology is readily available for all to use. Just as we now look back and ask how on earth did you write a complete manuscript using a typewriter and whiteout, I am sure future authors will ask the same about the tools of the trade which is currently available to all of us. Really, if you think about it, the answer is simple. If you've never had it you don't miss it.
Oh well, back to the internet! | https://www.sherryaburton.com/sherrys-blog/-tools-of-the-trade |
Azerbaijani farmers to be able to calculate their subsidies online
Azerbaijani farmers will be able to calculate their subsidies using a calculator in their personal online cabinets, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijan’s Agriculture Ministry.
The rules for subsidizing agricultural production, approved by the Azerbaijani presidential decree dated June 27, 2019, are already in force, according to the report.
Under the new subsidy rules, farmers will be able to receive six types of subsidies through Electronic Agricultural Information System (EKTIS).
This rule provides for subsidizing crops, seeds, animals, bees and cocoons, used as state support to farmers. As a first step, sections of subsidies according to types of crop and livestock products have been provided in the farmer’s personal cabinet on the EKTIS website.
The amount of funds that will be issued to farmers for all types of subsidies has already been determined. In accordance with the new rules, until Jan. 15, the Council of Agricultural Subsidies under the Agriculture Ministry must declare subsidized crop products, coefficients and the amount of subsidies for them.
In order to accelerate transition to the electronic system and timely payment of subsidies to farmers, the Council of Agricultural Subsidies announced in September 2019 the coefficients of subsidies for crops, harvest and seeds, quotas for seeds and seedlings according to plant species and regions.
Each farmer who has filled out a subsidy application in an electronic personal cabinet will be able to calculate his or her subsidy by using a calculator in his or her cabinet until the application is confirmed. | |
Project analysis exploration geochemistry
This 5-day course focuses on the dynamic petroleum system concept, exploration geochemistry of conventional and unconventional petroleum. Major advances in exploration geochemistry, 1998-2007 cohen exploration geochemistry continu es to be a major contributor to mineral exploration programs at all scales analysis of igneous rocks can, therefore. View daniel holloway's profile on linkedin on a sponsored joint interest research project with world leading exploration companies (southwest of france) within the r&d and exploration geochemistry entities postgraduate liaison officer eage. Analytical methods used in geochemical exploration by the us geological survey fs1 0 analytical methods used in geochemical exploration by the us geological survey by f n ward preparation of vegetation for analysis 16 laboratory.
Of molecular geochemistry as it relates to oil and gas exploration and production interpretive and project-design skills to utilize all the advantages predict source rock quality from analysis of oil. Recognition of geochemical footprints of mineral systems in the regolith at regional to continental scales exploration, environment, analysis, 10, 17 geochemistry: exploration. See, for example, the description by johnson et al (2005) of the british geological survey's g-base project references a historical overview, geochemistry: exploration, environment ireland, geochemistry: exploration, environment, analysis, geological society. Geochemical exploration - from test tube to mass spectrometer ray lett, bc geological survey community to the present day where geochemistry is considered a key discipline sample preparation and sample analysis stages of a survey can help simplify. Basic petroleum geochemistry for source rock evaluation as the search for oil and gas prospects grows increasingly complex are opening new plays to exploration and devel-opment resource plays, exemplified by the boom in shale gas production.
Geochemistry laboratories, energy resources and petroleum processes studies the geochemistry lab project supports petroleum processes research quality assurance is an integral part of routine laboratory analysis and the egl has a system in place to identify problems and prevent. Sgs exploration project management offers trusted mapping and logging sgs has completed successful exploration management projects for gold and base metals around the globe logging and sampling of core for geochemistry and metallurgy. Analysis and integration of geochemical data pim van geffen senior geochemist the evolution of data geochemistry data acquisition requirements (vary with the stage of the project) analysis -fit for purpose project stage -exploration. View and download powerpoint presentations on introduction to exploration geochemistry ppt find powerpoint presentations and slides using the power of xpowerpointcom, find free presentations research about introduction to exploration geochemistry ppt.
Project analysis exploration geochemistry
Purchase environmental geochemistry: site characterization, data analysis and case histories quality control procedures used in the british geological survey's regional geochemical mapping project 7 has been member of the editorial board of geochemistry - exploration, environment.
- Mining and exploration mineral exploration (img) created to focuse solely on xrf and xrd analysis technology spatial variations of geochemistry in large mineral systems (au, u, cu) that will effectively aid exploration targeting, and.
- And the review of aqueous geochemistry in exploration (taufen ways in which analysis of the geochemistry of groundwaters is practical 1) geochemical exploration: methods, applications.
- Students on the xrd in the image and chemical analysis laboratory at details what is the purpose of this site the purpose of this project is to supply an of field) understand the essentials of modern analytical techniques used in the fields of mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry.
- Geochemical mapping using geochemistry for arcgis s karunakar rao 3 technical analyst datacode refine geochemical data for specific statistical analysis, based on actlabs in canada has also applied geochemistry for arcgis in their exploration to analyze organic chemistry in the.
A geological risk approach to valuing early-stage exploration projects and the distribution and magnitude of mineralisation indicators defined by previous exploration (eg geochemistry or analysis of the technical aspects of the project form the core of the valuation method as the. The only laboratory analysis that sirius exploration geochemistry performs is pyrolysis on our source rock analyzer (sra) instrument, which is housed at stratochem services in cairo, egypt, and is run by stratochem personnel all other laboratory geochemical analyses are subcontracted to. Isotopic analysis, with an emphasis on in situ techniques speaker 5- mary doherty mary doherty has a blended background which includes time spent as an exploration geochemist, a project geologist, mine geologist, and business manager. Als geochemistry portable xrf analysis technical note more representative view of the sample's geochemistry than an analysis taken on the the plot at the left shows real data from a copper porphyry project when there is a key exploration element that indicates proximity to. | http://olpapermaen.larryclark.us/project-analysis-exploration-geochemistry.html |
Bottom Line:
At the extracellular microelectrode, locally synchronized activities of spatially neighbored neurons result in rapid deflections in the LFP up to several hundreds of microvolts.In order to study the mechanisms of neuronal avalanche development, maintenance, and regulation, in vitro preparations are highly beneficial, as they allow for stable recordings of avalanche activity under precisely controlled conditions.The current protocol describes how to study neuronal avalanches in vitro by taking advantage of superficial layer development in organotypic cortex cultures, i.e. slice cultures, grown on planar, integrated microelectrode arrays (MEA).
ABSTRACTThe cortex is spontaneously active, even in the absence of any particular input or motor output. During development, this activity is important for the migration and differentiation of cortex cell types and the formation of neuronal connections. In the mature animal, ongoing activity reflects the past and the present state of an animal into which sensory stimuli are seamlessly integrated to compute future actions. Thus, a clear understanding of the organization of ongoing i.e. spontaneous activity is a prerequisite to understand cortex function. Numerous recording techniques revealed that ongoing activity in cortex is comprised of many neurons whose individual activities transiently sum to larger events that can be detected in the local field potential (LFP) with extracellular microelectrodes, or in the electroencephalogram (EEG), the magnetoencephalogram (MEG), and the BOLD signal from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The LFP is currently the method of choice when studying neuronal population activity with high temporal and spatial resolution at the mesoscopic scale (several thousands of neurons). At the extracellular microelectrode, locally synchronized activities of spatially neighbored neurons result in rapid deflections in the LFP up to several hundreds of microvolts. When using an array of microelectrodes, the organizations of such deflections can be conveniently monitored in space and time. Neuronal avalanches describe the scale-invariant spatiotemporal organization of ongoing neuronal activity in the brain. They are specific to the superficial layers of cortex as established in vitro, in vivo in the anesthetized rat, and in the awake monkey. Importantly, both theoretical and empirical studies suggest that neuronal avalanches indicate an exquisitely balanced critical state dynamics of cortex that optimizes information transfer and information processing. In order to study the mechanisms of neuronal avalanche development, maintenance, and regulation, in vitro preparations are highly beneficial, as they allow for stable recordings of avalanche activity under precisely controlled conditions. The current protocol describes how to study neuronal avalanches in vitro by taking advantage of superficial layer development in organotypic cortex cultures, i.e. slice cultures, grown on planar, integrated microelectrode arrays (MEA).
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Bottom Line:
At the extracellular microelectrode, locally synchronized activities of spatially neighbored neurons result in rapid deflections in the LFP up to several hundreds of microvolts.In order to study the mechanisms of neuronal avalanche development, maintenance, and regulation, in vitro preparations are highly beneficial, as they allow for stable recordings of avalanche activity under precisely controlled conditions.The current protocol describes how to study neuronal avalanches in vitro by taking advantage of superficial layer development in organotypic cortex cultures, i.e. slice cultures, grown on planar, integrated microelectrode arrays (MEA).
ABSTRACTThe cortex is spontaneously active, even in the absence of any particular input or motor output. During development, this activity is important for the migration and differentiation of cortex cell types and the formation of neuronal connections. In the mature animal, ongoing activity reflects the past and the present state of an animal into which sensory stimuli are seamlessly integrated to compute future actions. Thus, a clear understanding of the organization of ongoing i.e. spontaneous activity is a prerequisite to understand cortex function. Numerous recording techniques revealed that ongoing activity in cortex is comprised of many neurons whose individual activities transiently sum to larger events that can be detected in the local field potential (LFP) with extracellular microelectrodes, or in the electroencephalogram (EEG), the magnetoencephalogram (MEG), and the BOLD signal from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The LFP is currently the method of choice when studying neuronal population activity with high temporal and spatial resolution at the mesoscopic scale (several thousands of neurons). At the extracellular microelectrode, locally synchronized activities of spatially neighbored neurons result in rapid deflections in the LFP up to several hundreds of microvolts. When using an array of microelectrodes, the organizations of such deflections can be conveniently monitored in space and time. Neuronal avalanches describe the scale-invariant spatiotemporal organization of ongoing neuronal activity in the brain. They are specific to the superficial layers of cortex as established in vitro, in vivo in the anesthetized rat, and in the awake monkey. Importantly, both theoretical and empirical studies suggest that neuronal avalanches indicate an exquisitely balanced critical state dynamics of cortex that optimizes information transfer and information processing. In order to study the mechanisms of neuronal avalanche development, maintenance, and regulation, in vitro preparations are highly beneficial, as they allow for stable recordings of avalanche activity under precisely controlled conditions. The current protocol describes how to study neuronal avalanches in vitro by taking advantage of superficial layer development in organotypic cortex cultures, i.e. slice cultures, grown on planar, integrated microelectrode arrays (MEA).
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Hollywood's fascination with exceptional individuals has led to an assemblage of films about genius—the gifted and talented—that ranges from the time of the film industry's own birthing in the age of invention with “Great man” biopics (The Story of Louis Pasteur, 1935; Edison, The Man, 1940), to contemporary depictions of troubled and mentally unbalanced geniuses (A Beautiful Mind, 2001; Shine, 1996). This entry discusses images of the gifted in films since the beginning of the 20th century.
Throughout, whether based on historical figures (Young Mr. Lincoln, 1939; The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, 1939) or fictional characters (The Fountainhead, 1949; Good Will Hunting, 1997), the filmic drive for narrative conflict and resolution has often led to the overdramatization and even pathologizing of exceptional individuals. Historical portrayals ...
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Infant worlds might gobble up dust quickly, the interstellar environment might feed protoplanetary disks, or planet-building dust could be hiding in plain sight.
Although disks of gas and dust around young stars are a necessary precursor to planet formation, an expanded survey of stars in our Galaxy confirms earlier doubts that the known matter in such protoplanetary disks might not be sufficient to form planets.
Carlo Manara (European Southern Observatory, Germany) and colleagues compared the masses of protoplanetary disks to the masses of known, mature planets around other stars. They expected to find the combined planet mass to be lower than the mass in the disks. However, they found that the planets are more massive than the disks, indicating that more matter is needed to explain the known population of planets.
Using data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the scientists measured the mass of the protoplanetary disks around stars that are 1 million – 3 million years old and still in their formation stage. Then, they gathered previously measured masses of planets around stars that are billions of years old. They compared the two to see whether the mass of planets that eventually formed was consistent with the mass of the protoplanetary disks that would have given rise to such worlds.
Manara explains that the current study, published in the October issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics expands on previous surveys by providing greater coverage of stellar masses.
One solution to the missing-mass problem is that planet cores are already formed by the time the disk is observed. According to this scenario, planet cores form quickly in the beginning. “If they formed this rapidly, these are now invisible to our sub-millimeter observations,” says Manara.
Evidence for this mechanism is supported by observations that newly formed planets are not surrounded by dust, indicating that planets forming in the disk might have sucked up the dust around them as they formed.
Another possibility is that the amount of matter in the disk does not stay the same over time. Rather, “the disk is replenished with material from the surrounding interstellar medium,” explains Manara, and planets use this material to complete their formation. “It’s not clear how to detect material falling onto disks,” says Manara, but simulations show that such a process is possible.
Jonathan Williams (University of Hawai‘i) proposes a third explanation. “ALMA best measures the amount of small dust particles if they are spread thin throughout the disk,” he says. “If, however, the dust particles are concentrated in a small central region or in narrow rings, they would not produce much emission, but could still contain sufficient mass to form planets.”
Reference:
C.F. Manara, A. Morbidelli, and T. Guillot. "Why do protoplanetary disks appear not massive enough to form the known exoplanet population?" Astronomy & Astrophysics. October 2018.
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By Dr. Marissa Gomez-Martinez, DHR Health Edinburg CISD School Based Health Center
There is a lot of uncertainty around COVID-19, including evolving healthcare guidelines, due in part to the fact that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, is new. As a new disease, there is no vaccine for it and no evidence-based treatment for it. We are facing a pandemic with COVID-19 because of how many people the disease has affected globally and how highly contagious it is.
That’s why our response to COVID-19 is very different from the flu and other infections that affect the world. With infections like the flu, many people and most healthcare workers are protected through the influenza vaccine, community immunity due to large portions of the population being immunized and exposure over time. There are also FDA approved medications that have been tested and proven effective to treat the flu.
It’s important for our community to understand that COVID-19 is not the flu and is unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and that’s why we have to follow guidelines put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as those activated by our local, state and federal governments to prevent the spread of it in our community. The only “treatment” we currently have is prevention, and that’s something EVERYONE can help with by staying at home, social distancing when leaving the house for essential needs, wearing masks, practicing good hygiene, and self-quarantining when needed.
Staying at Home (even for Easter)
Texas as well as all of the counties in the Rio Grande Valley have issued ordinances mandating that people stay at home, only leaving the house for essential services or business. This is the best way to prevent the spread of this highly contagious disease in our community. While it may be hard, this includes staying at your own residence for Easter this year. We cannot afford the potential spread of COVID-19 that may result from gathering with extended family in town or out of town for traditional Easter celebrations. Visiting family members puts everyone at risk, and in fact, reports indicate that an increase in cases locally is linked to community spread, some of which are within the same family. Remember, COVID-19 can be spread through individuals for up to three days before showing any symptoms. If families gather during the holiday, we will see an increased number of those infected in the one to two weeks after the holiday, which will only prolong this pandemic and current lockdown.
Social Distancing
If you absolutely must leave home for work or essential services, like going to the grocery story, it’s important to practice social distancing by limiting face-to-face interactions, including hugs, staying at least six feet away from others, and avoiding gathering in groups or crowds. For groceries, consider delivery or designate one family member to run errands for the family while others stay home.
Wearing a Mask
In addition to social distancing when you have to leave the house, the CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings. This also aligns with new local ordinances mandating these types of masks in public. Please save surgical, isolation and N95 masks for healthcare professionals and first responders who are potentially exposed to COVID-19. Common household materials or attire can be used for cloth face coverings. Visit CDC.gov for sew and no-sew instructions to make cloth face coverings with supplies you have at home.
Good Hygiene
Hygiene is of utmost importance during this time. Frequently washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water is still very important. Using sanitizer is a good alternative. Other tips include: avoid sharing utensils, drinking cups, sheets and towels. Wipe down frequently shared surfaces and allow disinfectants to air dry. Remove your shoes before or as soon as entering your home.
Self-Quarantining
People who have been potentially exposed to COVID-19 whether through interactions with a person who has been exposed or tested positive or through travel, need to stay home for 14 days. Current travel guidelines change frequently and can be found on the CDC website. Avoid all nonessential travel at this time.
Self-Isolation
Please isolate yourself from others within your home if you feel you may have symptoms associated with COVID-19. This will help protect those in your household. Please do not leave your home. Instead, call your doctor/healthcare provider for guidance on what to do next and most importantly, avoid exposing yourself to others, including healthcare providers.
Protecting our Community
It’s very important to follow these tips to prevent further community spread of COVID-19. The disease has not yet peaked in the Rio Grande Valley, although there’s an increase in cases now due to those who traveled during spring break, bringing the illness back to the RGV. Additionally, we’re still seeing patients for common respiratory illnesses and seasonal allergies with symptoms that mimic COVID-19.
Many doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are falling ill from the disease, and many have lost their lives. We’re here to help everyone remain healthy. I urge you to do your part in containing this horrible disease by staying at home even during this Easter holiday. Please help us to continue to “flatten the curve” of infections and save lives. | https://texascovid19.com/how-do-we-protect-the-rgv-community-from-covid-19/ |
Brexit Bitesize – Prorogation
This week, the latest Brexit buzz-word is prorogation, as the Government confirms that the Queen has accepted its advice to prorogue Parliament on 10 September until the Queen’s Speech on 14 October.
Legal challenges seeking injunctions and judicial review have been launched by Gina Miller in the English Courts and by a group of MPs in the Scottish Courts.
The legal issues raised are rather opaque. There is no doubt the Government can seek prorogation, indeed it does so every year before the Queen’s speech.
This is however undoubtedly longer than usual and those opposed to the step also question the intent behind the move.
Judicial Reviews usually take place where a Public/Government body is challenged legally for a failure to follow its own rules or legislation – for example Local Authorities and Planning laws.
What is being challenged here is the Government’s advice to the Monarch as to the exercise of her Royal Prerogative. The challenge for the Courts and the claimants is the very fact that there are no rules on how the Royal Prerogative should be applied.
Ours is an unwritten constitution based on conventions and precedent. When we hear talk of a “constitutional crisis” that usually simply means that either a convention has been broken or there is no previous precedent. Here the convention and precedent are that prorogation is for a few days only. Query though whether it is the place of the Court to look at perceived intent as well as departure from convention.
From a legal perspective, the central issue here is that if, as appears likely, the prorogation proceeds as planned then a new precedent is set.
That being so, should a future Government, of whatever colour, look to use the same device to suit its own aims, they will simply be able to cite this as full justification. That being so Brexit is in many ways a “red herring” here, the wider issue is in fact one of constitutional precedent.
If you have any questions about the latest Brexit updates, please contact Partner, Giles Searby at [email protected] or call Giles on 0114 252 1423.
Manufacturer’s Brexit Round Table – Succeeding in International Trade beyond Brexit
Keebles have joined with SITC to discuss key issues facing manufacturing businesses post-Brexit.
Date: Thursday 24 October 2019
Time: 8:30 AM until 11 noon
Venue: Adelphi Room at Crucible Theatre, Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA.
Speakers:
Paul Trudgill, Partner and Head of Manufacturing at Keebles LLP – Welcome and Introduction
Nick Patrick, Head of the Sheffield International Trade Centre – The Trusted Trader / Authorised Economic Operator Regime
Giles Searby, Partner at Keebles LLP and Tom Rook, Solicitor at Keebles LLP – Brexit issues in international commercial contracts
Carys Everitt, Legal Director at Keebles LLP – Brexit and international personal data transfers
This is an event for Manufacturers to reflect on the impending Brexit deadline and its impact – deal or no deal – beyond 31 October. | https://www.keebles.com/news/brexit-bitesize-prorogation/ |
HeNan, China[email protected]
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Rotoloks Heavy Duty Rotary Airlocks are manufactured in accordance with NFPA 69 Standards for use as deflagration isolation by flame quenching and material blocking. All airlocks are manufactured in either Cast Iron or Stainless Steel from 5 to 36 diameter. Airlocks come with 8 vane fabricated steel rotors with close tolerance to the ...
Inspection Rotary Indexing Tables. View Datasheet Rotary Table -- A4818TS from Velmex, Inc. To attach to the slider of an A40 or A60 Series UniSlide Assemblies, use the A6000TX adapter plate. ... Available in five standard models and dozens of sizes, the simple to install MS Series can handle loads from grams up to tens of thousands of pounds ...
Jan 01, 2017 This standard applies both to newly manufactured connections and connections that are recut after service. It should be realized that recut connections are subject to additional inspection and testing-the user is referred to API 7G-2 for such information. This standard is applicable to preferred rotary shouldered connection designs.
The Animal Welfare Inspection Guide is intended to be a reference document to assist the inspector. The Inspection Guide does not supersede the Animal Welfare Act AWA, the AWA Regulations and Standards, AC policies and other guidance, the Required Inspection Procedures, standard procedures, or the inspectors professional judgment.
3 These standards shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the inspection process in those areas where the inspector is qualified andor has special knowledge. 4 The inspector shall inspect readily accessible, installed systems and components of homes listed in these Standards of Practice by using normal operating controls and ...
This inspection was performed in substantial compliance with InterNACHI-CCPIAs Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Fire Doors . It is designed to provide an indication as to whether the door is in a state of readiness to perform its intended function during a fire.
Apr 08, 2020 Therefore, in this case, the circuit board would fail inspection for a Class 3. There is a difference between Class 2 and Class 3 when it comes to the amount of barrel fill thats used in the through-hole leads. Class 2 has a requirement of 50 compared to the 75 thats required for a Class 3. Its a delicate process to get the proper ...
PD Setting Standards. Rotary Shouldered Connection Inspection. READ MORE Thread Taper Gages. Rotary Shouldered Connection Inspection. READ MORE OUR ADVANTAGES. Good Quality. Our facility has been manufacturing API gauges for 43 years and owns the most advanced manufacturing equipments. We strictly adhere to ISO9001, API Q1 and API 5B amp 7
ISO 10424-12004 is not applicable to drill pipe and tool joints, rotary shouldered connection designs, thread gauging practice, or grand master, reference master and working gauges. General information
Dec 11, 2001 Do the federal OSHA construction standards require hand-held power tool guarding when cutting PVC pipe from the inside using a 4- or 6-inch circular, electroplated diamond cutting blade mounted on a rotary pneumatic angle-drive hand-held tool Background Use of pneumatic hand tool with a small circular diamond cutting blade
Internal Rotary Inspection System IRIS Ultrasonic Inspections of Heat Exchanger Tubes. IRISNDT uses IRIS to detect general corrosionerosion and localized volumetric defects such as pitting, fretting, and others in ferrous carbon steel tubes such as SA214 and SA179 tubes and non-ferrous stainless steel tubes.
IRIS Standard Calibration Tube Internal Rotary Inspection System Calibration Standards For Tube Inspections Our experience in dealing with all simulated flaws from EDMs notches to thinning and expansions puts us in a unique position to recommend procedures and implement standards that increase your probability of detection during inspection of plants worldwide.
Standards and Specifications. SIGS conducts its NDT, Lifting and DROPS inspections in line with the requirements of a variety of international standards, specifications andor codes such as API, ASME, ASTM, EN, ISO, BS EN, BS EN ISO standards, as well as to local andor regional requirements such as those stipulated by Dubai Accreditation Center DAC, Petroleum Development Oman PDO, Saudi ARAMCO, etc. SIGS maintains a comprehensive database of all relevant standards.
API Spec 7-1 Specification for rotary drill stem elements. API RP 7-2 Specification for threading and gauging of rotary shouldered thread connections. API Spec 5B Threading, gauging and inspection of casing, tubing, and line pipe threads. API RP 5B1 Gauging and inspection of casing, tubing, and line pipe threads.
Oct 24, 2015 The Source Inspector Examination contains 100 multiplechoice questions targeting core - knowledge necessary to perform source inspectionof mechanical rotating equipment. The focus of the exam is on source inspection issues and activities rather than design or engineering knowledge contained in the reference standards.
LIMITS, INSPECTION, CARE, AND USE OF CEMENT HOSE, DRILLING MUD VIBRATOR AND JUMPER HOSE, AND ROTARY HOSE This standard covers all types of hoses specified in clause 9.10 of API Spec 7K. The defini-tions of terms contained in clauses 3.0 and 9.10.1 of API Spec 7K shall apply. A.1 Hose length A.1.1 ROTARY HOSE LENGTH
Internal rotary inspection system IRIS ultrasonic test method is employed for testing of pipes and tubes in boilers, heat exchangers and fin-fan tubes. The IRIS probe is inserted into a tube that is flooded with water, and the probe is pulled out slowly as the data is displayed and recorded.
Finned IRIS Internal Rotary Inspection Calibration Tube StandardInternal Rotary Inspection Finned Calibration Tube Standard IRISReady to request a quote for a standard Heres what we need...What is the material Alloy, OD and WallIs NDE supplying the material or will it be customer suppliedWhat defects are needed and what size most depths are given in of
Rotary Pump Inspection and Test Plan Task Vendor TPI Inspection Client Pre-inspection meeting, when specified by Purchaser H H R Mill Test Reports H R R Material identification and marking H W R Execution of major repairs, when issued NCR H H R RT, UT, MT or PT, when specified H R R Heat treatment execution, if applicable H R R Balancing test H W R
Therefore accurate inspection of vital components such as pipes and tubes is crucial to ensuring the integrity of the plant. Internal Rotary Inspection System IRIS can detect corrosion, pitting and wall loss and is most commonly used for tube inspection in boilers, heat exchangers, air coolers and feed water heaters. It is particularly versatile as it is suitable for both ferrous and
INSPECTION OF ROTATING EQUIPMENT COMPONENTS PROJECT STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Rotary Equipment plays a vital role in hydrocarbon processing industry. Timely inspection and maintenance of Rotary Equipment will go a long way in ensuring safer operations of the installations in Oil and Gas Industry. 2.0 SCOPE
rotary kiln operations. Regardless of rotary kiln size or configuration the basic principles outlined in this manual govern the reliable operation of every rotary kiln, calciner, dryer, incinerator, digester and cooler application. For questions or problems with your specific application please contact North American Kiln for assistance.
Question and Answers on National Bridge Inspection Standards Recording and Coding Guide Errata Sheet Recording and Coding Guide for the Structure Inventory and Appraisal of the Nations Bridges 1995 Inventory of Bridges Book. The Inventory of Bridges Book, Bridge Log Book or Posted Bridge Book is no longer published. The last paper version ...
Sep 10, 2009 At the conclusion of every inspection, customers receive an inspection certificate signed by the lift inspector that details what was found during the inspection, any adjustments made and parts replaced for each lift. The Rotary Lift Inspect to Protect program runs Sept. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009.
A home inspection is a non-invasive, visual examination of the accessible areas of a residential property as delineated below, performed for a fee, which is designed to identify defects within specific systems and components defined by these Standards that are both observed and deemed material by the inspector. The scope of work may be ...
Food safety and the protection of plant and animal resources are central priorities guiding Canadas food safety regulations. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency CFIA also recognizes that we can support innovation and productivity by
Inspection Standards. What Constitutes a Home Inspection. Home inspectors were licensed by the State of Oklahoma in 2002 effective in the year 2003. The following are required to be inspected and the findings conveyed to the buyer or client unless noted as not inspected in the Inspection Report.
Inspection and Test Plan. The inspection and test plan article provides you with information about inspections and tests which are used in manufacturing shops. In addition there are lots of linked articles which provides specific information about inspection and test plan for each equipment type. The working process starts with an agreement ...
This standard does not necessarily require that two separate inspections or tests be conducted on the same component, provided the inspection or test meets the requirements of both standards and the individual performing the inspection or test is qualified to perform the inspection or test required by both standards. 1.1.2 Types of Systems. 1.1 ...
Generally, API standards are reviewed and revised, reaf rmed, or withdrawn at least every ve years. Sometimes a one-time extension of up to two years will be added to this review
Introduction to Track Inspection The Track Safety Standards Compliance Manual Chapters 1-7 and Appendix provides technical guidance to Federal and State Track Inspectors. The Compliance Manual provides guidance for enforcement of the Track Safety Standards TSS. The guidance provided in this
The complete ALI manual - Standards for Automotive Lifts -Safety Requirements for Operation , Inspection and Maintenance comes with our lifts when purchased. If you need a new manual it can be purchased through the ALI website store. It is
Oct 01, 2020 This standard specifies the required inspection for each level of inspection, procedures for the inspection, and testing of used drill stem elements. For the purposes of this standard, drill stem elements include drill pipe body, tool joints, rotary shouldered connections, drill collar, heavy-weight drill pipe HWDP, and the ends of drill stem ... | https://www.ukbhub.in/1984/may_36937.html |
The Board recognizes that sound appraisal of teaching performance is critical in achieving the educational objectives of the school district. The Board expects its supervisory and administrative staffs to exert reasonable efforts to help and encourage staff members to develop their teaching personalities and instructional abilities to an optimum degree.
In keeping with state law and Board policy, the performance evaluation system shall serve as a basis for the improvement of instruction, enhance the implementation of curricular programs, and measure professional growth and development and level of performance of licensed personnel. The evaluation system also shall serve as the measurement of satisfactory performance and documentation for dismissal for unsatisfactory performance.
The Board shall consult with district administrators, teachers, parents and the advisory school district personnel performance evaluation council in developing the evaluation system.
All licensed personnel, including full-time and part-time teachers, shall be regularly evaluated by an administrator/supervisor who has a principal or administrator license issued by the Colorado Department of Education and/or such administrator’s/supervisor’s designee, who has received education and training in evaluation skills approved by the Colorado Department of Education that will enable them to make fair, professional and credible evaluations of the personnel whom they are responsible for evaluating.
Evaluations shall be conducted in a fair and friendly manner and shall be based on written criteria which pertain to good teaching and the staff member’s particular position.
Standards for satisfactory performance of licensed personnel and criteria which can be used to determine whether performance meets such standards shall be developed. One of the standards for measuring teacher performance shall be directly related to classroom instruction and shall include multiple measures of student performance. The district personnel performance evaluation council shall be an active participant in the development of standards of performance.
All evaluation standards and criteria shall be given in writing to all licensed personnel and shall be communicated and discussed by the person being evaluated and the evaluator prior to and during the course of the evaluation.
The system shall identify the various methods which will be used for information collection during the evaluation process such as direct and informal observation and peer, parent or student input obtained from standardized surveys. All data on which an evaluation judgment is based will be documented to the extent possible and available for the teacher’s review.
The evaluation system shall specify the frequency and duration of the evaluation process which shall be on a regular basis to ensure the collection of a sufficient amount of data from which reliable conclusions and findings may be drawn. Teachers shall receive documented observations and written evaluation reports in accordance with state law as set forth in the regulation accompanying this policy.
All written evaluation reports shall be specific as to performance strengths and weaknesses, specifically identify when a direct observation was made, identify data sources, and contain a written improvement plan. The written improvement plan shall be specific as to what improvements if any are needed in performance.
The staff member concerned shall have an opportunity to review the document with the supervisor who makes the evaluation, and both shall sign it and receive a copy. The evaluator’s supervisor shall also review and sign the evaluation report.
If the evaluatee disagrees with any of the conclusions or recommendations made in the evaluation report, he or she may attach any written explanation or other relevant documentation.
The system shall contain a process to be followed when a teacher’s performance is deemed unsatisfactory. In accordance with state law, this process shall provide for a notice of deficiencies, a remediation plan and a reasonable opportunity to correct the deficiencies.
The school district shall conduct all evaluations so as to observe the legal and constitutional rights of licensed personnel. No informality in any evaluation or in the manner of making or recording any evaluation shall invalidate the evaluation. No minor deviation in the evaluation procedures shall invalidate the process or the evaluation report.
Nothing in this policy shall be construed to imply in any manner the establishment of any property rights or expectancy or entitlement to continued employment not explicitly established by statute, Board policy or contract. Neither shall this policy and/or the evaluation system be deemed or construed to establish any conditions prerequisite relative to renewal of contracts, transfer, assignment, dismissal or other employment decisions relating to school personnel.
Unless an evaluator acts in bad faith or maliciously with respect to the application of a procedure associated with the evaluation process, any misapplication of a procedure, failure to apply a procedure or adhere to a prescribed timeline shall not be an impediment to or prevent the Board from modifying an employee’s contract status or assignment under the terms of the employment contract and state law. The content of the evaluation, the ratings given and any improvement or remediation plan shall not be grievable under the district’s formal grievance process.
All employment decisions remain within the sole and continuing discretion of the Board of Education, subject only to the conditions and limitations prescribed by Colorado law. | http://huerfano.k12.co.us/?page_id=1646 |
Ströbel, Tim; Woratschek, Herbert; Maier, Christopher (8 September 2016). The Development of a Value-Based Performance Measurement System for Sport Leagues – The Case of a German Junior Sport League. In: 24th Conference of the European Association for Sport Management (EASM). Warschau. 08.09.2016.Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)
The Balanced Scorecard is the best known performance measurement system that has already been applied and discussed in many industries. Professional team sport clubs and leagues have started to implement such systems. Those clubs and leagues have realized that they must control critical success factors, like their talent development, to remain competitive. The main goals of talent development programs like junior leagues are the preparation of young athletes for their professional careers and the continuous improvement of the clubs’ overall performance. The measurement and controlling of relevant performance indicators are critical and determine the overall quality of the appropriate professional senior league. However, there is a lack of empirical studies in sport management research about the implementation and management of performance measurement systems. Despite the importance of talent development programs, like professional junior sport leagues, sport management research has not yet developed an appropriate performance measurement system that controls for more than just infrastructural aspects or the quantity of training activities. Therefore, this research project presents a performance measurement system that helps to control and improve the overall quality of sport leagues. Based on these considerations, our initial research questions are:
1. Who are the customers of a junior sport league?
2. Which requirements do they have and how do they co-create value?
3. From a value-based perspective, which factors need to be considered in a performance measurement system of a junior sport league?
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Item Type:
|Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)|
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Division/Institute:
|07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Sport Science (ISPW)|
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UniBE Contributor:
|Ströbel, Tim|
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Subjects:
|700 Arts > 790 Sports, games & entertainment|
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Language:
|English|
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Submitter:
|Tim Ströbel|
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Date Deposited:
|13 Oct 2016 11:15|
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Last Modified:
|20 Jan 2017 15:35|
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URI: | https://boris.unibe.ch/88220/ |
The memory center in the brains of seniors who volunteered in public schools for two years maintained their size, rather than shrinking as part of the normal aging process, report researchers.
As little as a single 15-minute bout of cardiovascular exercise increases brain connectivity and efficiency, according to new research.
The advice to “find your passion” might undermine how interests actually develop, according to new research.
One in five older adults is socially isolated from family or friends, increasing their risks for poor mental and physical health, as well as higher rates of mortality, a new study shows.
It takes more than 200 hours before someone can be considered a close friend, according to a new study that explores how long it typically takes to move through the deepening stages of friendship. | https://www.evidencebasedmentoring.org/tag/research-from-related-fields/ |
It is every employee and employer’s responsibility to provide a safe place for all employees to work, including employees with disabilities.
Planning for alternative communications and inclusive evacuation and recovery procedures becomes of key importance to employee safety in disaster situations from fires, floods, hazardous materials incidents, and earthquakes. Knowledge, planning, and practice will protect workers with disabilities and save lives.
Examples of how some disabilities might affect emergency evacuation and planning:
• Workers with disabilities need to be able to clearly see, hear and understand all emergency evacuation plans and routes
• The deaf and hard of hearing may not be able to hear or react to emergency signals
• Visual disabilities may make workers unable to find escape routes and see hazardous objects
• Mobility-related disabilities may render the workers unable to leave the worksite in a short amount of time
• Respiratory disabilities will affect a person’s ability to walk long distances away from hazards at the workplace
• Speech disabilities will make it hard for workers to communicate during a emergency situation
• Cognitive disabilities and mental illnesses will affect a person’s ability to react and respond reasonably during an emergency
Determining staff/volunteer needs and personnel resources:
Responsibility of the employee:
• Every worker with disabilities needs to have a self assessment and what their needs might be during an emergency; they need to convey this information to their employers
• They are also responsible of any changes to their disability or any change in medical conditions so that their files are up to date
• The worker with the disability should be involved in who will help him and what kind of training they will require
Responsibility of the employer: | http://untape.com/2008/introduction-to-workplace-emergency-planning/ |
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, is intended to protect the personal data of consumers who reside in California.
If your organization, regardless of its location, is collecting personally-identifiable information (PII) from California residents, this law affects you. It is prudent to take steps to prepare for the CCPA and begin to roll out compliance measures.
The CCPA is enacting a 12-month retroactive window, which means organizations should already have their data mapping and records of personal information in place. If your organization is not yet fully prepared, here are ten steps to help you get there.
1. Understand your data. Evaluate the categories of personal information collected by your organization. Data management planning is essential so you know where and how all your data is stored. If your data is housed in multiple locations, plan to consolidate.
2. Analyze your data storage structures. Assess the capacity for cross-database searching at your organization. Ensuring that all of your organization's consumer data is searchable means data retrieval will be all-inclusive when consumer requests come in.
3. Draft or update information security policies to maintain alignment with the CCPA. Ensure that organizational policies are in place that support the new CCPA. For example, you will need to document how you are protecting personally-identifiable information (PII).
4. Develop a workflow to ensure compliance with the CCPA timelines for data access requests. The CCPA requires organizations to provide consumer data free of charge, electronically or by mail, within 45 days.
5. Ensure your organization's ability to provide all requested consumer data in a portable electronic format. By providing requests in a portable format, consumers will have the ability to transmit their information to other entities. This ability is mandated by the CCPA.
6. Be able to disclose up to the previous 12 months of collected consumer information as mandated by the CCPA. Yes, the CCPA does not become law until January 1, 2020, but consumer data starting from January 1, 2019 onwards must be accessible by your organization. This begins the requirement of ensuring a rolling 12 month window of accessible data can be reported upon. Examples include, but are not limited to, the description of the consumer’s rights and methods for submitting requests for information or categories of personal information your organization has collected, sold, or disclosed in the past 12 months.
7. Provide multiple outlets for consumers to exercise their data access rights. For instance, provide a toll-free phone number, email address, and website for consumers to use for CCPA-related requests.
8. Prepare for compliance with consumer data deletion requests. The CCPA gives consumers the option to request deletion of personal data. Organization must include data deletion rights as part of online privacy notices. You’ll need to delete the data from all of your systems, so an accurate data inventory is critical.
9. Provide consumers with the option of opting-out from having their personal information sold to third parties. Consumers have the right to opt-out of their data being sold at any time. Your organization must provide an accessible location for consumers to understand (1) where their data is collected from, (2) that their data may be sold, and (3) how to opt-out. This includes a link on homepages titled "Do Not Sell My Personal Information."
10. Provide training for employees who handle consumer data. Individuals responsible for handling inquiries must be informed of consumers’ rights and how to direct consumers to exercise those rights. It is essential that your organization have a change management process in place to ensure that employees are trained on the parameters of using personal information collected from a consumer request as information solely to verify that request.
These ten recommendations are guideposts to help your organization get started on the path to CCPA compliance. Alignment with these data, information, and knowledge management best practices will provide a strong foundation for moving forward. If you have questions as to whether or not your organization falls under the scope of the CCPA, it is best to consult your legal team.
Kelly LeBlanc is a Knowledge Management Specialist at FireOak Strategies, where she specializes in open access and open data, metadata, GIS and data management, and data/information governance issues. | https://fireoakstrategies.com/10-steps-to-prep-for-ccpa/ |
‘Split’ Review: M. Night Shyamalan’s Best Film in Years Is a Surprisingly Poignant Thriller
The Visit was a fun little horror flick that reminded audiences that M. Night Shyamalan still has the capacity to surprise and entertain us — but more than anything, it inspired optimism with the promise of more good things to come. Shyamalan has fully delivered on that promise with Split, an incredibly thought-provoking thriller. Although occasionally heavy-handed, Shyamalan’s latest is his most considerate and effective film in years, with a startling emotional core.
James McAvoy delivers an immensely satisfying performance as Kevin, a man who developed 23 identities to cope with an early childhood trauma. The notion of identity is certainly a fascinating and pervasive one throughout Split, in which Shyamalan doesn’t view Kevin’s controversial disorder as some professionals might: This isn’t a series of personalities that have been chosen and crafted, but actual, individual identities that are inarguably real and essential. These people all exist within Kevin; they are a magnified reflection of humanity’s ability to contain multitudes, to hold competing beliefs and feelings, and to access many versions of ourselves when necessary.
Among Kevin’s many identities are Barry, an aspiring fashion designer; Dennis, a rigidly obsessive-compulsive type who has been underestimated by his peers; Hedwig, a mischievous nine-year-old boy; and Patricia, an authoritative woman with a suspiciously kindly manner. Taking care of these many identities is Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), an older psychiatrist who has devoted her life to advocating for those with DID and fighting to convince her peers that these patients are not broken, but have achieved some sense of mental and — in some cases — physiological enlightenment because of their trauma.
But that’s getting ahead of things. The trouble arises when Dennis kidnaps three teenage girls, led by misfit Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy). Dennis is colluding with Patricia to use these young women for some mysterious and nefarious purpose, to serve an elusive 24th identity that may or may not be real — the very question of that identity’s existence works in opposition to everything Dr. Fletcher has fought so hard to defend with her exceptional sense of empathy.
And that concept really is the visceral, beating heart of Split, which operates as a compelling cinematic dissertation on empathy and how we develop an ability to recognize similar pain in others. Empathy allows us to identify with others, and to develop a keen understanding of suffering that comes from terrible specificity. Empathy has the power to empower us and make us better people, but with Split, Shyamalan imagines what that incredibly human power could be like in the wrong hands — and those hands, in this case, belong to many, many identities.
In some respects, Split feels like a thematic sequel to Unbreakable, as Shyamalan takes an inventive approach to the concept of super-powers and villainy, subverting a popular blockbuster film trope and repurposing it as a clever, twisted genre film. Kevin and his identities are exceedingly complex, but no more so than any viewer; the very nature of humanity on an individual and mass level is complicated, after all.
Kevin and Casey are two sides of the same traumatic coin. Casey’s own past trauma has made her a stronger, more considerate and thoughtful person, while Kevin’s has forced his various identities to evolve and become fully-realized people — and when you get a couple dozen eggs, a few are bound to be cracked. Casey’s empathy allows her to interact with Kevin and his identities in ways that are more difficult for her fellow captives, though their participation should not be discounted. Both Haley Lu Richardson and Jessica Sula give fine performances, each representing the various ways in which actual young women might react and think in this particularly terrifying situation.
It’s easy to care about these characters because it feels like Shyamalan cares about each and every one of them, making the third act of Split all the more harrowing as it transforms from an entertaining and clever thriller into a genuine horror film. There’s nothing jaw-droppingly novel about what Shyamalan is saying, but the ways in which he says it are thrilling and surprisingly poignant. Genre fans will recognize visual and thematic references to films like Red Dragon, Identity, and, weirdly, Jurassic Park, but Shyamalan incorporates these moments in ways that feel organic and reverential — never obnoxious or pandering. Many of those same fans may also appreciate the totally bonkers tag at the end of the film. It’s the sort of campy punchline that only Shyamalan could successfully deliver.
The only real flaw of Split is its ham-fisted approach, particularly in the third act, when some of the on-the-nose dialogue begins to feel a bit redundant. No one would ever accuse Shyamalan of being a particularly nuanced director; he has a tendency to become a little too enamored of his own ideas, which can result in some odd indulgences. Even still, Split is his most thoughtful film in years, and one that contains ideas and feelings that resonate on a deep, visceral level. | https://screencrush.com/split-review-m-night-shyamalans-best-film-in-years-is-a-surprisingly-poignant-thriller/ |
It’s that time of year when farmers’ markets overfloweth with tomatoes. I love rescuing soft and bruised tomatoes from the “scratch & dent” boxes that most vendors use to liquidate their damaged fruit. As long as you are able to make soup, sauce or salsa the same day, they are a real steal.
Gazpacho has always been a late summertime staple in my culinary artillery. But a recent discussion with a chef friend and an ingredient borrowed from Spain’s white gazpacho have helped me crack the code and create an addictive chilled soup that has so many layers of flavors it lingers in your mouth like a fine wine.
The trick is to emulsify some tomatoes, stale bread, Marcona almonds and olive oil at the start, which combine to create a rustic texture. Then, finish the soup with lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and ground chilies. While this gazpacho may be a little more labor-intensive than others, fortuitously, the ingredients do all the hard work for you. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 poblano chili
3 pounds tomatoes (ideally heirlooms)
2/3 cup stale bread (ideally a rustic sourdough), cut into crouton-size bits
¼ cup skinless Marcona almonds
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
½ medium red onion
½ fennel bulb, trimmed, or 2 celery stalks
1 cucumber, skinned, seeds removed
½ cup lightly packed basil or cilantro, stems discarded before measuring
1½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar (ideally the good aged stuff)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ – ½ teaspoon ground Chipotle or New Mexican chili
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Blacken poblano over a gas burner or BBQ. Put in a bag for 5 minutes, then peel off and discard skin. Discard seeds and stem. Reserve.
Core tomatoes, then cut a small “X” at the bottom. Drop tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove, let cool for a minute, then peel off and discard the skins (which should just pop off into your hands).
To a food processor, add 3 tomatoes, bread, almonds and garlic. Run processor for 30 seconds, then drizzle in oil in a thin steady stream until it emulsifies with the contents (about 1 minute). Transfer the lot to a large bowl.
Roughly chop poblano, onion, fennel, cucumber and basil. Puree along with remaining tomatoes in two or three batches as necessary. Add these batches to the original bread/almond tomato batch.
Season with balsamic, lemon juice, chili powder, S&P. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Chill in refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.
Yield: about 8 servings
notes
• If you halve the recipe, it can all be made in one batch in the food processor. Just add everything to the processor, in the proper order, and include the seasonings at the end.
• Leftovers will last for three days in the fridge. | http://www.bobblumer.com/uncategorized/scratch-dent-gazpacho/ |
Helping my Child in Mother Tongue: Teacher Insights Series
Mother Tongue is a subject most students are apprehensive of in primary schools. As the population gets more educated over the past few decades, many kids in Singapore nowadays grow up speaking mainly English at home.
This inevitably leads to a tougher challenge in helping our kids to learn their mother tongues. Ask a mother tongue teacher in school and you will know. Read our article to find out how our educators help their children in learning their second language.
My child is good in one language but is weak in his mother tongue. What can I do during this one year to help maximise his grades in his 2nd language?
Mr. Nicholas Ee
To be honest, it will be a tall order to make huge positive strides in a weaker 2nd language in a child’s PSLE year.
The most common approach is to constantly converse with them using both English and their mother tongue.
However, I will take this a step further by categorising the English words or mother tongue characters according to their nature of usage. E.g. I try to get my children to make associations among the words or characters that they use.
One thing I realise is that words do not function in isolation. Parents should encourage their children to read books in different genres such as children’s fiction, historical fiction to gain a more holistic view on the use of the language.
Mr. Ng Yeo Heng
Though I am not a language teacher, I think that it is vital to provide an environment for the child to use the language more frequently.
Provide a conducive environment for your child to learn mother tongue.
Speak to your child in mother tongue and provide opportunities for your child to read, listen, talk about and to speak to people using mother tongue.
The 1.5 hours spent in tuition per week is definitely not enough.
For me, I speak to my children in both languages at home and I try to make it a point to converse with them in proper languages (not Singlish). I correct them whenever they did not speak the language correctly. Make a conscious effort starting from today.
On top of that, I sit down with them daily and make sure that they spend enough time doing assessment books on Chinese. Consistency is the key.
Language is not something a kid can pick up or excel in within a short period of time.
Conclusion
Parents play an important role in helping their children to learn their mother tongues and appreciate their cultures. Start today in providing a conducive environment for your child to speak, read, listen and write in his own root language.
About the Author
Prof Ollie is a guru of PSLE revision strategies specialising in the Leitner System and aims to help primary 6 students from all walks of life to excel in their PSLE. Despite being a professor, he wears his graduation hat wherever he goes. When not working on OwlSmart, Prof Ollie flies around Pulau Ubin to lose weight and catch up with the resident hornbills. | https://owlsmart.sg/article/psle/helping-my-child-in-mother-tongue-teacher-insights-series |
218 F.3d 652 (7th Cir. 2000), 98-1879, MindGames v. Western Publishing Co.
|Docket Nº:||98-1879|
|Citation:||218 F.3d 652|
|Party Name:||MindGames, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Western Publishing Company, Inc., Defendant-Appellee.|
|Case Date:||June 22, 2000|
|Court:||United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|
Page 652
Argued April 17, 2000
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Nos. 94-C-552, 94-C-998--Lynn S. Adelman, Judge.
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Before Posner, Chief Judge, and Fairchild and Diane P. Wood, Circuit Judges.
Posner, Chief Judge.
This is a diversity suit for breach of contract, governed by Arkansas law because of a choice of law provision in the contract. The plaintiff, MindGames, was formed in March of 1988 by Larry Blackwell to manufacture and sell an adult board game, "Clever Endeavor," that he had invented. The first games were shipped in the fall of 1989 and by the end of the year, 75 days later, 30,000 had been sold. In March of 1990, MindGames licensed the game to the defendant, Western, a major marketer of games. Western had marketed the very successful adult board games "Trivial Pursuit" and "Pictionary" and thought "Clever Endeavor" might be as successful. The license contract, on which this suit is premised, required Western to pay MindGames a 15 percent royalty on all games sold. The contract was by its terms to remain in effect until the end of January of 1993, or for another year if before then Western paid MindGames at least $1.5 million in
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the form of royalties due under the contract or otherwise, and for subsequent years as well if Western paid an annual renewal fee of $300,000.
During the first year of the contract, Western sold 165,000 copies of "Clever Endeavor" and paid MindGames $600,000 in royalties. After that, sales fell precipitously (though we're not told by how much) but the parties continued under the contract through January 31, 1994, though Western did not pay the $900,000 ($1.5 million minus $600,000) that the contract would have required it to pay in order to be entitled to extend the contract for a year after its expiration. In February of 1994 the parties finally parted. Later that year MindGames brought this suit, which seeks $900,000, plus lost royalties of some $40 million that MindGames claims it would have earned had not Western failed to carry out the promotional obligations that the contract imposed on it, plus $300,000 on the theory that Western renewed the contract for a third year, beginning in February of 1994; Western sold off its remaining inventory of "Clever Endeavor" in that year.
The district court granted summary judgment for Western, holding that the contract did not entitle MindGames to a renewal fee and that Arkansas's "new business" rule barred any recovery of lost profits. 944 F.Supp. 754 (E.D. Wis. 1996); 995 F.Supp. 949 (E.D Wis. 1998). Although the victim of a breach of contract is entitled to nominal damages, Mason v. Russenberger, 542 S.W.2d 745 (Ark. 1976); Movitz v. First Nat. Bank of Chicago, 148 F.3d 760, 765 (7th Cir. 1998); E. Allan Farnsworth, Contracts sec. 12.8, p. 784 (3d ed. 1999), MindGames does not seek them; and so if it is not entitled to either type of substantial damages that it seeks, judgment was correctly entered for Western. By not seeking nominal damages, incidentally, MindGames may have lost a chance to obtain significant attorneys' fees, to which Arkansas law entitles a prevailing party in a breach of contract case. See Dawson v. Temps Plus, Inc., 987 S.W.2d 722, 729 (Ark. 1999).
The rejection of MindGames' claim to the renewal fee for the second year (and a fortiori the third) was clearly correct. The contract conditioned Western's right to renew the contract for a second year on its paying a renewal fee of $1.5 million (minus royalties already paid); it was silent on the terms of a renewal adopted by a new agreement of the parties rather than by the exercise of an option granted by the original contract. If MindGames hadn't wanted to renew the contract and Western had insisted, then Western would have had to pay the fee. But if Western did not invoke a contractual right to renew, if instead the parties entered into a new agreement to renew the contract, then MindGames had no right to the renewal fee fixed in the contract; that right was conditional on Western's exercising its contractual right to renew. A conditional right in a contract does not become an enforceable right until the condition occurs, Restatement (Second) of Contracts sec. 225(1) (1981), unless noncompliance with the condition is excused by agreement, Uebe v. Bowman, 420 S.W.2d 889 (Ark. 1967); Normand v. Orkin Exterminating Co., 193 F.3d 908, 912 (7th Cir. 1999), or by operation of law, Farnsworth, supra sec. 8.3, p. 526, as where the other party to the contract wrongfully prevents the condition from occurring, id., sec. 8.6, pp. 544-45; Restatement, supra, sec. 225, comment b, which is not alleged, for Western had no duty to exercise its right of renewal. The condition that would have entitled MindGames to demand a renewal fee thus did not occur here; Western did not invoke its contractual right to extend the contract; after January 31, 1993, the parties were operating under a new contract.
The more difficult issue is MindGames' right to recover lost profits for Western's alleged breach of its duty to promote "Clever Endeavor." A minority of states have or purport to have a rule barring a
Page 655
new business, as distinct from an established one, from obtaining damages for lost profits as a result of a tort or a breach of contract. E.g., Lockheed Information Management Systems Co. v. Maximus, Inc., 524 S.E.2d 420, 429-30 (Va. 2000); Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. v. P.M. Video Corp., 730 A.2d 406, 419-20 (N.J. Super. 1999); Interstate Development Services of Lake Park, Georgia, Inc. v. Patel, 463 S.E.2d 516 (Ga. App. 1995); Stuart Park Associates Limited Partnership v. Ameritech Pension Trust, 51 F.3d 1319, 1328 (7th Cir. 1995) (Illinois law); Bernadette J. Bollas, Note, "The New Business Rule and the Denial of Lost Profits," 48 Ohio St. L. J. 855, 859 & n. 32 (1987). The rule of Hadley v. Baxendale, 9 Ex. 341, 156 Eng. Rep. 145 (1854), often prevents the victim of a breach of contract from obtaining lost profits, but that rule is not invoked here. Neither the "new business" rule nor the rule of Hadley v. Baxendale stands for the general proposition that lost profits are never a recoverable item of damages in a tort or breach of contract case.
Arkansas is said to be one of the "new business" rule states on the strength of a case decided by the state's supreme court many years ago. The appellants in Marvell Light & Ice Co. v. General Electric Co., 259 S.W. 741 (Ark. 1924), sought to recover the profits that they claimed to have lost as a result of a five and a half month delay in the delivery of icemaking machinery; the... | https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/218-f-3d-652-596738422 |
...keeping talented people is having a catastrophic impact on many businesses and industries throughout the world. Money and benefits are important, but studies show most employees leave for other reasons. Employers have the need to retain the talents they have to attain the desired organizational goals which could include quality, customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Earle (2003) observes that workers today are demanding more from their employers than they ever have in the past, not just in terms of salaries and perks, but also in terms of the work experience itself and the cultural context in which it occurs. Many companies are finding that providing a productive, flexible and dynamic work environment can be a critical asset in attracting and retaining valuable employees. The hotel industry experiences high turnover if compared against a benchmark of Best Practice Forum's Benchmark Index of 26.5% by Horwath Consulting. Caterersearch, (2009) first benchmarking exercise reported an average annual staff turnover of 33.4%. That compared with an average of just over 26% on the Best Practice Forum's Benchmark Index, which surveys 2,000 hospitality businesses is relatively high. Gautam (2005) states that world wide research has suggested that employee turnover is among the highest in the hospitality industry. Studies by American Hotel and Motel Association (2001) have shown that the average turnover level; among non- management hotel employees in the US is about 50% and......
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...Analysing Staff Turnover, its Cost and Effects on the Business and Developing Strategies to Improve Staff Retention: Student Name: Fabio De Souza Lima Student Number: 0053455T Lecturer: Nathalie Hudson Sunday, 28 July 2013, 11:55pm In comparison with other types of industry, excess of labour turnover has become a chronic problem for Tourism related enterprises, especially in the Hospitality sector. It has the potential to cause (directly or indirectly) serious issues and generate a multitude of costs to a business. For example, the whole process of recruitment and training can be very expensive and, even costlier can be the potential decline in the levels of service quality and productivity, which can culminate in customer dissatisfaction and consequential weakening of the business. This paper seeks to analyse such scenario by investigating staff turnover cases occurred throughout a variety of corporations in the hospitality industry. It discusses how such situation will affect businesses and, at the same time, suggests how Human Resource Departments should approach the issue, in order to help companies retain its most valuable asset, the employees. The difference between staff turnover rates amongst managerial positions and other more peripheral positions became evident after research and so did the notion that staff turnover rates will vary depending on the size of corporations. But, above all, the most influential factor that appear to be affecting staff turnover......
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...High Employee Turn Over in Department of Family Protective Services and How to Reduce Turnover: Fort Bend County As Case Study. Leadership and Organization Behavior (MGMT-591) ABSTRACT A brief discussion about the Department of Family and Protective Services and the issue of high turnover of the workforce and suggestion on what the department can do further in ensuring workers retention becomes high. The agency is charged with one of the most difficult societal task and needs qualified and experience workforce in order to fulfil their mission and objectives. However in a world with many organization demanding the skills and services of may able bodied workforce it is becoming increasingly difficult for the agency to retain old workers and keep the new one at the agency. The paper looks at the agency from the eye on an insider and suggests some areas where the agency can focus its attention in ensuring workers stay and have a fulfilled career at the agency. The department of family and planning services is one of the social services organization charged with keeping the family structure together and functional and to ensure the safety of children in the home. Its powers and legality are founded under the Texas family code. It’s an organization that strives to ensure the safety of all children from abuse and neglect while keeping the family structure together as much as possible without excessive governmental intrusion. I work as an investigator for this department. My...
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...edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, and the Work, Economy and Organizations Commons Repository Citation Gumbiner, Michael D., "Manager retention and the Steamboat Ski Resort" (2007). UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/ Capstones. Paper 481. This Professional Paper is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses/ Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MANAGER RETENTION AND THE STEAMBOAT SKI RESORT by Michael D. Gumbiner Bachelor of Arts California State University Fullerton 1987 A professional paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Hospitality Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2007 1 PART ONE Introduction The material for this paper centers on the Steamboat Ski Resort Corp. The ski resort was chosen for this study because of its need for a management retention plan. Steamboat was ranked as a top 10 international ski resort in North America by Snow Country Magazine (“Top 50 ski resorts,” 1997). It has maintained this distinction for many years. It has been noted for its idealistic “champion power” and its unpopulated vast terrain. In particular, it has always scored......
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...Hospitality and Tourism Education and Training A Case Study of Scotland. Geno Trapaidze The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management University of Strathclyde A thesis submitted in part of the requirements for the degree of MSc in International Hospitality Management September, 2007. ABSTRACT 1 The purpose of this study is to examine the role of education and training and its impact on labour supply to the Scotland hospitality and tourism industry; what are the current issues are there? And how those issues can be minimised? Its also seeks to identify the relation between the customer satisfaction and the service employees via service quality for maintain the growth of the hospitality and tourism industry. It also tries to identify the current labour market issues of the hospitality and tourism sector in Scotland, and how these issues can be minimised. Research will be conducted through five individual interviews. This research should help the hospitality and tourism managers/employers understand the importance of retaining staff. Also it will aim to make educational institutions aware of the gap between the content and the design of their hospitality and tourism courses/degree programmes in relation to industry demand, as highlighted in relation to current labour market issues such as staff turnover rate, retention problems, and the image of the hospitality and tourism industry in Scotland. Key words: Service quality, staff turnover, poor image...
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...Essays on Productivity Analysis in the Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Industries by Xiaofeng Li A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of |Doctor of Philosophy in Economics Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Xiaofeng Li, December, 2011 ABSTRACT ESSAYS ON PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS IN THE CANADIAN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRIES Xiaofeng Li University of Guelph, 2011 Advisor: Professor David M Prescott This thesis is to investigate the relationship between the productivity in the Canadian tourism and hospitality industries and workforce characteristics, human resources management practice, technology change. The productivity analysis is conducted with different measures of productivity, such as labour productivity and total factor productivity. The first chapter is to calculate labour productivity using the Canadian National Tourism Indicator (NTI) and the Canadian Human Resource Module of Tourism Satellite Account (HRM) for six tourism industries during the period 1997-2008 and to estimate an econometric model of labour productivity. Labour productivity is found to increase with the capital labour ratio, the proportion of part-time hours, the share of immigrant workers and by the proportion of the most experienced workers. The second chapter decomposes the total factor productivity growth for the Canadian tourism/hospitality industries with dynamic factor demand models which is estimated with nonlinear Full......
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...اﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ اﻟﺴﻨﻮي اﻟﺨﺎﻣﺲ ﻓﻲ اﻹدارة اﻹﺑﺪاع واﻟﺘﺠﺪﻳﺪ دور اﻟﻤﺪﻳﺮ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻹﺑﺪاع واﻟﺘﻤﻴﺰ ﺷﺮم اﻟﺸﻴﺦ – ﺝﻤﻬﻮرﻳﺔ ﻡﺼﺮ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ 72-92 ﻥﻮﻓﻤﺒﺮ )ﺗﺸﺮﻳﻦ ﺛﺎن( 4002 - Significant conditions in Employees Empowerment: the Case of Jordanian four Star hotels د. ﻳﺤﻴﻰ ﻡﻠﺤﻢ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ اﻟﻴﺮﻣﻮك اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻷردﻥﻴﺔ اﻟﻬﺎﺵﻤﻴﺔ 233 Abstract Data from 95 frontline hotel employees in 10 four star hotel in Jordan show strong association between three significant conditions (communication and information-flow, incentives, and knowledge and skill) and employee empowerment. The findings in this research suggest that communication and information-flow, incentives, knowledge and skill and autonomy among hotel service-employees may have a direct and strong impact on the empowerment of hotel service employees. These four conditions accounted for significant variation in the levels of employee empowerment in four star hotels in Jordan. Levels of empowerment seem to further impact the level of employee job satisfaction indicating a significant association. Implications for future research and for management practice are discussed. Introduction In a competitive environment in which organizations must be faster, leaner, provide better service quality, be more efficient, and more profitable, an empowered and proactive service worker is thought to be essential (Bowen and Lawer, 1992; Fulford and Enz, 1995; Bowen and Lawler, 1995). However, delegation of authority for a long......
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...Module 3 – Assignment 5 Practice Case Examination Backgrounder The background information relating to the Case Examination (Backgrounder) is provided to candidates in advance of the examination date. The Backgrounder contains information about both the company and the industry involved in the case. Candidates are expected to familiarize themselves with this information in preparation for the analysis that will be required during the Case Examination. Candidates should note that they will not be allowed to bring any written material, including the advance copy of this Backgrounder, into the examination centre. A new copy of this Backgrounder, together with Additional Information about the company and a supplement of formulae and tables, will be provided at the writing centre for the Case Examination. Only the following models of calculators are authorized for use during the Case Examination: 1. Texas Instruments 2. Hewlett Packard 3. Sharp TI BA II Plus (including the professional model) HP 10bII+ (or HP 10bll) EL-738C (or EL-738) Candidates are reminded that no outside research on the industry related to this case is required. Examination responses will be evaluated on the basis of the industry information provided in the Backgrounder and the question paper (Additional Information). © 2014 The Society of Management Accountants of Canada. All rights reserved. ®/™ Registered Trade-Marks/Trade-Marks are owned by The Society of Management Accountants of Canada. No part of......
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...Total Quality Management Vol. 23, No. 11, November 2012, 1227–1239 Which HRM practices contribute to service culture? Akiko Ueno∗ ,† Royal Docks Business School, University of East London, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, London, E16 2RD, UK It is known that Human Resources Management (HRM) can help to develop service culture, which will in turn improve service quality. The purpose of this article is to determine the relative importance of six HRM practices in terms of their impact on culture. A questionnaire survey of medium and large-sized UK service businesses was conducted. The results reveal that there is a strong association between culture and HRM practices, and that some management practices are more strongly associated with culture than others. Further research should explore the reasons why some HRM practices are more contributory to culture than others. Service businesses in pursuit of service quality should make use of these HRM practices for developing service culture in their organisations. This research has confirmed a strong association between culture and HRM practices, and also clarified the relative importance of HRM practices in terms of their impact on culture in order to improve service quality. Keywords: culture; HRM; services Introduction This article investigates the relative importance of six Human Resources Management (HRM) practices in terms of their impact on culture in order to improve service quality. In a previous study, it was found...
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...BTEC QCF HND in Hospitality Management Investigating Rooms Division Submitted to: Chris Maugino Submitted by: Md Rashedul Hasan, Date: 15.08.2011 1 Acknowledgement I would like to give my special thanks to my course teacher Chris Maugino for giving me such kind of excellent opportunity to prepare the interesting assignment and proper guidance to complete this work. I am grateful to my friends for their help and support when preparing this assignment especially in group study. I also give thanks to the manager of Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes who helped me a lot to make my report on interior design successfully. Other staff also helped me that make my report very easy and interesting. They are such a good person and gave me the full information as well as the data to complete this report. Finally, I like to say that, I have prepared this assignment from own experience. I am ready to accept my unwilling errors and omission which belong to me. 2 Table of content 1. Title Page ...........................................1 2. Table of Content.................................. 3 3. Introduction........................................ 4 4. Activity 2..............................................5 5. Activity 3..............................................17 6. Activity 4 ..............................................22 7. Activity 5...............................................28 8. Activity 7..............................................38 9.......
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...International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Emerald Article: Expatriation in the hotel industry: An exploratory study of management skills and cultural training Gina Fe Causin, Baker Ayoun, Patrick Moreo Article information: To cite this document: Gina Fe Causin, Baker Ayoun, Patrick Moreo, (2011),"Expatriation in the hotel industry: An exploratory study of management skills and cultural training", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 23 Iss: 7 pp. 885 - 901 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596111111167515 Downloaded on: 29-09-2012 References: This document contains references to 43 other documents To copy this document: [email protected] This document has been downloaded 2118 times since 2011. * Users who downloaded this Article also downloaded: * Judie Gannon, Angela Roper, Liz Doherty, (2010),"The impact of hotel management contracting on IHRM practices: Understanding the bricks and brains split", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 5 pp. 638 - 658 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596111011053783 Hui Chen, Miguel Baptista Nunes, Lihong Zhou, Guo Chao Peng, (2011),"Expanding the concept of requirements traceability: The role of electronic records management in gathering evidence of crucial communications and negotiations", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 63 Iss: 2 pp. 168 - 187 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012531111135646 François Des......
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...HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND INTENTION TO LEAVE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS A Thesis presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School At the University of Missouri-Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science by PRIYANKO GUCHAIT Dr. Seonghee Cho, Thesis Advisor AUGUST 2007 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND INTENTION TO LEAVE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS presented by Priyanko Guchait a candidate for the degree of master of science, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Seonghee Cho, Food Science (HRM) Dr. Dae-Young Kim, Food Science (HRM) Dr. Robert Torres, Agricultural Education ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not have been completed without the support of many people who are gratefully acknowledged herein. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my Committee Chair and Advisor, Dr. Seonghee Cho, for her guidance and support throughout the completion of this thesis and my study at University of MissouriColumbia. Without her mentorship I would not have been able to undertake this thesis and my education at University of Missouri-Columbia. I would also like......
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...ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM ON HOTEL DEVELOPMENT (A STUDY OF SHERATON HOTEL, IKEJA, LAGOS) A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED BY ODEODE FAITH EBANEHITA (Matric. No: RUN06-07/925) IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B. SC) DEGREE IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT AND TOURISM STUDIES, COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, REDEEMER’S UNIVERSITY, OGUN STATE. MAY 2010 CERTIFICATION I certify that this research project titled ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM ON HOTEL DEVELOPMENT (A STUDY OF SHERATON HOTEL, IKEJA, LAGOS) .................................................................................................. Was conducted and written by ODEODE FAITH EBANEHITA Run06-07/925 ........................................................ ........................ Name Matric No Under my supervision In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of (B. SC) TOURISM MANAGEMENT ............................................................. In the College of Management Sciences Redeemer’s University, Redemption City, Ogun State, Nigeria Mrs. A.O. Idowu Dr. (Mrs.) B.O. Adeleke _______________________ ____________________ Name, Signature and Date ...
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...to help an organization assess its strategy. The Diversity Audit Tool (DAT) was developed from an analysis of current diversity practices in the Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Sector in Canada. This paper will review the dimensions of the tool and compare it to six other diversity lenses. Keywords: Diversity assessment, diversity audit tool, diversity lens, “business” case for diversity. Increasingly corporations in Canada have stressed the importance of embracing diversity and have stressed the benefits of creating inclusive work environments which: Promote the work of all organizational members and ensures that it is acknowledged, respected, and that employees are compensated equitably for it Value diversity both within the organization and outside of it Implement a meritocracy – rather than non-job-related ascribed characteristics – ensuring the need for equality and fairness underpins the organizational culture Emphasize individual accountability at all levels of the organization Constantly communicate the organization’s commitment to diversity both through language and through action and in a clear manner (Digh, 1998; D’Netto & Sohal, 1999; Schmidt, 2004; Beaver & Hutchings, 2005; Conference Board of Canada, 2006; Conference Board of Canada, 2008; Shen et al., 2009) In other words, inclusive work environments do not simply recognize that differences exist among different...
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...During the 1970s and 1980s, the company expanded its beverage portfolio by entering into other non-alcoholic beverage categories, such as fruit and milk-based drinks. Entry into the snack food market was recently undertaken in response to declining consumption of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), the company’s traditional area of business strength. This move also enabled ABL to leverage its strong distribution capabilities to supermarkets, convenience stores and hospitality channels by adding adding such complementary food products to non-alcoholic beverages. Nevertheless, CSDs still accounted for 90 per cent of company revenue in 2004. Tom Dwyer, the current managing director, has been with the company since 2005. He joined the company at a time when CSD growth was stagnating and shareholder confidence in the company was waning. This had resulted in the share price declining by 15 per cent in the two years prior to his appointment. In order to restore shareholder confidence, Dwyer established a strategic planning team within the company to assess the current product portfolio and identify organic and acquisition growth opportunities. From this review the importance of operational excellence was identified and strong investment was made in world class manufacturing facilities and systems. Process re-engineering was implemented to reduce costs of manufacture and time to market. Having finalised the integration of a snack food business acquisition just over 12 months ago, Dwyer is...... | https://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Investigating-High-Turnover-Rates-Within-The/145217 |
How big was the Italian army in 1936?
Royal Italian Army
|Regio Esercito (RE) Royal Army|
|Size||5,000,000 (1915) 3,000,000 (1939) 6,000,000 (1943)|
|Colors||Green, White and Red|
|Anniversaries||4 November|
|Engagements||Italian War of Independence Italo-Ethiopian War (1895–1896) Italo-Turkish War World War I Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936) Spanish Civil War World War II|
Was the Italian army good in ww2?
The Italian army was extremely effective before the war and well into 1941. The Italian army invaded Ethiopia and Albania and crushed the defending armies. However this was against countries with outdated tech, small armies and horrible leadership.
Who had the largest army in ww2?
LARGEST ARMED FORCES
- SOVIET UNION (21,000,000)
- GERMANY (17,900,000)
- UNITED STATES (16,354,000)
- CHINA (14,000,000)
- JAPAN (9,100,000)
- ITALY (9,000,000)
- GREAT BRITAIN (5,896,000)
- FRANCE (3,500,000)
How many men were in Mussolini’s army?
National Republican Army
|Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano (ENR) National Republican Army|
|Country||Italian Social Republic|
|Allegiance||Benito Mussolini|
|Type||Army|
|Size||300,000 soldiers|
Why was Italy so weak in ww2?
Italy was economically weak, primarily due to the lack of domestic raw material resources. Italy had very limited coal reserves and no domestic oil.
Why did Italy do so poorly in ww2?
Italy was primarily an agricultural nation. They had virtually nothing in the way of major production and this was their biggest issue. Italy needed tanks, guns, bullets, planes, and ships. They needed to make enough to build and supply a large military.
Why did Italy declare war on Germany?
Ever since Mussolini began to falter, Hitler had been making plans to invade Italy to keep the Allies from gaining a foothold that would situate them within easy reach of the German-occupied Balkans. … On the day of Italy’s surrender, Hitler launched Operation Axis, the occupation of Italy.
What if Italy won WW2?
If Italy actually won WWII (i.e. the axis would win, but over the course of the war the roles in the axis partnership would switch so that Italy would become the undisputed senior partner in the alliance), then it would start gobbling up territories around the Mediterranean.
What if Italy did not join WW2?
If for some reason, Italy chooses to remain neutral when WWII comes, there would still be a Balkan campaign but Germany would probably not be involved in it since there’s no reason for it to attack Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia (there are some historical notes which states that Nazi Germany has no plans of going south …
What is the bloodiest battle in history?
Deadliest Battles In Human History
- Operation Barbarossa, 1941 (1.4 million casualties)
- Taking of Berlin, 1945 (1.3 million casualties) …
- Ichi-Go, 1944 (1.3 million casualties) …
- Stalingrad, 1942-1943 (1.25 million casualties) …
- The Somme, 1916 (1.12 million casualties) …
- Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1944 (1.12 million casualties) …
Which country has the best soldiers in ww2?
The German army is one of the finest armies ever fielded and was superior to every army it faced in WWII.
Who has the strongest military in the world?
China has the strongest military force in the world while India stands at number four, according to a study released on Sunday by the defence website Military Direct. “The USA, despite their enormous military budgets, comes in 2nd place with 74 points, followed by Russia with 69, India at 61 and then France with 58.
How big was the US Army in WW2?
The U.S. Army
During World War II about 16,000,000 personnel served in the U.S. Military. Approximately 11,200,000 or 70% served in the U.S. Army; 4,200,000 served in the Navy; and 660,000 served in the Marines. The U.S. Army was re-organized into three forces in March 1942: Army Ground Forces (AGF).
Did Italy get punished after WW2?
Originally Answered: Did Italy face any sanctions or penalties for their involvement in World War II? No, because Italy was on the allies side at the end of WW2. In 1943, when the outcomes of the war were clear and the allies were invading Sicily, Italy surrendered to the allies.
What are Italian soldiers called?
The Italian Armed Forces (Italian: Forze armate italiane) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation’s military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. | https://dreamingsophiabook.com/travelers/how-big-was-the-italian-army-in-world-war-ii.html |
On Monday, the Western world stood still to remember the end of World War I, which ravaged the European continent, claimed over nine million lives and had far-reaching consequences the world over. Since 1919, the eleventh of November has been a day of war remembrance in the UK and beyond, commemorated with a two minute silence and bright red poppies, reminiscent of the blood that was spilt “In Flanders Fields”. Although initially a remembrance of WWI, with passing time and further conflict Remembrance Day has become an occasion on which to recognise the sacrifices of members of the armed forces in all campaigns and serves as cue to reflect on the causes and consequences of all wars.
It is on this note that the relevance of Remembrance Day to the Asia Pacific region rests. Last week, the president of South Korea, Park Geun-Hye, publicly questioned what point a summit with neighbouring Japan would have, given ongoing disagreement between the two countries over the different ways in which each perceives their shared history. President Park specifically referenced the issue of comfort women, Japan’s war-time use of military sex slaves, as a key sticking point in Japan-South Korea relations.
Although the mainstream media coverage of this issue could lead you to believe so, Japan was not alone in instituting sexual slavery during wartime, and Nazi Germany also established brothels in the concentration camps, an estimated 34,410 female inmates were forces to serve as prostitutes during the Third Reich, compared to estimates of between 20,000 and 410,000 women involved in the prostitution corps of the Empire of Japan.
So why then, is the issue of sexual slavery during World War II so problematic for Japan’s relationship with Korea, and not for Germany’s relationships with its neighbours?
The key to this question lies in how each country views its past and why. In the case of Germany, the war crimes of WWII are consistently regarded as gravely immoral. However, Japan’s perception of its responsibility for war crimes committed during WWII has been relatively inconsistent. Japanese governments have, on multiple occasions, offered sincere apologies and significant compensation packages to former comfort women. In 1965 the Japanese government awarded US$364 million to the South Korean government for war damages, including injuries to comfort women, and 1994 saw the foundation of the Asian Women’s Fund, intended to distribute additional compensation to survivors in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands and Indonesia, each of whom received a signed apology from the Japanese prime minister at the time, Tomiichi Murayama. However, in spite of these significant and apparently genuine attempts at reconciliation, Japanese historians, politicians, authors and even NHK, Japan’s public broadcasting organisation, have expressed revisionist views as recently as this year, either playing down the number of comfort women, denying that comfort women were taken against their will, stating that comfort women worked in better conditions than regular prostitutes and even going so far as to deny that the Japanese government had kept sex slaves, despite previous official admissions of guilt. Consequently, the inconsistency of the messages coming out of Japan with regard to the issue of comfort women has undermined any significant attempts at reconciliation.
The difference between this and the perception of WWII in Germany can be, to some extent, explained by a combination of legal and psychological factors. In Germany, a very consistent interpretation of Germany in WWII is offered because, put simply, it is against the law to express any other view. In the immediate aftermath of WWII a conscious process of denazification took place across Europe, which included criminalising the display or use of Nazi symbolism in Germany and Austria. Further to this, Holocaust denial is explicitly or implicitly illegal in 17 European countries, despite the difficulty in accommodating these laws alongside freedom of speech. Consequently, WWII is very rarely a point of contention in relations between Germany and its neighbours, and revisionist ideas are only ever expressed on the furthest edges of the political spectrum.
Post-war reactions to WWII play a significant role in how the conflict is perceived in the shared consciousness of nations involved. In Europe, a deliberate propaganda campaign by the Allies pushed home a sense of collective responsibility for the actions of the Nazi regime amongst ordinary Germans. This was reinforced by the personal experiences of the many Germans who were involved in exhuming mass graves and burying corpses in concentration camps after the war, experiencing first-hand the horror of the Nazi regime’s worst excesses. Conversely, the Japanese public had a very different experience following WWII, able to re-cast themselves as victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, detached from the majority of Japan’s war crimes which occurred overseas. The differing interpretations of events that exist in each country’s national psyches affect how acceptable it is for public figures to deny or trivialise the events of WWII.
To conclude, war crimes committed in WWII continue to dog Japanese relations with its neighbours because there is very little redress for those who question or deny the actions of Japan abroad during this time. Public figures in Japan can say what they like about WWII without fear of criminal prosecution or public outrage. However, this freedom has a serious impact on relations with Japan’s close neighbours and would-be allies, which is of growing importance as the U.S. repositions its foreign policy towards Asia, and China and North Korea continue to present ongoing security concerns. Perhaps, just as the Western world remembers the consequences of its conflicts on the 11th of November, Japan should be implored to remember its actions during WWII, the successful attempts at reconciliation that have taken place since, and the importance of good relations with friendly countries over national pride based on historical revisionism. | https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/11/29/remembrance-day-reflections-on-relations-in-the-far-east-edited-craig/ |
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
A pinch point is “any point at which it is possible for a person or part of a person’s body to be caught between moving parts of a machine, or between the moving and stationary parts of a machine, or between material and any part of the machine” according to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
WHAT’S THE DANGER?
STATISTICS
Each year, workers suffer approximately 125,000 caught or crushed injuries that occur when body parts get caught between two objects or entangled with machinery. The physical forces applied to a body part caught in a pinch point can vary and cause injuries ranging from bruises, cuts, amputated body parts, and even death.
A pinch point injury can be the result of something as large as an excavator or as small as a pair of pliers. Of the millions of disabling accidents that happen on the job, one third of them are hand injuries. Approximately 80% of these hand injuries are caused by pinch points.
Other Dangers
Certain pinch points are blaringly clear. These pinch points will typically have guards and mechanisms alerting the workers of the hazard. Other pinch points are less obvious, but can still result in serious injuries – even death. In either case, it’s important to know the danger. For instance:
- Vehicles in reverse could crush a worker against the wall.
- Closely stored drums or crates may pinch hands or fingers between each other and a dolly.
- The rungs of an extension ladder can catch feet, hands, and fingers as they slide past each other.
- A body part or a piece of clothing can get caught up in machinery, between equipment or between a lid and a container when closing.
Common Causes of Injuries from Pinch Points:
- Not paying attention to the location of hands and feet.
- Walking or working in areas with mobile equipment and fixed structures;
- Loose clothing, hair, or jewelry getting caught in rotating parts or equipment; Poor condition of equipment and guarding.
- Dropping or carelessly handling materials or suspended loads.
- Not using the proper work procedures or tools; and
- Reaching into moving equipment and machinery.
Traditional Speak
Pinch Points are pervasive at work occurring traditionally with a number of machines and devices, including power presses, conveyors, robotic machines, metal-forming machines, powered rollers, assembling machines, plastic molding machinery, printing presses, power transmission equipment, powered doors, covers and hatches.
Caught in and caught in between injuries are consistently featured as one of OSHA’s Fatal Four. And non-fatal pinch point injuries can leave you with bruises and cuts, and on the serious end of the scale, it might even require amputating a limb.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
PINCH POINT PREVENTION
There are three major components to preventing pinch point injuries.
Awareness:
All around us are things and activities that can cause pinch point injuries (form placement, tool usage, material handling, etc.). Many cannot be avoided, but if you are constantly alert you can protect yourself from injuries. Awareness comes in two forms, a common-sense alertness of the right thing to do, and training in the correct way to do things and use equipment.
Physical Barriers:
In service areas, physical barriers might be anything from the machine guard on your table saw to barricades or warning devices from a running engine. Physical barriers are there to protect you from injury, not prohibit your activity. Guards are important to protect you from direct contact with moving parts, flying chips, kickbacks, and splashing of metal or harmful liquids. Barricades are placed at construction sites to warn you of dangerous situations.
It takes knowledge and insight to properly prepare equipment for maintenance or storage. Blocks are used to prevent equipment from rolling and heavy parts from falling. Never remove them unless you know why they are there, and the reason for being there is completed. Always check for fellow workers in harm’s way before removing blocks.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
Respecting and using physical barriers and being aware of your surroundings is only half of what you need to do to be safe. Make sure you are always wearing your safety gear and inspect it before each use. Although the last line of defense against a pinch point injury, PPE (proper gloves, footwear) is a necessity to ensure others notice your position and your extremities are protected.
SAFETY TIPS TO AVOID PINCH POINT INJURIES
- Follow the dress code – Wearing the right kind of clothing when working in areas where pinch injuries can occur is critically important. Pant legs and shirt sleeves shouldn’t be too long or too loose. Shirts should be tucked into the pants to reduce the risk of them getting caught in moving machinery.
- Leave the jewelry home – All jewelry should be removed, especially dangling earrings, necklaces, and rings.
- Tuck away long hair – Long hair should be tied back, and braids and ponytails should be kept at the back of the head and secured. Hair falling forward or down toward the machinery could get caught in its pinch points.
- Wear your safety gear – The right personal protective gear for the job should be kept on at all times. Make sure safety gloves fit properly to avoid getting them caught (consult this sizing chart to make sure you get the right size).
- Conduct a pre-inspection – Inspect machinery for any potential hazards before anyone operates it. Make a safety plan and follow through with it during the entire time the machine is in operation.
- Stay alert and focused – Anyone operating equipment should stay totally focused on the job at hand and keep their eyes focused on the moving parts. Minimize distractions in the work environment as much as possible.
- Use machine guards – Make sure that the right guard has been installed on the equipment and make sure that it is fitted properly. If you notice missing or damaged safety guards during your pre-inspection, don’t put the machinery into operation.
- Know how to deal with a jam – Make sure you learn how to safely deal with the machine if it becomes jammed. Before you clean or fix jammed equipment, make sure it has been turned off and come to a complete stop. Familiarize yourself with the lockout/Tagout procedures.
- Look beyond the machinery – Pinch points aren’t just found in industrial equipment. Machinery pinch points can cause serious injuries, but so can a stack of heavy items. Even getting your hand or foot jammed in the door might cause enough damage to require medical attention.
FINAL WORD
When it comes to working or operating machinery with rotating parts, pinch point safety is imperative. In the work environment, pinch points are used to explain situations where hand tools, machines, and various conditions place body parts or a worker’s entire body at risk. | https://nationalgypsum.safetynow.com/pinch-points-safety-talk/ |
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There is no standard, fixed diet for all crones patients. To make a diet chart each individual patient has to go through trial and error method and find out which food does not cause any irritation in their GI (gastrointestinal) tract and which food initiates symptoms like bowel cramp, gas production and diarrhea or increases chances of flare-up of Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease symptoms are mainly related to the intestine and it is this part of the digestive tract that is mostly infected in Crohn’s disease. In Crohn’s disease it is observed that certain portions of the small intestine become inflamed, preventing it to carry out its normal function properly. This leads to other Crohn’s disease symptoms like malabsorption, malnutrition and even dehydration.
Intestines (especially the small intestine) are where foods are broken down (hydrolyzed) from large molecules (macromolecules) into smaller, water soluble particles with the help of enzymes (biological catalysts). Some of the enzymes are secreted from the walls of the small intestine and plays a major role in digesting proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Minerals and vitamins like iron, calcium and vitamin D are absorbed through the small intestine and these are essential for normal bone formation and hemoglobin (a protein found in red blood cell and is responsible to carry oxygen around the body) production.
In order to get cured of the disease the infected area needs to be healed and healing is only possible when the body gets proper balanced diet and the intestine is in optimum working condition. So crohn’s patients should choose foods which enables healing without causing any irritation in digestive tract. Some tips on preparing a suitable Crohn’s diet are discussed below.
Each patient has their own types of food that makes symptom to surface and upset the GI tract. Some common foods that aggravate Crohn’s disease symptoms in most of the patients include high fiber food, raw fruits and vegetables, red meat, beverages (coffee and tea), carbonated drinks, fast foods, spicy foods, chocolate, alcohol and also milk in case of patients who have lactose intolerance. Avoiding these foods enables a patient to skip flare-ups or recurrence of the disease. You should keep in mind that if you ate something for example a banana and within or after ten minutes you face stomach or abdominal pain it is not for the banana. The pain might be for something you took three or more hours before.
Once you have figured out which foods are beneficial and does not aggravate or initiate Crohn’s symptoms and which foods activates the symptoms, make a note of it. Write down in your food diary all the foods that you take and what symptoms you face everyday so that next time when you visit a dietitian this record will assist him or her to help you in making a personalized, nutritional and healthy diet chart.
Understand which types of food encourage activation of Crohn’s symptoms like bowel cramp and diarrhea. For example in patients who are intolarent towards lactose will have symptoms like stomach pain, indigestion and mild diarrhea and even nausea and vomiting. Make a note of what food you take everyday and the symptoms that occur in details. Just jolt down the details in your food diary at the end of everyday. This will come as a major help when you and your dietitian try to figure out how eating and drinking affects your health and what changes to make so as to draw the perfect balanced Crohn’s diet for you.
As discussed previously maintaining a dairy where information is present about food intake and symptoms comes in handy. So why not add more details to this information. Instead of writing “ate vegetables and meat and juice” it could be more precisely written like “ate half cup cauliflower, 2 ounces of roasted chicken and 1 glass of orange juice”. Since amount of food you take can affect Crohn’s disease symptoms you should get into the habit of measuring what food u eat or drink.
: For patients who are suffering from fistulas or bowel obstruction or have undergone resection of small intestine, they may have problem absorbing nutrients from food. So it is better if they switch to liquid diet and/or ask for minerals and vitamin supplements from their doctors.
There are many evidences that show that after spending lots of money on medications patients became fed up and finally took the initiative to simply change their diet plan. They were surprised to find that by simply constructing a personalized diet plan gave them quiet a control over their disease. Preparing a well balanced nutritional Crohn’s diet not only helps in healing of the inflamed intestinal walls but also enables the patient to effectively manage the disease by avoiding flare-ups caused by “trigger foods”.
A dietitian or a doctor will tell you to figure out which food is GI tract friendly food to you. There is no point in visiting a dietitian if you don’t have the basic idea about which foods causes discomfort in your GI tract. After collecting details on what food is good for your system and which food aggravates symptoms the guidance of a dietitian is absolutely necessary while making the ultimate diet chart. Or otherwise you may exclude a food item which does not need to be eliminated from the chart or you might end up planning a diet that does not include a balanced diet and may suffer from nutritional deficiency. Once a personalized diet chart is made for you make sure that you stick to it.
Food that may trigger or even aggravate Crohn’s disease symptoms vary from person to person. So in order to keep the Crohn’s disease symptoms under control, it is essential to figure out which particular foods are harmful for an individual Crohn’s patient and then to construct a Crohn’s diet plan accordingly.
Alcohol (such as beer, wine and whiskey): Alcohol can increase inflammation of the bowel.
Beverages (coffee and tea): Intake of beverages can cause increased inflammation and to some extent gas and can even make diarrhea worse.
Carbonated drinks: These drinks can cause gas production in the stomach.
Dairy products (if lactose intolerant) like milk, cake, pudding: Lactose intolerance is common in Crohn’s patients and intake of lactose can result in distressing Crohn’s disease symptoms like bowel pain, gas, cramps and diarrhea.
Fatty foods (fried foods or fast foods): Crohn’s patients are often unable to absorb fat through their intestine and this increases fat content in the stool which worsens diarrhea.
High fibre containing foods: During a flare up or when Crohn’s disease symptoms are active high fiber food should be avoided as much as possible. Fibrous diet increases the secretion and contraction of intestine (both small and large) and thus painful abdominal spasms (contractions) can occur in Crohn’s patients.
Gas-producing foods: cabbage-family vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels), dried peas, beans and lentils, onions and chives should be avoided as these cause gas in the stomach and intestines.
Raw fruits and vegetables: Not all vegetables and fruits should be avoided rather only those that aggravate or initiate Crohn’s disease symptoms should be restricted. For Crohn’s patients, whose bowel have become very narrow due to inflammation, fruits and vegetables should be absolutely avoided.
Spicy foods: Spicy foods tend to aggravate inflammation and can even cause heartburn.
Crohn’s diet during a flare-up and activated stage of Crohn’s disease in quite different that when the Crohn’s patient is going through remission (cure) or an inactive stage of Crohn’s disease. | http://www.dmentdcinema.com/crohns-diet-chart/ |
Apple has launched a story-based featurette for director Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, which delves deeper into the nuances of this visually stunning tale. Stars Emily Browning, Carla Gugino and Jena Malone are also on hand to talk about the plot line and their characters. Learn more about Sucker Punch and its origins in this fascinating new clip below:
Sucker Punch Story Featurette
Director Zack Snyder and actress Emily Browning take us deeper into this visually stunning new adventure. | https://movieweb.com/sucker-punch-story-featurette/ |
# Amadeus II, Count of Savoy
Amadeus II (c. 1050 – 26 January 1080) was the count of Savoy from 1078 to 1080. His life is obscure and few documents mention him. During his rule, he was overshadowed by his mother, but he had good relations with the Papacy and, for a time, the Holy Roman Emperor.
## Before his countship
The second son of Count Otto of Savoy and Margravine Adelaide of Turin, Amadeus II was probably born around 1050, because he, alongside other noblemen of the Kingdom of Burgundy, swore an oath on the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome to defend the Church around 1070–73. In 1074 Pope Gregory VII was trying to persuade William I, Count of Burgundy, to remember this vow and, with Amadeus and others, go to the defence of the Roman Empire in the East against the Seljuk Turks. As his mother is known to have had good relations with the Papacy in these years, this record seems to indicate that Amadeus was following his mother's policies at this early stage in his career.
Early in 1077 Amadeus, with his mother and brother Peter, then Count of Savoy, hosted his sister Bertha, and his brother-in-law, Bertha's husband, the Emperor Henry IV. Amadeus and Adelaide then escorted the imperial couple to Canossa so the excommunicated emperor could reconcile with the pope. There they both took part in the negotiations and stood as pledges for the emperor's good faith.
On 16 July 1078 Amadeus and Peter witnessed a donation of their mother's to the Abbey of Novalesa. It was the last act of Amadeus and Peter together.
## As count
On 9 August 1078, Peter died and Amadeus succeeded him as Count of Savoy, but in the March of Turin, where Peter had co-ruled with their mother, Amadeus was never margrave, although the reason for this is unclear. One document, issued by his widowed daughter Adelaide in 1090, refers to him as "count and margrave" (comes et marchio), but it is probably anachronistic. There is only one document from his reign, in the cartulary of Saint-André-le-Bas in Vienne, which is dated when "Count Amadeus reigning." This shows, by the absence of the regnal year of the emperor, that despite his involvement in the reconciliation at Canossa, Amadeus II was neutral in the wider Investiture Controversy and the wars against Henry IV that it caused in Germany.
Amadeus died in Turin on 26 January 1080, according to the necrology of the church of Saint Andrew there. This date must be at least approximately correct, since Adelaide made a monastic donation for the benefit of the souls of her sons Margrave Peter and Count Amadeus on 8 March.
## Marriage, children and succession
According to the much later Chronicles of Savoy, Amadeus married Joan, daughter of "Girard, Count of Burgundy", who scholars have surmised to have been Count Gerold of Geneva. The Chronicon Altacumbae says only that "the wife of Amadeus from Burgundy", which might refer to Amadeus I. If his wife were Genevan, it would explain how the house of Savoy came to possess so early a large portion of the Genevois. His wife, whatever her name and origins, bore Amadeus II several children, although there is some uncertainty about how many. His confirmed children were:
Adelaide, wife of Manasses II, sire de Coligny Ausilia (also Auxilia or Usilia), second wife of Humbert II de Beaujeu, whom she bore four sons by the last decade of the eleventh century: Guichard, Humbert, Guigues, and Hugh Humbert II, his successor as count of Savoy Constance of Savoy, wife of Otto II of Montferrat.
The succession of Amadeus II is unclear. His son Humbert II, who was later Count of Savoy, is well known, but in 1082 the Count of Savoy was Otto II. Although Amadeus is known to have had a younger brother named Otto, he is more likely to have been the Bishop of Asti of this name and time. This has led some scholars, beginning with the Conte di Vesme, to make Otto II the eldest son of Amadeus II, who succeeded him and was in turn succeeded by Humbert II. In the immediate aftermath of Amadeus's death, Adelaide took control of all the Savoyard lands on both sides of the Alps. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeus_II,_Count_of_Savoy |
Leighann Robinson is a senior at NC State University and an Intern at Eckel & Vaughan.
Alert: I realize this is a cliché reminder to stop talking and start listening. But good lessons are worth hearing over and over.
It’s a lesson that applies as much to our interpersonal relationships as our professional lives. Listening is an integral part of successful communication and relationship building. Solomon insists that meetings, presentations, and brainstorming sessions should never be a one-way street.
If you speak too often or over-advise, you run the risk of boxing out other people who are in the conversation. This may make them feel undervalued, and their opinion unappreciated. Listening more affords the opportunity to learn more, which will ultimately improve your work.
Before you launch into an instantaneous rambling of your favorite series, instead take the opportunity to dig deeper, to find out more. Does this friend prefer comedy or drama? Crime shows or sitcoms? Documentaries or historical fiction?
That added knowledge will allow you to give more meaningful suggestions and advice, which could mean the difference between suggesting Orange Is The New Black and Making A Murderer.
1Limit distractions. Stop looking at your phone or laptop and truly listen to the person speaking.
2Make eye contact. It shows that you are engaged and will help validate the conversation. Accompany with other nonverbal signals, such as nodding your head.
3Focus on what they are saying, instead of what you are going to say next.
There’s a big difference between “hearing” and “listening.” Hearing is passive, listening is active. Hearing is impersonal, listening is deliberate. So make the decision to be an active, deliberate listener. Your conversations and relationships will benefit. | https://www.eandvgroup.com/the-art-of-listening/ |
Why study History BA at UB?
Study distinct historical events and figures; interpret a range of social, political, economic, cultural, intellectual, environmental factors; identify the particularities of change over time.
Explain the influence of the past on the present.
Hone critical thinking and reading skills.
Construct sophisticated historical arguments and support these arguments with evidence.
Develop research tools: how to pose questions, obtain evidence, identify gaps in the historical record.
Assess and challenge historical narratives and viewpoints.
Display disciplined analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Compare regions and time periods.
Learn how to become a persuasive writer.
Cultivate oral communication: how to present research findings clearly, and analyze primary and secondary sources in discussion.
We are committed to providing a rigorous, top quality education for the next generation of scholars. Our students draw on their experience as historians in the next phase of their life, finding employment in academia, public history, secondary education, government and cultural organizations, publishing, and in many other contexts where history and its associated skills are valued.
Students read deeply in their fields while learning to create new knowledge, asking their own questions about the past, engaging in primary research, analyzing their findings and communicating their conclusions artfully and persuasively. Our courses range from large lectures to small, discussion-based seminars. They combine a variety of teaching methods aimed at helping students develop skills in critical thinking, research, and both written and oral communication. We also offer experiential learning opportunities, such as the public history internship, which can be taken for credit (HIS 496). In addition, our faculty works one-on-one with students involved in independent study (HIS 499) and the Honors Seminar (HIS 497).
The History Department is housed in Park Hall, and has two dedicated seminar rooms. The department also holds classes in centrally scheduled space throughout the campus, which includes traditional classrooms and lecture halls that can accommodate our program’s teaching philosophies.
The History Department includes faculty of national and international distinction in their research fields. Department faculty is deeply committed to teaching at all levels, from introductory courses to upper-division seminars. Many of its members have received teaching awards. Faculty teaching fields cover the globe and span the medieval period through the present. Faculty incorporates a diversity of approaches to teaching history, sharing the diversity of material, and oral sources available to scholars and students. They stress the importance of thinking historically, contextualizing rigorously, and through their teaching, help students build informed interpretations about the past.
Please visit the History department website for additional information about our faculty.
Salaries range greatly from one occupation, position, and work setting to another. According to the American Historical Association, in 2014 the median salary for a person holding a History B.A. ranged from $52,000-$62,000. Those with advanced graduate degrees, such as a law degree, earned up to $86,000.
In conjunction with CAS Advising, the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) oversees advising for all History majors and minors. A permanent faculty member, the DUS is well suited to guide students through the major and offer advice on careers, graduate study, and professional development particular to the field of history. New majors are required to meet with the DUS when applying to the major, but all students are encouraged to consult with the DUS regularly and review their progress toward completion.
We recommend that interested students meet with the director of undergraduate studies (Park 574, 716-645-8422) to discuss their course of study and the program.
History majors from underrepresented minorities with good academic credentials and good personal characteristics are eligible for these two annual scholarships, one for a prospective junior and one for a prospective senior.
Thanks to a generous bequest from the late Professor Milton Plesur, the department offers an array of scholarships and awards. It provides scholarships to majors with outstanding records in history and serious interest in pursuing the discipline and a career in history. The Plesur Fund also awards scholarships to majors who enroll in a recognized summer, semester, or year-long program of study abroad.
The department holds a competition in the fall for spring semester study abroad and one in the spring for summer, fall, and full academic year programs. | https://catalog.buffalo.edu/academicprograms/history_ba.html |
Molecular pathology and cytogenetic testing are becoming more prevalent in both the current diagnosis and the determination of future diagnosis of disease in individuals. We are hearing more frequently about high profile people who are doing preventative surgery and treatments based on their likelihood of developing a particular disease in the future.
These tests are paving the way for determining at-risk populations, probabilities for contraction and general timeframes for developing a disease. The theory is that with quicker diagnosis and more successful treatment of individuals based on their particular genetic profiles, there will be a better outcome for that patient. In addition to a host of prenatal and neonatal screenings for abnormalities, the diagnosis of several leukemias, lymphomas, and certain kinds of solid tumors depend heavily on cytogenetic analysis of specific chromosomal aberrations observed in these cancers.
Using a combination of well-known and leading edge techniques, laboratories are conducting molecular and cytogenetic tests for physicians and patients directly. Armed with this information concerning an individual’s personal genetic makeup, physicians and patients themselves can guide treatment using the most successful recommended courses of action for similar cases.
Testing Types
Several standard types of tests are performed to identify the presence of and future probability for developing, disease. A high level overview is as follows:
- Karyotyping – the routine analysis of metaphase chromosomes that have been banded with trypsin followed by Giemsa, Leishmanns, or a mixture of both creating unique banding patterns on the chromosomes.
- Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH)- a powerful cytogenetic method used to detect the presence or absence of RNA or DNA sequences in cells, tissues and tumors by tagging gene portions with a labeled probe. Actual reading of the data is conducted using fluorescence microscopy, allowing for the determination of where the fluorescent probe is bound to the DNA fragment.
- SKY (Spectral Karyotyping) and M-FISH (Multiplex FISH) – SKY and M-FISH are molecular cytogenetic techniques that permit the visualization of every chromosome in unique colors, which in turn enables karyotype analysis.
- Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) – a fluorescent molecular cytogenetic technique that identifies DNA gains, losses, and amplifications that maps these variations to normal metaphase chromosomes. It provides a significant advantage for screening chromosomal number changes in tumor genomes and affords the ability to analyze entire genomes with one experiment. CGH has the advantage of requiring only genomic tumor DNA, making it highly useful in laboratories that focus on cancer cytogenetics.
The IT Connection
How does this relate to the IT infrastructure and features of the laboratory information system? By automating your laboratory to include an LIS that is able to support full bi-directional interfaces with your instrumentation, you are able to view the results, incorporate the slides, images and data directly from the instrument to the case within the LIS. You can be viewing the high-definition image for reading on screen while either dictating or typing directly into the observation or notes area within your case. The workflow for this type of testing relies heavily upon being eyes-on and hands-free or with having minimal keystrokes for relieving the burden of going back and forth between screens, instruments, etc., which increases the opportunity for error and fatigue.
Common Applications
Cytogenetics analyzes the number and structure of human and animal chromosomes as well as changes that impact the number and structure of the chromosomes that can cause problems with growth, development, and function. Chromosomal abnormalities can occur at multiple times throughout the life of an organism – when egg and sperm cells are being made, during early fetal development, or after birth. Changes to chromosome structure can disrupt genes, which impacts the proteins causing them to be missing or defective. Depending on when these changes happen, and where, in chromosomes leads to birth defects, syndromes or cancer.
One of the most common instances of cytogenetic analyses is during pregnancy to determine if a fetus is at risk for common syndromes caused by having extra or missing chromosomes, syndromes caused by structural defects in chromosomes, or to determine if extra or missing genetic material is detected.
The same cytogenetic analyses can be performed on a newborn or a child with multiple anomalies or developmental delays to look for a potential chromosomal abnormality. With the information provided by cytogenetic analyses, accurate diagnoses can be made so that early and effective treatment can lead to better outcomes.
In many instances, cytogenetic testing is done before pregnancy and can aid in decision making during reproductive discussions.
The analysis of chromosomes in human development and disease is accomplished through classical cytogenetic procedures (such as G-banding) combined with advanced molecular techniques such as FISH and genomic microarray analysis. The Coriell Institute Cytogenetics Laboratory provides not only detailed chromosomal analysis of all Coriell-banked human and animal cell lines available to worldwide genetic researchers, but also analyzes human and animal stem cell lines for academic research institutions and pharmaceutical clients engaged in cutting-edge stem cell research.
Laboratory Test Offerings
Molecular pathology is a crossover science that blends together practices of anatomic and clinical pathology while pulling ideas from biochemistry, molecular biology, proteomics and genetics with the emphasis on the sub-microscopic aspects of the sample being studied.
Chromosome disorders represent a large percentage of genetic disease. Approximately 30 percent of postnatal infant mortality is attributed to genetic disease in developed countries, while the incidence of chromosome abnormalities is relatively common in the general population. In a clinical setting, chromosome abnormalities account for a large proportion of cases involving spontaneous abortions; individuals with congenital malformations, mental retardation, infertility, women with gonadal dysgenesis, and couples with repeated spontaneous miscarriages. Cytogenetics is now being incorporated in the workup of patients already diagnosed with hematologic and oncologic disorders as well. Cytogenetic testing in this area is used not only for diagnosis, but also for classification of disease, decisions about treatment and to monitor disease progression and recovery.
Complex molecular testing can be expensive to implement and operate and is becoming more evident with labs forming to focus specifically on specialized testing, predictive testing and with existing labs incorporating more expansive test menus. While the physicians’ Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) has codes for molecular testing, pathologists need to ensure that the codes capture all the work done for a given molecular procedure when this testing is not being paid for by the patient (in many cases now a consumer-based model).
A Good Business Model
The multiple facets of molecular pathology testing can be incorporated into the business of the laboratory. Having the right LIS in a lab that offers these services to their providers enables that lab to capture the tests, results and codes necessary to thrive as this molecular pathology trend continues to grow. A flexible LIS designed to incorporate all clinical, pathology, molecular and billing information in a single database will separate a laboratory from its competition and ensure long-term profitability and a positive effect on its overall financial health. Having an LIS vendor that also provides a purpose-built, stand-alone molecular and cytogenetic LIS that focuses on the unique and specific needs and robust reporting and imaging requirements of these labs will enable a significant ROI for labs positioning for the long-term.. | https://nursing.advanceweb.com/resource-center/laboratory/lis-support-of-molecular-applications/ |
Pickup / Drop off Location Grand Hyatt New York / 620 W 42nd St.
Wallet contains Identification cards and $300 in cash. Also, the wallet contains about 7 credit cards.
Please advise me immediately of any relevant information regarding this claim. Since I have Identification cards I will have to make a police report due to identity theft. | https://nycyellowcabs.com/property/black-tumi-wallet-5/ |
Armenia was considered a hub for industrial computing, electronics, software development, and semiconductor production during the Soviet Union.
Today, the country is steadily turning into a new regional hub of advanced technology and innovation due to its competitive labor force, the sector's share in GDP, and its constant growth in the number of companies and total turnover. All this served as a solid ground for Armenia to embrace technology's power in the 2000s and give it an exponential rise.
As of 2018, almost 800 IT companies, including internet service providers, generate a turnover of 920 mln USD. 200 companies are involved in R&D, 43 % of which create their own products. Noteworthy, 95 percent of these companies started their activity in the 2000s, of which in 2018 alone. The industry is growing at 20 percent a year and should comfortably reach the billion-dollar export mark. Օne thing is definite – Armenia has already secured its place on the IT map of the world, and this sector will be one of the locomotives of the economy.
Local companies enter the international market early on and compete successfully. PicsArt, Teamable, Krisp, Codesignal, Shadowmatic – this is just a shortlist of Armenian startups which are getting used all across the globe.
Total Revenue of ICT Sector, mln $
Those mentioned above also reflect on international indexes. Armenia is ranked 69th among 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index 2020. It ranks 18th among the 34 upper-middle-income economies covered in the GII 2020. In the Network Readiness Index 2021 Armenia is the 30th out of 130 countries. This is a perfect background for the ICT and High-Tech sectors.
The government is also stimulating the sector. IT startup companies with less than 30 employees, pay a reduced 10 % income tax instead of 23% and do not pay profit tax. | https://enterprisearmenia.am/en/pages-businessEnvironments/information-and-communication-technology |
Goal of research
One of the key characteristics of the modern global world is the emergence and spread of new forms and practices of governance in territorial political systems - states, supranational unions, coalitions, etc. At the same time, these systems become more complex and more diverse, their governance is fundamentally different from traditional forms of governance in unitary centralized states.
The research was generally devoted to governance practices in multi-level political systems in order to identify the existing constraints of mechanisms for coordinating the interests of actors in the political process; the cases were the Russian Federation, the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. We set the task of describing and explaining the practice of ensuring coordination, subordination and control in the field of governing the development of multi-level systems, as well as in forming a systematic explanation of cases of successes and failures during the implementation of specific policy courses.
Methodology
- The research is based on comparative analysis.
- In the course of the project we applied a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of political science, in particular, linear regressions, content-analysis, etc.
Empirical base of research
Empiric base of research included formation of original data sets (on European parliament and Russian governors).
Results of research
In the project we studied three different types of national and supranational multi-level political systems – Russian Federation, European Union and Eurasian Economic Union.
In the course of the study of multi-level governance in the European Union, we have made empirical distinction between activities of the deputies of the European parliament in their two roles: their role as national politicians defending national interests, and their role as supranational, European politicians. Besides that, with regard to the EU instruments of external governance vis-à-vis Russia in the framework of two actors interactions in the Common space of freedom, security and justice, it was proved that policy conditionality is more effective instrument of EU interests promotion (compared to network governance), but at the same time also more conflictual.
The study on the Eurasian Economic Union showed that for Russia as the strongest and most developed country in the post-Soviet space, bilateral cooperation through bargaining is more beneficial than participation in multilateral regional structures. Successful bilateral cooperation (deals) is also more preferable for Russia's partners in the post-Soviet space. The peculiarity of the multilateral compromise of the EAEU lies in the possibility for small countries participating in the project to conclude more profitable bilateral transactions with Russia.
The results of the conducted studies have demonstrated the coexistence of various models of inter-level relations in the Russian Federation. This leads us to assume, firstly, the presence of numerous and diverse sources of destabilization of the system, and secondly, the use of different ways of ensuring stability. It was proved that an important economic success is an important condition for maintaining and strengthening one’s own autonomy for the regions, ensuring the regional government with its own financing and thereby reducing the level of mandatory control by the federal center.
The study of the sources of stability of multi-level systems is a promising direction for further research of such kind of systems.
Level of implementation, recommendations on implementation or outcomes of the implementation of the results
The results of the research can be used for lecturing on comparative political science and regional integration in bachelor and master programs, as well as recommendations for state authorities of the Russian Federation at federal and regional levels. | https://www.hse.ru/en/org/projects/217750561 |
Outward Bound is an international educational movement dedicated to the belief that people are capable of far more than they know. Founded in 1992, Philadelphia Outward Bound School (POBS)’ mission is to change lives through challenge and discovery. POBS—serving PA, NJ, and northern DE—is one of 11 regional Outward Bound USA schools.
A robust non-profit educational organization, POBS engages youth and adults in experiential single and multi-day programs that inspire character development, leadership, and community service.
POBS is a partner in The Discovery Center, a public green space in East Fairmount Park operated with the National Audubon Society.
The Associate Director of Community Engagement deepens existing relationships and develops new partnerships and opportunities for a diverse group of neighborhood, city-wide, and regional partners including individuals, agencies, organizations, and schools.
With POBS colleagues, they develop and implement community-focused programming opportunities for Strawberry Mansion and Brewerytown community groups, including center-based programs and expeditions.
With Audubon colleagues, they enlist and support The Discovery Center’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC) members to promote access and engagement, encourage physical activity, provide watershed education, and foster appreciation for the environment for the public, especially our nearest neighbors.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Use community engagement strategies to recruit and steward groups and individuals in POBS’ local network for program participation from POBS’ nearest neighbors in Strawberry Mansion and Brewerytown.
- Serve as point person for community-focused program delivery, including center-based programs, expeditions, and new public access events.
- Develop, promote, and manage monthly community engagement opportunities and events, including Discovery Days, Strawberry Mansion Days, and community service opportunities.
- Represent POBS in community-based meetings and outreach events including the East Fairmount Park Coalition, Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation, Strawberry Mansion Neighborhood Access Center, Brewerytown CDC, faith-based organizations, and recreation centers.
- Represent POBS on the CEC and coordinate with Audubon to provide guidance and oversight of the CEC goals and activities.
- With Audubon, launch and oversee youth development programs.
- Participate in program feedback, evaluation, and data tracking to ensure programs meet partner needs.
- Work up to two weekends per month and some weekday evenings based on community partners’ needs and schedules.
SECONDARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Coordinate with POBS staff to promote scholarship and program progression opportunities to community partners.
- Provide content for marketing and social media posts related to The Discovery Center and community partners.
- Coordinate with Audubon to staff The Discovery Center for public access and site rentals.
- Plan and instruct staff training sessions as needed (i.e. outreach strategies, watershed education).
- Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
- Eagerness to learn Outward Bound educational philosophy and curriculum in support of high quality program delivery.
- Experience in effective community engagement strategies; initiative to develop existing and new relationships and respond to organizational and partner needs.
- Demonstrated project management experience; initiate leads and follow-up with key stakeholders; manage multiple projects and deadlines; work independently with minimal supervision.
- Proficiency using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Suite, and social media and public communication platforms.
- Strong interpersonal skills; ability to interact with and engage staff, partners, public, and participants with compassion and integrity.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including public speaking.
EDUCATION & WORK EXPERIENCE
- 3+ years of demonstrated community and education outreach, project management, planning and direct service.
- Experience with Outward Bound or outdoor experiential education and experience/interest in social media communications are plusses.
- Familiarity with and ability to travel in Strawberry Mansion/Brewerytown community and general Philadelphia community.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
- Salary: $40,000 – $60,000 depending on experience.
- This position is eligible for benefits including Medical, Dental, and Vision Plan, Paid Time Off and 401(k) retirement plan.
- Opportunities for professional development including NOLS Leave No Trace © Master Educator Course and Wilderness First Responder Certification.
- Participation in nationwide discounted Outward Bound expeditions.
HOW TO APPLY
- Please send a cover letter and resume to: [email protected], and make sure to address any pertinent experience, including professional and personal experience, that is relevant to this position.
- Timeline: Deadline is March 31, 2021. Screening will occur as applications are received. | https://outwardboundphiladelphia.org/connect/community-engagement/ |
The Enterprise 2.0 Global Delivery Model Transformation, Part 1
There are six global delivery model parameters that will undergo change in order to support Enterprise 2.0: processes; technology; infrastructure; resources; communication channels; and business models.
We’ll discuss processes, technology and infrastructure in this second installment of our three-part series.
1. GDM Processes
Processes are the lifeblood of the global delivery model and the links that strongly hold together various entities to make the GDM work. Enterprise-level IT implementations owe their success largely to efficient, standardized processes, which are in turn constantly fine-tuned using well accepted quality frameworks such as the Six Sigma and SEI CMM Levels. Some of the key characteristics of processes in a typical Enterprise 1.0:
- Process definition, implementation and changes are undertaken in a centralized manner, typically driven by a program management team.
- There are comprehensive, time-tested mechanisms to implement processes and track process adherence.
- From a stakeholder point of view, the scope of applicability of processes remains fairly constant due to limited number of parties involved (client and a handful vendors).
- Processes have attained significant levels of maturity, requiring very few changes and hence rendering process artifacts fairly static.
The key challenge for an E2.0 will arise from the fact that all the GDM parameters will experience a change. There will be multiple vendors across multiple geographic locations with diverse, dynamic work practices handling information that is scattered everywhere on the Web and using social channels extensively.
While current processes have been aligned to managing long-term, stable initiatives, an E2.0 will witness many fast-paced, short-term and dynamic initiatives that are best served by an Agile delivery model.
In the future, expect a hybrid process model that incorporates features from GDM 1.0 such as comprehensive policies/guidelines and tracking mechanisms, but with a more decentralized style of management. The onus will be on individual teams to deliver to the expected quality, with program management teams working more to evangelize for adherence than to ensure it.
Instead of maintaining comprehensive knowledge artifacts to define and drive processes, enterprises will tend to maintain simple, easy-to-manage and shared repositories of policies and collaborative mechanisms to track adherence to processes. (E.g., British Telecom manages process compliance of its numerous vendors using such mechanism.)
2. GDM Technology
The technology facet of the GDM can be discussed under several broad subcomponents — IT architecture, software tools and data. Today’s enterprises are fast adopting service-oriented architecture approaches and also increasing their footprint in on-demand models.
Going forward, enterprises will increasingly be exploring and adopting cloud-based architectures and multitenancy models that enable them to scale up faster while maintaining better control over technology costs. In the current IT landscape, the focus is still primarily on the various enterprise application packages available from leading vendors such as Oracle and SAP. Over the last two years, these players have started to incorporate social media capabilities into their packaged applications.
That said, the market is replete with offerings from countless third-party vendors — niche players that have high-quality and highly potent Social CRM applications to offer.
Also, there are the omnipresent social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These social media applications are based on proprietary technologies of their vendors or on open source software. In the near future, the technology choices of Enterprise 2.0 will involve options that provide seamless connectivity between traditional IT applications and social media — and deliver some of their processes in an on-demand mode.
The availability of enormous amounts of data on the Web and the need to harness it into meaningful content for the enterprise will test the Web-services/message queues based on integration in a SOA. Cloud-based distributed data processing (DDP) options such as Hadoop will find favor and will be used in tandem with current IT architectures. Following are some of the challenges — in addition to the size of data — that current BI tools haven’t been able to address comprehensively:
- Data is in multiple formats and from multiple sources.
- Analytical processing of data is fed dynamically.
- Data includes additional social profile parameters.
- Users expect to have greater access and control of data, and to be able to customize/personalize reports on the go.
- Users want analytical reports to be available on Web 2.0 media such as communities, blogs and wikis.
The management of possible enormous amounts of data has to be via different DB technologies. An example is Google, which uses the “big table” concept for its enormous repository for search capabilities. Emulating this in engagements will become critical to delivery of an efficient program. Newer technologies like cloud computing are spreading like forest fires across the globe. It is very important not to indulge and invest, merely to create another silo.
3. GDM Infrastructure
Organizations are increasingly moving toward on-demand models, as they help avoid costs of infrastructure setup and maintenance. However, on-demand options will not be able to provide the level of customization, security and control that on-premises solutions provide. For an organization to evolve into an E2.0, it will also need to accommodate the enormous volumes of data that social channels bring in. Typical enterprise-based, on-premises architectures that are currently in vogue will not be able to support the cost and data storage requirements of an E2.0.
An E2.0 will have a mix of on-premises and on-demand delivery models to be able to have the best combination of flexibility, security, customization and control. Organizations will enable virtualization using the cloud — especially to meet their data storage requirements — supported by multiple clusters and DB servers for failovers.
From a physical infrastructure point of view, given that teams will be many and spread afar, organizations will be able to reduce their spending on office spaces and divert their attention to procurement and use of social/collaboration tools that connect virtual teams in real time. | https://www.crmbuyer.com/story/the-enterprise-2-0-global-delivery-model-transformation-part-2-72708.html |
When it comes to photography one of the concepts that is most difficult for many photographers to grasp is exposure. There are 3 main areas of photography that determine the exposure: ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture.
The easiest way to think about exposure is as a perfect triangle that has equal sides and equal angles. If you change just one aspect of that triangle or exposure, it will no longer be perfect. This means that if you change one of the three areas of exposure you will need to make changes to the others as well in order to make the exposure perfect once again.
Aperture
When discussing exposure, it is important to also discuss lighting. When a picture is taken the light will pass through the lens and then through the shutter before arriving at a sensor or the film frame. The lens and the shutter of the camera control how much light is allowed to get to the sensor or frame.
The aperture is the lens opening that can be used to control the amount of light. Larger openings will allow more light in. One way to think about the aperture is by comparing it to blinds for a window. Opening the blinds allows more light in and closing the blinds keeps light out.
Shutter Speed
The next aspect of exposure that needs to be considered is the shutter speed. The shutter of the camera determines how long the light that comes through the lens gets to hit the film or sensor of the camera. This time is expressed in fractions of seconds. Fast shutter speeds would be 1/1000th of a second. This speed would be able to freeze most action immediately. A slower shutter speed such as 1/30th of a second would cause a person walking to be blurry. The majority of cameras today offer a wide range of shutter speeds.
Controlling the amount of light that is allowed in using the aperture combined with the shutter speed work together in order to create exposure.
ISO
This is the final side of the triangle. The ISO is the light sensitivity of the image sensor or film. When using film cameras, the ISO is somewhat limited and you are locked into the same sensitivity for the entire roll of film. However, with digital photography, it is possible to change the sensitivity as often as you like.
When it comes to ISO the lower the number the more light that is needed in order to get the right exposure. For example, if the ISO is 100 a lot of light will be necessary to get proper exposure. However, an ISO of 800 would require little light.
As a photographer, it is important to always remember the connection between the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. If one element is changed the other 2 will need to be changed as well in order to get the clear, sharp photographs that are desired. | http://techhustlers.com/basics-of-exposure/ |
Washington, DC is one of the 12 cities in the U.S that accounts for 44% of all HIV infections nationally. With a 3% prevalence rate, the epidemic is generalized and affects all populations and areas. Measurement of the DC continuum of care suggests that as many as 25-30% of people are unaware of their infections, and despite high linkage to care rates, only 58% of persons are continuously in care with 56% of all HIV-positive persons ever achieving viral suppression. Moreover, the mean community viral load (CVL) in DC, a measure of the potential infectivity of a community, is approximately 33,000 copies/ml, indicative of a high rate of potential onward transmissions and a failure of the HIV care continuum at one or more junctures. Given the high rates of HIV in DC and the potential for new transmissions, examining the potential role of surveillance data to identify the highest-risk geographic areas, identifying HIV-positive persons, and linking those persons to immediate care, is essential in improving rates of viral suppression. The objectives of this pilot study are to assess the feasibility of using surveillance data to identify geographic areas for an intensive HIV testing intervention, coupled with financial incentives to increase retention in care and viral suppression among HIV-positive persons. The study will be implemented in two phases. First we will use surveillance data to identify geographic areas with highest CVL and highest proportions of persons out of care or never in care for HIV testing. We will then partner with Community Education Group, a community-based organization in DC, to conduct intensive HIV testing in these areas. Using HIV- positive persons identified through testing from the first phase, we will then pilot a community-level intervention to determine if intensive outreach using an mHealth application, coupled with financial incentives leads to higher linkage, retention and decreases in viral load. Participants will be followed at 1-, 3-, and 6- months to assess linkage rates, visit adherence, and decreases in viral load. At the conclusion of this pilot study, we would have tested the feasibility and acceptability of a public health department/community-based intervention to address several junctures of the treatment cascade. If the pilot intervention is successful, a larger-scale randomized community-level trial would be conducted to test the efficacy of this intervention. | https://dccfar.gwu.edu/using-surveillance-data-drive-cascade-related-community-based-hiv |
Deloitte, one of the top four auditing and consulting firms in the world, has recently published their yearly report on the major tendencies in the domain of human resources. This fifth edition, baptised “Rewriting the Rules for the Digital Age”, provides a concrete and comprehensive inventory of current and future developments in human capital management. Discover this reputable firm’s recommendations, based on feedback from more than 10 000 HR managers and business leaders in the world, of which, more than 300 from France.
The world is evolving at an ever-increasing pace. Unfortunately, the chasm between technological advances and the adaptations made by companies is getting larger: it is becoming urgent for leaders and HR departments to focus on career strategies, employee engagement and the creation of ecosystems in order to reinvent themselves, both individually and collectively. Which platforms will connect the different players? Which tools should be used to build effective action plans that match the expectations of a company and meet the needs of each of its stakeholders?
⇒ Focus will be put on the first three key points in the study.
Organization of the future: increasing agility
- The current hierarchical structures are going to be replaced by teams working on projects within networks, while incorporating internal and external personnel.
- These new systems require a revision of the current management methods and leaders’ profiles (their ability to quickly put together effective project teams).
Processes need to be simplified by providing tools that provide a clear and synthetic vision of each individual’s technical and behavioral skills.
Career and training: meeting the needs of tomorrow
- The creation of a culture of development has become crucial. Organizations must allow for the reinforcement and acquisition of new skills (missions, projects).
- The management of human heritage is a highly strategic issue that requires novel career management solutions incorporating innovative development programs.
In the face of many technical skills becoming obsolete and conveniently available online, it is preferable to focus on “deep” skills (cross-functional and behavioral), that remain relevant and useful for projects
Skills acquisition strategy: putting the human back into the equation
Implementing technologies and codes from the new generation, developing data analysis to make sound decisions, while reinforcing the strength of the candidate: such are the challenges that employers must overcome to maintain their reputation.
- With all the progress made in the digital world that has demolished all boundaries and increased transparency, technological tools must streamline talent mobility
Moreover, companies are changing their selection methods: in the past they were looking at references, and today they are looking to corroborate the skills possessed. Thus, it is indispensable that the new talent management tools connect various ecosystems, which are sometimes spread across the globe
→ More than ever, HR departments must empower managers to become key players in the performance of their business, from hiring to professional development. A state-of-the-art technology that allows you to synchronize your HR actions with your company’s strategy and experienced professionals to accompany you in the deployment of your human capital: call Skillspotting to enter the era of the fourth industrial revolution in a serene and efficient way!
Sources :
– 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends : Rewriting the rules for the digital age, Deloitte University Press, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/central-europe/ce-global-human-capital-trends.pdf
– Tendances RH 2017 : New rules, new game, Deloitte France, mars 2017, https://www2.deloitte.com/fr/fr/pages/talents-et-ressources-humaines/articles/tendances-rh-2017.html
Crédits photos : | https://skillspotting.com/en/tendances-rh-2017-letude-de-deloitte-decryptee-skillspotting-13/ |
Nicole Bolla ‘20 Opinion Editor
With the falling of the leaves brings school, and with school comes another year of new teachers, new concepts, and most of all, new classes. For seniors, it is their 12th year doing this all over again, so for all you juniors unsure of what classes you want to take your senior year, a survey taken by a portion of the class of 2020 is here to tell you which common core class is the most liked, and which is the least..
Out of 51 seniors, 10 picked math as their favorite, 10 picked science, 14 picked social studies, and a whopping 17 picked English. According to the survey, seniors like English so much because of the concepts discussed; out of the 17 students that picked English as their favorite, some found it interesting because of the particular teaching method while others enjoyed it purely because it was easy for them to understand. The overwhelming majority said the class was their favorite because of the matters discussed in class. Obviously, this year’s seniors are fairly interested in their English classes, but why is that?
In math and science, there is one problem and one way to get a solution, and there is no other angle to examine the subject matter from. In English, discussions and debates take place over various art forms and themes from different points of view. It challenges students to think outside the box and look at things in a new way. Senior Josey Blades enjoys learning about cinematography in her Film as Literature class because it creates a unique and interesting narrative that has not yet been explored by students at this school. “It involves many cool aspects of photography and creativity,” Blades said.“I never would have thought about these things while watching a movie before.” This sentiment seems to be shared by senior Bailey LaChance who enjoys her English class for the same reasons. “It’s just very non-traditional,” LaChance remarked.
Whether it is discussing new possibilities, examining the reasons behind a character’s thoughts and actions, or pushing the boundaries of students’ thinking skills, it is clear that one of the best liked subject by this year’s seniors is English for its engaging subject matter and endless debatability. | https://lyonlife.org/2019/10/21/seniors-favorite-subject/ |
High school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) diploma and two years of related administrative experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Preferred Qualifications
An Associate degree or higher in business, office administration, human services or related field.
Position Description
~ANTICIPATED VACANCY~
The employee provides administrative office support for the Student Services Section. The employee process travel authorization requests, which includes processing registration for conferences, reserving lodging, and transportation, as well as processing reimbursements. The employee prepares, and edits reports for the AVP and the student services team. The employee also processes office supply requests. The employee responds to walk-in, telephone, and email communications for the section and routes inquiries to the appropriate staff team member. The employee has diversified responsibilities in public contact arranging meetings and conferences, records, reports, scholarships and grants, research and file management related to the multiple areas of the Student Services Section.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/AND ABILITIES: The employee should have knowledge, skills and abilities in the following areas:
- General office practices/procedures;
- Student Services operations in higher education;
- Ability to organize and prioritize work;
- Ability to work without constant supervision;
- Ability to accurately produce Office 365 output (documents, worksheets, etc.);
- The skill to communicate effectively orally and written;
- The sill to provide outstanding customer service.
How to Apply
The North Carolina Community College System Office uses the Merit-Based Recruitment and Selection Plan to fill positions SUBJECT to the Office of State Human Resources Act (OSHR) with highly qualified individuals.
Individuals interested in applying for this position must complete the online process at https://www.nc.gov/jobs, Résumés will not be accepted in lieu of the application. Work history and credentials must appear on the application to receive consideration during the selection process. | https://jobs.nccommunitycolleges.edu/administrative-specialist-i |
Nebraska Revised Statute 66-738
66-738.
Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division; created within Department of Revenue; powers and duties; funding; contracts authorized.
The Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division is hereby created within the Department of Revenue. The division shall be funded by a separate appropriation program within the department. All provisions of the Compressed Fuel Tax Act, the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Act, the State Aeronautics Act, and sections 66-482 to 66-4,149, 66-501 to 66-531, and 66-712 to 66-736, pertaining to the Department of Revenue, the Tax Commissioner, or the division, shall be entirely and separately undertaken and enforced by the division, except that the division may utilize services provided by other programs of the Department of Revenue in functional areas known on July 1, 1991, as the budget subprograms designated revenue operations and administration. Appropriations for the division that are used to fund costs allocated for such functional operations shall be expended by the division in an appropriate pro rata share and shall be subject to audit by the Auditor of Public Accounts, at such time as he or she determines necessary, which audit shall be provided to the budget division of the Department of Administrative Services and the Legislative Fiscal Analyst by October 1 of the year under audit. Audit information useful to other divisions of the Department of Revenue may be shared by the Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division with the other divisions of the department and the Division of Motor Carrier Services of the Department of Motor Vehicles, but audits shall not be considered as a functional operation for purposes of this section. Except for staff performing in functional areas, staff funded from the separate appropriation program shall only be utilized to carry out the provisions of such acts and sections. The auditors and field investigators in the Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Division shall be adequately trained for the purposes of motor fuel tax enforcement and collection. The Tax Commissioner shall hire for or assign to the division sufficient staff to carry out the responsibility of the division for the enforcement of the motor fuel laws.
Funds appropriated to the division may also be used to contract with other public agencies or private entities to aid in the issuance of motor fuel delivery permit numbers as provided in subsection (2) of section 66-503, and such contracted funds shall only be used for such purpose. The amount of any contracts entered into pursuant to this section shall be appropriated and accounted for in a separate budget subprogram of the division.
Source
- Laws 1991, LB 627, § 141;
- Laws 1994, LB 1160, § 109;
- Laws 1996, LB 1121, § 11;
- Laws 1996, LB 1218, § 21;
- Laws 1999, LB 143, § 4;
- Laws 2011, LB289, § 36;
- Laws 2011, LB337, § 4;
- Laws 2012, LB727, § 25;
- Laws 2017, LB339, § 241. | https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=66-738 |
GPA Versus Exam Scores: What's Better in Predicting College Success?
High school grade point average serves as a better predictor of college success than standardized exam scores among students heading directly into higher ed from high school. But among those who delay their college entry, the same isn't necessarily the case; it depends on the type of test and the subject under consideration.
These findings came out of research undertaken by Education Northwest, one of 10 regional educational laboratories that do applied research to improve academic outcomes for students. The project was a follow-on to research undertaken last year by the same organization to examine developmental education placement rates and how well high school grade point average and exam performance predicted performance in college-level courses among first-time students entering two- and four-year programs at the University of Alaska system.
This time around, researchers wanted to explore subgroups of students — specifically those who come from urban areas versus rural areas of Alaska and those who headed right to college compared to those who waited a while. The data consisted of student-level administrative information on 17,940 first-time U Alaska students enrolled from fall 2008 to spring 2012.
The results could have implications for "K-12 education stakeholders" who want to develop "college-readiness indicator systems" for their states or districts, according to the authors of the recent study.
How well does high school GPA predict performance in college-level English and math courses among recent high school graduates from urban and rural areas of Alaska?
How well does GPA predict performance in college-level English and math courses among students who entered the university within a year of high school graduation and those who delayed their college entry by at least a year?
In answer to the first question, GPA was a better predictor of college performance than scores on the SAT, ACT or ACCUPLACER tests. In the parlance of the researchers, "Regardless of where in Alaska students came from, high school [GPA] explained more of the variance in college performance than did standardized exam scores."
Consistent with research at California community colleges published in 2014, high school GPA also explained more of the variance in college-level English grades than in college-level math grades.
In answer to the second question, among students who delayed college entry, GPA didn't consistently turn out to be more predictive than standardized exam scores. It depended on the subject and exam. Compared to SAT and ACT scores, GPA was a better predictor for success with college English. But compared to the ACCUPLACER scores, the percentage of the variance in college-level English grades explained by GPA was only one point greater. In math, the percentage of the variance in college-level math grades was just a point higher than the percentage explained by SAT scores. GPA was less predictive of college-level math grades than were ACT and ACCUPLACER scores.
What this all suggests, said the researchers, was that exam scores are just one ingredient to be used in student placement decisions. GPA "may be a useful additional tool for making more holistic course placement decisions, because it contains unique and valid information, not captured by standardized exam scores, about students' likelihood of succeeding in college courses."
The report, "How well does high school grade point average predict college performance by student urbanicity and timing of college entry?" is freely available on the Institute of Education Sciences website here. | https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/03/09/gpa-versus-exam-scores.aspx |
main content:
- 1 Greenhouse effect
- 2 Greenhouse gases
- 3 Climate warming is not a good thing
- 4Kyoto countermeasures and Bali route map
- 5 human choices
- 6 Preventive preparations in China
1.Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse effect
Due to the long-term use of fossil energy by humans, in addition to causing haze, smog and acid rain in some areas, it will also cause global climate change, which is even more worrying.
People, especially those living in cities, generally feel climate warming. Since the record of meteorological instrument observations in 1860, the global average temperature has risen by about 0.6°C. The 13 warmest years all appeared after 1983. Since 1985, China has experienced 16 consecutive warm winters across the country. Scientists have been committed to studying the significant impact of human use of fossil energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on climate change, and they have repeatedly pointed out that since the Industrial Revolution, the CO2 in the atmosphere has gradually increased, leading to the "greenhouse effect" and global warming.
Why is the earth's climate warming? Some people associate it with the "heat island effect" in cities, and think that the warming is caused by humans' extensive use of energy to generate heat. In fact, the city consumes a lot of energy, and the temperature in the city is higher than that in the suburbs because of the high-rise buildings. It is like a heat island in the ocean. But the cause of global warming is not so simple. At present, all the energy used by humans in a year is equivalent to about 9 billion tons of oil. If all of this heat is used to heat seawater, the temperature of the seawater can only rise by 6×10-5°C. In other words, if the seawater is heated continuously for 10,000 years, the temperature of the seawater can only increase by less than 1°C. Obviously, the warming of the earth is not caused by the heat released by human beings using energy, but has "magic power". This "magic power" is the "greenhouse effect".
Picture: Earth's greenhouse effect
What is the "greenhouse effect"? In those cold places or cold seasons, when people close the doors and windows of their rooms, they will feel warmer. The indoor temperature is actually higher than that of the outdoors. This kind of room is a greenhouse. Outdoor plants such as flowers and vegetables are easily damaged by the cold. We often see gardeners and farmers build closed rooms with glass roofs on flower gardens and vegetable gardens, or cover them with transparent plastic films. This is also a greenhouse. The plants in the greenhouse will grow better, which is familiar to people. If people can make a similar cover to cover a city and turn the whole city into a greenhouse, or make the cover a little bigger and cover the earth too, so that the whole earth becomes a big greenhouse, is that good? Woolen cloth? That is not good, and it is beyond the reach of manpower. However, such a large greenhouse is possible. The atmosphere of the earth is like a big cover, which has already covered the whole earth in it, and no one can escape this cover. Fortunately, this atmospheric cover does not turn the earth into a greenhouse. While it transmits the light and heat radiation of the sun, it also allows the heat radiation on the ground to go out, and the flow in and out of it is balanced. If the composition of the atmosphere changes and too much special gas is added to prevent the ground heat from radiating to space, the ground and the atmosphere will increase in temperature due to the imbalance of heat entering and exiting the atmosphere. It has become an invisible greenhouse cover, turning the earth into a real big greenhouse, which is the "greenhouse effect". Climate warming is the emergence of this large greenhouse. People call the special gases that cause the greenhouse effect "greenhouse gases." CO2, the combustion product of fossil fuels, is one of the most important greenhouse gases, and its content in the atmosphere is too much.
Picture: Structure of the Earth's Atmosphere
How do greenhouse gases warm the earth? Let us first understand the relevant structure of the atmosphere. The earth's atmosphere is about 300 kilometers thick, and it is divided into the troposphere, stratosphere, middle layer and thermoionosphere from bottom to top. The thickness of the troposphere varies from place to place. The polar regions and mid-latitudes are between 8 and 12 kilometers, and the equator is between 16 and 18 kilometers. They will vary with the seasons. The temperature of the troposphere decreases with height, and the vertical movement is strong. Weather activities are like wind, Rain, clouds, fog, and lightning mainly occur in this layer. From the top of the troposphere to 50 kilometers is the stratosphere, the lower part of the temperature distribution changes little with height, and the upper part, due to the high concentration of ozone (O3), absorbs ultraviolet radiation so that the temperature increases with height. This makes the stratosphere have a temperature inversion, so the vertical motion is weak, and there is only a large-scale advection motion. From the top of the stratosphere to 80 kilometers is the middle layer (also known as the dissipation layer) and the temperature decreases as the height increases. Above the middle layer is the thermal layer, and the temperature increases with height. In the atmosphere above 80 kilometers, due to solar radiation, nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) molecules are ionized into positive ions and free electrons, so it is called the ionosphere. The quality of the atmosphere becomes increasingly thinner as the altitude increases. More than 80% of the total air quality is concentrated in the troposphere. The air quality above 30 kilometers only accounts for 1%, and the air quality above 50 kilometers (above the top of the stratosphere) is less than 0.1%.
The radiation of solar energy is high-temperature radiation, mainly short-wave radiation, including visible light and ultraviolet light. When the earth absorbs solar energy, it also radiates energy into space, achieving a balance of energy budget and maintaining the normal temperature of the earth. However, the normal temperature of the earth is about 15°C, and its radiation energy is low-temperature radiation, which is long-wave radiation. In the past when human interference was small, the long-wave radiation of the earth and the short-wave radiation energy absorbed by the sun were also balanced. Monoatomic gases in the atmosphere such as inert gases, diatomic gases such as oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2), etc., have negligible absorption of radiation and can be regarded as "transparent". Gases with more than three atoms such as carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2O), methane (CH4), sulfur dioxide (SO2), freons (CFCs), etc. are different. They have considerable absorption and radiation capabilities. The absorption and radiation of these gases are selective and can only absorb and radiate energy in certain wavelength ranges. For gases such as CO2, they can only absorb long waves, not short waves. In this way, CO2 can allow the sun’s short-wave radiation to pass freely, while absorbing the long-wave radiation from the ground. As a result, most of the sun’s Short waves can reach the ground through the atmosphere to heat up the earth, while long-wave radiation on the ground is strongly absorbed by gases such as CO2, which reduces the heat emitted to space, which is equivalent to being intercepted . The heat that the earth gets from the sun in a day is 1500×1016 kilojoules (kJ), which is equivalent to the total energy consumption of the entire mankind in 45 years. It only needs to intercept and accumulate a little bit. However, greenhouse gases such as CO2 absorb long-wave radiation, reheat the atmosphere, transfer heat to the ground, and warm the ground. This is the principle of the "greenhouse effect". The greater the content of greenhouse gases like CO2 in the atmosphere, the stronger the greenhouse effect, and the more obvious and intensified the earth's warming phenomenon.
Picture: Schematic diagram of greenhouse gases warming the earth
2.Greenhouse gases
Greenhouse gases
Due to human activities, more than 30 kinds of gases that can cause the greenhouse effect have emerged, the most important of which are CO2, CH4, halogenated hydrocarbons (CFCs), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3). The magnitude of their potential impact on climate change (called "radiative forcing") in the atmosphere, their "contribution" to the greenhouse effect (heating rate) and their life cycle are shown in the figure.
Picture: The main greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
(1) Carbon dioxide is often regarded as a synonym for all greenhouse gases, but in fact its "contribution" to the greenhouse effect is currently only about 64%. Of course, this percentage is enough to show that it is the main greenhouse gas. Before the industrial revolution, when fossil energy was not used on a large scale, the mass fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 2.8×10-4. By 1995, it had reached 3.62×10-4, an increase of 29% compared to before the industrial revolution. With the increase in consumption, the increase in the CO2 mass fraction is also accelerating, with an annual increase of about 0.46%. The sources of increase are roughly coal (accounting for 31.0%), fuel oil (accounting for 31.4%), natural gas (accounting for 12.9%), deforestation (accounting for 3.5%), land use change factors (accounting for 19.1%), etc.
(2) Methane is the second major greenhouse gas. The radiative forcing of a methane molecule is 56 times that of a carbon dioxide molecule. Before the industrial revolution, the mass fraction of methane in the atmosphere was about 0.8×10-6, and now it has more than doubled to about 17×10-6. It is still increasing at a rate of 0.7% every year, faster than the increase in carbon dioxide content. The sources of CH4 in the atmosphere are coal-bed methane escaped from coal mining accounted for 7%, natural gas drilling and transportation leakage accounted for 9%, burning biomass accounted for 8%, rice cultivation accounted for 22%, marsh and wetland peat decomposition accounted for 21%, ruminant Animal intestinal miasma discharge accounts for 15%, in addition to the discharge of natural gas hydrate in landfills and permafrost. Although the radiative forcing of methane molecules is many times larger than that of carbon dioxide, because the content of methane in the atmosphere is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of CO2, its contribution to the greenhouse effect is much lower than that of carbon dioxide, only 19%. It can be seen from the source of methane in the atmosphere that it is currently mainly from the natural biological world. However, there are two sources that must cause people to be highly vigilant: one is that with the growth of natural gas consumption and consumption, the leakage of methane will increase significantly; the other is that with the warming of the climate, the natural gas in the permafrost in the cold zone will be hydrated. The waste will release a large amount of methane. Once the content of methane in the atmosphere increases substantially, its contribution to the greenhouse effect will also increase substantially, which is troublesome enough. Although the following three types are not directly related to fossil energy, they are also greenhouse gases.
(3) Halogenated hydrocarbons, including fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine hydrocarbon gases, most of which are chlorofluorocarbons (commonly known as "freons"), which are synthetic substances. These substances are stable in nature and not easy to burn, and are widely used as refrigerants, fire extinguishing agents, cleaning agents, sprays, etc. They are well known for causing the destruction of ozone in the Antarctic stratosphere. They are also the main greenhouse gases, ranking third, and their current "contribution" to the greenhouse effect is still about 10%. There are also varieties of these compounds that do not destroy ozone. Promoted by the Montreal Convention in 1987, they are rapidly replacing the varieties that destroy ozone. However, there is a category of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) such as CF4 and C2F6 in these alternatives. Greenhouse gases with a long life cycle and strong radiative forcing are growing rapidly, which is worthy of vigilance.
(4) Nitrous oxide (N2O), whose molecular contrast radiative forcing is 280 times that of carbon dioxide, comes from the production of nitrogenous fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels and biofuels, and currently accounts for about 6% of the "contribution" to the greenhouse effect.
(5) Ozone (O3) is also a major greenhouse gas, which is usually produced by biomass combustion and petrochemical by-products. Ozone has special properties. It can not only block short-wave radiation that enters the ground and benefit humans and organisms, but it can also absorb long-wave radiation from the ground. The nature of ozone is very lively, its life cycle is only a few weeks, and its content in the atmosphere varies with latitude, altitude and season. In the lower troposphere, ozone can promote the production of photochemical smog in cities and industrial areas. Although its content in the troposphere has an increasing trend, increasing by 1% to 2% every year, its content in the entire atmosphere is declining. Since long-term measurements of ozone in the lower troposphere are rarely carried out at present, its "contribution" to the greenhouse effect has not yet been determined.
3.Climate warming is not a good thing
Climate warming is not a good thing
Is there any harm in the warming of the earth and climate warming caused by the greenhouse effect? This is also something people care about.
Climate warming has a significant impact on the global ecological environment. The first is the melting of glaciers in the Antarctic and Arctic regions, which has caused the sea level to rise and threaten the living environment of human beings. The huge ice sheets and glaciers on Antarctica are connected to floating ice shelves, and the ice shelves become the pillars of the glaciers. Warming ocean currents and atmosphere can make ice shelves fragile and crack and loosen. Blocked glaciers begin to flow into the ocean, and the melting of glaciers causes sea levels to rise. In the Arctic region, the climate is warming faster than other regions. The total ice coverage is declining. The sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has shrunk by 9% in the past 10 years. The water surface absorbs more solar energy, which also causes further climate warming. There are also landmass such as Greenland’s ice caps and glaciers that have rapidly melted in recent years, which has also caused sea levels to rise. Records indicate that the sea level has risen by nearly 20 centimeters in the 20th century. Some people predict that the global sea level may rise by 1 meter at the end of the 21st century, which is very sensitive to countries and regions with very low elevations. For example, the Maldives in the Indian Ocean will face extinction; Bangladesh has 17 million people living in areas less than 1 meter above sea level, and they are panicking because of rising sea levels; large areas of land in many coastal countries will be inundated and the lives of hundreds of millions of people will be affected. threat. It is conceivable that if there are disasters like the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the United States in August 2005, the losses will be even more severe.
Picture: global warming sea level rise
The current accelerated melting of the Arctic ice sheet is an ominous sign of climate warming, but some ridiculous things are happening there in recent years. Some countries near the Arctic have intensified their competition for sub-ice resources. There are abundant oil, natural gas, diamond, and metal resources under the ice, which may be easier to extract due to the melting of the ice cap. Some people are also planning to open up new routes. Some countries can reduce the voyage from Western Europe to Southeast Asia by tens of thousands of kilometers through the Arctic Ocean route.
If so, man-made development activities will exacerbate the destruction of ice sheets and the extinction of species. It seems that a treaty to protect the Arctic needs to be concluded. Like the Antarctic Treaty that entered into force in 1961, the fight for Arctic sovereignty is frozen, and the climate is warming, glaciers in the mountains are shrinking, and floods and droughts are aggravating. The Himalayas glaciers have become the fastest retreating glaciers in the world, retreating 10 to 15 meters a year, and the current retreat speed is still accelerating. The glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are retreating and intensified in the 1990s. In the past 30 years, the glacier area of the entire plateau area has shrunk by more than 4,400 square kilometers, which is 9% less than in the 1970s, and an average annual reduction of 147 square kilometers. This has had a significant impact on the ecological environment of the surrounding areas, floods and floods. Droughts have been intensified alternately, which also constitutes climate warming for places that rely on glaciers and snow for water resources, causing agriculture to face major fluctuations. The layout and structure of agriculture and production conditions around the world will undergo major changes, and agricultural output will also fluctuate greatly. Rising temperatures have accelerated the development of crops and shortened their growth periods, resulting in a decline in yield and quality. In China, the output of the three major food crops, wheat, rice and corn, is declining.
Climate warming has caused changes in the ecological environment and reduced biodiversity. As the ice shelf is melting, the Antarctic krill has lost their habitats, causing a "famine" of animals and animals in the food chain. Krill relies on the seaweed under the sea ice to survive and reproduce. Due to the decrease in sea ice in the past 50 years, the number of krills has declined sharply. Many species such as whales, seals and penguins, which use krill as their main food source, are facing survival crisis. In the Arctic, as the ice sheet has shrunk by 15% to 20% in the past 30 years, polar bears and millions of polar lives are threatened to varying degrees. In North America, due to climate change, some animals such as butterflies and foxes migrated to their habitats, some birds hatched early, plants bloom earlier, and some organisms that do not adapt to changes in the climate are becoming extinct. According to research, if the global average temperature rises by more than 1℃, the ecological damage will increase sharply, the rate of species extinction will increase rapidly, and the frequency of extreme weather will increase. The heat wave that has swept the northern hemisphere in recent years is worrying. Many countries have experienced intense heat, and the temperature in Europe has set an unprecedented record; some parts of India have temperatures as high as 45~49℃; Canada, the United States, China, and parts of Russia all set record high temperatures in 2003. Moreover, the frequency of extreme weather of this kind of sweltering heat is getting higher and higher. Obviously, it cannot be explained by natural causes such as sunspots and volcanic activity. The pollution caused by human activities must be the main reason. Climate warming has also triggered some extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods, hail, and cold currents, or has made these natural disasters more violent, and the world has suffered greatly. The devastating power of Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005 is not unrelated to global warming. If the power of this hurricane is a little weaker, New Orleans may be able to avoid the collapse of the bank and turn into a country of Zee, which can avoid losses of about 200 billion US dollars.
Climate warming affects human health. With the global warming, diseases transmitted by insects such as malaria and dengue fever may affect 40% to 50% of the world's population. The increase in pests and diseases and the propagation of bacteria increase the incidence of cholera, malaria and yellow fever, which is extremely harmful to the population in densely populated areas. The increase in the number of high temperature days in summer has increased the incidence and mortality of heart disease, high blood pressure and high temperature-related diseases.
4.Kyoto countermeasures and Bali route map
Kyoto countermeasures and Bali route map
Taking into account the need for authoritative decision-making, in November 1988, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The committee issued its first report in 1990, clarifying that climate change is indeed a huge threat to mankind, calling for the conclusion of a global convention negotiation working group, and in May of that year completed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). , Hereinafter referred to as the "Convention") text. In June 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The "Convention" was adopted by the General Assembly. 153 countries and regional integration organizations formally signed the "Convention". On March 21, 1994, The Convention officially entered into force. As of December 2001, a total of 187 countries and regional integration organizations have become contracting parties. The "Convention" aims to control the emission of six kinds of gases, including CO2, which cause the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere. The ultimate goal is to "stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases at a level that prevents the climate system from being dangerously disturbed by humans." The Convention stipulates differentiated obligations and procedures for fulfilling obligations between developed and developing countries. It requires developed countries, as major greenhouse gas emitters, to take specific measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and provide developing countries with funds to support them. They fulfill their obligations under the Convention, while developing countries only undertake the obligation to provide lists of greenhouse gas “sources” and “sinks” (emissions and governance), formulate and implement relevant measures and plans, and do not assume the obligation to limit greenhouse gases.
The Parties to the Convention held their first meeting in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997. 149 countries and regions, including 34 major industrial countries, participated in the meeting. A legally binding document.
| Tips: 6 types of wet room gases that need to be controlled
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There are 6 types of "greenhouse gases" that need to be controlled under the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change":Carbon dioxide (CO2);
Methane (CH4)
Nitrous oxide (N2O);
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs);
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs);
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
The full name of the "Kyoto Protocol" is "the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" (hereinafter referred to as the "Protocol"), which is actually an additional text of the "Convention". The core principle of the Protocol is common but differentiated. The common thing is that each country has to shoulder its own responsibilities. The difference is, first of all, the difference between developed and developing countries. The "Protocol" recognizes that developed countries have completed industrialization and have assumed more historical responsibilities in response to global warming, and this situation has not changed. The developed countries, which account for 22% of the world’s population, consume more than 70% of the world’s energy and emit More than 50% of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the "Protocol" only sets emission reduction tasks for industrialized countries, and does not make this requirement for developing countries. Secondly, the developed countries should also be treated differently. The "Protocol" stipulates that, before 2012, the greenhouse gas emissions of major industrialized countries shall be reduced by an average of 5.2% on the basis of 1990.
| Tips: "Kyoto Protocol" emission reduction allocation regulations
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The "Kyoto Protocol" stipulates that before 2012, the greenhouse gas emissions of major industrialized countries will be reduced by an average of 5.2% on the basis of 1990. Specifically, the EU will cut 8%, the United States will cut 7%, and Japan will cut 6%. Canada will cut it by 6%, and Eastern European countries will cut it by 5% to 8%.
New Zealand, Russia and Ukraine do not need to cut, and stabilize at 1990 levels.
Allow Ireland, Australia and Norway to increase emissions by 10%, 8% and 1% respectively over 1990.
The Protocol adopts three very flexible transnational emission reduction mechanisms, namely the Joint Implementation Mechanism (J), the “Clean Development Mechanism” (CDM) and the “Emissions Trading Mechanism” (ET) to encourage countries to actively implement their emission reduction obligations The "joint implementation mechanism" means that two or more countries with emission reduction tasks can work together to achieve the total emission reduction targets of the two countries. The "clean development mechanism" allows a country with emission reduction tasks to work together. , By helping developing countries to achieve their own emission reduction tasks. For example, the United Kingdom helps China and calculates the emissions reduced by China in the projects being helped to the United Kingdom, so that the United Kingdom can reduce more emissions with less funds, and China has also benefited from technological progress. "Emissions trading mechanism" refers to allowing a country to purchase emissions from another country, which allows developed countries to sell some of the saved emission credits to other countries.
The "Protocol" stipulates that the "Protocol" must meet two conditions for its entry into force: one is that more than 55 countries have approved the "Protocol" through the procedures of China; the other is that the total CO2 emissions of countries that have ratified the "Protocol" in 1990 accounted for at least 1990. In that year, the world's total CO2 emissions were more than 55%. However, because the United States, which accounted for 14 of the total global CO2 emissions ( CO2 emissions accounted for 36.1% of the world's total emissions in 1990), announced its withdrawal from the "Protocol" in March 2001, and the entry into force of the "Protocol" was in crisis. The Clinton administration signed the "Protocol" in 1998, but the Bush administration announced its withdrawal under the pretext of "affecting the development of the US economy" and "developing countries should also undertake emission reduction obligations." When persuasion is ineffective, the international community has turned its attention to Russia one after another. Russia's CO2 emissions in 1990 accounted for 174% of the world's total CO2 emissions, which is very important. If Russia ratifies the "Protocol", the "Protocol" can meet the requirements for entry into force. Russia is hesitant, and China has a fierce dispute, only for fear that the "Protocol" will hinder economic development. After 3 years of wandering and gaming, the Russian Duma (lower house of parliament) and the Federal Council (upper house of parliament) finally ratified the "Protocol" in October 2004, and President Putin signed it on November 5 to the UN Secretary on November 18. Chang Annan submitted the formal approval document, which means that the "Protocol" can officially enter into force on February 16, 2005.
The content of the "Protocol" has one common, two differences, and three mechanisms very cleverly formulated, which can be called a brilliant strategy. It makes a legal document that obviously means restricting the use of fossil energy and that may affect economic development has been approved by most countries. The principle of "common" is the responsibility of every country, and it is incumbent on everyone who is a "global village". "Two differences". Developed countries should first assume the obligation to reduce emissions, which reflects their historical responsibility, and there is no room for excuse; the task of reduction is not heavy, but it is not difficult to achieve it; there are three flexible mechanisms that are also profitable, so they support The "Protocol". Developing countries do not need to undertake emission reduction obligations for the time being, and may receive economic and technical assistance from developed countries, which is also good for their own progress and development, so they also agree to the "Protocol."
The "Protocol" comes into effect, and developed countries must reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases by 52% on average. This number seems trivial, and it is still difficult to implement, but after all, it is the first step taken by mankind in the fight against climate change, and it is of milestone significance. Moreover, this kind of global environmental management efforts will not stagnate after 2012 (ie, the "post-Kyoto Protocol era") climate issues will be discussed in 2005. The mechanism conceived in the "Protocol" has the vitality of long-term development and will provide a blueprint that can be used for reference in the future efforts of mankind.
From December 3rd to 15th, 2007, the United Nations held another climate change conference. More than 180 parties to the "Convention" held the 13th meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss how to deal with climate change in the "post-Kyoto Protocol era". The "Bali Road Map" stipulates that a meeting will be held before 2009 on new arrangements for addressing climate change issues, which will be a step forward on the basis of the "Kyoto Protocol." The United States expressed its support for the "Road Map" at the last moment of this meeting and was praised.
5.Human choice
Human choice
Not all countries attach importance to the greenhouse effect and global warming, and they adopt different attitudes. Some countries take an irresponsible attitude. For example, the United States believes that the "Protocol" will reduce greenhouse gas emissions will affect the country's economic development, and announced its withdrawal from the "Protocol." Because American entrepreneurs who support the Bush administration do not want the "Protocol", many Americans are unwilling to change their lifestyle of excessive consumption of resources.
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Tips: Bali Road Map
Some countries have a "don't care" attitude, such as Russia. Although Russia finally ratified the "Protocol" is fortunate and praiseworthy, but it also reflects that they have their own ideas. In February 2005, President Putin’s economic adviser Andrei Ilarionov publicly stated at the Esset Climate Conference: Russia does not hate global warming, and global warming will make the cold Siberian desolate zone. Become more alive. The Russians are not afraid of climate change but they are afraid that ratification of the "Protocol" will affect economic development, so they show hesitation.
There are also blind skeptics. Although the greenhouse effect has become an indisputable fact and recognized by the scientific community, it is the consensus of the world that there are still a few scientists and politicians who have rebellious psychology and believe that extreme phenomena have not yet appeared, so there is no need to worry about them. They asked: Has there been a climate disaster in the Arctic? Has the Antarctic ice sheet melted? Will the sea flood the land? Will mankind be destroyed? and many more. The answer to these questions is obviously "no, not yet", so they concluded that "global warming" is a media hype, a myth, that does not actually exist. These people also acknowledge the facts of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect, but they can't put forward any necessary preventive measures, and they seem to be left alone. On the contrary, the slowness of environmental changes and the "lag effect" characteristics can easily blind many people and provide great convenience for skeptics.
Many scientists believe that when the global average temperature is 2°C higher than before the industrial revolution (that is, before 1750), there will be a critical point for disaster. The temperature has now risen to 0.8°C, which is only 1.2°C. It is predicted that when the mass fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere reaches 4×10-4, it will inevitably lead to a global temperature increase of 2°C. The current CO2 mass score is 3.79×10-4, and with an annual mass score of 2×10-6 growth, it will exceed the 4×10-4 threshold within 10 years. The IPCC assessment report in 2001 pointed out that the global average temperature will rise by 1.8~4℃ by 2100.
On February 2-4, 2005, British Prime Minister Blair invited more than 200 scientists from more than 30 countries to participate in the Exeter Climate Conference, which is currently the largest climate summit of this century. Participants regarded the global average temperature increase of 2°C as an acceptable safety bottom line. Scientists believe that breaking through this bottom line means ecological disaster, and the global ecology will suffer a terrible blow. However, scientists believe that the goal of controlling the safety bottom line will be difficult to achieve by 2050. Even if the global CO2 emissions are reduced to less than half of 1990, the mass fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere will still reach more than 55×10-4, because CO2 has a life span of more than a hundred years and cannot be easily reduced. Having said that, we should revisit the warnings of the American biologist and famous environmental protection pioneer Rachel Carson. She pointed out in the 1962 book "Silent Spring": "We have long been This road that has been driving makes it easy to mistakenly think that it is a comfortable and flat super highway. We ran on it at high speed. In fact, there is disaster waiting at the end of this road. Another fork of this road -A fork in the road that few people take, providing us with the last and only chance for us to keep our planet." Her horrifying shout awakened the world. Nowadays, facing the issue of global warming, mankind has to make a choice between the risk of paying a higher price in the future and giving up part of the immediate benefits for long-term benefits. Either start looking for a solution now, or wait until you have personally experienced the damage caused by climate change and can no longer stand it.
6.China's preventive preparations
China's preventive preparations
China attaches great importance to the "Kyoto Protocol" and ratified the "Protocol" in September 2002. China is a developing country and is a country that does not need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. People have the best understanding of China’s opposition to making emission reduction commitments. At present, many areas in China are still in poverty. China must put economic development and improving people's living standards in the first place. However, it must be admitted that China is also a major country in the process of industrialization and modernization, and it is an important player on the international stage, both in terms of economy and in terms of ecological environment. China is the most populous country in the world and the largest coal consumer. At present, China's greenhouse gas emissions rank first in the world, and it is expected to be on par with the United States by 2020. The prevailing international opinion believes that to achieve the ultimate goal of the Convention on “stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that prevents the climate system from dangerous man-made interference”, it is a prerequisite for China to implement massive emission reductions. This puts China facing tremendous international pressure.
China is currently in the mid-stage of industrialization, and the characteristics of the heavy chemical industry are very obvious. Industry’s share of GDP has grown rapidly, reaching 63% in 2003. Industries such as electric power, steel, machinery and equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding, chemicals, electronics, and building materials have become the main driving forces for the growth of the national economy. This new feature of heavy chemical industry means that China's industry will inevitably consume a large amount of energy and resources for a period of time, and emit CO2. Energy supply and energy security have become the main constraints restricting China's industrialization. Faced with the dual pressures of energy and environment, China still needs to put the realization of industrialization and modernization and the right to development in the first place in participating in international activities in the field of climate change and in the negotiation of the implementation of the Convention, so as to strive for the necessary emissions space for future development. At the same time, we must take precautions, turn pressure into motivation, and seek a "low-carbon" development path. Once rapid development is achieved, China will be able to make positive contributions to the mitigation of climate change.
The so-called "low carbon" refers to reducing fossil energy consumption and energy consumption, and reducing CO2 emissions. The low-carbon development path should include three aspects: The first is to control high-energy-consuming industries and avoid excessive development of high-carbon-density production projects. Of course, the heavy chemical and high-energy-consuming industries that China needs are still to be developed, but the high-energy-consuming industries for exports must be controlled, and the transfer of foreign high-carbon projects to China must be vigilant. For example, the electrolytic aluminum, calcium carbide, and ferroalloy industries are "electric tigers". China's online output has exceeded China's demand by more than twice. However, because these products are popular in the international market, many places are still scrambling to build production lines and compete to export products. This kind of industry that provides high energy consumption and high emission products for other countries must be controlled as soon as possible. It is wise for the state to issue measures to abolish the export tax rebate for products such as electrolytic aluminum and impose export taxes in 2004. Regarding the transfer of foreign high-carbon projects, we cannot choose food without hunger and think that "everything is in the basket". Once the country is bound by the "Convention" to reduce CO2 emissions, these high-carbon projects will be in an awkward state. If the factory is closed again at that time, it will cause even greater losses, such as unemployment of workers, and it is difficult to recover the huge investment in fixed assets.
The second is to save energy and improve energy efficiency. China's use of energy is still relatively extensive, and the energy consumed to produce the same product is 20% to 30% more than the advanced level of foreign countries. It should be said that it is not difficult to reduce energy consumption by a few percentage points and emissions by a few percentage points from production and life by saving and improving energy efficiency.
The third is the development of low-carbon and non-carbon new energy, mainly renewable energy, we will focus on it later.
Actively planting trees and afforestation to increase forest coverage is also an effective way to reduce net CO2 emissions. In this regard, China has made great achievements and accumulated experience. The absorption and use of CO2 by forests and vegetation is an important part of the natural "carbon cycle". Since the late 1970s, China has been planting a large number of trees and afforestation. The original intention was to prevent soil erosion and drought, and objectively it also had an unexpected effect of absorbing CO2 . In the 25 years from 1980 to 2005, afforestation projects have increased China's forest coverage to 18%, and the accumulated absorption of CO2 is about 3 billion tons, accounting for 5%-10% of China's anthropogenic emissions. On September 8, 2007, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, President Hu Jintao proposed China’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is to expand forest coverage and increase CO2 absorption sources to seek international cooperation. This is China’s initiative to respond to the global The climate change plan, known as the "forest plan", shows China's positive attitude on environmental issues. | https://www.tycorun.com/blogs/news/global-warming |
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1 : Why Global warming ?
2 : What is global warming? The changes in the surface air temperature, referred to as the global temperature, brought about by the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is induced by emissions of greenhouse gases into the air.
5 : What’s the difference between “global warming” and “climate change”?
6 : Difference GLOBAL WARMING is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. CLIMATE CHANGE is a broader term that refers to long-term changes in climate, including average temperature and precipitation.
8 : What’s the proof that global warming is taking place?
11 : Why is global warming happening?
13 : When did global warming start?
15 : How is global warming measured?
23 : We can stop global warming!
24 : What can you do to help solve the problem?
25 : Simple Things To Do Turn off your computer or the TV when you’re not using it. Take shorter showers. Heating water uses energy. Keep rooms cool by closing the blinds, shades, or curtains. Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Use compact fluorescent bulbs.
27 : Simple Things To Do Dress lightly when it’s hot instead of turning up the air conditioning. Or use a fan. Dress warmly when it’s cold instead of turning up the heat. Offer to help your parents keep the air filters on your AC and furnace clean. Walk short distances instead of asking for a ride in the car. Plant a tree. Recycle.
Global Warming global warming climate global wa..
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Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems .. | http://www.slideworld.com/slideshow.aspx/Global-Warming-PPT-Powerpoint-Global-warming-Slides-ppt-2766850 |
Stepper motors can generate power from a tenth of a watt up to several watts. The following article shows how a 4-phase unipolar stepper motor is capable of creating a ½ watt of power. The first thing to consider is the price of stepper motors.
How much torque can a stepper motor generate?
For example, a conventional size 34 stepper motor can produce 5.9 N-m of holding torque. The ultra-high-torque version of the same motor produces up to 9 N-m of holding torque. For a conventional motor to achieve this same torque rating would require a 31% longer motor.
Can a stepper motor be used as a generator?
Any stepper motor can be used as a generator. In contrast to other generators, a stepper motor produces a large induced voltage even at low rotational speeds. … In contrast to other generators, a stepper motor produces a large induced voltage even at low rotational speeds.
How strong is a stepper motor?
As a result, it is unusual to find stepper motors capable of producing more than 1,000 to 2,000 ounce inches of torque. Stepper motors also have performance limitations. You can think of a stepper motor as a spring-mass system.
What is the output of stepper motor?
The output is the angular position of the motor shaft, while the input consists of two low-power digital signals. Every time a pulse occurs on the step input line, the motor takes one step, the shaft remaining at its new position until the next step pulse is supplied.
Why do stepper motors have high torque?
For a given stepper motor design, torque production is primarily a function of current through the motor windings — the higher the current, the more torque the motor produces. … To improve the rate of current rise, either the inductance of the windings (L) must be lowered, or the applied voltage (V) must be increased.
Do stepper motors have high torque?
Stepper motors remain popular for industrial motor applications because they are low-cost, rugged, simple, have high torque at startup and low speeds, require little maintenance, and they can operate in an open loop control system.
Can a stepper motor run continuously?
Stepper motors fall somewhere in between a regular DC motor and a servo motor. They have the advantage that they can be positioned accurately, moved forward or backwards one ‘step’ at a time, but they can also rotate continuously.
Can I use stepper motor for wind turbine?
Stepper motors are ideal for use in your first DIY wind turbine generator. They can be used in conjunction with homemade PVC wind turbine blades to make a very affordable functional wind turbine.
Are stepper motors powerful?
The motors feature 4.0 to 13.6-Nm holding torque. … The 80MPH Series 86-mm-flange stepper motors and the 80MPD 56-mm-flange motors are said to be among the most powerful motors currently available with regard to holding torque and length.
What is the maximum torque of stepper motor?
High Torque Stepper Motors from 0.01 to 50Nm. NEMA08,NEMA17,NEMA23,NEMA34,NEMA43,NEMA53. A series of step motors that have been designed by JVL for use with the entire range of JVL Step Motor Drivers and Controllers. They are high torque step motors especially made for mini- and microstep operation.
What is a 42 stepper motor?
NEMA 42 stepper motor is the largest step motor of the stepper motor family. This is known to be the finest type of stepping motor. It has the unique features of both, permanent and variable reluctance motor.
What is the maximum speed of stepper motor?
Generally speaking the top speed of a stepper motor is approximately 1000rpm. The exact speeds that are possible depend on the specific motor being used and the controller being used with it.
Are stepper motor AC or DC?
A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps.
How is stepper motor power calculated?
The motor power output (speed times torque) is determined by the power supply voltage and the motor’s inductance. The motor’s output power is proportional to the power supply voltage divided by the square root of the motor inductance. | https://momentumchevrolet.com/auto-parts/how-much-power-can-a-stepper-motor-produce.html |
Jon Trickett MP: Conservatives are failing to govern, and failing the country
With civil servants across Whitehall being deployed in large numbers to focus on Brexit, the risk of major projects not being delivered on time and on budget is growing, writes Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jon Trickett.
In an unremarked but strange piece of symmetry, both the US and UK governments are in partial shutdown.
In the US, Trump is preventing a return to functioning government by refusing to give up on his wall. Here in the UK the Prime Minister is presiding over a government which is no longer fully working, because of the invisible wall she has built around her botched Brexit deal, which does not command the support of the Commons and is quite simply undeliverable.
Because of this, and the stifling nature of the Fixed-Term Parliament Act, we are in a parliamentary impasse.
Crucially, this is fast becoming a crisis of governance, as the Government moves large numbers of civil servants away from their normal duties and into a fruitless exercise that commands no parliamentary majority. The impact of this is staggering.
The latest Whitehall Monitor by the Institute for Government, published on Tuesday, reveals a government grinding to a halt.
- 21 ministerial resignations;
- just five of the 13 Bills which the Government has said it needs to pass ahead of Brexit have made it through Parliament;
- civil service turnover has spiked, costing up to £74 million each year and draining vital knowledge and expertise from the civil service.
Most importantly, with civil servants across Whitehall being deployed in large numbers to focus on Brexit, the risk of major projects – of which there are currently 133 - not being delivered on time and on budget is growing.
Of course, the scale of the challenge Brexit presents places demands on government irrespective of which party is in charge. But let us set Brexit aside for a moment, and consider just a few of the additional challenges facing this Government. It soon becomes clear who is to blame for the current mess.
HS2 is fragile, with talk of spiralling costs and even cancellation of the second phase. Universal Credit is beset by considerable technical problems, resulting in great distress to hundreds of thousands of people. NHS reorganisation is shambolic and causing disruption to healthcare delivery. The Northern Powerhouse has ran out of power, if it ever had any. The housing and social care crises persist, while stagnant pay remains and social mobility has collapsed.
Some of these problems pre-date this Government, but their persistence and severity is a consequence of successive Tory government’s treading the same well-worn path: eye-catching but ultimately shambolic flagship policies combined with cuts to the public sector.
Crucially, this Tory mess is being further exacerbated by the Government’s cack-handed approach to Brexit and the uncertainty it has created - to say nothing on the approximately £171,000 per hour spent on “No Deal” preparations.
The result is that the civil service is being pushed to breaking point. Yet any solution to this first requires a resolution of the standoff in the Commons, which Theresa May and her Government are making all but impossible.
Only Labour can break this double bind.
Firstly, the Labour Party’s proposals for a jobs-first Brexit – based on a customs unions and a new single market-deal - has the possibility to unite Parliament and the majority of the population, leading us out of the deadlock now binding government.
This in turn will bring much-needed certainty to the civil service, which for the first time in nearly a decade will also benefit from a government prepared to provide the proper support and leadership it needs to be truly effective.
And our ambition to be a genuinely transformative government opens up a range of new potential solutions to the problems outlined above that cannot be fixed by status-quo thinking. The housing crisis, for example, will require significant public sector investment to provide the affordable housing that is now so sorely lacking.
Yet beyond the immediate crisis of governance, there lies a deeper decline in public trust in in the way in which our country is being ran and in our political institutions. This is the true meaning of Brexit, and in a democratic society this breakdown of consent is deeply worrying.
Labour is the only Party that acknowledges this, and has proposals to tackle it head on.
We will end austerity, restore a public realm reduced by privatisation and marketisation, and return a sense of agency to the population, large sections of whom feel no sense of control over their lives.
The Labour Party’s plan to deliver a Constitutional Convention in government opens up the possibility of fundamentally transforming politics in the UK. Trust in democracy must be rebuilt, accountability established, and new ways of doing politics brought into being.
The scale of the challenge before us requires this type of new thinking. A failure of government and the state cannot fixed by repeating the failed the processes that led to it, no matter how many times Theresa May tries.
It’s time to change politics to change the country. It’s time for a Labour government. | https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/government-and-public-sector/opinion/house-commons/101314/jon-trickett-mp-conservatives-are |
Tier 2 World Cup schedule winners and losers. How did your team fare?
The 19th team (Africa 1) to qualify for next year’s World Cup will be decided next week on the 18th August.
Depth and fitness will be essential for teams’ success at next year’s World Cup. But by analysing the schedule, we can clearly see that this will be a greater concern for some teams than others.
This article covers the Tier 2 winners and losers that Gareth and Steven didn’t have the time to cover. You can review the qualifying process here.
In one of my previous articles, I pointed out that the schedule has improved USA’s chances for two potential upsets over England and Argentina. Mainly because both of these teams face the USA with a short four-day turnaround. However, they have the least number of days between their first and last pool match out of any Tier 2 nation with 17 days (almost a whole week less than the hosts with 23 days). And they also face Tonga with a four-day turnaround unlike Tonga’s seven. This match is by far their best chance for a win at next year’s World Cup.
Therefore, even though the schedule has improved the USA’s chances for two upsets, if they fail to put out good performances against their Tier 1 opponents to at least gain some confidence, they could be in danger for another winless World Cup.
As mentioned above, Tonga has a huge advantage going into their last pool match against the USA. They also have the second most number of days between their first and last pool match out of the Tier 2 nations with 21 days. Their longest turnaround is eight-days for their match against France where France play this game just four days after their clash with the USA. This is an opportunity for Tonga to repeat their success in the 2011 World Cup against the very same nation.
When you’re the hosts of the Rugby World Cup, you have the home ground advantage. And quite often, you have the matches scheduled favourably for you. This is definitely the case for 2019. Japan has the most number of days between their first and last pool match than any other nation with 23 days. They also play their last pool match with an eight-day turnaround against a tired Scotland just four days after Scotland vs Russia. This match should conclude the Party Pool with an epic climax.
Apart from their privilege to play in the opening match, the schedule is quite unfavourable for Russia. With all respect to Russia, the only matches they have a reasonable chance of winning is against Japan and Samoa. Unfortunately, after playing in the opening match, they will face their only other reasonably winnable match just four days later. So the schedule has increased the risk of a winless World Cup for Russia.
With just 18 days between their first and last pool match, Samoa will be even more disappointed to be the last Pacific Nations Cup team to qualify. After Ireland’s recent success of winning the Grand Slam and a test series in Australia, Samoa will likely to be targeting a win over Russia, Scotland and Japan to repeat their success of 1991 and 1995. Unfortunately, these are their first three opponents (in order) which have been scheduled in a space of just 11 days.
Italy is officially a Tier 1 country but most would think they look like a Tier 2 side in their pool with the All Blacks and the Springboks.
But after their unlucky pool draw, they found out they have a reasonably lucky schedule. It’s fair to say that the back-to-back World Champions are probably unbeatable for Italy. So they will be targeting their match against South Africa, which they have an eight-day turnaround for, to progress to the Quarter Finals.
Georgia’s minimum target will be to beat Fiji and Uruguay. Based on world rankings and recent results, they should beat Uruguay comfortably and they should be evenly matched with Fiji. But unfortunately, they will play Fiji after a four-day turnaround whereas Fiji has an eight-day turnaround for the match. Furthermore, Georgia is one of the very few teams that will play their first three matches in a space of ten days.
As mentioned above, the schedule favours Fiji for their match against Georgia. Also, Fiji’s last pool match is a clash against Wales. This allows Fiji to give this last pool match absolutely everything to repeat their upset over Wales in the 2007 World Cup to progress to the Quarter Finals. This clash will take place in a World Cup for the fourth time in a row.
With all respect to Uruguay, the only matches they have a reasonable chance of winning is against Fiji and Georgia. But unfortunately, these matches are scheduled just four days apart. They also only have 18 days between their first and last pool match. Just 1 day more than the biggest losers from the schedule, USA.
Next articleThe Bledisloe Cup: Will it be Australia’s Time?
Thanks for your comment Paul. It was frustrating to see Japan having to face Scotland just four days after THAT game in 2015. Scotland still would’ve won, but I’m sure it won’t be a 35 point margin next year!
I think it may prove to be Scotland’s toughest game.
Schedule matters! It matters very much for t2 and t3 teams. The world rugby designed an uneven conditions for WC participants. Some countries have excellent schedule: e.g Japan (6-7 days between games), or Tonga, Australia, South Africa (5-7 days). New Zealand, Uruguay, France and Georgia play 3 games in 11 days. Furthermore Georgia plays two most important game (vs. Uruguay and Fji in 4 days). I can not believe there was not a way to develop better schedule.
Thanks for your comment. Its interesting how you grouped nations with similar schedules. The biggest question I have is that the schedule is created without a lucky draw. Which potentially defeats the purpose of a “fair” competition when there are clear winners and losers.
Really shows up the need to expand to a 24-team format and do away with this unequal five-team pool scheduling.
Thanks for your comment and very good point Quentin. If there were 6 teams in each pool, each team can have the same (or roughly the same) turnaround for each game because there will be a clear five rounds of matches for each pool.
This also means there will be 20 more games at the tournament, which is great for broadcasters.
I’m a bit late to reading this, but it really is interesting. I recently went back and rewatched a smattering of USA games, and honestly, I’m impressed. I feel like they have a chance to be the deciding factor in Pool C. Many of the players who have been on the team for a bit too long have been replaced. Gary Gold has gotten his squad extremely fit, especially at altitude. Their basics are very good, although their speed at which they get to their own rucks to protect them is somewhat lacking, and could be exploited. They have very dynamic attacking options. They have beaten both Argentina and Scotland this year, their only loss coming to the MABs. Because of that fitness and the belief that the team is building, I think they have a pretty good opportunity to pick up not only one, but two wins.
Thanks for reading this article Timothy. In my opinion, USA will have either a fantastic or a disastrous World Cup. The schedule lines up well for a shot at an upset over Argentina. They have a seven-day turnaround for the match whereas Argentina only has four. If USA wins that match, surely their form will set them up well for their last pool match against Tonga.
This may be an old article from last year but at least it does give an idea of how the teams outside the tier 1 nations will fair. And with WR’s plans for a much needed expansion, I’m counting on the tier 2 nations to show why an expansion is necessary for more competition against the occasion top 10 nations, especially Italy and Argentina by the looks of things.
It would be a huge boost to WR’s expansion plans should the tier 2 teams take on their tier 1 counterparts down to the wire, which I’m sure they will gladly do so eventually in this world cup year in Nippon Land.
Besides, an expansion would greatly help sort out the preparation time issues in between games so that all teams are on equal footing, although by today’s recent WR rankings I see potential for 28 teams if possible although its just an idea after seeing how teams from outside the occasional ones in the other leagues like the American Rugby Championship and the Tier 2 European Six Nations are performing. Even the WR Nations Cup has prospects for potential teams in my opinion. | https://the1014.com/tier-2-world-cup-schedule-winners-and-losers/ |
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The effects of signed and spoken words taught with music on sign and speech imitation by children with autism.
Journal of Music Therapy
32(3), pp. 189-202
Language learning and retention in young language -disordered children.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
18(2), pp. 281-296
Autistic children exposed to simultaneous communication training: a follow-up.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
17(1), pp. 115-131
Language training with autistic children using four different modes of presentation.
Journal of Communication Disorders
21(4), pp. 333-350.
Adapted melodic intonation therapy: a case study of an experimental language program for an autistic child.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
40(4), pp. 201-303
Oxman J. , Konstantareas M. M. , Liebovitz-Bojm S. (1979)
Simultaneous communication training and vocal responding in nonverbal autistic and autistic-like children.
International Journal of Rehabilitation Research
2(3), pp. 394-396
Remington B. , Clarke S. (1983)
Acquisition of expressive signing by autistic children: An evaluation of the relative effects of simultaneous communication and sign-alone training.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
16 pp. 315-328
Sisson L. A. , Barrett R. P. (1994)
An alternating treatments comparison of oral and total communication training with minimally verbal retarded children.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
17(4), pp. 559-566.
Yoder P. J. , Layton T. (1988)
Speech following sign language training in autistic children with minimal verbal language.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
18(2), pp. 217-229. | http://www.researchautism.net/publications?filters%5Bsubject%5D=4381 |
Essex Yarn Dyed is simply delightful. The weave in this fabric makes the texture come to life -- It looks a lot like linen, but behaves like cotton. We recommend this fabric for garments, curtains, bedding, and quilts. | https://fieldandcloth.com/collections/cotton-linen-blend/products/essex-yarn-dyed-aqua |
Posted in Social Media on 12 May 2017, 08:30 , 0 Comments.
Nearly every brand are stuck in "broadcast mode", relying on push tactics when it comes to social media, rather than engaging with advocates and influencers, according to new research.
Lithium Technologies' State of Social Engagement 2017 report shows that just 1% build relationships with brand advocates and influencers.
The report showed that brands made improvements including better storytelling, more cohesion across channels, and more engagement with follower content. But despite these specific tactical improvements, engagement overall is down year-over-year for most brands due to lack of strategic focus, increased noise from competitors, and the proliferation of new channels which can strain internal resources.
Rob Tarkoff, Lithium president and CEO, said: “In the event of a crisis consumers inevitably turn to social media to voice their opinion, which can cause bad situations to worsen for brands who aren’t prepared. | http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/social-media-marketing/only-1-of-brands-engage-with-social-media-influencers |
When adrenalin is pumping and someone is gunning for the finish line there is no thought on controlling their legs. Their legs just go. Most people don’t think twice about what all goes into the process of making the lower limbs move or how precise each muscle contraction must be to stay up on a runner’s toes. Understanding kinesiology will help with understanding the biomechanics that explain the functioning of the body, and explains how exactly our body can sprint.
The American Kinesiology Association (AKA) defines kinesiology as “the academic discipline which involves the study of physical activity and its impact on health, society, and quality of life” (American Kinesiology Association, 2010). Biomechanics defined by the Medical Dictionary is “the study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure” (Medical Dictionary, 2013). Together these fields of study cover the forces that act upon the body during physical activity.
Sprinting highly qualifies as physical activity, therefore there are biomechanical and kinesiological aspects that are behind this vigorous act on the body. Sprinting is an essential activity and skill that is a key element in a wide smorgasbord of sports. Some of the more popular sports include football, baseball, soccer, and track that all require a great deal of sprinting. It could be a quick sprint to first base, a short sprint to finish a play in soccer, a long sprint towards the end zone protecting a football, or even a sprint to be the first to cross the finish-line in track. Each of these acts put a lot of stress on the body and it’s up to the biomechanics of the lower limbs to work precisely in order to handle the stress.
Sprinting and running in the biomechanical world is actually a very common movement that is studied because of the variety of sports and activities that rely on it (Mann & Hagy, 1980). The main forces that act upon the body when sprinting are gravity and wind resistance. All three of Newton’s laws of motion are a part of sprinting. Newton’s first law of motion is the law of inertia. According to this law an object in motion will stay in motion until an outside force acts upon that object (The Physics Classroom, 2012-a). Inertia allows the sprinter to keep momentum. However, wind resistance and gravity slows the sprinter down. If all forces that are acting upon the sprinter are balanced, (which would be impossible on earth), he or she could keep momentum or inertia.
Newton’s second law of motion is the law of acceleration. Acceleration can change an objects speed, direction, or both. This is the net force, or unbalanced forces that change the speed and direction (The Physics Classroom, 2012-b). For a sprinter, acceleration can come from the wind acting as tail-wind. It could also be a slight reduction in gravity by sprinting in higher altitude (Ward-Smith, 1984).
The third and final law is Newton’s law of action and reaction. This law simply states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (The Physics Classroom, 2012-c). The sprinter pushes their feet into the ground, therefore the ground is pushing the sprinter back, with an equal amount of force, propelling him or her forward.
All three of Newton’s laws play key roles in a runner’s sprint. However, there is a lot more that goes into it. The main joint actions of a sprinter’s lower limbs are in the sagittal plane. When looking at the full body, there is movement in the transverse plane. The twisting motion of the torso is in the transverse plane. Movement in the sagittal plane include hip flexion and extension, knee flexion and extension, dorsi-flexion, and plantar-flexion of the foot (Lee, Reid, Elliott, & Lloyd, 2009). These seven essential movements are what propel an athlete down a track or across a field.
Covering the joint actions of the lower portion of the body is just the basics. Physiologically, the body sparks using phosphocreatine (PCr) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to trigger the immediate energy system. This system will last about two to three seconds before oxygen and adipose tissue are used to fuel the body with ATP. A sprinter’s skill relies heavily on muscular strength and endurance.
According to sprintscience.com “studies have showed that maximal strength, particularly during a half squat, is strongly correlated with sprinting performance” (sprintscience, 2010). This is true for the mid-sprinting process, however, muscular power is what begins the process. The power of the quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles are what spring a sprinter forward from the starting line. Power exercises such as the vertical jump, depth jump, and loaded jump squats are all very closely correlated to the starting performance of a sprinter (sprintscience, 2010). Muscular endurance is another skill that a sprinter must utilize.
When a sprint lasts longer than about 30 seconds the immediate energy system switches to the anaerobic system and then into the aerobic system. Each of these systems require more oxygen for ATP production. Because sprinting is a power sport, the muscles that produce the power must have endurance as well. With higher endurance a sprinter will be able to sustain maximal sprinting velocity for a longer period of time (sprintscience, 2010). So all together this means that if a sprinter has superior muscular strength, power, and endurance then he or she is more likely to be the first one to cross the finish-line.
The primary function of the skeletal system while sprinting is in the lower region of the body. The legs are comprised of the femur, the tibia and the fibula. The tibia, or the shin bone, and the fibula share the ankle joint where the foot is attached. The main muscles used to force our lower legs to move are the quadriceps muscles, hamstring muscles, the calf muscles and the anterior tibialis muscle. Together these muscles pull on our skeleton to move our legs and feet to the motion of sprinting.
The first group of muscles that were mentioned were the quadriceps muscles. The vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedialis, and the rectus femoris, are the four muscles that make up the quadriceps. The vastus muscles work together to extend the knee and keep it aligned with the rest of the leg, whereas the rectus femoris helps the body to raise it’s knee. All together this makes the quadriceps a very powerful muscle group.
On the hind side of the leg, behind the quadriceps, are the hamstring muscles. These muscles, when contracting, flexes the knee and brings the foot behind and up towards the glutes. There are three muscles that make up the hamstrings group. They are the bicep femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus. Like the quadriceps the hamstrings are another very powerful muscle group.
Also on the backside of the leg, but on the lower portion, are the calf muscles. This includes the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles. Both of these muscles give the body the ability to force the toes down into the ground or stand on the toes. This is a very essential movement used by sprinters. Without these muscles a sprinter would not have the ability to stay on their toes which in return would decrease their speed. Not only are these muscles essential to sprinters, but also to anyone who likes the ability to walk at all.
The last muscle of the lower limbs that was mentioned before is the anterior tibialis. This muscle is very often overlooked. It is the muscle that gives the body the ability to stand on its heels. This motion is called dorsiflextion and it is also an important part in the process of a sprint. Most people do not know, but usually shinsplints are felt when this muscle is weak in comparison to the gastrocnemius. Shinsplints can only reside with treatment of ice and the stretching of the gastrocnemius (Lee, Reid, Elliott, & Lloyd, 2009).
Sprinting can easily be classified as an open-loop movement. Both feet of a sprinter leave the ground at some point of his or her stride, and for every stride the sprinter makes. Due to the nature of open-loop movements there are many things that can go wrong resulting in an injured sprinter laying on the track (Davidson, Jones, Andreae, & Sirisena, 2002). Some of the most common injuries that occur during a sprint are strains in the hamstring or quadriceps. These injuries are caused by overuse and over-stretching of the muscles and tendons that attach the muscles to the bones. These injuries can be treated by rest, ice, compression, and elevation (Schache, Kim, Morgan, & Pandy, 2010).
Other sprinting injury that can occur are fractures or complete breaks of the femur, tibia, or the fibula. These injuries must be treated medically. The force that is exerted on the runner’s leg is massive, therefore if the leg is too unstable when the force is exerted then it may cause the bone to fracture or break. Joint dislocation and hyperextension is another injury that is often seen in sprinting. This may occur when the force exerted on the sprinter’s leg is so great that it pulls the joint apart. Ice, compression, and elevation are the best treatments for this injury (Schache et al., 2010).
To avoid these injuries a sprinter must be trained properly. A sprinter can improve their performance by improving their movement efficiency. Much like a baby learning to walk, a sprinter must repeat their movements over and over again. This is a training necessity for a coach to teach. A baby learns to walk by getting up, falling, learning, then getting up again. The sprinter learns first how to run with proper form. This includes proper form of starting position and the proper form of a stride. A long stride is key for a sprinters speed and endurance, however too long of a stride may cause injury. This is why repetition is essential for a sprinter. When a sprinter practices his or her stride they feel out their limits (Cronin & Hansen, 2006).
This same technique of repetition works when practicing a sprint start, or kick off. When a sprinter is in starting position, he or she is bent over, low to the ground, with both hands and both feet on the ground. As the runner gets ready he or she then extends their legs but still staying in a static position. This movement shifts the sprinter’s center of gravity forward. Without the sprinter’s hands holding their body’s weight, he or she would face-plant straight into the ground. Instead the sprinter uses this unbalanced weight to propel him or her forward in a very quick manor. As the gunshot fires to start the race, the sprinter is leaning forward with the majority of his or her body weight being held up by their hands. When the shot is heard, the sprinter lifts his or her hands up and pushes off with their feet, letting their center of gravity steer them forward (Mann & Hagy, 1980).
In conclusion a sprinter must be trained very well and conditioned as well as possible. Sprinting is a seemingly simple movement that puts major stress on the body. This stress can cause many different injuries to occur. Learning and understanding the biomechanics of sprinting can help someone avoid injury and improve their performance. Proper training, conditioning, and education on sprinting processes, technique and form are essential when building an elite sprinter and athlete.
References
- American Kinesiology Association. (2010). AKA clarifies the definition of kinesiology. Retrieved from http://www.americankinesiology.org/white-papers/white-papers/——aka-clarifies-the-definition-of-kinesiology
- Cronin, J., & Hansen, K. (2006). Resisted sprint training for the acceleration phase of sprinting. Strength & Conditioning Journal (Allen Press), 28(4), 42.
- Davidson, P. R., Jones, R. D., Andreae, J. H., & Sirisena, H. R. (2002). Simulating closed- and open-loop voluntary movement: A nonlinear conrol-systems approach. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 49(11), 1242-1251.
- Lee, M., Reid, S., Elliott, B., & Lloyd, D. (2009). Running biomechanics and lower limb strength associated with prior hamstring injury. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise, 41(10), 1942-1951. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181a55200
- Mann, R., & Hagy, J. (1980). Biomechanics of walking, running, and sprinting. The American Journal Of Sports Medicine, 8(5), 345-350.
- Medical Dictionary. (2013). Biomechanics. Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/biomechanics
- The Physics Classroom, (2012-a). Newtons first law of motion. Retrieved from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l1a.cfm
- The Physics Classroom, (2012-b). Newtons second law of motion. Retrieved from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l3a.cfm
- The Physics Classroom, (2012-c). Newtons third law of motion. Retrieved from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm Schache, A., Kim, | https://studymoose.com/biomechanics-of-sprinting-essay |
Analyses of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), genomic loci that contribute to variation in genetic expression levels, are essential to understanding the mechanisms of human disease. These studies identify regulators of gene expression as either cis-acting factors that regulate nearby genes, or trans-acting factors that affect unlinked genes through various functions. Traditional eQTL studies treat expression as a quantitative trait and associate it with genetic variation. This approach has identified many loci involved in the genetic regulation of common, complex diseases.
Standard eQTL methods are limited in power and accuracy by several phenomena common to genomic datasets. First, the correlation structure of genetic variation in the genome, known as linkage disequilibrium (LD), limits the ability of these methods to differentiate between the regulatory variant and neighboring variants that are in LD. Second, like other quantitative traits, the total expression of a gene is influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. The effect size for any given variant is therefore small, and standard methods require a large sample size to identify the effect.
Our forthcoming paper in Genetics presents a new method that improves the accuracy and computational power of eQTL mapping with incorporation of allele specific expression (ASE) analysis. Our novel method uses genome sequencing, alongside measurements of ASE from RNA-seq data, to identify cis-acting regulatory variants.
In standard eQTLs studies, the analysis of ASE is influenced by LD structure and the amount of allelic heterogeneity present in the genome. Individual effects appear weak since the effect of a variant is modest when compared to the variance of total expression. In our approach, the genotypes of each single individual with ASE provides information useful to determining variants causal for the observed ASE. Our approach actually leverages the relationship between LD and variant identification to map the variants affecting expression. Thus, analysis of ASE is advantageous over analysis of total expression levels, the standard approach to eQTL mapping.
We demonstrate the utility of our method by analyzing RNA-seq data from 77 unrelated northern and western European individuals (CEU). To map each gene, we simultaneously compare ASE measurements across a set of sequenced individuals. We then identify genetic variants that are in proximity to those genes and capable of explaining observed patterns of ASE. Here, we characterize the efficacy of this method as the ratio termed “reduction rate” and denoted as the ratio between the number of candidate regulatory SNPs to the total number of SNPs in the proximal region of the gene.
When applied to the CEU dataset, our method reduced the set of candidate SNPs from ten to two (a reduction rate of 80%). Allowing for one error increases the number of candidate SNPs to five and decreases the reduction rate to 50%. We also observe that the relationship between LD and variant identification has a different quality in ASE mapping when compared to eQTL studies, and produces different types of information useful to eQTL mapping studies.
ASE studies are a powerful approach to identifying associations between genetic variation and gene expression. Accurate measurement of ASE can identify cis-acting regulatory variants associated with common diseases. Our novel method for ASE mapping is based on a robust and computationally efficient non-parametric approach, and we hope it advances our understanding of functional risk alleles and facilitates development of new hypotheses for the causes and treatment of common diseases.
This project used software developed by Jennifer Zou, which is available for download at: http://genetics.cs.ucla.edu/ase/
This project was led by Eun Yong Kang and involved Serghei Mangul, Buhm Han, and Sagiv Shifman. The article is available at: http://www.genetics.org/content/204/3/1057
The full citation to our paper is:
Discovering SNPs Regulating Human Gene Expression Using Allele Specific Expression from RNA-Seq Data. Journal Article
In: Genetics, 2016, ISSN: 1943-2631. | https://zarlab.cs.ucla.edu/discovering-snps-regulating-human-gene-expression-using-allele-specific-expression-from-rna-seq-data/?shared=email&msg=fail |
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For Kirzner discovery and the action which follows hinge on an assumed capacity by entrepreneurs to interpret the current situation and to formulate a view of the future they imagine will entail profits for them. If the actions of entrepreneurs are to be characterized as equilibrating, it must be presumed that they have learned something about the environment that presents a genuine opportunity for arbitrage profits; that is, entrepreneurs have become aware of some existing exploitable configuration in prices. In Kirzner's theory, it is in the course of their market experience that entrepreneurs will have acquired relevant knowledge that enables them to uncover or detect discrepancies in the prevailing market data and which thereupon provides them with the opportunity to earn profits (1973, p. 71). Economic analysis enters the picture at the moment of alertness, and it is the sequence of subsequent actions that such alertness sets into motion that instantiates the Kirznerian market process. Once that process is underway, Kirzner holds that decisions made by market participants will be based on knowledge they will learn in the course of their market activity. In Kirzner's words: "decision-makers' alertness to new possibly worthwhile ends and newly available means" suggests that decisions may be understood as the result of a sequential "learning process generated by the unfolding experience of the decisions themselves" (p. 36). As noted earlier, in the course of the market adjustment process all market participants in Kirzner's theory gradually form more correct estimates of others' plans through the adjustment of prices made possible by the activity of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial discovery and the subsequent activity it sustains set in motion a market process that is coordinating: individuals' plans will more closely dovetail because entrepreneurial activity has induced, as a byproduct of its actions, the dissemination of knowledge and the elimination of error (see Kirzner, 1992, pp. 149-151).
Kirzner argues that economics studies only the implications of alertness. At the same time, Kirzner holds that the process is driven by learning - discovery - and by the mechanisms through which those discoveries are dispersed within the market domain. Learning is central to this process because it opens up the possibility for the systematic removal of error and hence legitimating the possibility for the process to be coordinating. Kirzner's theory, with the pivotal role that learning plays, provides a non-Walrasian model of market adjustment based on the capacity of purposeful agents to adapt their behaviors in response to perceived opportunities. If we are to maintain, along with Kirzner, that the process is in some sense non-random, we must suppose that learning is also systematic (or at least sufficiently so) if it is to generate a process that itself is systematic or, in Kirzner's theory, equilibrating.
But what does discovery and learning refer to in a market setting? Even if we are content to postulate the entirely sensible notion that learning occurs, that does not on its own tell us the learning capacities of agents in terms of what (if anything) is being learned and what learning depends upon. Such questions go to the core of subjectivism and its theory of agency and hence carry implications for theories that purport to describe the market process. Boland (1982, Chap. 4) points out that the way agents are modeled implicitly commits those agents to some position concerning how they epistemically cope in their environments. In this view, how a model works and the implications it sustains are not independent of the implicit theory of learning its agents are presumed to follow. We can imagine, for example, models generating results very different from each other depending on assumptions regarding the capacity of agents to learn or the role of knowledge and learning in the very specification of the model. Thus, Keynes's bear speculators are assumed to have little capacity to learn in the sense of revising what they take individually to be the "safe" rate of interest. On the other hand, agents in perfect foresight models face no apparent constraints on what they can learn and consequently such models effectively devolve into models in which knowledge and learning have no role to play, as in standard Walrasian models of static competitive equilibrium.
Complicating matters, Boland also argues that different theories of learning and knowledge are not on scientific grounds equally plausible or correct. Some, he holds, are more correct than others. This suggests that the specific epistemic practices of agents are relevant to how we depict the market process.6 Entrepreneurs who only look to tea-leaves for guidance would presumably generate market sequences different from entrepreneurs following more reliable and grounded approaches. The point here is not directed at subjecting Kirzner's (or anyone else's) implicit epistemics to the pointless exercise of prescriptivist methodology, but, instead, to suggest that what one means by learning matters because different conceptions of learning help to shape our theoretical models of the market process. This is not a question of getting the "right" theory of learning in hand as the more modest aim of simply developing and making more explicit what one means by an agent and its capacities.
In Kirzner's theory, entrepreneurial alertness and learning are confined to the costless discovery of existing price differentials between input and output prices. But if we wish to understand more fully how and why entrepreneurial activity is equilibrating (and the circumstances under which it is likely not to be), we cannot presume the result, viz., some sort of generic learning will inexorably occur, that we are seeking to demonstrate. It would be useful, in other words, to make more explicit what is meant by "alertness" and what it means to claim that entrepreneurs "learn."
This question and its ramifications for Kirznerian entrepreneurship have recently been explored by several Austrian economists. Among the more noteworthy are those by David Harper (1996) and Young Bach Choi (1993). Harper's approach, which presents a "cognitive-logical perspective on the rationality of the entrepreneur, on entrepreneurial learning and on the character of the market process" (p. 31), uses a Popperian-inspired application of conjectures and refutations to model entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs formulate and put into motion plans based on theories - conjectures - they expect will result in profits. Their actions can be understood as guided by various methodological principles that they choose to deploy depending on their problem situation and that allow them to learn from their market experiences in order to correct and modify plans and to generate new conjectures. In Harper's treatment, entrepreneurial learning is thus endogenized. Within this "growth of knowledge" framework, entrepreneurial activity constitutes the principal mechanism for falsifying theories about entrepreneurs' "structural knowledge" pertaining to ends and means and eliminating those that do not survive market tests. Harper's treatment provides a rational reconstruction of the methodological procedures guiding the actions of entrepreneurs and the implications of those procedures concerning entrepreneurial learning. Appropriately, Harper refers to the market process as a "learning mechanism" (p. 290).
Choi's central concern is the relationship between perceptions (and their acquisition) and decision making and action under uncertainty. His principal claim is that individuals cope with uncertainty by searching for and adopting "paradigms" or models that provide an understanding (or perception) of their surroundings and the necessary confidence to pursue various actions. Interactions among paradigm-seeking individuals at the social level tend to generate regimes of conventions that guide behavior. At the same time, however, the very stability of conventions promotes endogenous change in the form of opportunities for profit which go unnoticed and remain unexploited by convention-following individuals. This provides a window of discovery and for action by entrepreneurs with new or different paradigms which allow them to see the situation differently from others. Entrepreneurial learning, "the process by which we come to acquire paradigms," provides the impetus for innovation and its acceptance as "commonplace knowledge in society" (Choi, 1999, p. 72). In this way, entrepreneurial discovery of profitable opportunities promotes a process of social learning by which innovations become installed, at least temporarily, as new conventions.
Other work by Butos and Koppl (1999) looks at Kirzner's entrepreneurial theory from a perspective based on a Hayekian theory of expectations. They principally use Hayek's The Sensory Order to examine the meaning of subjectivism from an epistemological and methodological standpoint and, in so doing, provide an account of how market participants learn in the course of their market activities.7 This forms the basis for a theory of "Hayekian expectations" that they deploy to give to an account of how market participants come to know relevant aspects (or what Harper calls "structural knowledge") of the field of action.
These approaches constitute, however, only a partial rendering of the implications that a theory of learning (Hayekian or otherwise) holds for Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurship. The second part of the story involves the recognition that any genuine theory of learning must treat not only the discovery of existing knowledge, but also the generation of knowledge. The theories and conjectures agents formulate in pursuing their objectives may be described as deriving from internal models that process and transform signals into expectations (and behavioral response modes) via complex cognitive processes and multi-layered adaptive feedback mechanisms. These models serve as "production systems" by which agents generate interpretations - knowledge - of their environment. This was only hinted at in Butos and Koppl (1999, pp. 262-263, note 19). There, learning was identified with the mechanisms that result in the individual's forming an interpretation of external reality. On Hayekian "sensory order" grounds, if what we know about external reality is actually an interpretation, then our subjective knowledge of reality has somehow been constructed by the brain.
Hayek's cognitive theory provides an explanation of how this happens.8 In Hayek's terminology, the brain produces a classification (interpretation) of external reality along any number of dimensions according to the perceived attributes the mind has constructed. In effect, Hayek's cognitive theory directs our attention toward a conception of learning in which knowledge is generated. Aside from the question of how cognitive activity works, a matter better left to cognitive specialists, what matters is that such activity produces an output that we call knowledge. It is this point that forms the principal motif of the discussion here. That is, our interest is not in the psychology of cognitive activity, but in the implications of such activity. While we often and correctly associate learning with mechanisms by which existing knowledge is acquired or grasped, as is the case for Kirznerian entrepreneurs, a Hayekian perspective reminds us that learning also includes the transformation of existing knowledge and the generation of new knowledge. This suggests that Kirznerian alertness should encompass the capacity of entrepreneurs to discover knowledge and to generate new knowledge. In this "sensory order" sense of what learning means, we can move beyond a conception of entrepreneurial activity based on discovery of existing knowledge to a more inclusive one that also highlights the generation of knowledge. What is important here is not the particular explanation that Hayek offers to account for learning, but simply the recognition that in looking at learning in this way, our attention is directed toward additional considerations that may further our understanding of the market process.9
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There were many stories in the news this week about sequencing the DNA of a boy buried in Siberia 24,000 years ago and how the boy’s DNA links early Europeans to Native Americans. None of these stories mentioned that linguists have been looking for — and may have found — the same connection. This research by linguists is new and remains controversial.
All this is fascinating, and though I’ve read a good many articles on the linguistics involved here, much of it is too technical for me to understand. Here is a less technical article on how linguists have been able to trace languages back as far as 15,000 years.
The important thing to a generalist, though, is that DNA, language, and culture always migrate together. Culture, however, is fragile and can be stamped out almost overnight, while DNA and language (except when genocide is involved) are much tougher and change slowly at statistically predictable rates.
We grieve for lost languages, though languages are tougher than cultures. We also grieve for lost cultures, as I have been grieving for lost Celtic culture. This new genetic and linguistic evidence shows that the Native American cultures and Celtic culture have common roots if you go back far enough.
It seems to be an axiom of human history that, when cultures collide, the shittiest culture tends to win, and more gentle, naive, or nature-oriented cultures tend to lose. Take a look, for example, at a cultural element that Celtic culture and many Native American cultures had in common — the belief in reincarnation. Julius Caesar, who wrote extensively about his war against the Celtic Gauls, was very interested in the military advantages of a belief in reincarnation:
“They [the Druids] wish above all to convince their pupils that souls do not perish but pass after death from one body into another, and this they see as an inducement to valor, for the dread of death is thereby negated.”
This belief in reincarnation is found all over the world, particularly in gentler cultures. In reincarnation, it is assumed that people themselves work through their foibles and destinies, over time. It is chiefly the Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which frankly I regard as inferior religions — that abhor the idea of reincarnation and prefer to let their often angry and vindictive sky god sort people out after death and reward them or punish them appropriately.
It is very hard for me to understand that many people celebrate, rather than grieve for, lost cultures. Here is a chilling quote from Theodore Roosevelt, from Hunting Expeditions of a Ranchman:
Above all, the extermination of the buffalo was the only way of solving the Indian question. As long as this large animal of the chase existed, the Indians simply could not be kept on reservations, and always had an ample supply of meat on hand to support them in the event of a war; and its disappearance was the only method of forcing them to at least partially abandon their savage mode of life. From the standpoint of humanity at large, the extermination of the buffalo has been a blessing.
A blessing for whom, and for which god? | https://acornabbey.com/blog/?p=5714 |
This year, the United Nations theme for International Literacy Day is ‘Literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond’. The theme relates to a lifelong learning perspective, and therefore focuses on youth and adults. The global pandemic has resulted in unprecedented challenges on many fronts, including youth and adult literacy. Many countries have adopted online learning in response, but marginalised people and those with disability often face challenges in accessing such platforms due to digital exclusion and other barriers.
As online platforms become increasingly popular as an alternative avenue for literacy teaching and learning, it is important to make such platforms more inclusive and accessible to all. To mark International Literacy Day, we have asked Australia Awards alumnus Sagar Prasai to share how he is contributing towards overcoming the literacy challenges faced by people with disability in Nepal.
Sagar has worked for more than a decade as an advocate for disability rights and inclusive education in Nepal. He now directs his own company, Diverse Patterns, which works to promote diversity and inclusion. In 2018, he participated in an Australia Awards Short Course on Inclusive Education at the Queensland University of Technology. With further support from an Australia Awards Alumni Disability Initiative Grant, Sagar has recently launched Learning Inclusion, an inclusive and accessible e-learning platform that provides courses designed to accommodate all users.
Due to COVID-19, virtual platforms are being increasingly used for education. What are some of the challenges people with disability can face when learning online?
“When we talk about literacy or inclusive education, we see a lot of focus on how to make physical learning spaces inclusively accessible. While this is good, there is also a need to pay attention to making digital learning platforms available and accessible to people with disability. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we teach and learn is changing—and it will continue to change. Online education systems are likely to continue to increase in importance and prevalence.
“Even though online learning opportunities are widely available, those with disability can struggle to be part of the learning ecosystem because of digital barriers.”
“For online learning to be fully accessible, it should be able to cater to the needs of users with different kinds of disabilities. Unfortunately, that is not currently the case, at least in Nepal.”
As an Australia Awards alumnus, how do you plan to overcome such challenges? How will you apply your Australian exposure and learning to achieve this?
“Through Learning Inclusion, we are trying to address the unique needs of people with disability. The platform adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 principles of digital accessibility. We have included features like easier keyboard navigation and descriptions of all graphics for those who are blind or have low vision, and have ensured that the site is compatible with screen reader technology. For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, we have also incorporated videos lectures with Nepali sign language and subtitles in Nepali and English. We currently have more than 150 active users, and half of them are people with disability.
“With an accessible and inclusive platform such as Learning Inclusion, the possibilities are endless for promoting literacy. I plan to make this platform rich with more courses so that people with disability can have equal access to these learnings. I hope that I will be able to draw on the excellent professional relationships with professors and staff at Queensland University of Technology and other community organisations that I developed through my Short Course in Australia to help me to implement my vision. I am planning to reach out to my relevant Australian networks in the hope that I can find collaboration opportunities for the universal cause of literacy and inclusive education.”
Finally, what is your key message on International Literacy Day this year?
“As we mark International Literacy Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential for all of us to further promote digital accessibility so that everyone has an equal opportunity for learning. | https://australiaawardsnepal.org/international-literacy-day-alumnus-providing-accessible-learning-opportunities-in-nepal/ |
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