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COVID-19 has made routine modern-day disruptions for businesses even more challenging, impacting everything from supply chains to business culture. However, we don’t have to accept that complexity and uncertainty is the driving force in our life. In fact, as the world recovers from this pandemic, there seems to be evidence that if managers and executives put complexity aside and pursue an organizational reboot based on simplicity alone, recovery will be quicker. Developing a culture and practicing simplicity requires intelligent leadership, but the payoff is significant. Take Apple, for example. Apple’s amazingly powerful brand was founded on Steve Jobs’ adamant commitment to design simplicity. As a result, an actionable plan aids managers in prioritizing, focusing, and cutting through the chaos. A design thinking method, termed the Simplicity Principle, is seen to be a driving element for growth in simplistic strategy. So, how do we go about achieving this level of simplicity? The following is an overview of the hexagonal model, a six-point management approach. The Hexagon model strategies are adaptable and can be used in a variety of situations, including personal success and innovative brainstorming. It is a six-part diagram that shows how to turn simplicity of purpose into performance. Alignment, transparency, participation, efficiency, productivity, and time are all factors that will need to be considered closely in the process. The hexagonal action model ‘ACCEPT’ is a fantastic method that organizations can use. Alignment, clarity, collaboration, ease, productivity, and time are all represented by the acronym ACCEPT. Ensuring you and your employees are on the same page is what alignment entails. If you aren’t, your approach to a problem is asymmetric. A leader who grasps these disparities will have a better understanding of and control over what needs to change to restore equilibrium. Clarity is a key element of the Simplicity Principle, and it applies to both the macro and micro levels. Driving engagement and excellent outcomes requires a culture of open communication and clarity. Leaders are more likely to succed if they ask themselves how clearly they feel about something and how apparent their purpose is. Collaboration and community are closely linked, particularly at work. Collaboration is an important aspect of social health or the behaviors people use to connect and collaborate. The “hard–easy effect” is a well-known form of bias in which we believe we are better at difficult tasks than we are at easy tasks. In other words, “easy” is often mistakenly regarded as less better than “hard.” Going to the first side of the hexagon action paradigm, productivity should be aligned with clarity and collaboration, which leads to improved well-being. Corporate well-being initiatives have boomed in popularity in recent years, and studies show that having a solid program in place boosts performance and productivity. Time can also be viewed through the prism of simplicity. The way people handle their time is changing tremendously. There are two types of time: time that you control and time that is controlled by others. Leaders try to keep things as simple as possible by focusing on the most important tasks first thing in the morning. And with more people working from home, determining when to stop working has become much more difficult. Complexity is unavoidable because our ability to design complex institutions has resulted in insurmountable control issues. However, we are increasingly required to break through and create new traditions, cultures, and practices. Because this is difficult in such a complicated environment, the simplicity method necessitates more leadership and not less of it.
https://thecorporatemagazine.com/developing-simplicity-in-strategy/
United Kingdom has threatened to ban anyone guilty of electoral violence ahead of the Ondo and Edo governorship elections. In a statement on Tuesday, UK embassy in Nigeria also threatened to seize overseas assets of such persons. Nigeria’s elections are usually marred with violence manifesting in thuggery and snatching of election materials, as was the situation in recent elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states. In a statement via its Twitter handle, UK said it will send observers for the upcoming elections in the two states. “As a friend and partner of Nigeria, we are closely following the lead up to the off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states scheduled for September 19 and October 10 respectively,” it said. “These elections are important, both as an essential element of effective governance within both states and an indicator of the strength of Nigeria’s democratic institutions. “We will be deploying observation missions to both Edo and Ondo elections and supporting civil society-led observation. “UK takes a strong stand against election-related violence and, just as we did in the general election in 2019, will continue to take action against individuals we identify as being responsible for violence during the elections. “This could include restrictions on their eligibility to travel to the UK, restrictions on access to UK based assets or prosecution under international law. “UK will continue to provide support and engagement as we move towards these elections. We urge INEC, Police and all other agencies involved to work together to deliver free, fair and credible elections.” It added that Catriona Laing, UK high commissioner to Nigeria, has met with leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during which she called for a hitch-free election. “The discussions focused on the need for the parties’ leaders to prevail on supporters to avoid violence before and after the elections,” the statement read. “And we welcome the Edo candidates’ signature of National Peace Committee and INEC convened peace accord.” The warning from the UK comes a day after the United States placed a visa ban on individuals who compromised recent governorship elections.
https://newsscrollngr.com/index.php/component/k2/item/22957-uk-vows-to-place-visa-ban-seize-assets-of-election-riggers-in-edo-ondo
Domestic violence is a well recognized public health problem, and court orders provide women with the opportunity to use a legal intervention to prevent future contact with an abusive partner. The effectiveness of court orders is unclear, as prior studies have been descriptive case series or of small size. The proposed cohort study will evaluate the effectiveness of court orders in preventing subsequenting violence and injury in two novel ways: (1) a comparison group of abused women who did not seek legal protection will be included and (2) medical data as well as criminal justice data and survey information will be used to evaluate outcomes. The cohort will consist of female Seattle residents with police or court domestic violence contact during 1995-1997. The subgroups will be victims who obtained a protection or no contact order, compared to victims who did not obtain either order. The outcomes of interest (recurrent violence, injury, medical care, hospitalization, and death) will be ascertained from police and court records, emergency medical service data, emergency room and hospitalization records, and death certificates. Additionally, a subset of women entering the cohort during 1997 will be surveyed on entry about socio-demographic characteristics, relationship and abuse history, details of the index violent event, and social support system. For a random sample of the 1997 women, 3-month and 12-month telephone follow-up surveys will obtain information on the frequency and type of subsequent abuse, type and severity of injury, frequency and types of violations, and enforcement of violations, self-perception of well-being, support and advocacy services. Logistic regression will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of and the characteristics of court orders and other services in preventing subsequent contact, violence, and injury, while controlling for relevant confounding variables such as abuse history. The findings will be useful to police, courts, and health care providers in making necessary changes to improve the effectiveness of such interventions.
Editor’s note: This document was initially circulated within our Party in advance of our 3rd Party Congress in April 2016 — and publicly released in September 2016. It addresses the historical and contemporary relationship between revolutionary theory and revolutionary practice, the combination of which is referred to in the communist tradition as “praxis.” The primary thesis of this document is that there has been a rupture in the ideological continuity of the people’s movements in the U.S.; namely, that Marxism and communism have fallen into disrepute. The radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s were situated in — or at least deeply influenced by — revolutionary Marxism. They understood that politics is a struggle for power. Today, on the other hand, the issue of power has been replaced by the demand for identity-based recognition and self-determination over spaces. While the word “socialism” has been popularized recently, what is needed is for the revolutionary theory of socialism to be popularized. The document discusses the origins of the break in ideological continuity and how we should address it to foster communist praxis. Introduction Marxist theory cannot sustain itself. If relegated to academia, it will lose its revolutionary vitality. Elementary Marxist conceptions, elementary in the sense that they were accepted by advanced working-class forces throughout the world for many decades, are now virtually unknown. The link or legacy of Marxist theory has been snapped, broken, and a new generation of activists and fighters are unfamiliar with the core features of the theory. According to Lenin, the success of Bolshevism was premised on two features: (1) the assimilation of Marxist theory as the “granite foundation” and (2) that the party and its cadres “went through fifteen years of practical history (1903-17) unequalled anywhere in the world in its wealth of experience.” (from “Left-Wing” Communist, an Infantile Disorder, quoted more extensively below) We cannot snap our fingers and create the varied succession of different forms of the movement, such as was experienced by the Bolsheviks during those 15 years. The stages and circumstances of struggle are created not by a vanguard organization, but by objective conditions outside of the control of any political organization. Our comrades are going through different experiences. They are learning. They are not simply involved in agitation or propaganda, but are in fact accumulating critically necessary organizational experiences and skills. But the period we have been living through inside the United States does not approximate the intensity that the Bolsheviks experienced between 1903 and 1917. Again, that is outside the control of any organization. What is in our control is our capacity to review, learn, and comprehensively understand and promote Marxist theory as it applies to the struggles that are taking place inside the United States and around the world. Many people underestimate the central significance of theory or think that the questions of theory should be left in the hands of a small number of people, but in the Leninist conception, and according to the organizational principles of Leninism, the role played by theory is central. Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolution. That is a cornerstone of Leninist strategy. Most of the intellectuals in 1903 went to the camp of the Mensheviks and reformists. Lenin’s genius included bringing revolutionary Marxist theory to the workers and educating the key worker organizers in Marxism. He stated, the struggle to assimilate revolutionary Marxist theory was a primary and not secondary task. It was a point of priority and struggle: While the Bernie Sanders campaign and, more importantly, the movement around it, have helped popularize the word “socialism,” they have not popularized socialism or Marxist theory. This is a primary task for communists in the coming period. The essence of Marxist theory Marxist theory, unlike Sanders’ program, is the doctrine for the liberation of oppressed working classes. The essence of Marxist theory, that which makes it distinctive, new and revolutionary, is that it proclaims that the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie will be replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat as the precondition for the abolition of classes and class divisions in society. This is critically important for our members to understand. Marx wrote Capital; The Communist Manifesto; Critique of Political Economy; The Poverty of Philosophy; The Critique of German Ideology; Wage, Labor and Capital; Value, Price and Profit; The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon; and many other major political, economic and sociological works. The prolific writings of Marx and his chief collaborator, Frederick Engels, constitute a body of literature without parallel. All of these works have been studied and used by the workers’ movement to educate the working class and its leaders just as much as they have been the subject of critique, ridicule and denunciation by armies of bourgeois intellectuals. Because the works of Marx and Engels are so far reaching and touch on so many subjects, there are many attempts to characterize the essence of Marxism. But it is not necessary to look any further than Karl Marx himself for this definition of the essence of what became known later as Marxism (Marx would never have described himself as a “Marxist”): This critical passage described in Marx’s own words the essence of his theory. It is noteworthy that it was Lenin himself who rescued this definition of Marxism, restoring Marxism to its revolutionary role at a time when the mainstream socialist movement in Europe had reduced Marxism to a doctrine of gradualism and social reform. It was Lenin who emphasized this passage in his pamphlet The State and Revolution. Our Party reprinted The State and Revolution in our latest book Revolution Manifesto. In addition to Lenin’s pamphlet, our book also included several key articles outlining and explaining how Lenin’s and Marx’s theory was valid and fundamental for revolutionary activists to study in the 21st century. Our book also updated Lenin’s thesis, taking into account the profound changes that have occurred in the last century (the pamphlet was written in 1917). The PSL also reprinted Lenin’s Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism in a previous book titled Imperialism in the 21st Century. We consider this, too, to be an essential feature of modern-day Marxist theory. It was a major contribution by Lenin to Marxism. Unlike the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a precursor stage to the abolition of classes, a concept fully developed by Karl Marx based on the experiences of the class struggle in Europe following the 1848-1849 bourgeois revolution that ended in defeat, Lenin’s thesis on imperialism was entirely original. Marx could not have analyzed imperialism as a global system based on monopoly, the domination of finance capital, and the complete division of the world into colonies and semi-colonies because this global system only arose following his death. We are fully justified in using the formulation of “Marxism and Leninism” because Lenin added something new to Marxism (again, in keeping with Marx’s own modesty, Lenin would have rejected any label such as “Leninism”). Lenin always made the point that his revolutionary orientation was in keeping with the teachings of orthodox Marxism. He would have described himself as a Marxist — period. But in fact it is impossible to be a Marxist who is a revolutionary socialist in the contemporary period without a full understanding of Leninism and Lenin’s contributions to Marxism as they pertain to the modern era, which is the era of monopoly capitalism, the domination of finance capital over industrial capital, militarism and endless war. Just to clarify: It is critically important for our Party as a Leninist organization to have a complete understanding of just what Leninism is, but this does not mean that we should only study and review the writings of Lenin. There are hundreds of other revolutionary leaders and thinkers whose works have made contributions to Marxist theory. Bernie Sanders’ program and the program of social democracy, non-Marxist anti-capitalist radicalism and anarchism do not constitute any sort of fundamental challenge to the domination of society by the imperialist ruling-class cliques, nor do they constitute a threat to the monstrous domination over society by the capitalist state. State power has become thoroughly connected to the hold on power by the capitalists. The centrality of state power is observable in all features of modern capitalist society. It was the bourgeoisie’s domination over state power that made it possible for it to utilize the government to save the largest sectors of finance capital. Likewise, it is state power that allows U.S.-owned transnational corporations to have a favored position throughout the globe. It is state power that provides the military infrastructure for U.S. economic intervention in most countries of the world. It is state power that protects U.S. capitalists in their interactions with the rest of the capitalist world vis-à-vis so-called trade pacts like NAFTA, KorUS FTA, TPP, CAFTA and others. It is state power that allows the bourgeoisie to suppress, repress and control the working class on the job, and in working-class and oppressed communities. The role of state power and socialism In The Communist Manifesto Marx writes about the state power: “The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” Later in The Manifesto, he states: As we can see, The Communist Manifesto introduces the idea of the working class taking political power or state power and using the state to begin the gradual implementation of socialist measures, but it is not explicit as to how this political supremacy is to be achieved. As Lenin points out in The State and Revolution, it was only later — after the experiences of the defeat of the 1848-1849 revolution and, even more importantly, the rise of the Paris Commune and its eventually defeat in 1871 — that the question was answered for Marx and Engels. The existing state power under the leadership of communists or revolutionary socialists could not be utilized as the vehicle for the socialist reorganization of society. The state power had to be smashed and a new state, a workers’ state, had to be constructed. The old powers of society — the bourgeois-led army; the existing police forces; the judges, courts and prisons; and parts of the old bureaucratic government apparatus — had to be smashed and replaced with a new working-class-led army, police and courts. Again, there can be no revolution without a revolutionary theory. Marxism is that theory. It is not a plaything for bourgeois intellectuals. Marxist theory is a guide to action. Its application becomes a compass as the struggle for liberation enters into different stages. The Marxist theory on the state, that part of Marxism that is rejected by social democracy, is foundational for the success of the socialist project. For example, we can see from the recent political experience in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, that the inability to smash the old state power, expropriate the expropriators and create a completely new state power, means that the revolutionary process is especially vulnerable to destabilization by the old capitalist elites, the affluent classes who work hand-in-glove with world imperialism to destroy a socialist project. For the PSL or any revolutionary socialist organization to succeed, it must have a politically correct assessment of new developments and be able to utilize flexibility and suppleness in tactics, but it must rest on the foundation of Marxist theory. Flexibility and suppleness in tactics allows us to intervene in mass movements or mass actions. That is necessary, but if we approach this work simply as activists without promoting the distinctive revolutionary theory of Marxism, it would not advance the movement much at all. Our approach to the Sanders campaign or to the new acceptance of “socialism” means that we can talk to a broader part of the population, and the starting point for those conversations have to be where the people are now, not where we hope they will be later. But if we uncritically become absorbed inside of mass work without promoting Marxist theory, we will have failed to do the job of a revolutionary socialist party. The exciting part of the Bernie Sanders campaign is the mass revitalization of agitation against the capitalist bankers and the space created to talk about what socialism is. It is completely natural that when masses of people awaken to political activity they at first gravitate to the organizational forms that are the easiest or what might be called the path of least resistance. A bourgeois election campaign is a familiar path. It is legal, considered legitimate and a revered aspect of bourgeois democracy. It is legitimate in a bourgeois sense and it is safe — no one will be arrested, beaten up or fired from their job because they are supporting a candidate in a Democratic Party presidential campaign. That is what we mean by the path of least resistance. It is the height of foolishness for revolutionaries to condemn or criticize the masses of people for participating in or taking a path of least resistance when they first enter the political arena. More complicated, difficult and revolutionary organizations become an option for masses of people only when the easier paths seem to end up leading nowhere or when they are forcibly closed down because of bourgeois repression. The PSL’s task in the coming period is twofold: to widely and popularly promote the basic ideas of socialism, to engage in socialist agitation that is aimed at the masses of people, and to make that work a priority; and to establish the Marxist and Leninist pole within the broader revival of socialism. The second task means we must emphasize the role of revolutionary theory, to study and learn ourselves, and to engage in communist propaganda. By propaganda we mean presenting a broader range of Marxist ideas aimed at a smaller subset of the population. In contrast, when we speak of agitation, we are referring to promoting one or two ideas aiming at an audience of millions of people. Popular definition of socialism It is now possible to discuss socialism in the public arena, but the term itself lacks meaning. Sanders’ definition of socialism is nothing more than social democracy, which, again, would be a very big step forward for the working class at home, but would not alter in any way, shape or form the imperialist character of the United States of America. But social democracy is not socialism. It is a variant form of capitalist rule. We propose this as a popular definition of socialism: Socialism is a society where political and economic power is in the hands of the working class and the oppressed. Socialism is a society where the basic needs of the population and the planet are planned for and guaranteed. This definition raises the issue of power. It does not talk about revolution or the tasks of revolutionaries in relationship to the state power. It does not say “smash the state” and “replace it with a workers’ state.” This definition, however limited it is, presents a very good formula for popularization of revolutionary socialist theory. To have political and economic power in the hands of the working class implies that that power must be removed from the hands of the capitalist class. The second part of the formulation that the “basic needs of the population and the planet are planned for and guaranteed” is also sufficient at this stage for our agitation and popularization of socialism. It is a must, as a matter of political and organizational priority, to do everything within our means, using the available media, social media platforms and one-on-one outreach, to bring this popular definition of socialism into all of our work and into the work that we do within popular movements, mass organizations and to the general public. Absent a concerted effort to agitate around this definition of socialism, the non-revolutionary and social democratic socialists will be the ones to define socialism. Their definitions lead nowhere. It is just a warmed-over version of liberalism and wishful thinking. This definition also puts the field of battle into the framework of the class struggle. Without the working class taking political and economic power, which of course is the high point of the class struggle, nothing else is really possible. Formal legal rights for oppressed peoples and for the working class generally have hit a brick wall in this latest stage of neo-liberal monopoly capitalism. Legal democratic rights within the framework of this social and economic order in its current phase cannot lead to meaningful reforms or forward progress; in fact, they typically lead to reversals. For instance, the centrality of the Black liberation movement within the U.S. class struggle is a constant even when the movement for Black liberation has entered an ebb stage. U.S. capitalism was constructed on the basis of the enslavement of African peoples and sunk its roots throughout the entire continent based on the genocide and dispossession from the land of Native peoples. With the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, formal legal rights for African American people became enshrined into law. That took more than 350 years since the nascent North American capitalist class took shape as a slave-owning class. It came an entire century after the Reconstruction Amendments following the Civil War legally established the citizenship of Black people. African people in North America, who as a consequence of their distinctive and special oppression within American capitalism, eventually emerged as a distinct and oppressed nation located within the geographic confines of the U.S. republic. The Black liberation movement has in many ways been the most consistent and driving force in the U.S. class struggle. Like all struggles, it has gone through up and down periods, but in every period of advancing struggle, the Black liberation movement has become the magnet and vanguard for all other struggles. Because it is at once a movement for national liberation, a movement against racism and an integral part of the U.S. class struggle, it will require the “taking of political and economic power in the hands of the working class and oppressed” for there to be the realization of Black liberation. Likewise, women in the 20th century achieved formal, legal rights. Women won the right to vote and changed their status from that of being the property of men. But aside from those victories, the status of women in many ways has been under attack and reversed in many areas. Fighting for Marxism vs. post-modernist identity politics: What is the core difference? For the agitation around this definition of socialism to become popular, we have to be able to use very basic information to show how power in society is concentrated in the hands of the ruling-class capitalists. The courts are dominated by judges who are corporate lawyers and prosecutors. There are no workers in the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate. The decision to close factories, stores and other enterprises is completely in the hands of the capitalists. The two political parties that dominate politics are ruling-class parties dominated by big money. The issue of power is never really discussed. It is just assumed that power is as it should be and that the working-class and oppressed sectors of society have to holler and scream around the edges hoping that the rich and powerful will do “something good” or “something not so bad” as they make the decisions about everything having to do with politics and the economy. For this definition to become accepted and understood requires endless intervention, explanation and repetition. We have to write about it. We have to study it. We have to have persuasive agitation in regard to the issue about power and who has it. The question of having power is a distinctive outlook of Marxism in contrast to other progressive and radical political trends, tendencies and factions. The PSL should be understood as an organized effort to maintain the Marxist and Leninist theoretical and political/organizational continuity that has been broken in the broader movements for social change. Before this two-generation-long break, the vanguard of the Black liberation movement was an essentially communist movement and a vanguard force not only for the Black struggle but for all the other struggles as well. For the 35 years between 1980 and today, the ruling class moved dramatically to the right, and carried out neo-liberal assaults against the working class and the Black, Latino, Native and other oppressed communities. In the absence of a robust communist-led Black liberation movement, and with the parallel destruction of the worldwide communist movement following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc nations (1988-1991), communism and socialism were essentially disintegrated as an intellectual and political force. Under these circumstances, post-modernist identity politics became a substitute intellectual trend for Marxism in the United States and in several western countries while right-wing Islamic parties filled that intellectual space in many of the Middle Eastern countries that suffered not only from the destruction of communist parties but the imperialist-led attacks against the social democratic regimes in Iraq, Libya and Syria. Post-modernist identity-politics-based constructs do not put the issue of power — that is, the taking of economic and political power from the ruling class and concentrating that power in the working-class and oppressed people — as a pressing issue. In fact, the issue of power is replaced by the demand for identity-based recognition and self-determination over spaces rather than the taking of power for the purposes of reorganizing society to have a “society where the basic needs of the population and the planet are planned for and guaranteed.” Marxism (and certainly revolutionary Marxism) has existed since its inception as a polemic, an argument, against other political trends and currents. The core theory of Marxism is in complete contrast to the underlying assumptions of post-modernist identity politics. The contrast between Marxism and post-modernist identity politics is not about the issue of identity per se or the importance of identity in society. Marxism does not say, for instance, as it has been caricatured, that class is always more important than other forms of oppression. That is not true at all. That is a vulgarization of Marxism. The core point that distinguishes Marxism is that it articulates the concept that the only way towards the liberation of oppressed classes and oppressed people is to take the power away from the capitalist ruling class so that the people, the broad majority of working people, can reshape society to meet their needs. The working class, as a class, can only end its exploitation and liberate itself from exploitation by collectivizing the means of production. The working class does not own property. It only lives by selling its labor for wages. It cannot liberate itself except through the socialization or collectivization of the banks, factories, stores and other enterprises. Nor can the scourge of endless war end by any means other than taking hold of the economic and political power of society by working people. Corporations and banks need an imperialist foreign policy. Working people want peace. Ideological continuity and our role The greatest danger to a revolutionary process is not the experience of a political downturn, such as we have experienced during the past decades. In fact, it is not uncommon at all for the working-class movement to experience periods of decline, setback and retreat. If one examines the history of the class struggle, the periods of downturn and reaction are more common than revolutionary advances. As an oppressed class, the workers — or, to be more precise, the toiling classes, which would include those in the countryside, domestic workers, and everyone involved with value production and realization — have always resisted their oppression. There have been thousands of uprisings and rebellions. With rare exception, they have ended in defeat, after which the oppressing classes repress and suppress the movement, and try to banish the ideas that fomented rebellion. Precisely because the ruling class has more power and more tools at its disposal than the oppressed classes, it is normally able to overcome and defeat the resistance from below. The working-class rebellions of 1848 and 1849 were defeated. The great hopes and aspirations of young revolutionaries were dashed. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, who wrote The Communist Manifesto on the eve of the 1848 revolution, took stock of the defeat by the end of 1849. It was then that Marx decided to retreat from practical political activity and he spent the next 15 years in the library writing his monumental thesis, Das Kapital (Capital). The next stirrings of the workers’ movement did not take place until the mid-1860s, at which time Marx re-entered practical politics and became the de facto leader of the First International. Marx and Engels always talked about their comrades, who were few in number, as “the party.” But, in fact, the movement was not strong enough to actually create a communist party. The Paris Commune of 1871 marked another high point for the workers’ movement. The working class of Paris, in the circumstances of a war with Germany and the defeat of France, felt compelled to take power in the city. The Paris Commune, too, like the revolution of 1848 and 1849, was eventually drowned in blood. Tens of thousands of workers were slaughtered as the bourgeoisie retook Paris. August 1914 marked another huge defeat. When the imperialist powers went to war against each other in Europe, the great influence of the Second International, the socialist movement, seemed to shatter. Instead of hoisting the banner “workers of the world, unite” as they had pledged to do, most of the major parties in the Second International ended up supporting their own ruling classes. Instead of solidarity, the working class — including socialists — went into the battlefield under the banner of patriotism to the fatherland and slaughtered each other. This was a catastrophe for the socialist movement. What was true in Europe was also true in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Rebellions by oppressed peasants were generally defeated time and time again. In North America also, the same phenomenon was clearly visible. Indigenous peoples resisted, but over time they were destroyed. Against all odds, enslaved African people engaged in acts of resistance, big and small, against the system. Inspired by the successful slave revolution in Haiti, revolts and rebellions of enslaved people took place inside of the United States. All of them were defeated, the leaders were executed, and their legacy and words were not only demonized but became, if expressed by others, punishable crimes. The point here is that setbacks and defeats are not uncommon. They are not the exception to the rule. On the contrary, victories of the oppressed classes are the exception. The problem that the workers’ movement faces today cannot be characterized as simply the experience of yet another defeat. The problem is different and it is greater in some ways. The problem today is that the theory of revolutionary Marxism and the entire vision of workers’ power has been discredited and isolated from the people’s struggles. The very memory of revolution has been eliminated and distorted in the minds of today’s militants. The organizational lessons from previous generations of struggle have been suppressed. If some people have criticized the idealism of the 1960s and 1970s generation — for prematurely believing that revolution was imminent — today’s problem is the opposite and far more challenging: the assumption that socialist revolution will never happen, and the masses will always be oppressed. The victory of the Russian Revolution constituted the first time in the history of the human race where the oppressed and propertyless class seized power and held onto it. That was what made the Russian Revolution so unique. Oppressed classes have always resisted, but this time they seized the power, held onto it and reorganized society on a socialist — that is, collective — basis. It was the first time that a ruling class was based on collectivized property representing the interests and needs of the majority rather than a small clique of property owners. The overthrow of the Soviet government and its impact on Marxist theory If the Soviet Union had been vanquished as a consequence, say, of the Nazi invasion of 1940, it would be remembered in history by all other workers as a glorious and inspiring effort to build a new world. But the Soviet Union was not defeated by the oppressor classes, not directly at least. It was not vanquished on the field of battle as was the Paris Commune, where the workers resisted to the last drop of blood. Because the Soviet Union was defeated and destroyed by sectors within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, because it was overthrown without a real struggle, the defeat offers no lasting legacy for inspiration. If it had been defeated in struggle, then the Soviet experiment and the communist theory that was foundational to it would be the focus of review and examination by the next generation of fighters from the oppressed classes. If it had been defeated in struggle, communism itself would not have been thoroughly discredited or discarded. But that is what happened. Not only was the Soviet government and the socialist system overthrown in the USSR and in the Eastern and Central European countries, whose social system was the creation of the Soviet Union, the entire world communist movement that had been anchored in Moscow was also dispersed almost immediately. The nature of the defeat was so thoroughly demoralizing that large-scale communist parties that did not hold power split apart, millions of people left the movement, and the oppressor classes had a field day as they cleansed the intellectual world from the now-discredited thoughts, ideas and philosophy that were the underpinnings of communism. Preserving theoretical achievements When we started the Party for Socialism and Liberation in 2004, we did so with the idea that there must be an effort to rebuild the political or ideological continuity that had been suspended following the disgraceful overthrow of the Soviet Union by elements from within the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Again, to emphasize: If the workers’ movement or the communist movement suffers a setback as a consequence of intense struggle, there will follow a period of political reaction. The movement can recover from that, as it always has, as long as the earlier lessons learned are retained as the guiding theory for the workers’ movement. In fact, there are periods that make practical advances almost impossible. As alluded to above, this was the conclusion that Marx and Engels drew after the defeat of the 1848-1849 revolution. They could not force events. They decided instead to use the period of reaction to clarify elements of communist theory that were absolutely necessary for the future advances of the movement. There was a break of continuity in terms of practical politics, but there was no break of continuity in the theoretical and ideological field. In fact, they significantly advanced communist theory during the intervening years, and when the workers movement became a truly mass movement by the end of the 19th century in Europe, the oppressed classes were able to quickly and fully assimilate, embrace and utilize Marxist theory as a guide to action. However, this embrace of Marxism as a guide to action rather than an abstract doctrine by the leaders of the socialist movement did not prevent other extreme distortions of Marxism from taking place under the misguided policies of these same leaders. When Lenin broke from the Second International and the majority of the world socialist movement in 1914, he argued that Marxism under the tutelage of the Second International leadership had been transformed from a revolutionary doctrine into a reformist creed. Retaining communist theory under the circumstances of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the world communist movement could only be done by the creation of a new communist organization. Academic writings or literary work would not be credible. The communist movement had to be rebuilt from scratch. It would require the education of a new generation of revolutionary leadership. The older left organizations had either been destroyed through splits or defections or had lost all of their vitality. To start over was in many ways the most complicated task, and we knew that this process would go through many stages.
https://www.liberationschool.org/theory-and-revolution-addressing-the-break-of-ideological-continuity/
What religion were Roman soldiers? with the Roman military fall into three basic groups: Roman Catholic, Protestant pacifist and “establishment” Protestant, primarily Lutheran. , and also Leclercq, claimed the support of Tertullian and Origen. When the Roman army started who was in the early Army? The early Roman army was based on an annual levy. The army consisted of 3,000 infantrymen and 300 cavalrymen. All of which were Equites. The Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans under the Roman state would each provide an extra 1,000 soldiers and 100 cavalrymen. Who started the first Roman army? According to Livy, Romulus (traditional reign dates: 753–717 BC) raised ten centuriae (military units of 100 men) of infantry from each of the three original “tribes” of Rome which he had founded – the Ramnes, Tities and Luceres. What did Romans believe in before Christianity? Early forms of the Roman religion were animistic in nature, believing that spirits inhabited everything around them, people included. The first citizens of Rome also believed they were watched over by the spirits of their ancestors. … They, along with the spirits, were worshipped at a temple on Capitoline Hill. Why did the Romans not like Christianity? Although it is often claimed that Christians were persecuted for their refusal to worship the emperor, general dislike for Christians likely arose from their refusal to worship the gods or take part in sacrifice, which was expected of those living in the Roman Empire. Where did early Christianity originate? How did Christianity originate and spread? Christianity began in Judea in the present-day Middle East. Jews there told prophecies about a Messiah who would remove the Romans and restore the kingdom of David. What we know about Jesus’s life and his birth around 6 B.C.E., comes from the four Gospels. Was Christianity illegal in Roman Empire? Although Christianity was now officially illegal, Tiberius still hoped this new religious sect would further his goal of pacifying the empire. As a result, he ordered Roman officials not to interfere with the new religion, a policy that lasted about 30 years until the time of Nero.
https://catholicjediacademy.com/bible/best-answer-did-early-christians-serve-in-the-roman-army.html
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/930,859 entitled “AUTOMATED NEURAL NETWORK GENERATION USING FITNESS ESTIMATION,” filed May 13, 2020, which claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/526,360 entitled “AUTOMATED NEURAL NETWORK GENERATION USING FITNESS ESTIMATION,” filed Jul. 30, 2019 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,685,286, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND Advances in machine learning have enabled computing devices to solve complex problems in many fields. For example, image analysis (e.g., face recognition), natural language processing, and many other fields have benefitted from the use of machine learning techniques. For certain types of problems, advanced computing techniques, such as genetic algorithms, can be used to generate a machine learning model, such as a neural network. In one example, a genetic algorithm applies neuroevolutionary techniques over multiple epochs to evolve candidate neural networks to model a training data set. Neural networks generally do not describe a human-understandable relationship between input data and output data. Stated another way, it is generally not clear, from a human perspective, whether or why a specific neural network would be expected to produce a reliable result. Accordingly, it can be challenging to determine whether a particular candidate neural network that is produced by the genetic algorithm is likely or unlikely to be accurate or reliable. The accuracy and/or reliability of a neural network can be summarized using a fitness value, which indicates how closely output of the neural network matches an expected output determined based on the training data set. However, determining a fitness value for each neural network during each epoch of a neuroevolutionary process is time consuming and uses significant processing resources. SUMMARY In a particular aspect, a method of generating a neural network based on a data set includes iteratively performing a set of operations until a termination condition is satisfied. The operations include generating, for each neural network of a population of neural networks, a matrix representation. The matrix representation of a particular neural network includes two or more rows of values, where each row corresponds to a set of layers of the particular neural network and each value specifies a hyperparameter of the set of layers. The operations also include providing the matrix representations as input to a relative fitness estimator that is trained to generate estimated fitness data for neural networks of the population. The estimated fitness data are based on expected fitness of neural networks predicted by the relative fitness estimator. The operations further include generating, based on the population and based on the estimated fitness data, a subsequent population of neural networks. The method also includes, based on a determination that the termination condition is satisfied, outputting data identifying one or more neural networks of a final population of neural networks as a candidate neural network based on the data set. In another particular aspect, a computing device includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the processor to iteratively perform a set of operations until a termination condition is satisfied. The operations include generating, for each neural network of a population of neural networks, a matrix representation. The matrix representation of a particular neural network includes two or more rows of values, where each row corresponds to a set of layers of the particular neural network and each value specifies a hyperparameter of the set of layers. The operations also include providing the matrix representations as input to a relative fitness estimator that is trained to generate estimated fitness data for neural networks of the population. The estimated fitness data are based on expected fitness of neural networks predicted by the relative fitness estimator. The operations further include generating, based on the population and based on the estimated fitness data, a subsequent population of neural networks. The instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to, based on a determination that the termination condition is satisfied, output data identifying one or more neural networks of a final population of neural networks as a candidate neural network. In another particular aspect, a computer-readable storage device stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to iteratively perform a set of operations until a termination condition is satisfied. The operations include generating, for each neural network of a population of neural networks, a matrix representation. The matrix representation of a particular neural network includes two or more rows of values, where each row corresponds to a set of layers of the particular neural network and each value specifies a hyperparameter of the set of layers. The operations also include providing the matrix representations as input to a relative fitness estimator that is trained to generate estimated fitness data for neural networks of the population. The estimated fitness data are based on expected fitness of neural networks predicted by the relative fitness estimator. The operations further include generating, based on the population and based on the estimated fitness data, a subsequent population of neural networks. The instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to, based on a determination that the termination condition is satisfied, output data identifying one or more neural networks of a final population of neural networks as a candidate neural network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a system that includes a data agnostic model builder to model data from a variety of data sources; FIG. 2 FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example of stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder of during training of a relative fitness estimator to estimate relative fitness of a neural network; FIG. 3 FIG. 1 FIG. 2 illustrates a particular example of stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder of during generation of a neural network using the relative fitness estimator of ; FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a particular example of a method of generating a neural network; FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a particular example of a method of generating a relative fitness estimator trained to estimate relative fitness of neural networks; and FIG. 6 illustrates a particular example of a computer system including hardware and software configured to perform automated model building operations, including generating a relative fitness estimator trained to estimate relative fitness of a neural network and generating a neural network. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure provides systems and methods to automatically generate a neural network based on a specified data set. A data-agnostic neuroevolutionary process is used to automate model building for the data set. The neuroevolutionary process uses operations modeled after natural evolutionary processes to generate the neural network, and many of the terms used to describe the neuroevolutionary process are derived from their counterparts in biological evolution. For example, the neuroevolutionary process starts with a set of neural networks referred to as a “population” of neural networks or simply a “population”. “Evolutionary processes” are performed on the members of a population in one epoch to generate a population for a subsequent epoch. The evolutionary processes performed include, for example, “mutation”, which involves changing one or more features of a neural network (or a set of neural networks referred to as a genus); “cross-over”, which involves combining features of two or more neural networks (e.g., “parent” neural networks) to form a new neural network (e.g., a “child” neural network); and “extinction”, which involves dropping one or more neural networks from the population. A fitness evaluation can be used (alone or in combination with a randomization process) to determine which neural networks of a population are to participate in an evolutionary process, which evolutionary process is used to modify a neural network, to what extent the neural network is modified, and/or other features of the evolutionary processes. “Fitness” in this context is an indication of how well a particular neural network performs its intended function. Fitness is evaluated (or calculated) by providing test data as input to the neural network and comparing an output of the neural network to an expected result. For a particular input data sample, the difference between the output of the neural network and the expected result is an error value. The fitness of the neural network is generally based on error values for multiple input data samples. Thus, calculating the fitness of one neural network in a population involves providing multiple input data samples to the neural network to determine multiple error values, and then calculating the fitness as a statistical value representative of the multiple error values. Each population of neural networks can include on the order of hundreds or thousands of neural networks. Accordingly, calculating the fitness of every neural network of a population during every epoch uses substantial computing resources (e.g., processor time, working memory, etc.). Implementations disclosed herein significantly reduce the amount of computing resources used to generate a neural network using a neuroevolutionary process by using a relative fitness estimator that is trained (using a machine learning process) to estimate the relative fitness of the neural networks of a population. In a particular implementation, the relative fitness estimator takes data representing a neural network as input and generates an estimated relative fitness value as output (without calculating error values for multiple input data samples). The estimated relative fitness value of one neural network can be compared to the estimated relative fitness values of another neural network of the population to make decisions about evolutionary processes to be performed using either or both of the neural networks. In some implementations, the relative fitness estimator compares the estimated relative fitness values of two or more neural networks to generate ranking data for the neural networks of the population. In such implementations, the ranking data is used to make decisions about evolutionary processes to be performed. In a particular implementation, the neuroevolutionary process intentionally introduces randomness in order to broaden the space of neural network features searched for a suitable neural network for a particular data set. This randomness presents a challenge to using a relative fitness estimator to estimate fitness values because the neural networks of a population have a variety of different structures and can differ in other ways as well. However, machine learning models, such as the relative fitness estimator, are generally configured to receive structured input via an input layer. Representing the various neural networks of a population to the input layer of the relative fitness estimator is challenging. Implementations disclosed herein use a grammar to generate a matrix representation for each neural network of the population. The matrix representation of a neural network includes a plurality of values arranged in a set of rows and a set of columns. Each row represents a set of one or more layers of the neural network, and each column represents a hyperparameter. The value corresponding to a particular row and a particular column encodes information about the hyperparameters of the one or more layer represented by the particular row. As an example, two or more columns of the matrix representation can correspond to structural characteristics of the one or more layers, and the values of the two or more columns can include binary or logical values indicating which of the structural characteristics is true of or present in the one or more layers. To illustrate, a particular column can have a value of one (1) indicating that the one or more layer have the structure characteristic corresponding to the particular column or can have a value of zero (0) indicating that the one or more layers do not have the structure characteristic corresponding to the particular column. The matrix representation can include one or more columns having values representing other hyperparameters, such as a number of nodes in one or more layers, an activation function of one or more nodes, etc. In some implementations, a master grammar is used to generate the matrix representations for the neuroevolutionary process. In this context, a “master grammar” refers to a grammar that enables representation of all possible combinations of features (e.g., all of the allowed features) that could be encountered during the neuroevolutionary process. In such implementations, the master grammar is independent of (e.g., agnostic with respect to) the data set used for the neuroevolutionary process. In other implementations, the neuroevolutionary process can include a search space limiting process that limits neural network structures or other hyperparameters used by the neuroevolutionary process based on the data set used by the neuroevolutionary process. In such implementations, the grammar used to generate the matrix representations can be selected based on search space limitations applied to the neuroevolutionary process. The search space limitations are based on the data set to be modeled. For example, for time series data it is common to use neural networks with one or more recurrent layer structures, such as traditional recurrent neural network (RNN) layers, long short-term memory (LSTM) layers, gated recurrent units (GRU) layers, etc. In this example, if the data set to which the neuroevolutionary process is applied includes time series data, the neuroevolutionary process may be limited such that the neural networks generated can include one or more recurrent layer structures but omit certain other layer types, such as pooling layers. In this example, the matrix representation can include data indicating whether a particular layer is an RNN layer, an LSTM layer, a GRU layer, or fully connected, and can omit data related to other layer types, such as pooling layers. In contrast, if the data set includes images, the neuroevolutionary process may be limited such that recurrent layer structures are omitted, but pooling layers can be included. 1 1 The relative fitness estimator includes or corresponds to a trained machine learning model. In a particular implementation, the trained machine learning model is a neural network configured to process sequential data to generate a result, such as a D convolutional neural network (CNN) or a neural network having one or more recurrent layers, such as one or more LSTM layers, one or more RNN layers, or one or more GRU layers. In this implementation, the rows of a matrix representation of a particular neural network of a population can be provided as input to the relative fitness estimator row-by-row in a manner that retains or corresponds to the order of arrangement of the layers in the neural network. For example, if a particular neural network includes an input layer, three hidden layers, and an output layer, the three hidden layers can be encoded, via the grammar, to generate a matrix representation of the particular neural network. In this example, each row of the matrix representation corresponds to one hidden layer of the particular neural network. The matrix representation can be provide as input to the relative fitness estimator by providing the first row (e.g., the row representing the first hidden layer) to the relative fitness estimator, then providing the second row (e.g., the row representing the second hidden layer) to the relative fitness estimator, and then providing the third row (e.g., the row representing the third hidden layer) to the relative fitness estimator. As a result of the D CNN or recurrent layer structure of the relative fitness estimator, the output generated by the relative fitness estimator is based on the values of each of the rows as well as interrelations of the layers as indicated by the order of the rows. In other implementations, the relative fitness estimator includes a machine learning model that is not configured to process sequential data to generate a result, such as a random forest or a feed-forward neural network. In such implementations, the relative fitness estimator also includes a flattening process to pre-process data representing multiple rows of the matrix representation to generate a single input vector for the machine learning model. In a particular implementation, the relative fitness estimator is trained during or as part of the neuroevolutionary process. For example, after the neuroevolutionary process generates a population of neural networks, a fitness value can be calculated for each of the neural networks (e.g., using traditional fitness calculations as described above). The fitness value for a particular neural network can be used along with the matrix representation of the particular neural network as training data to train the relative fitness estimator. Using this training data, the relative fitness estimator is trained to predict a fitness value of a neural network based on a matrix representation of the neural network. After the relative fitness estimator is trained, the relative fitness estimator can be used (rather than using traditional fitness calculations) to estimate relative fitness values for neural networks in subsequent epochs. Additionally, in some implementations, a subset of the neural networks of one or more of the subsequent epochs can be used to generate updated training data to update or refine the relative fitness estimator. As explained above, when each population includes a large number of neural networks, calculating the fitness value of each of the neural networks uses significant computing resources. Accordingly, training the relative fitness estimator to estimate the fitness of the neural networks can greatly reduce the computing resources used in subsequent epochs (e.g., after the relative fitness estimator is trained). The operations performed by the neuroevolutionary process during an epoch are based on the estimated relative fitness of the members of the population of neural networks of the epoch. For example, the relative fitness estimator can be used to evaluate candidate neural networks during each epoch. Each epoch includes a particular number of candidate neural networks produced via various evolutionary operations (e.g., crossover and mutation operations) that are performed on the candidate neural networks of a preceding epoch. The way that the evolutionary operations modify (or leave unmodified) each candidate neural network is based on the estimated relative fitness of the candidate neural network with respect to the estimated relative fitness of other candidate neural networks of the same epoch. For example, a mutation parameter of a genetic algorithm can be adjusted based on the estimated relative fitness of a particular candidate neural network. The mutation parameter affects the likelihood of a mutation operation occurring with respect to the particular candidate neural network, the extent of the mutation operation, and/or the type of the mutation operation (e.g., which hyperparameter is modified by the mutation operation). Adjusting the mutation parameter may increase a likelihood of at least one preferred neural network characteristic (alternatively referred to herein as a “trait”) being included in neural network(s) of subsequent epoch(s), decrease a likelihood of at least one disfavored neural network characteristic being included in neural network(s) of subsequent epoch(s), or both. Alternatively, or in addition, a candidate neural network with lower estimated relative fitness can become extinct and discarded from consideration such that neural networks in subsequent epochs do not inherit traits of the extinct neural network. Discarding neural networks that have lower estimated relative fitness can be used to prune an evolutionary possibility space to remove evolutionary branches that are unlikely to lead to a reliable and high-performing neural network. For example, relatively fitter members (e.g., neural networks with higher estimated relative fitness) are less likely to become extinct and are more likely to participate in mutation and/or cross-over operations. As a result, the neuroevolutionary process can converge faster on a reliable and high-performing neural network to model the data set. After the neuroevolutionary process converges on a neural network, the neural network can be output for use in analyzing another data set (or other data sets) related to the data set used to generate the neural network. For example, if the data set used to generate the neural network is time series data captured by a particular sensor coupled to a particular system, the neural network can be used to predict future sensor data values or future states of the particular system based on real-time sensor data from the particular sensor (or from similar sensors associated with other systems). Thus, the neuroevolutionary process automates creation of a software tool (e.g., a neural network) that can be used for a variety of purposes depending on the input data set used. FIG. 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 100 122 102 122 112 112 110 102 102 104 105 106 108 102 122 122 110 122 110 106 104 108 110 136 138 136 illustrates a system that includes a data agnostic model builder to model data from a variety of data sources . In , the data agnostic model builder is integrated within or executed by one or more computers . The computer(s) receive data to be modeled (e.g., a data set ) from any of a variety of data sources . illustrates three data sources , including a sensor coupled to a monitored device , a database , and a medical device . The three data sources are illustrated as examples of the variety of data sources (and corresponding data types) that can be modeled using the data agnostic model builder . In other implementations, data obtained from more data sources, fewer data sources, and/or different data sources can be modeled using the data agnostic model builder . Generally, the data set provided to the data agnostic model builder is pre-processed to some extent, such as to exclude outlier values, to select or label a particular subset of the data, to normalize values, etc. Thus, the data set is usually obtained from a memory (such as the database ) rather than from a real-time data stream as may be output from the sensor or the medical device . However, after the data set has been processed to train a neural network , data from a real-time data stream, such as a second data set , can be provided to the neural network for analysis. FIG. 1 112 114 120 120 122 114 122 116 118 114 136 136 122 In , the computer(s) include memory (e.g., one or more memory devices) and one or more processors . The processor(s) are configured, via processor-executable instructions, special purpose circuits, or a combination thereof, to perform operations of the data agnostic model builder . The memory stores data associated with the data agnostic model builder , such as grammars and parameters , each of which is described further below. Additionally, in some implementations, the memory can store the neural network (or data representing the neural network ) formed via the data agnostic model builder . 122 122 124 126 128 130 132 134 122 126 132 126 132 122 112 120 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 The data agnostic model builder in includes a plurality of functional modules, each of which can correspond to or include processor-executable instructions, special purpose circuits, or a combination thereof. In the implementation illustrated in , the functional modules of the data agnostic model builder include a data set analyzer , a model building engine , a matrix mapper , a fitness calculator , an estimator generation engine , and a relative fitness estimator . In other implementations, the data agnostic model builder includes a different set of functional modules. For example, two or more of the functional modules illustrated in can be merged into a single module. To illustrate, the model building engine and the estimator generation engine perform similar operations (e.g., generating a neural network) using different data sets and different constraints. Thus, in some implementations, the functionality described herein as associated with the model building engine and the estimator generation engine can be combined into a single functional block. In yet other implementations, a single functional block illustrated in can be divided into two or more functional blocks. Further, the data agnostic model builder can utilize functions that are provided by underlying software, such as an operating system of the computer(s) , to perform certain operations, such as obtaining data, performing basic mathematical operations, storing data, controlling parallel execution of certain functions (e.g., at different processors or different processing cores), etc. 124 110 142 122 124 116 118 The data set analyzer is configured to receive input data, such as the data set , and to determine one or more characteristics of the input data. As a specific example, a user can select or designate the input data using a graphical user interface (GUI), such as GUI . The data agnostic model builder is operable using a variety of types of input data (e.g., is data agnostic), and the data set analyzer is used to facilitate selection of appropriate grammars , parameters , or other model building settings based on the specific content of the input data. 124 110 124 136 124 The data set analyzer uses heuristics, a data classifier, or both, to determine characteristics of the input data that indicate a data type of the input data. For example, the data set could include time-series data, text, image data, other data types, or combinations thereof (e.g., time-series data with associated text labels). In some implementations, the data set analyzer also, or in the alternative, uses heuristics, the data classifier, or both, to identify a problem to be solved based on the input data, such as whether the neural network is to be configured to classify input data or to predict a future state or value. In some implementations, the data set analyzer can also, or in the alternative, determine a size of the input data, other characteristics associated with the input data, or a combination of the above. 124 126 124 126 118 118 124 126 128 The data set analyzer provides information to the model building engine based on the characteristics of the input data. For example, the data set analyzer can instruct the model building engine to use a particular subset of the parameters to generate candidate neural networks of a population. In such examples, the parameters can indicate a set of allowable hyperparameters of the candidate neural networks, ranges of allowable values of the hyperparameters, or both. Alternatively, the data set analyzer stores the information based on the characteristics of the input data at a particular memory location that is accessible to the model building engine , the matrix mapper , or both. 126 The model building engine is configured to generate an initial population of neural networks to undergo a neuroevolutionary process. The initial population is generated using a randomized process. For example, the architecture of each neural network can be randomly or pseudo-randomly selected from among a set of allowable architectures. One way to randomize generation of the initial population of neural networks is to assign a random value to a hyperparameter (or a set of hyperparameters), where the hyperparameters indicate, for example, a number of hidden layers of the neural network, an architecture of a layer or set of layers, a number of nodes in a layer or set of layers, an activation function of a node or layer, etc. In such implementations, the random values assigned to the hyperparameters specify the architecture of the neural network. 124 126 124 110 126 126 124 126 In some implementations, information provided by the data set analyzer is used to weight the randomization process used by the model building engine . For example, when the data set analyzer indicates that the data set has particular characteristics, the model building engine may favor one type of neural network architecture over another type of neural network architecture. In this example, a weighed randomization process can be used to generate the initial population, where the weighted randomization process weights the randomization process such that the more favored types of neural network architectures are more likely to be generated than less favored types of neural network architecture. In other implementations, the model building engine generates the initial population of neural networks independently of information from the data set analyzer . For example, the model building engine can generate an initial population of neural networks by randomly selecting the structure and other hyperparameters of each neural network of the population. 126 128 130 126 126 130 The model building engine provides information describing the population of neural networks to the matrix mapper , the fitness calculator , or both. Alternatively, the model building engine stores the information describing the population of neural networks at a particular memory location that is accessible to the model building engine , the fitness calculator , or both. 128 116 132 134 The matrix mapper is configured to generate a matrix representation of the neural networks based on one of the grammars . In a particular implementation, the matrix representation of each neural network includes a set of rows and a set of columns. The columns correspond to hyperparameters, and the rows correspond to hidden layers of the neural network. In some implementations, the rows are descriptive of all of the layers of the neural network. However, generally each neural network of the population includes the same input layer and the same output layer, and as a result, it is sufficient for the rows of the matrix representations to represent the hidden layers of each neural network. Representing only the hidden layers reduces the amount of memory used to store the matrix representations and reduces the processing resources used by the estimator generation engine and the relative fitness estimator as compared to representing the input and output layers along with the hidden layers in the matrix representations. 116 110 124 116 116 The set of columns used to generate the matrix representations is specified by the grammars (or grammar) used to generate the matrix representations. For example, if the data set includes time-series data, the data set analyzer can select a grammar that identifies hyperparameters describing recurrent network layer architectures, such as RNN layers, LSTM layers, and GRU layers. In such examples, the selected grammar can also identify hyperparameters typical of interconnections to input and output layers, such as fully connected layers. In other examples, more layer architectures, fewer layer architectures, or different layer architectures can be specified by a particular grammar . 128 FIG. 3 The matrix mapper generates the matrix representation of a neural network by providing a value for each row/column pair. The values can include logical (e.g., binary) values, integers, floating point values, strings, or combinations thereof, for a single row. An example of a matrix representation of a neural network is further described with reference to . 128 132 126 128 132 126 The matrix mapper provides the matrix representations to the estimator generation engine , the model building engine , or both. Alternatively, the matrix mapper stores the matrix representations at a particular memory location that is accessible to the estimator generation engine , the model building engine , or both. 130 130 126 130 126 130 The fitness calculator is configured to calculate a fitness value for one or more neural networks of a population. In a particular implementation, the fitness calculator calculates a fitness value for each neural network of an initial population of neural networks and calculates a fitness value for none of or for fewer than all of the neural networks of a subsequent population of neural networks. For example, during an initial epoch, if the model building engine generates one thousand neural networks to form an initial population, the fitness calculator calculates one thousand fitness values—one per neural network of the initial population. Continuing this example, during a subsequent epoch, the model building engine generates a subsequent population of neural networks via the neuroevolutionary process. The subsequent population generally includes the same number of neural networks as the initial epoch (although the subsequent population can include more or fewer neural networks). However, in the subsequent epoch, the fitness calculator does not calculate any fitness values, or calculates fitness values for only a small subset of the subsequent population (e.g., for 10% of the subsequent population). 122 136 As explained above, calculating fitness values is a highly resource intensive operation. By omitting fitness value calculations or reducing the number of fitness value calculations performed during the subsequent epochs, the data agnostic model builder saves processing resources and working memory, and, as a result can converge to a result (e.g., can generate the neural network ) faster and/or with reduced resource consumption than model building processes that rely exclusively on fitness value calculations. 132 130 128 134 1 132 134 The estimator generation engine uses the fitness values generated by the fitness calculator and the matrix representations generated by the matrix mapper as labeled training data to train a machine learning model that is used by the relative fitness estimator to generate estimated fitness data. The trained machine learning model includes a neural network configured to process sequential data to generate a result, such as a D CNN or a neural network having one or more recurrent layers, or the trained machine learning model includes a flattening process and a machine learning model that is not configured to process sequential data to generate a result, such as a random forest or a feed-forward neural network. The estimator generation engine trains the machine learning model by providing a matrix representation of a neural network as input to an untrained machine learning model to generate an output value. The output value is compared to the fitness value calculated for the neural network and a difference between the output value and the fitness value is used as an error value. The error value is reduced (e.g., optimized) by iteratively adjusting weights of the machine learning model using an optimization process, such as backpropagation. By modifying the weights of the machine learning model over several iterations, the machine learning model is trained in a manner that reduces the error value, which indicates that an estimated relative fitness value (or other relative fitness data) output by the relative fitness estimator is closer to the actual calculated fitness value for the neural network. 134 132 126 126 126 The relative fitness estimator is configured to use the trained machine learning model generated by the estimator generation engine to generate estimated fitness data for the neural networks of a population. The estimated fitness data can be used by the model building engine to control the neuroevolutionary process. To illustrate, in some implementations, the model building engine uses the estimated fitness data to select neural networks to undergo mutation, cross-over, or both. The model building engine can also, or in the alternative, use the estimated fitness data to select neural networks for extinction. 130 134 134 134 During each epoch of the neuroevolutionary process, it is desirable for the population (or at least some members of the population) to be improved (e.g., to become more fit). This goal is generally achieved by retaining, mutating, and/or breeding fitter neural networks, and by avoiding breeding of or discarding less fit neural networks. Calculated fitness values from the fitness calculator can be used to rank the neural networks of a population in order to achieve this goal. However, it is not critical to achieving the goal that the fitness values exactly matches the calculated fitness value. Rather, it is sufficient for estimated fitness data to be used to sort or rank the neural networks into those that are likely to have higher fitness values relative to those that are likely to have lower fitness values. Thus, the output of the relative fitness estimator need not be numerically identical to (or even similar to) the calculated fitness value as long as the output of the relative fitness estimator tends to trend with the calculated fitness value. In some implementations, the estimated fitness data generated by the relative fitness estimator can include an estimated fitness value for each neural network, a ranking value indicating an approximate fitness rank of the neural network with respect to one or more other neural networks, or both. 134 122 136 110 Generating estimated fitness data for a particular candidate neural network during a particular epoch using the relative fitness estimator uses significantly fewer computing resources (e.g., working memory and processor time) than calculating the fitness value for the candidate neural network. Further, a similar savings of computing resources can be achieved for every epoch after the initial epoch. Accordingly, the data agnostic model builder can generate the neural network to model the data set much faster and with lower computing resource utilization than techniques that rely on calculated fitness values. 122 136 112 136 144 138 102 110 122 136 110 138 110 136 110 138 110 122 136 110 138 110 138 136 138 After the data agnostic model builder generates the neural network , the computer(s) can use the neural network to generate output based on similar data (e.g., second data set ) from the data sources . For example, the data set can include historical data (and in some instances, data from multiple sources, such sensor readings from multiple sensors), and the data agnostic model builder can generate a model (e.g., the neural network ) based on the data set to predict a future data value based on the second data set . To illustrate, the data set can include vibration readings from a sensor coupled to a rotary device (e.g., a wind turbine), and the neural network can be trained (based on the data set ) to estimate, based on the second data set , how long it will be until a future vibration reading exceeds a threshold. In another example, the data set can include historical data with labeled states (and in some instances, data from multiple sources, such as medical data from multiple patients), and the data agnostic model builder can generate a model (e.g., the neural network ) based on the data set to assign a state label based on the second data set . To illustrate, the data set can include labeled historical medical data for a set of patients, some of which have been diagnosed with a particular type of cancer as indicated by a data label and some of which are cancer free as indicated by a second data label. In this illustration, the second data set can include medical data for a new patient, and the neural network can be trained to assign a predicted label (e.g., cancer-free or not cancer-free) to the new patient based on the second data set . 112 144 142 136 138 144 140 138 The computer(s) can provide output via the GUI to indicate the output of the neural network based on the second data set . For example, the output can be presented via a display device to a user to assist the user in taking appropriate action based on the second data set . 136 150 112 136 110 150 154 152 102 136 154 160 144 160 158 156 154 152 102 152 102 110 In some implementations, the neural network can also, or in the alternative, be provided to one or more second computer(s) for use. As an example, the computer(s) can generate the neural network based on the data set , and the second computer(s) can receive a third data set from one or more other data sources (e.g., data sources distinct from the data sources ) and use the neural network to analyze the third data set to generate output . As with the output , the output can be displayed via a GUI on a display device to notify a user or help the user take appropriate action based on the third data set . In this example, the other data sources are distinct from the data sources ; however, the other data sources of the same type or a similar type as the data source that generated the data set . 122 112 112 136 110 136 138 154 In this manner, the data agnostic model builder improve the functionality of the computer(s) by enabling the computer(s) to generate a neural network (e.g., the neural network ) to model a data set in a manner that uses significantly fewer computing resources (e.g., working memory, processor time, etc.) than neural network generation processes that calculate the fitness of candidate neural networks for multiple epochs. The neural network itself is software or data representing parameters (e.g., weights and hyperparameters) that can be executed to analyze other data sets, such as the second data set , the third data set , or both. FIG. 2 FIG. 1 FIG. 2 200 134 124 110 110 110 124 110 124 110 110 124 illustrates a particular example of stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder of during training of the relative fitness estimator to estimate relative fitness of a neural network. In , the data set analyzer obtains (e.g., receives or accesses) the data set . For example, the data set can be specified by a user, such as by selecting the data set using a file system browser or another graphical user interface. The data set analyzer determines characteristics of the data set . For example, the data set analyzer can determine a type or types of data within the data set , such as whether the data set includes text data, image data, audio data, integers, floating point values, binary data (e.g., executable code), etc. The data set analyzer can also determine whether a discernable inter-relation exists among the data, such as whether two or more data elements correspond to a time series of values. 124 118 126 110 118 126 118 110 126 110 124 110 126 110 The data set analyzer provides parameters to the model building engine based on the analysis of the data set . The parameters specify settings or other control inputs that control operation of the model building engine . For example, the parameters can identify which column of data of the data set corresponds to a data label. In this example, the model building engine attempts to form a neural network that uses other data from the data set as input data and generates an output that corresponds to a data label from the identified column. As another example, the data set analyzer can identify a particular column of data of the data set as a target to be predicted. In this example, the model building engine attempts to form a neural network that uses other data from the data set as input data and generates a predicted value of the identified column. 118 124 110 126 118 126 204 202 202 118 The parameters can also indicate limits or weights to be applied during the neuroevolutionary process. In some implementations, the data set analyzer selects, based on one or more characteristics of the data set , one or more architectural parameters or other hyperparameters of an automated model generation process of the model building engine . For example, the parameters can indicate or correspond to weights that are applied by the model building engine to generate an initial population of neural networks via a weighted randomization process . In this example, the weighted randomization process determines the architecture (and other hyperparameters) of each neural network of the initial population based in part on the parameters . 124 110 118 202 204 126 204 To illustrate, if the data set analyzer determines that the data set includes time series data, the parameters can indicate that the weighted randomization process should favor the randomized production of neural networks that have recurrent structures, should disfavor the randomized production of neural networks that do not have recurrent structures, or both. In this illustrative example, the initial population would likely include more neural networks with recurrent structures than non-recurrent neural networks (though some non-recurrent neural networks may be present since the model building engine randomizes the operation of forming the initial population ). 124 110 116 116 116 128 124 124 116 116 128 The data set analyzer also compares the characteristic(s) of the data set to a set of rules that map the characteristic(s) to one or more of the grammars . Each of the grammars indicates corresponding architectural parameters and/or other hyperparameters. The grammars indicate how the matrix mapper is to generate a matrix representation of a neural network. For example, a particular grammar indicates which hyperparameter is represented by each column of a matrix representations. The hyperparameters include one or more of an interconnection scheme associated with a set of layers, an activation function associated with at least one node of the set of layers, a number of nodes of the set of layers, other architectural parameters or hyperparameters, or a combination thereof. In a particular implementation, the data set analyzer selects a single grammar (or a set of grammars) for generating matrix representations of all of the neural networks generated by the neuroevolutionary process. The data set analyzer outputs the grammar(s) or data identifying the grammar(s) for use by the matrix mapper . 126 204 126 202 204 202 118 118 202 118 The model building engine performs an automated model generation process to generate the initial population of neural networks. For example, the model building engine uses the weighted randomization process to generate the initial population . The weighted randomization process adjusts the probability of generation of neural networks having particular features based on the parameters . For example, the parameters can include architectural parameter weights that are used to adjust the probability of generation of neural networks having various architectural features. The weighted randomization process can also adjust the probability of generation of neural networks having other hyperparameters based on the parameters . 128 116 206 204 206 116 206 The matrix mapper uses the grammar(s) to generate matrix representations of the neural networks of the initial population . Each of the matrix representations includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows. Each of the columns corresponds to a hyperparameter indicated by the grammar(s) , and each of the rows correspond to one or more layers of the corresponding neural network. A value corresponding to a column/row pair indicates information related to the hyperparameter for the one or more layers. For example, the value can indicate whether the hyperparameter is TRUE (e.g., is present in) for the one or more layers. To illustrate, the matrix representations can include two or more columns corresponding to activation functions. In this illustrative example, if a particular layer of a neural network uses a particular activation function, the row of the matrix representation corresponding to the particular layer includes a value indicating TRUE (e.g., a one (1)) in the column corresponding to the particular activation function. Likewise, the row of the matrix representation corresponding to the particular layer can also include values indicating FALSE (e.g., a zero (0)) in the column or columns corresponding to the other activation functions. In some implementations, one or more of the columns can include information other than presence or absence of the corresponding hyperparameter in one or more layers of the neural network. To illustrate, a particular column can include an integer value indicating a number of nodes of the corresponding layer(s). 204 206 In some implementations, each of the neural networks of the initial population and of each subsequent population (e.g., during later epochs) includes the same input layer and the same output layer. In such implementations, the matrix representations describe only the hidden layers of each neural network. For example, two or more rows of the matrix representation of a particular neural network correspond to hidden layers of the particular neural network. 130 208 204 204 110 130 110 130 130 130 130 The fitness calculator calculates fitness values for the neural networks of the initial population . Each fitness value is based on an error value generated based on output of a respective neural network of the initial population , where the error value indicates a difference between one or more values of the data set and the output of the respective neural network. As a specific example, the fitness calculator selects a subset of the data set for use as validation data (also referred to herein as test data). In this example, the fitness calculator provides one or more data entries of the validation data as input to a neural network compares an output generated by the neural network to an expected value (indicated in the one or more data entries). The fitness calculator calculates an error value of the neural network for the one or more data entries based on the difference between the output generated by the neural network and the expected value. The fitness calculator repeats the process above to determine a set of error values based on data entries of the validation data. The fitness calculator calculates a fitness value for the neural network based on the set of error values. 200 210 206 208 212 210 208 206 212 In the example , a training data generator combines the matrix representations and the fitness values to generate training data . For example, the training data generator matches the fitness value of a particular neural network with the matrix representation of the particular neural network to form a training data entry of the training data . Thus, each training data entry can be used as supervised training data including a matrix representation and a corresponding fitness value. 132 212 134 132 130 The estimator generation engine trains a machine learning model using the training data to generate the relative fitness estimator . For example, the estimator generation engine uses backpropagation or other optimization techniques to modify link weights of the machine learning model to reduce the machine learning model's error in making fitness value predictions based on matrix representations of neural networks. To illustrate, a matrix representation of a particular neural network is provided as input to the machine learning model, and the machine learning model outputs a predicted fitness value of the particular neural network. An error value is calculated based on a difference between the predicted fitness value and the fitness value for the particular neural network calculated by the fitness calculator . The link weights of the machine learning model are modified (e.g., based on stochastic gradient decent) to reduce the error value. The training process continues until the machine learning model is capable of predicting fitness values with error that is less than an error limit or until a particular number of training iterations have been performed. 134 134 206 204 204 204 204 118 122 FIG. 1 In a particular implementation, the machine learning model has a recurrent structure. In this particular example, due to the recurrent structure, the relative fitness estimator is able to receive a matrix representation of a neural network as input in a row-by-row manner without losing information about interrelationships among layers of the neural network. Because the relative fitness estimator accounts for interrelationships among layers, the matrix representation can have different numbers of rows, and the neural networks of a population can have different numbers of layers. For example, a first neural network of the initial population can have a single hidden layer, resulting in the matrix representation of the first neural network having a single row. In this example, a second neural network of the initial population can have two hidden layers, resulting in the matrix representation of the second neural network having two rows. Further, a third neural network of the initial population can have three hidden layers, resulting in the matrix representation of the third neural network having three rows. These examples are merely illustrative, and in other implementations, the neural networks of the initial population (as well as subsequent populations associated with later epochs) can have any number of hidden layers (generally bound by some upper limit indicated in the parameters or other settings associated with the data agnostic model builder of ). 134 When a matrix representation includes two or more rows, the rows are input to input layer of the relative fitness estimator one row at a time and sequentially in an order that correspond to the order of the layers in the neural network. For example, a first row corresponding to a first hidden layer is provided to the input layer, then a second row corresponding to a second hidden layer is provided to the input layer. In this example, the second hidden layer is immediately adjacent to (e.g., directly connected via one or more links with no intervening nodes) the first hidden layer in the neural network. FIG. 3 FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 122 136 134 128 302 302 204 126 302 320 126 + illustrates a particular example of stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder of during generation of the neural network using the relative fitness estimator of . The stages of operation illustrated in are performed iteratively until a termination criterion is satisfied. In , the matrix mapper obtains (e.g., receives or access from a memory) the data describing a population (labeled “Population,” in ) of neural networks. For the initial iteration of the stages of operation illustrated in , the population is the initial population generated by the model building engine of . For subsequent iterations, the population is the most recent population (labeled “Populationi,” in ) generated by the model building engine using one or more evolutionary processes, as described further below. 128 116 124 304 302 302 308 306 306 306 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 The matrix mapper uses the grammar(s) selected by the data set analyzer of , to generate matrix representations of the neural networks of the population . illustrates a non-limiting example of a matrix representation of one of the neural networks of the population . The example matrix representation of includes a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows . Each of the rows corresponds to one or more layers of the neural network, and the rows are arranged in an order corresponding to the order of the one or more layers in the neural network. For example, in , a first row (labeled Row “1”) corresponds to and represents a hidden layer of the neural network closest to the input layer (i.e., the first hidden layer of the neural network). Likewise, a third row (labeled Row “3”) corresponds to and represents a hidden layer of the neural network closest to the output layer (i.e., the last hidden layer of the neural network). A second row (labeled Row “2”) corresponds to and represents a hidden layer of the neural network that is between the first hidden layer and the last hidden layer. FIG. 3 302 304 302 302 302 306 Although three rows (representing three hidden layers of the neural network) are illustrated in , the different neural networks of the population can have more than three hidden layers or fewer than three hidden layers, and as a result, the matrix representations can include one or more matrix representations with more than three rows, and/or one or more matrix representations with fewer than three rows. For example, a first neural network of the population can have two hidden layers and can be represented by a matrix representation having two rows. In this example, a second neural network of the population can have seven hidden layers and can be represented by a matrix representation having seven rows. In this example, other neural networks of the population can include other numbers of hidden layers represented by corresponding numbers of rows. Further, in some implementations, a single row can represent more than one layer of the corresponding neural network. For example, multiple adjacent fully connected layers can be represented by a single row with a value in a column indicating how many layers the row represents. 308 116 FIG. 3 Each of the columns corresponds to a hyperparameter allowed by the grammar(s) . The first four columns in the example matrix representation illustrated in correspond to structural features, including (from left to right) a fully connected (“FC”) structure, a long short-term memory (“LSTM”) structure, a recurrent neural network (“RNN”) structure, and a gated recurrent unit (“GRU”) structure. In this example, no layer or set of layers represented by a row of the matrix representation can use more than one of the structural features. However, since the structural features include several types of recurrent structures, the structural features are defined to be mutually exclusive with respect to one another. FIG. 3 The next four columns in the example matrix representation illustrated in correspond to activation functions, including (from left to right) a rectified linear unit (“Relu”) function, an identity (“Id.”) function, a sigmoid (“Sig”) function, and a hyperbolic tangent (“Tan h”) function. In this example, no layer or set of layers represented by a row of the matrix representation can use more than one of the activation functions; thus, the activation functions are mutually exclusive with respect to one another. FIG. 3 The last column in the example matrix representation illustrated in corresponds to a number of nodes in the layer or set of layers represented by a row of the matrix representation. As explained above, in some implementations, an additional column can be used to indicate that the neural network includes two or more identical layer represented by the row. 308 304 308 308 116 304 FIG. 3 Although nine columns are illustrated in the example of , in other examples the matrix representations can include more than nine columns or fewer than nine columns . The grammar(s) indicate or specify which features are to represented by the matrix representations . Other examples of structural features that can be represented include but are not limited to: convolutional layers with varying kernel size, stride, dilation, or padding; pooling layers; multi-dimensional convolution layers; transpose layers; reflection layers; dropout layers; and/or embedding layers. FIG. 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 A value at the intersection of each row/column pair in the example matrix representation illustrated in indicates information related to the hyperparameter corresponding to the column for the one or more layers corresponding to the row. For example, for Row , a value of zero (0) is present in the FC column, which indicates that structural features associated with the FC column is not present in the one or more layers represented by Row . Thus, the one or more layers corresponding to Row are not fully connected layers. Continuing this example, a value of one (1) is present in the LSTM column of Row , which indicates that structural features associated with the LSTM column is present in the one or more layers represented by Row . Thus, the one or more layers corresponding to Row are LSTM layers. The values of Row corresponding to the other structural features are zeroes indicating that the other structural features are not present in the one or more layers represented by Row (e.g., because the structure features are defined to be mutually exclusive). 1 1 1 1 1 1 Continuing along Row , a value of zero (0) is present in the Relu column, which indicates that the one or more layers represented by Row do not use a rectified linear unit (Relu) activation function. Further, a value of one (1) is present in the Id. column of Row , which indicates that the one or more layer represented by Row use an identity (Id.) activation function. The values of Row corresponding to the other activation functions are zeroes indicating that the other activation functions are not present in the one or more layers represented by Row (e.g., because each layer or set of layers represented by a row use a single activation function). 1 1 1 116 302 1 FIG. 3 A value of eight (8) in the Nodes column of Row indicates that the one or more layers represented by the Row include eight (8) nodes. As explained above, in some implementations an additional column can be present to indicate how many layers are represented by the Row . For example, if the grammar(s) indicate that neural networks of the population can use pooling, the Row can represent a pooling structure that includes multiple pooling layers. In this example, the number of pooling layers used by the neural network represented by the example matrix representation of would be indicated in another additional column. 128 304 134 134 134 1 134 2 1 3 2 134 310 310 312 314 302 FIG. 3 After the matrix mapper generates the matrix representations , the relative fitness estimator is used to rank the neural networks based on the estimated relative fitness of each. In a particular example, the relative fitness estimator includes a trained machine learning model (e.g., a neural network or more than one neural network) having a recurrent structure. In this particular example, each matrix representation is provided as input to the relative fitness estimator in a row-by-row manner. For example, Row of the example matrix representation illustrated in is provided as input to the relative fitness estimator . Row is provided as input after Row , and Row is provided as input after Row . The relative fitness estimator generates as output estimated fitness data indicating an estimate of fitness of the neural network represented by the matrix representation. The estimated fitness data can include, for example, an estimated relative fitness value of the neural network, an estimated ranking value (relative to other neural networks of the population ) of the neural network, or both. 134 304 304 314 134 304 134 314 314 In some implementations, the relative fitness estimator is configured to receive two or more matrix representations as input, to estimate the relative fitness of the two or more neural networks corresponding to the matrix representations , and provide as output the ranking values indicating the relative ranking of the two or more neural networks. For example, the relative fitness estimator can execute two or more instances of the trained machine learning model in parallel, each using different matrix representations as input. In this example, each instance of the trained machine learning model generates output indicative of relative fitness of a corresponding neural network, and an aggregation or ranking layer of the relative fitness estimator evaluates the outputs of the instances of the trained machine learning model to generate the ranking values , where the ranking values indicate which of the two or more neural networks is expected to be fitter. 302 302 1000 1000 302 314 1000 314 302 302 314 To illustrate, the number of instances of the trained machine learning model executed in parallel can be equal to or less than the number of neural networks of the population . As a specific, non-limiting example, the population can include one thousand () neural networks, and one thousand () instances of the trained machine learning model can executed in parallel to estimate relative fitness of each of the neural networks of the population . In this example, the ranking values can indicate the relative ranking (in terms of expected fitness) of each of the neural networks, or the ranking values can identify or indicate a subset of the population that is expected to be fittest (e.g., the top 50% in terms of fitness). As another specific, non-limiting example, the neural networks of the population can be evaluated in pairs by two (2) instances of the trained machine learning model, and the ranking values for each pair can indicate which neural network of the pair is expected to be fitter. 126 316 318 126 310 118 316 302 310 316 302 310 302 314 312 320 FIG. 3 The model building engine includes an evolutionary processor and a trainer . The model building engine uses the estimated fitness data and the parameters to control operations performed by the evolutionary processor on neural networks of the population . The specific type or types of operations performed on a particular neural networks (or set of neural networks), the extent of the operations performed on a particular neural networks (or set of neural networks), or both, is at least partially based on the estimated fitness data . For example, the evolutionary processor can use a weighted randomization process to select particular neural networks for mutation and crossover operations. In this example, the likelihood of each neural network of the population being randomly selected is weighted according to the estimated fitness data . In another example, some neural networks may be removed from the population or prevented from participating in mutation or cross-over operations as a result of having a relative low ranking value. Generally, neural networks with higher ranking values or higher relative fitness values contribute more to the formation of the next population (e.g., the population in ). 302 320 320 302 302 320 318 320 318 As a result of the evolutionary operations, the population is modified to form the population . For example, the population includes new neural networks (e.g., child neural networks) that were not present in the population . Likewise, the population includes some neural networks that are not present in the population . In some implementations, the trainer is used to train at least a selected subset of the population . For example, at least the new neural networks can undergo some training (e.g., backpropagation training) via the trainer to adjust link weights of the new neural networks. FIG. 3 FIG. 3 FIG. 3 122 320 128 122 322 320 322 322 122 136 322 324 320 110 208 208 312 312 In , if another iteration of the stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder is to be performed, the population is provided to the matrix mapper to start the next iteration. The stages of operation of the data agnostic model builder include a termination check , which in is illustrated as occurring after the population is formed; however, in other implementations, the termination check can occur at other stages of operation. In some implementations, the stages of operation include multiple termination checks , which stop iteration of the data agnostic model builder and output the neural network . The termination check determines whether a termination condition is satisfied, and if the termination condition is satisfied, cause a neural network selector to select one or more neural networks from a final population (e.g., the population in ) and output data identifying one or more selected neural networks as a candidate neural network based on the data set . The termination condition can be satisfied when a number of iterations performed is equal to an iteration count threshold, when a fitness value of a particular neural network is greater than or equal to a fitness threshold, when a representative fitness value (e.g., an average of one or more fitness values ) is greater than or equal to a fitness threshold estimate, when an estimated relative fitness value of a particular neural network is greater than or equal to a relative fitness threshold, when a representative estimated relative fitness value (e.g., an average of one or more estimated relative fitness values ) is greater than or equal to a relative fitness threshold, or when another condition indicates that further iterations are not warranted. 324 122 324 314 312 208 When the termination condition is satisfied, the neural network selector selects the one or more candidate neural networks from the final population. In this context, the “final population” is the population being processed by the data agnostic model builder when a determination is made that the termination condition is satisfied. In a particular implementation, the neural network selector selects the neural network based on a section value, such as the ranking values associated with neural networks of the final population, the estimated relative fitness values associated with the neural networks of the final population, or fitness values associated with the neural networks of the final population. 324 324 122 324 208 324 130 208 208 136 324 134 310 324 310 136 324 310 208 310 130 208 136 Depending on when the determination is made that the termination condition is satisfied, the neural network selector may not have access to the selection value, in which case the neural network selector can cause another functional module of the data agnostic model builder to evaluate the neural networks of the final population to generate the selection values. For example, if the neural network selector uses the fitness values as the selection value, the neural network selector can prompt the fitness calculator to calculate fitness values for the neural networks of the final population and use the calculated fitness values to select the candidate neural network . As another example, the neural network selector can prompt the relative fitness estimator to generate estimated fitness data for the final population. In this example, the neural network selector can use the estimated fitness data to select the neural network . In some implementations, the neural network selector can use the estimated fitness data to select a subset of the final population for which fitness values are to be calculated. For example, the ten (10) highest ranked neural networks of the final population based on the estimated fitness data can be provided to the fitness calculator to calculate fitness values , which are used to select the neural network . FIG. 3 FIGS. 2 and 3 320 134 320 128 130 128 130 210 320 212 134 320 134 134 320 320 320 316 When the termination condition is not satisfied, another iteration of the stages of operation illustrated in is performed. Additionally, in some implementations, a subset of the population can be used to update the relative fitness estimator . For example, a portion of the population can be provided (as illustrated by off page reference A in ) to the matrix mapper and the fitness calculator . In this example, the matrix mapper , the fitness calculator , and the training data generator use a portion of the population to generate new training data that is used to update the relative fitness estimator . The portion of the population used to update the relative fitness estimator is selected to improve the accuracy of the relative rankings generated by the relative fitness estimator . Generally, the most significant improvements in accuracy of the relative rankings can be achieved by improving accuracy at the ends, such as by using one or more highest ranking neural networks of the population , using one or more lowest ranking neural networks of the population , or some of the highest and some of the lowest. To achieve the most efficient operation in terms of computing resources used, only the one or more highest ranking neural networks of the population may be used since the lowest ranked neural networks have the least impact on the populations in future epochs due to the weighting based on ranking used by the evolutionary processor . 122 136 134 130 122 136 136 110 136 122 136 FIGS. 2 and 3 Using the data agnostic model builder described with reference to significantly reduces the amount of computing resources used to generate a neural network (e.g., the neural network ) via the neuroevolutionary process by using the relative fitness estimator , rather than the fitness calculator , to estimate the relative fitness of the neural networks of each population during each epoch after the initial epoch. After the data agnostic model builder generates the neural network , the neural network can be output for use in analyzing another data set (or other data sets) related to the data set used to generate the neural network . Thus, the data agnostic model builder efficiently automates creation of a software tool (e.g., the neural network ) that can be used for a variety of purposes depending on the input data set used. FIG. 4 400 400 112 122 110 illustrates a flowchart of a particular example of a method of generating a neural network. The method corresponds to operations performed by the computer(s) executing instructions corresponding to the data agnostic model builder based on the data set . 400 402 122 The method includes, at , iteratively performing a set of operations until a termination condition is satisfied. The termination condition is satisfied when a particular number of iterations have been performed, when one or more neural networks of a population of neural networks are determined to be satisfactory (e.g., satisfy a fitness threshold), when the data agnostic model builder has converged (e.g., variation from iteration to iteration satisfies a convergence threshold), or when another condition indicates that further iterations are unnecessary or will be unproductive. FIG. 4 FIG. 3 404 128 304 302 116 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively include, at , generating a matrix representation for each neural network of a population of neural networks. For example, the matrix mapper can generate the matrix representations of based on the neural networks of the population and based on the grammar(s) . The matrix representation of a particular neural network includes two or more rows of values. Each row corresponds to a set of layers (e.g., one or more layers) of the particular neural network, and each value specifies a hyperparameter of the set of layers. It should be understood that in some data structures, a matrix can be represented as a set of delimited vectors (e.g., vectors separated by semicolons or other delimiters), and in such data structures, the rows of the matrix representation correspond to the delimited vectors. FIG. 4 FIG. 3 406 304 134 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively also include, at , providing the matrix representations as input to a relative fitness estimator to generate estimated fitness data for neural networks of the population. For example, the matrix representations of can be provided as input to the relative fitness estimator . The estimated fitness data are based on expected fitness of neural networks predicted by the relative fitness estimator. FIG. 4 408 316 126 302 320 310 118 320 318 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively further include, at , generating, based on the population of neural networks and based on the estimated fitness data, a subsequent population of neural networks. For example, the evolutionary processor of the model building engine can perform various evolutionary operations using members of the population to generate the population . In this example, the evolutionary operations performed and the neural networks used for the evolutionary operations are based on the estimated fitness data and the parameters . Generating the population of neural networks can also include using the trainer to train (e.g., adapt link weights) of one or more of the neural networks. FIG. 4 FIG. 3 FIGS. 1 and 2 410 320 130 110 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively also include, at , calculating a fitness value for one or more sample neural networks from the subsequent population (e.g., the population of ). A fitness values is calculated using an error value based on output of a sample neural networks, where the error value indicates a difference between one or more values of the data set and the output of the sample neural networks. For example, the fitness calculator of can calculate a fitness values for a sample neural network by providing test data of the data set as input to the sample neural network and comparing an output result from the sample neural network to an expected value indicated in the test data to determine an error value. In this example, the error value, potentially along with other error values based on other test data, is used to determine the fitness value of the neural network. FIG. 4 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 412 210 206 208 320 212 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively include, at , generating updated training data indicating the fitness values and, for each fitness value, a matrix representation of a neural network associated with the fitness value. For example, the training data generator of can combine matrix representations and the calculated fitness values for the one or more sample neural networks from the subsequent population (e.g., the population of ) to generate updated training data . FIG. 4 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 414 132 212 320 134 134 310 320 In the example illustrated in , the operations performed iteratively further include, at , updating the relative fitness estimator using the updated training data. For example, the estimator generation engine of can use the updated training data based on the one or more sample neural networks from the subsequent population (e.g., the population of ) to generate an updated relative fitness estimator . In this example, the updated relative fitness estimator can be used to determine estimated fitness data of the population , of subsequent populations, or both. FIG. 4 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 3 400 416 136 140 150 136 138 154 400 134 302 In the example illustrated in , the method also includes, at , based on a determination that the termination condition is satisfied, outputting data identifying one or more neural networks of a final population of neural networks as a candidate neural network based on the data set. The final population is the population under consideration by the data agnostic model builder when the determination that the termination condition is satisfied is made. The data identifying one or more neural networks (e.g., the neural network of ) can be sent to the display device , to another computer, such as the second computer(s) , or both. The one or more neural networks (e.g., the neural network of ) can subsequently be used to evaluate other data, such as the second data set or the third data set of . Accordingly, the method provides an automated method of generating a neural network (e.g., software or software configuration information) that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as state labeling, state or value prediction, pattern recognition, etc. Using the relative fitness estimator to rank neural networks of a population (e.g., the population of ) can significantly reduce computing resources required to automatically generate a neural network relative to model building processes that calculate fitness of the neural networks of a population in each iteration. FIG. 5 500 500 112 122 110 illustrates a flowchart of a particular example of a method of generating a relative fitness estimator that is trained to estimate relative fitness of neural networks. The method corresponds to operations performed by the computer(s) executing instructions corresponding to the data agnostic model builder based on the data set . 500 502 126 204 118 124 202 FIGS. 1 and 2 The method includes, at , obtaining an initial population of neural networks. For example, the model building engine of can generate the initial population based on the parameters provided by the data set analyzer using a weighted randomization process . FIG. 5 FIGS. 1 and 2 504 506 124 110 110 118 110 118 118 122 136 110 110 In the example illustrated in , obtaining the initial population includes determining one or more characteristics of the data set at , and based on the one or more characteristics, selecting one or more parameters of an automated model generation process, at . For example, the data set analyzer evaluates the data set of to determine characteristics of the data set and selects the parameters based on the characteristics of the data set . The parameters can include, for example, architectural parameters that are used to guide generation of the initial population. The parameters can also include other settings that are used by the data agnostic model builder to guide the process of generating the neural network , such as information specifying the termination condition, information delineating test data of the data set from training data of the data set , etc. FIG. 5 FIGS. 1 and 2 508 126 204 202 204 In the example illustrated in , obtaining the initial population also includes, at , executing the automated model generation process to generate the initial population of neural networks using a weighted randomization process. For example, the model building engine of generates the initial population using the weighted randomization process . In a particular implementation, the one or more parameters are used to weight the weighted randomization process to adjust a probability of generation of neural networks of the initial population having particular features. 500 510 130 208 204 110 204 FIGS. 1 and 2 The method includes, at , calculating a fitness value for each neural network of the initial population. For example, the fitness calculator of calculates the fitness values based on the initial population . Each fitness value is based on an error value generated based on output of a respective neural network of the initial population, where the error value indicates a difference between one or more values of the data set and the output of the respective neural network of the initial population . 500 512 128 206 204 210 206 208 212 FIGS. 1-3 The method also includes, at , generating training data indicating the fitness values for the neural network of the initial population and, for each fitness value, a matrix representation of a neural network associated with the fitness value. For example, the matrix mapper of generates matrix representations of the initial population , and the training data generator combined the matrix representations with corresponding fitness values to generate the training data . 500 514 132 134 212 500 110 FIGS. 1 and 2 The method includes, at , training a machine learning model using the training data to generate the relative fitness estimator. For example, the estimator generation engine of generates the relative fitness estimator using the training data . Accordingly, the method provides an automated method of generating a relative fitness estimator based on a particular data set (e.g., the data set ), where the relative fitness estimator is trained to estimate relative fitness of various neural network. The relative fitness estimator can be used in an automated model building process to perform some operations, such as estimating fitness values, that would otherwise be performed using a fitness calculator. Calculating fitness values using a fitness calculator can use significant computing resources in each epoch of a model building process. Thus, replacing to the fitness calculator with the relative fitness estimator can significantly reduce computing resources required to automatically generate a neural network. FIG. 6 FIGS. 1-5 FIGS. 1-3 600 600 102 112 150 600 600 is a block diagram of a particular computer system configured to initiate, perform, or control one or more of the operations described with reference to . For example, the computer system may include, or be included within, one or more of the devices, wide area wireless networks, or servers described with reference to , such as the data source(s) , the computer(s) , or the second computer(s) . The computer system can also be implemented as or incorporated into one or more of various other devices, such as a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a server computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wireless telephone, or any other machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while a single computer system is illustrated, the term “system” includes any collection of systems or sub-systems that individually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, of instructions to perform one or more computer functions. FIG. 6 600 600 602 602 602 604 606 600 While illustrates one example of the particular computer system , other computer systems or computing architectures and configurations may be used for carrying out the automated model building operations disclosed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors . Each processor of the one or more processors can include a single processing core or multiple processing cores that operate sequentially, in parallel, or sequentially at times and in parallel at other times. Each processor of the one or more processors includes circuitry defining a plurality of logic circuits , working memory (e.g., registers and cache memory), communication circuits, etc., which together enable the processor to control the operations performed by the computer system and enable the processor to generate a useful result based on analysis of particular data and execution of specific instructions. 602 600 660 660 600 660 600 660 The processor(s) are configured to interact with other components or subsystems of the computer system via a bus . The bus is illustrative of any interconnection scheme serving to link the subsystems of the computer system , external subsystems or device, or any combination thereof. The bus includes a plurality of conductors to facilitate communication of electrical and/or electromagnetic signals between the components or subsystems of the computer system . Additionally, the bus includes one or more bus controller or other circuits (e.g., transmitters and receivers) that manage signaling via the plurality of conductors and that cause signals sent via the plurality of conductors to conform to particular communication protocols. 600 610 610 610 610 The computer system also includes one or more memory devices . The memory devices include any suitable computer-readable storage device depending on, for example, whether data access needs to be bi-directional or unidirectional, speed of data access required, memory capacity required, other factors related to data access, or any combination thereof. Generally, the memory devices includes some combinations of volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices, though in some implementations, only one or the other may be present. Examples of volatile memory devices and circuits include registers, caches, latches, many types of random-access memory (RAM), such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), etc. Examples of non-volatile memory devices and circuits include hard disks, optical disks, flash memory, and certain type of RAM, such as resistive random-access memory (ReRAM). Other examples of both volatile and non-volatile memory devices can be used as well, or in the alternative, so long as such memory devices store information in a physical, tangible medium. Thus, the memory devices include circuit and structures and are not merely signals or other transitory phenomena. 610 612 602 612 600 614 616 612 618 602 612 122 136 110 134 FIGS. 1-5 The memory device(s) store instructions that are executable by the processor(s) to perform various operations and functions. The instructions include instructions to enable the various components and subsystems of the computer system to operate, interact with one another, and interact with a user, such as an input/output system (BIOS) and an operating system (OS) . Additionally, the instructions include one or more applications , scripts, or other program code to enable the processor(s) to perform the operations described herein. For example, the instructions can include the data agnostic model builder , which is configured to automatically generate the neural network based on the data set using the relative fitness estimator to estimate relative fitness of various neural networks of a population of neural networks, as explained with reference to . FIG. 6 600 630 620 640 630 620 640 660 630 620 640 602 610 660 602 610 630 620 640 660 In , the computer system also includes one or more output devices , one or more input devices , and one or more network interface devices . Each of the output device(s) , the input device(s) , and the network interface device(s) can be coupled to the bus via an a port or connector, such as a Universal Serial Bus port, a digital visual interface (DVI) port, a serial ATA (SATA) port, a small computer system interface (SCSI) port, a high-definition media interface (HMDI) port, or another serial or parallel port. In some implementations, one or more of the output device(s) , the input device(s) , the network interface device(s) is coupled to or integrated within a housing with the processor(s) and the memory devices , in which case the connections to the bus can be internal, such as via an expansion slot or other card-to-card connector. In other implementations, the processor(s) and the memory devices are integrated within a housing that includes one or more external ports, and one or more of the output device(s) , the input device(s) , the network interface device(s) is coupled to the bus via the external port(s). 630 140 620 622 624 624 Examples of the output device(s) include a display device , one or more speakers, a printer, a television, a projector, or another device to provide an output of data in a manner that is perceptible by a user. Examples of the input device(s) include buttons, switches, knobs, a keyboard , a pointing device , a biometric device, a microphone, a motion sensor, or another device to detect user input actions. The pointing device includes, for example, one or more of a mouse, a stylus, a track ball, a pen, a touch pad, a touch screen, a tablet, another device that is useful for interacting with a graphical user interface, or any combination thereof. 640 600 644 642 640 644 The network interface device(s) is configured to enable the computer system to communicate with one or more other computer system via one or more networks . The network interface device(s) encode data in electrical and/or electromagnetic signals that are transmitted to the other computer system(s) using pre-defined communication protocols. The electrical and/or electromagnetic signals can be transmitted wirelessly (e.g., via propagation through free space), via one or more wires, cables, optical fibers, or via a combination of wired and wireless transmission. FIG. 6 644 102 110 644 152 In , the other computer system(s) include the data source(s) from which the data set is received. The other computer system(s) can also include the other data sources . In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, such as application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement one or more of the operations described herein. Accordingly, the present disclosure encompasses software, firmware, and hardware implementations. It is to be understood that the division and ordering of steps described herein is for illustrative purposes only and is not be considered limiting. In alternative implementations, certain steps may be combined and other steps may be subdivided into multiple steps. Moreover, the ordering of steps may change. The systems and methods illustrated herein may be described in terms of functional block components, screen shots, optional selections and various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the system may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the software elements of the system may be implemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++, C #, Java, JavaScript, VBScript, Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly, PERL, PHP, AWK, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the various algorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, it should be noted that the system may employ any number of techniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. The systems and methods of the present disclosure may be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-on product, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, a standalone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processing system, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product. Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form of a processing apparatus executing code, an internet based (e.g., cloud computing) embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of the internet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium or device having computer-readable program code (e.g., instructions) embodied or stored in the storage medium or device. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium or device may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or other storage media. As used herein, a “computer-readable storage medium” or “computer-readable storage device” is not a signal. Computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory or device that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions, and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each functional block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by either special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. Although the disclosure may include a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied as computer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk/disc. All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.
ALMA resolves gas impacted by young jets from supermassive black hole Astronomers obtained the first resolved image of disturbed gaseous clouds in a galaxy 11 billion light-years away by using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array... Researchers catch light in a funnel Professor Ronny Thomale holds a chair for theoretical condensed matter physics, the TP1, at the Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg. The discovery and theoretical description... Optimizing efficiency of quantum circuits Quantum circuits, the building blocks of quantum computers, use quantum mechanical effects to perform tasks. They are much faster and more accurate than the... 3-D printed sensors could make breath tests for diabetes possible The production of highly sensitive sensors is a complex process: It requires many steps and the almost dust-free environment of special cleanrooms. A research... A new ‘gold standard’ for safer ceramic coatings Making your own ceramics can be a way to express your creativity, but some techniques and materials used in the process could spell bad... Planetary defenders validate asteroid deflection code Planetary defense researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) continue to validate their ability to accurately simulate how they might deflect an Earth-bound asteroid... Scientists find a way to extract color from black Scientists have developed a way of extracting a richer palette of colours from the available spectrum by harnessing disordered patterns inspired by nature that... A device for the early detection of certain eyesight problems EPFL researchers have developed a device that can zoom in on previously invisible cells at the back of the eye. The technology could be... Low-cost graphene-iron filters that selectively separate gaseous mixtures UNSW researchers have shown how a new class of low-cost graphene-based membranes—a type of filter used in industry sectors that generate enormous mixed waste... Capabilities of CRISPR gene editing expanded Many basic and clinical researchers are testing the potential of a simple and efficient gene editing approach to study and correct disease-causing mutations for... Scientists identify microbe that could help degrade polyurethane-based plastics There may be a small answer to one of the biggest problems on the planet. German researchers report in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology that they have...
https://sciencebulletin.org/2020/03/page/2/
When an individual has back discomfort they might be confused as to which therapy option to decide on for pain relief. Of all musculoskeletal conditions, low back pain is among the most disabling, leading to chronic pain, misplaced productivity and different problems. This article will talk about pain of the back and which remedy option works finest for the majority of people. Discomfort of the back is ubiquitous. Within the United States, by the point a person reaches 40 years old, they've an 80% probability of getting had at the least one significant episode of lower back pain. Not only is back discomfort frequent, it is among the most painful conditions a person can experience and strongly impacts quality of life. In my 35 years of chiropractic observe, I have seen thousands of people that have skilled back pain. One thing they all note is that their condition, virtually always, limits their ability to function normally of their activities of each day living. Activities like sleeping, working, performing chores around the house, child elevating and easy tasks like getting dressed and cooking can become tough, if not impossible. When faced with this life altering malady one is confronted with a myriad of decisions for treatment. A typical medical approach may be remedy or referral to a back specialist for possible back surgery. One must be wary of taking medication for discomfort of the back. Back pain is among the leading reasons persons are prescribed opioid medications. Almost half of all US opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid. However, another approach can be to seek chiropractic care for decrease back pain relief. Chiropractic care is a safe various treatment for aid of back discomfort. Chiropractors don't prescribe medicine, nor do they carry out back surgery. Instead, chiropractors take an approach that is conservative. When a affected person initially goes to a chiropractor, they will be examined for attainable misalignment and improper movement of the spinal bones. Research shows that the foremostity of individuals suffering from back discomfort is because of improper mechanical alignment and movement of the bones of the spine. Chiropractors are the only professionals trained to diagnose and treat physical, mechanical, alignment problems of backbone pain. Most patients who visit chiropractors discover that the remedy is a safe and pleasant expertise because it relieves tightness and spasm of the muscle mass by correcting the deeper spinal misalignment. The number of remedies and visits a affected person will require to attain reduction of their back, spinal pain will rely upon how lengthy they've had the condition and its severity. A 2013 study from the journal Spine found that patients who saw chiropractors were less likely to have surgery for back pain. Researchers studied 1885 injured workers, affected by back pain in Washington state and found that the healthcare provider a affected person initially visited significantly affected a patient's likelihood of receiving surgery. Individuals who visited a medical doctor for his or her back pain had been more likely to have an operation than people who visited a chiropractor. Nearly forty three% of medical patients had surgical procedure compared to just 1.5% of chiropractic patients. Which means medical patients were 28 occasions more likely to have surgery. Because the majority of patients with spinal back discomfort could be treated without the use of drugs or surgery, it appears particularly prudent to consider safe, light chiropractic care for spinal back pain relief. If you loved this information and you would such as to receive even more details concerning back pain treatment kindly check out the internet site.
https://rivetingpdx.com/forums/users/bernard0591/
Three decades of experience with unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: mistakes made and lessons learned. Unicompartmental arthroplasty results and survivorship will continue to improve with time. The future will refine patient selection and bring better surgical techniques and prosthetic designs. Improved polyethylene will increase longevity of the arthroplasty, and mobile-bearing articulations also may improve longevity by decreasing wear and allowing a metal-backed component with relatively thin polyethylene inserts for a conservative arthroplasty.
Statistics and I don't always get along well. I'm getting better at detecting fishy conclusions drawn from statistics, though. Take this article about abortion among Catholic women for instance. Almost half of the clinic's 6000 patients last year identified their religion and of this group almost 40% said they were Catholic. A further 23% identified themselves as "Christian", while fewer than 5% said they were Protestant. Seven% were Muslim and 5% were Buddhist. Nowhere does this article mention what percentage of women in the general population consider themselves Catholic. All it says is that 40% of those women who (1) have an abortion and (2) identify their religion, are Catholic. If Catholics outnumber Protestants in Australia, such a disparity is to be expected, all other things being equal. Let's simplify the numbers a bit to clarify this. Suppose 100 women have an abortion. 40 are Catholic, 23 are generically Christian, 5 are Protestant, 7 are Muslim, 5 are Buddhist, and the remaining 20 are something else. Let's divide the 23 generic Christians equally between Catholics and Protestants, since we have no data to support a more lopsided grouping. That makes 52 Catholics and 16 Protestants. Let X denote the number of Catholic women in Australia and Y the number of Protestant women. The percentage of Catholic women who had an abortion is 100*52/X. The percentage of Protestant women who had an abortion is 100*16/Y. These percentages will be equal when X = 3.25 * Y. If the multiple is smaller than 3.25, the percentage goes up and vice versa. In other words, if Catholic women outnumber Protestant women by less than 3.25:1, Catholics women are "more likely" to have an abortion than Protestant women. Too bad the article doesn't give us a population breakdown. To make matters worse, only about 50% of those women having abortions identified their religion. The numbers given are essentially meaningless. The Fallacy Files site has a good explanation of this kind of statistical goof. Speaking of fallacies, this site is sort of a Cliffs Notes version of Fallacy Files.
https://funkydung.com/blog/2004/08/11/flawed-statistics/
Pain takes many forms including minor aches, temporary bouts of sharp pain, or chronic pain. For those pains beyond the norm, doctors may prescribe medication that is stronger than typical over-the-counter pain relievers. Opioids are a class of prescription painkillers that help blunt severe pain and can be very helpful for those recovering from physical trauma including surgery. Opioids, such as methadone, have also been used to treat those with an opioid addiction. However, using any opioid medication may also carry risks. Podcast #1 – The Very First Jim Magner: Good afternoon, everybody out there. My name is Jim Magner here with my good friend John Reeck. This is Destination Hope’s first ever podcast. So, today we want to talk to the alumni about a couple things. Being that this is the first time we're doing this; John and I were talking, and we decided that we wanted to talk about the importance of alumni. And so, I'm going to let John talk a little bit about that. We'll go from there. John Reeck: First. I want to talk about what recovery can do, because here we got… Trying to Make the Most of Unprecedented Uncertainty & Distancing No one can argue that what we are facing, collectively as a society, seems like the entire world has been turned upside down. Indeed, life doesn’t resemble much of what we all enjoyed just a month or two ago. While this shift has been faced all over the world, it can seem oddly personal. Sometimes, for those facing addiction, it can seem like the mounting pressures, mandates, and uncertainties are heightened and increasingly overwhelming when added to the daily challenge of sticking to sobriety. We are often told to find the silver lining in life’s complications, but this pandemic is something none of us have ever experienced. When you don’t know how something will turn out, it can be tough to stay positive…and on track. Destination Hope COVID-19 Update May 28, 2020 We are getting closer every day to seeing the end of this pandemic, but as we move forward it’s important to be cautious and considerate of how people are feeling. Mental health has never been more important during social distancing, as there is an abundance of evidence that links social isolation and loneliness to a number of disorders like depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. It’s very important that we remain a pillar of hope for those struggling through this difficult time. Destructive Coping Mechanisms in Front Line Medical Professionals Never have our front-line medical professionals been subject to such high levels of stress on the job, which can affect their ability to function both at work and in personal relationships. The link between stress in the medical field and addictive behavior is clear. However, addictions can come in many forms, and non-substance abusing habits can often be destructive as well. Podcast #2: The Hope Shot Good morning everybody, I'm Jim Magner And this is John Reeck. Welcome to The Hope Shot Jim: So, John, we were just talking a couple minutes ago, before we got started here, and you came up with a pretty interesting topic - being uncomfortable in early recovery. John: And long-term recovery. Jim: Recovery is uncomfortable a lot of times. When you’re sitting there talking about it for a minute and I start to think. When I think about recovery…it’s doing the things that we don't always want to do…that are going to better our lives. And that's always uncomfortable.… Stress Management at The Front Lines of Medicine Stress management is an important issue in our modern world, and some occupations are more acutely associated with stress than others. First responders like our EMTs nurses and doctors, especially with the current COVID-19 crisis, face enormous levels of stress daily. Without optimum stress management, these frontline medical professionals are vulnerable to the effects of stress, which can be extremely damaging to their physical and mental health. Outpatient Versus Inpatient Behavioral Health Treatment – Which Is Best? Clients and families alike often wonder about the best course of treatment for themselves or their loved one. This is especially true if they haven’t had experience with addiction treatment before. With many levels of care, from residential, down to outpatient, the options can seem overwhelming. In this article, our goal is to offer some guidance in understanding the different levels of care, but ultimately it is with the assistance of the facility’s admissions department as to the most appropriate care for a loved one. One item to note is that if the substance abuse is involved, a detox regimen of up to 10 days may be necessary to medically supervise the elimination of drugs and/or alcohol from the client’s system. Withdrawal from certain drugs can actually be dangerous, beyond being very uncomfortable and therefore clients should be supervised by appropriate medical professionals and should not try to detox alone. Staying Grounded (And Sober) During Times of Crisis Times of crisis can easily lead to feeling out of control and it can even lead to difficulties in your recovery. Whatever that means for you being anxiety, depression or even craving, taking a few proactive measures can help you stay grounded and add some stability to see you through hard times. Self Check-ins Each day, or even more often if needed, pause for a few minutes to take stock of where you are emotionally. Ask yourself two important and very simple questions: - What am I feeling? - What do I need?
https://destinationhope.com/2020/
For no reason at all related to current events, I’ve been thinking about post-apocalyptic settings recently. In a lot of post-apoc fiction, the focus isn’t on the apocalypse itself. Most of the time, it sits in the background: sometimes it’s ancient history, and sometimes it’s been forgotten about entirely. The Hunger Games is a kind of post-apoc fiction because it takes place in the modern world, except the countries we know today have been replaced. This suggests there was an apocalypse of sorts, but it’s not important to the plot of the series. The focus is on how society works after the apocalpyse, how culture and people survive, and the ways they’ve been changed. It’s also a great opportunity to do some crunchy worldbuilding. I don’t know about you, but for me, the most interesting thing about post-apoc settings are the groups that spring out of it. I love to think about the kinds of countries, societies and movements that would come out of an apocalypse. So here are some pointers for how to do them in an interesting way, drawing on real-world examples. 1. Think about Ancient Rome In European history, few states loom as large as the Roman Empire. Even with the free movement offered by the EU, we still can’t travel as far today without showing a passport as a (wealthy) Roman could. Their borders stretched from the cold Scottish highlands to the rivers of Eastern Europe; from the southern coast of Spain to the scorching Arabian Desert. Following its fall, several states adopted the eagle as their symbol, in an effort to claim the authority and lineage of Rome. In Britain, post-Roman rulers continued to use the fashion, titles and language of the Romans to command authority and claim they were the heirs of the Romans. In many ways, they were living in a post-apocalyptic world. The Roman empire had an organised postal system, local government, voting, entertainment, a standing army, and unmovable law. With its fall, that disappeared, and authority fell into the hands of local warlords or smaller, less centralised states. This is prime writing material. Imagine a post-apocalyptic United States. The government is gone, anarchy reigns. What happens next? A local group seizes power, most likely the group which has the most force to its name. This may be a charismatic individual, it may be an organisation which already exists, like a gang or even a local government. But they would only wield power through one thing: might, and might can be lost. It has no inherent authority. But if they can claim to be the successor to the United States government, then that’s different. Imagine they create their own local House of Representatives and Senate. Their leader titles himself President, and they use the symbology of the US govt – maybe even the exact same flag. That flag carries an inherent degree of right to rule, and whoever can lay claim to it has an advantage over others because they are seen as legitimate. 2. Think about existing institutions In lots of post-apocalyptic fiction, the assumption is that the old world was wiped out entirely. Nothing remains of the state which existed before. Of course, in real life, this would almost certainly not be the case. Fallout 76 addressed this a little in having the First Responders be an organised post-apoc group – made up of firefighters and other public service officials who survived the war. Following the fall of a state, everything that belonged to that state doesn’t disappear. All the weapons of the US army would still be there, just with no-one to claim them. And everyone who served as a soldier or police officer in their lives, those people would still be there, ready to utilise that experience. It seems highly realistic to me that, following the collapse of a state, local military or law enforcement groups would hold together, at least in some cases. It’s not hard to imagine, for example, a military unit declaring martial law over a particular region to preserve order there and then either try to create a functioning state or standby for the restoration of the old country. Like how militaries stage coups to depose malfunctioning governments in the real world today, you can see them seizing that power for themselves in a world where a state has fallen but the military remains. They would probably lead the vanguard of the formation of new states out of the wreckage of the old world, at least until they bumped up against each other. Which might lead to the insanely complicated, but probably realistic, chance of several branches of the US Army all creating their own martial states, claiming to be the true descendants of the US government, and getting into conflicts with each other over their treatment of citizens, border disputes, or different ideas about how to chart a course back to normal life and democratic government. 3. Have fun! Post-apoc isn’t about dry, boring predictions of how a real apocalypse would play out. The true fun of the genre lies not in the probable, but in the possible – it lies in the Rule of Cool, where things are allowed to exist for the sole reason that they’re awesome. So while it would be more realistic to assume the military would take over, it would be far for fun, for example, to imagine how a state made from a supermarket would look. Imagine some regional Walmart manager aspired to power and… made his own country? It would be possible. Supermarkets have supplies, they have command structures in place and trained staff, and they basically have a logistics network linking up a bunch of defensible positions. A pact with local gunowners to provide supplies in exchange for protection, and you have the foundations of the Boston Walmart Empire – or something like that. People higher up in the company get first dibs on stock, and whatever’s left of the regional funds could be used to locate new, local producers of goods, who would in turn be incorporated into the company-state structure for protection. You can go even further. What about a local sports team? They have a pretty defensible HQ already, and cash. They have a horde of loyal fans who might be prime candidates for forming a new, local identity, or at least a kind of gang that works in their own interests. As important as it is to create realistic backgrounds for your post-apocalyptic societies, remember: the first rule is to make entertaining, interesting fiction. Ground yourself in the realistic, and add elements of the unique and crazy to make an engaging post-apoc world that’s just close enough to believable that it scares us a little.
https://dewihargreaves.com/2020/09/30/creating-interesting-post-apocalyptic-countries/
ASX values the feedback it receives from stakeholders to determine the optimal solution design for each new business requirement. As part of its stakeholder engagement process, ASX has published a summary of the feedback it has received from stakeholders from the relevant Focus Groups and ISO 20022 Technical Committee meetings on the solution design of this new functionality. This feedback is presented in the form of a table, and lists the key topics raised by stakeholders across both forums. The table provides a summary of stakeholder feedback and ASX’s response to that feedback, highlighting where relevant the evolution of the functional specifications of each new business requirement based on stakeholder feedback and further analysis done by ASX. While ASX has considered the issues, comments and suggestions made by each impacted stakeholder, the differing and at times conflicting needs of various stakeholder groups mean that final functional specifications may not support suggestions received or retain aspects notwithstanding concerns raised. The table does not identify any organisation or individual who raised a particular topic or question for discussion, nor does it intend to capture individual responses received from stakeholders; rather it is intended to be a summary only. Transfers & Conversions; SRN Enquiry |Focus Group||14 February 2019| 10 April 2019 |Technical Committee||8 February 2019| 7 May 2019 |Number of respondents (on final proposal)||8| |Related presentation materials||https://www.asx.com.au/services/iso20022-technical-committee.htm| |Topics||Stakeholder Feedback||ASX Response| |Messages required for the provision of registration details to facilitate transfers and SRN enquiry requests||Stakeholders raised some concerns in relation to the initial solution proposal for Registration Standardisation, whereby messages for Account (HIN) and Holder creation formed base messages for transfer and SRN enquiry message flows. This involved one message per Account (HIN) and another message per Holder (where up to four holders per account is supported).| While the initial ASX proposal for separate holder and account messages was consistent with ISO 20022 standards and usage, ASX was able to utilise an alternative ISO 20022 message and revised the proposal such that the account and holder information can be carried in a single message. This resulted in a reduced number of messages required to support transfer and SRN enquiry flows. However, the requirement to continue to separate the transfer request/SRN enquiry from the provision of registration details remained (the rationale for which is provided below). |Multiple messages to facilitate transfer and SRN enquiry requests| Stakeholders expressed concern that it was adding an unnecessary layer of complexity with the introduction of separate messages to carry i) registration details and ii) transfer or SRN enquiry details. This differs to the current practice where flows are initiated with one message. ASX has designed separate messages carrying registration and transfer request/SRN enquiry details for the following reasons: |Linking of messages to facilitate transfer and SRN enquiry requests||Stakeholders expressed concern that the requirement to link messages with a unique identifier will prevent a participant from submitting a registration message at the same time as a transfer request/SRN enquiry.| The solution design requires a unique reference to be attached to a message. This can only be supported if messages are sent sequentially and not concurrently. This allows a unique identifier to be generated and used to link with subsequent messages. For example, the same identifier can be used on subsequent multiple transfer requests/SRN enquiries for the same account. This eliminates the need to re-send the registration details which will reduce the overall number of messages required. |Validation of registration details||Some stakeholders acknowledged the improvement to investor protection with validation of registration details in messages performed ahead of the transfer for all participants, as opposed to the current practice of post transfer validation by the requesting market participant or pre-transfer validation of registration details included in signed paper transfer documents provided by non-market participants.||Given the positive the feedback received, no changes were required to the solution design proposed by ASX.| |Temporary registration identifier||Stakeholders requested that the time period for temporary registration identifiers be extended beyond the end of day, as is currently proposed. This was on the basis of administrative costs associated with frequently re-creating the registration identifier.| In response ASX has advised that the temporary registration identifier (RGID) will not be archived during the end-of-day process if an in-flight transfer or enquiry continues to reference it. Archiving the identifier will occur during the end-of-day process of the day that the last referring transaction is completed. Archiving the RGID addresses issues related to the storage, maintenance and support of the identifier that would arise if the identifier was to be maintained as a permanent record. |Potential increase in rejections||Stakeholders expressed concern about the potential increase in mismatches with the validation of registration details due to changes to long standing processes required to implement the new requirement.||ASX acknowledges that there is potential for an increase in mismatches initially. However, it is expected that the application of standardisation of registration details across the industry will over the longer term reduce the mismatch rate to levels below those currently experienced.| |ISO 20022 message schemas||Stakeholders queried why the receiving account identifier was optional for Issuer to Participant transfers and conversions when it will always be required on the transfer and conversion authorisation request (hold_212).||ASX acknowledged the feedback and applied schema changes that changed optional to mandatory in the transfer and conversion authorisation request (hold_212).| Related Pages: Browse Popular Pages: No labels match these criteria. This document provides general information only. ASX Limited (ABN 98 008 624 691) and its related bodies corporate (“ASX”) makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by law, ASX and its employees, officers and contractors shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising in any way (including by way of negligence) from or in connection with any information provided or omitted or from anyone acting or refraining to act in reliance on this information.
https://asxchessreplacement.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSP/pages/82216212
With ride quality being one of the most sought-after characteristics of a road bicycle by customers as well as by bicycle manufacturers, the vibrational behaviour of the bicycle/cyclist system has grown into an active field in sport engineering research in recent years. When assessing bicycle transmissibility and ride comfort, it is important to control test conditions to obtain repeatable load and acceleration measurements at the cyclist’s contact points with the bicycle. Surprisingly, however, this consideration has not yet been specifically addressed in the literature. The aim of this paper is a first effort to investigate the effect of a selected set of test conditions on the measurement of vibration induced to the cyclist by a road bicycle. Our results showed that all the test conditions selected had a significant effect on the level of vibration induced to the cyclist. KeywordsBicycle dynamic comfort Bicycle testing Vibrations transmission Vibration measurement Excitation techniques Notes Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) and the participation of Cervélo and Vroomen-White Design.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12283-013-0145-8
Holocaust exhibit comes to Spokane Gonzaga University’s Foley Library will be hosting the “Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries” from March 19 to April 27. The exhibit examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 40s. Chosen from over 250 applicants, the university’s library is one of 50 U.S. libraries selected from a competitive process to host the traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Brad Matthies, associate dean of library services and coordinator of the exhibit, was excited when he was notified in October that the university was selected and one of the things that pleasantly surprised him was how both the Gonzaga and Spokane communities coalesced around the exhibit, including 16 letters of support. “People, in a sort of broader context, have issues, concerns or worries about the polarized climate and hate and hate groups,” Matthies said, “attending this exhibit is, I think, a way to show support and combat that.” Addressing Hate He added that there will be two supporting exhibits focusing on hate in the Pacific Northwest, particularly white supremacy, and described it as an opportunity to reflect on and think about what people can do after visiting the exhibit. According to the university’s website, the exhibit will explore the factors that influenced decisions by the U.S. government, news media, organizations and individuals as they responded to nazism including the Great Depression, xenophobia, isolationism, racism and antisemitism. “This exhibition will challenge the commonly held assumptions that Americans knew little and did nothing about the Nazi persecution and murder of Jews as the Holocaust unfolded,” the website described. A Special Place in Spokane Rabbi Elizabeth Goldstein, a associate religious studies professor and Jewish chaplain at Gonzaga University who wrote a letter of support for the exhibit, said the exhibit has a special place coming to the university because the institution has a small population of Jewish students, and Spokane also has a small Jewish community, and it’s more often in this part of the country that people can grow up and not have any Jewish friends or have a chance to learn about Jewish history. She added that she wants people to be aware of the ways in which the U.S. has committed some wrongs in not welcoming Jewish people during a time when it could have helped them, and hopes the exhibit will contribute to the conversation on immigration. “In addition to learning about Jewish history, which I think is really important in how our country has treated Jews, I think it’s also very relevant to contemporary issues of how we think about immigration in our country today and how we think about what it means to welcome immigrants, how it’s important to have our doors open to people who are really in fear of their lives, and in terms of being proud of strength and not closing the doors because we’re afraid of losing our strength,” she said. The exhibit will be on display in the Rare Reading Room on the third floor of the library, along with a series of special events that will take place throughout March and April. The events will be presented by the Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies and supported by the Jewish Bulldogs and the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force. Goldstein said that the Jewish Bulldogs will be having its annual Holocaust Memorial service in the same room as the exhibit as well. See It to Understand It Hershel Zellman, a retired family physician and a member of the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force who wrote a letter of support for the exhibit, said people should see it to understand how and why the Holocaust progressed the way it did so they can look inward and see that there are dramatic parallels that are occurring right now between the past and the present. One message of the exhibit that stood out to him the most was one that came from polling of American people at various stages of the Nazis coming to power, entering World War II, the conclusion of the war and the discovery of extent of the genocide and how people were treated in the camps. “And throughout the time these polls were being done, it was clear that the majority of the American public, even if it was a little bit over 50 percent, were antisemetic, xenophobic, anti-immigrant,” Zellman said, “and that didn’t change from when they were first denying that anything was actually occurring in Germany to the Jews, to the time they found out how bad the genocide actually was.” The exhibit is free and open to the public, with hours being Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 30-minute guided groups tours are available by request. Matthies said that the exhibit is suitable for all ages and does not display graphic content. Exhibit Special Events March 17: “Opening Event – Hate: Reflections and Action” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hemmingson Center Auditorium 004 with panelists George Critchlow, Gonzaga law school professor and an original founder of the Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies; Michael DeLand, Gonzaga assistant professor of sociology and criminology; and Shannon Dunn, Gonzaga associate professor of religious studies. Reception will be at 6:30 p.m. March 31: “Inspiration for Today from Holocaust survivors Carla Peperzak and Cora Der Koorkanian,” at 6:30 p.m in the Hemmingson Center ballroom. Free tickets are available at the Hemmingson welcome desk and Foley Library checkout desk. April 22: “Closing Event – Hate: Documenting it, Understanding it, and Countering it,” at 7 p.m. in the Cataldo Globe Room with panelists Ken Stern, a New York attorney and member of the Institute for Hate Studies advisory board; Barbara Perry, professor of social science and humanities and director of Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at University of Ontario Institute of Technology at Oshawa; Brian Levin, professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino; and Kristine Hoover, director of Gonzaga Institute for Hate Studies. Matthew Kincanon is a journalist with a journalism and political science degree from Gonzaga University. His journalism experience includes the Gonzaga Bulletin, The Spokesman-Review, and now SpokaneFāVS. He said he is excited to be a freelancer at SpokaneFāVS because, as a Spokane native, he wants to learn more about the various religious communities and cultures in his hometown.
The Dynamic Testing Lab falls under Leiden University’s Department of Psychology, part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The lab falls under the Developmental and Educational Psychology Unit. Under the supervision of Prof. Wilma Resing, the lab has for a considerable time investigated the change possibilities as regards the cognitive development of 2 to 12 year old children. Dr. Harrie Boelens is also one of the lab’s permanent staff members. Dynamic Testing is an umbrella term under which very diverse research projects into the cognitive development of children are grouped. The lab investigates in great detail the learning potential of children and the manner in which they solve tasks. By means of a short training session, the lab aims to provide insight into how these problem solving procedures – strategies – can change and be influenced. Children’s thinking development, and, linked in with this, their inductive reasoning capacity, and the manner in which these can be influenced are the core research themes. Dynamic testing is a method that enables measuring and unfolding of the learning potential within a short time frame: measuring or testing under dynamic, interactive conditions are key. The lab has a strong focus on questions such as: - What happens exactly during an intervention; - What do children tell us about their solution of a task; - Can children change their strategic behaviour as a result of a short training session; - Are there large individual differences; - At which exact point in time will reasoning behaviour of children unfold; - Is solution solving behaviour stable or unstable; - Does strategy use of children become more advanced.
https://dynamictesting.nl/en/focus-on-cognitive-potential
TURKISH AEROSPACE CONTINUES TO DELIVER CRITICAL COMPONENTS aerobd.news : Turkish Aerospace keep continues to develop indigenous platforms for the aviation industry of the future, company continues to produce aerostructure components for the biggest companies in the world. Turkish Aerospace have produced 500 aircraft composite panels on critical aircraft components for Gulfstream and 368 helicopter fuselage in total for Leonardo Helicopters. Turkish Aerospace has produced a total of 368 AW139 helicopter fuselage for Leonardo Helicopters, Italy’s famous helicopter manufacturer company since 2004. Turkish Aerospace, which was also awarded the “Gold Logistics Award” by Gulfstream in 2016. Company has completed the delivery of critical components for Gulfstream G650 aircraft, one of the world’s most preferred business jets, for 500 aircraft, including 47 metal panels in each aircraft. About Turkish Aerospace Turkish Aerospace is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey . Located in Ankara , Turkish Aerospace production plant covers an area of 5 million square meters with an industrial facility of 150,000 square meters under its roof. The company has a modern aircraft facility furnished with high technology machinery and equipment that provide extensive manufacturing capabilities ranging from parts manufacturing to aircraft assembly, flight tests and delivery.
http://aerobd.news/index.php/2020/12/04/turkish-aerospace-continues-to-deliver-critical-components/
Q: Fluent nHibernate dictionary customType I have problem with CustomType in Fluent NHibernate. I have to save as Json a dictionary to my database. I created a customType for this that implements IUserType interface. There is no problem to save dictionary to database for first time, but when i try to update collection, nHibernate dont set a property as dirty and dont update it. My Equals and GetHashCode methods public new bool Equals(object x, object y) { if (x == null && y == null) return true; if (x == null || y == null) return false; if (!(x is IDictionary<K, Z>) || !(y is IDictionary<K, Z>)) return false; var dic1 = (x as IDictionary<K, Z>).OrderBy(z=> z.Key); var dic2 = (y as IDictionary<K, Z>).OrderBy(z => z.Key); return dic1.SequenceEqual(dic2); } public int GetHashCode(object x) { if (x == null) return 0; return x.GetHashCode(); } The objects passed to equals method are always the same (recently modified) two object. Anyone have a idea what i'm doing wrong ? Rest of IUserType implementation code: public object NullSafeGet(IDataReader rs, string[] names, object owner) { if (names.Length != 1) throw new InvalidOperationException("Only expecting one column..."); var val = rs[names[0]] as string; if (val != null && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(val)) { return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(val, JSonSerializableTypeSerializer.Settings); } return null; } public void NullSafeSet(IDbCommand cmd, object value, int index) { var parameter = (DbParameter)cmd.Parameters[index]; if (value == null) { parameter.Value = DBNull.Value; } else { parameter.Value = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(value, JSonSerializableTypeSerializer.Settings); } } public object DeepCopy(object value) { return value; } public object Replace(object original, object target, object owner) { return original; } public object Assemble(object cached, object owner) { return cached; } public object Disassemble(object value) { return value; } public SqlType[] SqlTypes { get { return new SqlType[] { new StringClobSqlType() }; } } public Type ReturnedType { get { return typeof(T); } } public bool IsMutable { get { return true; } } A: Maybe I am wrong, but I guess you have returned false while implementing IUserType.IsMutable. Since your user type returns a Dictionary, which is a mutable type, and which you do indeed mutate, your user type must return true for its IsMutable property.
We are a community-driven developer that designs and build spaces that enables people to create cooperative, resilient and sustainable communities. We specialise in developing customised community-driven designs as well as modular building systems for projects that need to be easily replicated. Make decisions with a community. A participatory approach ensures a sense of ownership, brings out the true value of a space and the avoidance of white elephant projects. Our approach to masterplanning focuses on identifying a community’s shared vision, which not only enriches the community but also results in effective design and execution. Whether you are a developer, town planner, or land owner, let us know about your project and we’ll let you know how we can help. How can Epic Communities help you? Stay up to date with epic news and opportunities.
http://communities.epic.my/
Welcoming in the News Here are some media coverage highlights to inspire and inform your own community’s welcoming movement. Featured News News Archive Let's Keep Families Together Today’s immigration crisis and the narratives driving it could not take place in a country that has firmly decided to be welcoming as a moral and economic imperative. This is the work we do – with your help – to reach hearts and minds, and show how millions of Americans are already choosing the path of welcoming and following their better angels. Gearing up for Census 2020 As lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the decision move forward, localities can and should act now to ensure a fair and accurate count, by engaging stakeholders and communicating the importance of a complete count to local residents, particularly those – like immigrants – at risk of an undercount. Rachel Peric: Ohio Rewarded For Embracing Immigrants Ohio has long served as a microcosm of the United States. At a time of rising fears about immigrants and demographic change, these pragmatic efforts rooted in local values offer a counterpoint to the vitriol. A More Welcoming American Dream That work of building a common American Dream starts in communities, where neighbors of all stripes can get to work on common projects. The cooperation we see during times of natural disaster show us that this possible. Rust Belt Needs Legal Immigration President Trump supports a plan that would halve the number of newcomers—and cut off the Midwest’s “demographic lifeline.” Anchorage embraces role as welcoming city Anchorage is proud of its heritage and poised to be a globally competitive, culturally vibrant community ready to take on the opportunities and challenges we face at the edge of the Arctic. Code the Dream in Durham helps immigrant and refugee communities give back and diversify tech world A Code the Dream program is helping to steer people from immigrant, refugee and minority communities into computer programming jobs and tech careers. The classes are being offered through Uniting NC, a Welcoming America member, and the American Underground, a startup incubator. As United States cracks down on refugee resettlement, the ‘Ellis Island of the South’ keeps open arms Clarkston, Georgia’s, streets are dotted with community centers and immigrant and refugee-owned businesses. “The future is going to look more diverse, more ethnically complex,” Mayor Ted Terry said. “If we can make that work in Clarkston, then it gives me hope for the rest of the world.” Global Cleveland spotlighting immigrant and refugee-owned businesses Global Cleveland is spotlighting Northeast Ohio's international entrepreneurs by compiling and promoting a directory of more than 75 local restaurants, shops, and businesses started by immigrants and refugees. The list is the first of its kind in Greater Cleveland. Americans are welcomers, not wall-builders Although the expansion of intolerance and xenophobia in America today is disturbing and, unfortunately, familiar, there is a counter-narrative that has also run through our history as a nation. This is the story of the “Welcomers,” those who have led the charge for inclusion — be it of immigrants, African Americans, Jews, LGBT-Americans, or the many other groups who have faced prejudice and persecution in our country. Immigrants are bolstering the Pittsburgh metro area population Without an influx of international migration to the Pittsburgh metro area, the region would have lost 36,580 residents since 2010. This would have been far and away the largest population decline of any large U.S. metro area over that time span. Luckily, enough people came across borders to the Steel City, drastically cutting into the figure, and stemming some the region’s population decline. Immigrants revitalize Detroit Immigration has been quietly powering the population growth, neighborhood revitalization, innovation, entrepreneurship, and broad diversity upon which a bright future for Detroit’s neighborhoods and current residents can be secured. Not only do immigrants in Detroit make up an outsized percentage of the self-employed but they are also preventing the city’s population from shrinking.
https://welcomingamerica.org/in-the-news?page=1
Citation: Mungai, N.W., Motavalli, P.P., Kremer, R.J. 2006. Soil organic carbon and nitrogen fractions in temperate alley cropping systems. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 37:977-992. Interpretive Summary: Increasing public concerns over the environmental effects of global warming have stimulated an interest in land use practices, such as agroforestry, which may promote trapping of carbon (sequestration of soil organic carbon [C]) and reduce emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Agroforestry is a multiple cropping land use system that involves simultaneous production of tree and agricultural crops. Information is limited on how soil organic C and nitrogen (N) is distributed and accumulated in long-term agroforestry systems. Nitrogen is essential for both plant nutrition and soil microbial activity, in which N aids in releasing C from organic substances including plant litter. We examined the variability in distribution of soil organic C and N relative to tree rows in established agroforestry plantations in north central Missouri during 2001 and 2002. Soils were collected from tree rows and the between-row spaces (alleys) for analyses of C and N in the soil environment. The two sites were a 19-year old pecan orchard with bluegrass planted in the alleys (Pecan site), and an 11-year old silver maple planting with soybeans and corn planted in the alleys in alternate years (Maple site). Soil C and N contents were higher in the tree rows than in the middle of the cropped alleys at both sites. The results suggest that the type of leaf litter (crop residues vs tree litter) returned to the soil strongly influences biological cycling and the location within the production site for storage of soil C and N. Farmers, extension personnel, state and federal conservation agencies, and other scientists will find the research results applicable because they illustrate that different combinations of trees and agronomic crops considered for agroforestry may require different management practices to gain the most benefit from soil N and that carbon dynamics (extent of sequestration in soil) may vary as well. Technical Abstract: Alley cropping may promote greater sequestration of soil organic carbon. The objective of this study was to examine spatial variability of soil organic C and N fractions relative to tree rows in established alley cropping systems in north central Missouri. Soils were collected to a depth of 30 cm from two alley-cropped sites, a 19-year old pecan(Carya illinoinensis)/bluegrass (Poa trivialis) intercrop (Pecan site) and an 11-year old silver maple (Acer saccharinum) /soybean (Glycine max)-maize (Zea mays) rotation (Maple site). Particulate organic matter (POM) C constituted 15-65% and 14-41% of total organic C (TOC) at the Pecan and Maple sites, respectively, whereas POM N comprised of 3 to 26% of total N (TKN). TOC and TKN were on average 13% and 18% higher at the tree row than at the middle of the alley for surface soils (0-10 cm) at the Pecan site, respectively. Similarly, POM C was two to three times higher at the tree row than the alley at the Maple site. No differences in microbial biomass C and N between tree row or alley positions were observed. Observed results suggest the existence of spatially dependent patterns for POM C, TOC, and TKN, relative to tree rows in alley cropping.
https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=208549
Project manager must be able to exert interpersonal influence, excellent communication and strong leadership skills. With the ability to handle stress, problem solving, behavioural characteristics can lead to inspire the project team to succeed and win the confidence of the client. The Project Management Institute defines project management as “the art of directing and coordinating human and material resources through the life of a project by using modern management techniques to achieve pre-determined goals of scope, cost, time, quality and participant satisfaction” (Smith 2002). Therefore, for a project to be successful, the methodology employed for the execution is very important. Requirements, statement of work, risk assessment and schedule estimates must align when during the initiation of a project. As for my part in this company, I feel the best role that I would excel at for the Educate to Hydrate organization would be the part as an Advocacy Director. For my Myers-Brigg results, I am an ESFJ personality type. I am a detail-oriented person and I plan ahead of time of my goals, schedule conflicts, and time management in order to avoid procrastination. These skills could be incorporated into identifying Educate to Hydrate’s advocacy goals and strategies. I also feel that in building relationships for this organization, I could use my excellent communication skills in order to work with organizational partners and networks so that our professional relationship can ensure the overall success of the company. This developmental purpose, is very important to the organization needs as this is developmental, as in developing their employees. Employees who are performing well or not so well a great performance management system will really help keep in order as to who needs what to performance at their According to Alvin Toffler “If you don’t have a strategy…you will be part of somebody else’s strategy”. Lenses help you to see the complexity in strategic development. Strategic development is a structured plan implemented to achieve organizational goals. A great strategy doesn’t necessarily emerge from an innovative idea but rather a well-developed plan will emerge as a result from commitment to a strategy development process. A fit strategic development process will produce valuable information for good decision making, which is the corner stone of a great strategy. Constant flexibility and adaptation are one of the most important elements of success for the company on a client-specific level. What are some other values that describe not only the culture of the business organization but also the way One Smooth Stone delivers quality to its clients? Ledogar describes the three main values the One Smooth Stone holds the entire company’s motto is “Smart, Fast and with Kindness.” The other values that are important to the company include mutual trust, hard work, and the freedom to think outside of the box, so they can get the job done the right way and have fun doing it. But if you are looking for examples of smart, fast and with kindness. Smart is being able to get the best resources, applying the best techniques to your project and choosing the strategy in what you’re presenting to the performance of your client. Negron (2011) said that participative leader shares responsibilities with subordinates by engage them in the planning, decision-making, organising and accomplishment More than that, the level of brainstorming also can increase by participative leadership. The more alternatives and ideas, the best decision that can achieve towards goal. Participative leadership style is appropriate use when the followers is lack of judgement or process of the task have not been updated. According to (Lussier & Achua cited in Malik 2013) said that participative leadership is appropriate used when the subordinates’ authority and satisfaction from worker is weak or A goal is a result that one is attempting or trying to accomplish. Measurable goals are of great help to an organization because managers and the employees can easily evaluate the progress and outcomes. • Evaluating progress- This involves assessing the goals to determine if the measures taken to meet the set goals are effective or giving the needed outcomes. When evaluating the progress, you ensure that the proper steps that are selected to accomplish the goals are effective if not, you have to take appropriate steps to suit or meet the goals. • The strategic planning process- This is an important part in an organization. First with a strength-based organization, there are assessments and observations that help find strengths. This will allow the managers to get to know their staff better, also allowing the staff member to feel as though what makes them unique is important (Samuels & Hoxsey, 2010). The staff members are also going to get to know the strengths of the manager. This allows the staff members to better understand how and why the manager makes decisions and comes up with ideas like they do. Another benefit of a strength-based organization is it allows each staff member to be placed in the right part of the team (Samuels & Hoxsey, 2010). Thus employees who are typically afraid of making mistakes, will be more productive in this environment. They will learn from the mistakes and be more confident and make better judgement. In the coaching-friendly context atmosphere, employees can ask any questions without criticisms. The Graduate Research Assistants will benefit from this learning technique and will work diligently knowing that their work is a learning experience. When developing a coaching culture, companies should ensure they start with creditable role models who have had positive coaching experiences themselves and who have received some training as coaches (McCarthy & Milner,
https://www.ipl.org/essay/Project-Management-Roles-FCDE85GZVU
France will receive at the Whitewater Stadium of Pau in 2015, 2016 and 2017 a trilogy of major international competitions around Rio Olympic Games : The final of the 2015 World Cup, August 11 to 16, was a success ! World Cups 2016, June 13 to 19 The World Championships 2017, September 26 to October 1 Major training center of the France team, the stadium Whitewater of Pau-Pyrenees has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to host events in optimal conditions for competitors and spectateurs. From 2015, more than 500 athletes from 70 nations will compete on a mythical journey. These events will be an opportunity to offer the public a program combining high-level competitions and popular events around the theme of while water!
RELATED APPLICATIONS FIELD OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-190823 filed on Sep. 29, 2016, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The present invention relates to a wafer, a piezoelectric vibrator element, and a piezoelectric vibrator. In recent years, due to the miniaturization of the electronic device, a demand for miniaturization of the piezoelectric vibrator and the piezoelectric vibrator element is more and more increasing. For example, in JP-A-2009-194630, there is disclosed a technology of using a wafer made of a piezoelectric material to manufacture a plurality of piezoelectric vibrator elements in a lump. The wafer is provided with a plurality of piezoelectric vibrator elements, a frame part, and a connection part for connecting the piezoelectric vibrator element and the frame part to each other. For example, the piezoelectric vibrator elements are broken off from the frame part at the connection part, then land on a mounting stage, and are then conveyed to the next process while being suction supported. However, in the case in which the piezoelectric vibrator elements are miniaturized, the way of cracking the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element becomes apt to vary. Therefore, the landing posture of the piezoelectric vibrator element on the mounting stage becomes apt to vary. If the landing posture of the piezoelectric vibrator element is inappropriate, it becomes difficult to suction support and convey the piezoelectric vibrator element, and there is a possibility that the yield ratio decreases. Therefore, in the conventional wafer, there is a room for improvement in stably breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. The invention addresses the above problem and has an advantage of providing a wafer, a piezoelectric vibrator element, and a piezoelectric vibrator each making it possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. A wafer according to an aspect of the invention includes a piezoelectric vibrator element, a frame part, and a connection part adapted to connect the piezoelectric vibrator element and the frame part to each other, and the connection part is provided with a guide part adapted to guide force, which is applied to the connection part from one surface side in a thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element from the frame part at the connection part, to at least one side in a width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the guide part has a tilted surface tilted with respect to one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part so that an inner side of the tilted surface in the thickness direction of the connection part is located on an outer side in the width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided along the tilted surface, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the guide part has a triangular shape having a vertex angle on an outer side in the width direction of the connection part in a cross-sectional view of the connection part. Incidentally, in the case of simply adopting a rectangular shape as the cross-sectional shape of the connection part, when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, the way of cracking the connection part is not fixed, and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. In contrast, according to this configuration, the guide parts each have the triangular shape having the vertex angle on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. Therefore, since the cracks are guided along the oblique sides of the triangular shapes when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that a degree of the vertex angle is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees. Incidentally, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle exceeds 120 degrees, the width of the guide parts in the width direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. On the other hand, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle is smaller than 30 degrees, the thickness of the guide parts in the thickness direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. In contrast, according to this configuration, since the degree of the vertex angle is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees, the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the connection part further includes a main body part having a rectangular shape in a cross-sectional view of the connection part, and the guide part is disposed on at least one of one side surface and the other side surface in a width direction of the main body part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the main body part projects outward in the thickness direction of the connection part from the guide part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the projected part of the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the guide part includes a first guide part disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the main body part, and a second guide part disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the main body part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with a central line in the width direction of the main body part as a line of symmetry in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part in a balanced manner starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the wafer described above, it is possible that the first guide part and the second guide part have respective shapes different from each other in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element becomes apt to be guided to just one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the crack becomes apt to occur in a local area (i.e., a brittle part of the connection part) of the connection part. Therefore, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. 1 2 W W In the wafer described above, it is possible that defining a width of the connection part as W and a width of the main body part as W in the cross-sectional view of the connection part, the following is satisfied. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm 1 2 2 1 W W Incidentally, in the case in which the width W of the connection part is equal to or larger than 100 μm, the crack becomes apt to start from the guide parts when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. On the other hand, in the case in which the width W of the main body part is equal to or smaller than 10 the width of the main body part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. Further, in the case in which W×2&#x2265;W is fulfilled, the width of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. In contrast, according to the present configuration, since the following is fulfilled, it becomes hard for the cracks to start from the guide parts when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm In other words, since the crack becomes apt to occur starting from the main body part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In addition, since the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. In the wafer described above, it is possible that there are further included a pair of extending electrodes electrically connected to a pair of excitation electrodes, which are adapted to vibrate a pair of vibrating arm parts when a predetermined drive voltage is applied to the pair of excitation electrodes, one of the pair of extending electrodes is disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the connection part, and the other of the pair of extending electrodes is disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes from coming close to each other compared to the case of disposing both of the pair of extending electrodes on one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part, it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes from shorting to each other. In addition, since the width of the connection part can be made narrower, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. A piezoelectric vibrator element according to an aspect of the invention includes a pair of vibrating arm parts, a base part adapted to connect base ends of the pair of vibrating arm parts to each other, and a connection part to which the base part is connected, and the connection part is provided with a guide part adapted to guide force, which is applied to the connection part from one surface side in a thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element at the connection part, to at least one side in a width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the guide part has a tilted surface tilted with respect to one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part an inner side of the tilted surface in the thickness direction of the connection part is located on an outer side in the width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided along the tilted surface, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the guide part has a triangular shape having a vertex angle on an outer side in the width direction of the connection part in a cross-sectional view of the connection part. Incidentally, in the case of simply adopting a rectangular shape as the cross-sectional shape of the connection part, when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, the way of cracking the connection part is not fixed, and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. In contrast, according to this configuration, the guide parts each have the triangular shape having the vertex angle on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. Therefore, since the cracks are guided along the oblique sides of the triangular shapes when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that a degree of the vertex angle is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees. Incidentally, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle exceeds 120 degrees, the width of the guide parts in the width direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. On the other hand, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle is smaller than 30 degrees, the thickness of the guide parts in the thickness direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. In contrast, according to this configuration, since the degree of the vertex angle is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees, the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the connection part further includes a main body part having a rectangular shape in a cross-sectional view of the connection part, and the guide part is disposed on at least one of one side surface and the other side surface in a width direction of the main body part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the main body part projects outward in the thickness direction of the connection part from the guide part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the projected part of the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the guide part includes a first guide part disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the main body part, and a second guide part disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the main body part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with a central line in the width direction of the main body part as a line of symmetry in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part in a balanced manner starting from the main body part, the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that the first guide part and the second guide part have respective shapes different from each other in the cross-sectional view of the connection part. According to this configuration, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element becomes apt to be guided to just one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part, the crack becomes apt to occur in a local area (i.e., a brittle part of the connection part) of the connection part. Therefore, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. 1 2 W W In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that defining a width of the connection part as W and a width of the main body part as W in the cross-sectional view of the connection part, the following is satisfied. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm 1 2 2 1 W W Incidentally, in the case in which the width W of the connection part is equal to or larger than 100 μm, the crack becomes apt to start from the guide parts when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. On the other hand, in the case in which the width W of the main body part is equal to or smaller than 10 μm, the width of the main body part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. Further, in the case in which W×2&#x2265;W is fulfilled, the width of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. In contrast, according to the present configuration, since the following is fulfilled, it becomes hard for the cracks to start from the guide parts when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm In other words, since the crack becomes apt to occur starting from the main body part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element, it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. In addition, since the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. In the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, it is possible that there are further included a pair of extending electrodes electrically connected to a pair of excitation electrodes, which are adapted to vibrate a pair of vibrating arm parts when a predetermined drive voltage is applied to the pair of excitation electrodes, one of the pair of extending electrodes is disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the connection part, and the other of the pair of extending electrodes is disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the connection part. According to this configuration, since it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes from coming close to each other compared to the case of disposing both of the pair of extending electrodes on one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part, it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes from shorting to each other. In addition, since the width of the connection part can be made narrower, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. A piezoelectric vibrator according to an aspect of the invention includes any one of the piezoelectric vibrator element described above, and a package adapted to house the piezoelectric vibrator element. According to this configuration, in the piezoelectric vibrator equipped with any one of the piezoelectric vibrator elements described above, the piezoelectric vibrator element can stably be broken off. According to the invention, it is possible to provide the wafer, the piezoelectric vibrator element and the piezoelectric vibrator each making it possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element. An embodiment according to the invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, explanations will be presented citing a ceramic-package type surface-mounting vibrator as an example of the piezoelectric vibrator. It should be noted that the scale size of each member is accordingly altered so that the member is shown large enough to recognize in the drawings used in the following description. In the following descriptions, an XYZ coordinate system is defined, and positional relationships between the respective members will be described with reference to the XYZ coordinate system. In this case, a direction (i.e., the thickness direction of the piezoelectric vibrator element) perpendicular to the principal surface of the piezoelectric vibrator element is defined as a “Z-axis direction,” the longitudinal direction (i.e., the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric vibrator element) of a vibrating arm part is defined as a “Y-axis direction,” and a direction (i.e., the width direction of the piezoelectric vibrator element) perpendicular to the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction is defined as an “X-axis direction.” [Piezoelectric Vibrator] FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 2 1 2 3 As shown in , the piezoelectric vibrator is provided with a package incorporating a cavity C hermetically sealed (see ), and a piezoelectric vibrator element (see ) housed in the cavity C. FIG. 2 1 1 3 As shown in , the piezoelectric vibrator element has a rectangular shape in a planar view. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction, the width direction, and the thickness direction of the piezoelectric vibrator coincide with the longitudinal direction (the Y-axis direction), the width direction (the X-axis direction), and the thickness direction (the Z-axis direction) of the piezoelectric vibrator element , respectively. [Package] FIG. 3 2 5 6 5 6 5 As shown in , the package is provided with a package main body , and a sealing plate , which is bonded to the package main body , and at the same time forms the cavity C between the sealing plate and the package main body . 5 10 11 10 12 11 13 12 The package main body is provided with a first base substrate having a plate-like shape, a second base substrate having a frame-like shape, and bonded to the first base substrate , a third base substrate having a frame-like shape, and bonded to the second base substrate , and a sealing ring having a frame-like shape, and bonded to the third base substrate . FIG. 4 10 11 12 15 15 10 11 12 10 11 12 15 As shown in , on the four corners of the first base substrate , the second base substrate , and the third base substrate , there are formed cutout parts each having a quarter arc-like shape in a planar view. The cutout parts are each formed throughout the entire thickness of the first base substrate , the second base substrate , and the third base substrate . For example, the first base substrate , the second base substrate , and the third base substrate are manufactured by bonding three wafer-like ceramic substrates so as to overlap each other, then forming a plurality of through holes, which penetrate the ceramic substrates and are arranged in a matrix, and subsequently cutting the ceramic substrates in a grid manner with reference to the through holes. The cutout parts are each formed by dividing the through hole into four equal parts. For example, as the forming material of the ceramics substrates, there can be cited HTCC (High Temperature Co-fired Ceramic) made of alumina, and LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic) made of glass ceramics. FIG. 3 10 5 10 10 a As shown in , the outer shape of the first base substrate is substantially the same as the outermost shape of the package main body . An upper surface (the surface on the +Z-axis direction side) of the first base substrate defines the bottom part of the cavity C. FIG. 4 FIG. 3 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 a a As shown in , the outer shape of the second base substrate is substantially the same as the outer shape of the first base substrate . The second base substrate has a frame-like shape opening in the thickness direction. An inner circumferential surface of the second base substrate has a shape with the four corners rounded in the planar view. The inner circumferential surface of the second base substrate defines a part (a lower part) of the side part of the cavity C (see ). FIG. 3 11 10 10 11 10 11 10 a As shown in , the second base substrate is disposed on the upper surface of the first base substrate . The second base substrate is integrated with the first base substrate . For example, the second base substrate is bonded to the first base substrate by sintering or the like. FIG. 4 11 14 14 14 14 11 As shown in , the second base substrate is provided with mount parts A, B protruding inward in the width direction. The mount parts A, B are located in at the center in the longitudinal direction of the second base substrate . 12 11 12 12 12 a FIG. 3 The outer shape of the third base substrate is substantially the same as the outer shape of the second base substrate . The third base substrate has a frame-like shape opening in the thickness direction. An inner circumferential surface of the third base substrate defines a part (a central part in the vertical direction) of the side part of the cavity C (see ). FIG. 3 12 11 12 11 12 11 As shown in , the third base substrate is disposed on the upper surface of the second base substrate . The third base substrate is integrated with the second base substrate . For example, the third base substrate is bonded to the second base substrate by sintering or the like. FIG. 4 FIG. 3 13 13 12 13 13 13 a As shown in , the sealing ring has electrical conductivity. The outer shape of the sealing ring is smaller than the outer shape of the third base substrate . The sealing ring has a frame-like shape opening in the thickness direction. An inner circumferential surface of the sealing ring defines a part (an upper part) of the side part of the cavity C (see ). FIG. 3 13 12 13 12 13 12 As shown in , the sealing ring is bonded to the upper surface of the third base substrate . For example, the sealing ring is bonded to the third base substrate by baking with a brazing material such as silver solder or a solder material. It should be noted that the sealing ring can also be bonded to a metal bonding layer, which is formed on the upper surface of the third base substrate , by bonding. For example, as the forming method of the metal bonding layer, there can be cited electrolytic plating, electroless plating, vapor deposition, sputtering and so on. 13 13 13 10 11 10 11 13 &#x2212;6 &#x2212;6 &#x2212;6 &#x2212;6 For example, as the forming material of the sealing ring , a nickel base alloy and so on can be cited. Specifically, it is sufficient for the forming material of the sealing ring to be selected from kovar, elinvar, invar, 42-alloy, and so on. In particular, as the material of the sealing ring , it is preferable to select a material closer in thermal expansion coefficient to the forming material of the first base substrates and the second base substrate . For example, in the case of using alumina having the thermal expansion coefficient of 6.8×10/° C. as the formation material of the first base substrate and the second base substrate , kovar having the thermal expansion coefficient of 5.2×10/° C. or 42-alloy having the thermal expansion coefficient of 4.5×10through 6.5×10/° C. is preferably used as the sealing ring . 6 6 13 6 6 a The sealing plate has electrical conductivity. The outer shape of the sealing plate is substantially the same as the outer shape of the sealing ring . A lower surface (the surface on the &#x2212;Z-axis direction side) of the sealing plate defines the upper part of the cavity C. 6 13 6 6 13 13 6 6 6 13 a The sealing plate is bonded to the upper end of the sealing ring . For example, as the bonding method of the sealing plate , there can be cited seam welding by making a roller electrode have contact, laser welding, ultrasonic welding, and so on. It should be noted that from a viewpoint of more reliably bonding the sealing plate and the sealing ring to each other, it is preferable to form a bonding layer made of nickel or gold good in chemistry with each other on each of the outer circumferential part (i.e., the bonding surface with the sealing ring ) of the lower surface of the sealing plate and the upper end (i.e., the bonding surface with the sealing plate ) of the sealing ring . 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 6 6 1 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 6 6 a a a a a a a a a The cavity C is defined by the upper surface of the first base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the second base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the third base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the sealing ring , and the lower surface of the sealing plate . Therefore, the inside of the piezoelectric vibrator is airtightly sealed by the upper surface of the first base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the second base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the third base substrate , the inner circumferential surface of the sealing ring , and the lower surface of the sealing plate . FIG. 4 14 14 11 20 20 3 10 21 21 20 20 21 21 20 20 21 21 As shown in , on the upper surfaces of the mount parts A, B of the second base substrate , there are formed a pair of electrode pads A, B, respectively, which are connection electrodes to the piezoelectric vibrator element . Incidentally, on the lower surface of the first base substrate , there are formed a pair of external electrodes A, B with distance therebetween in the longitudinal direction. For example, the electrode pads A, B and the external electrodes A, B are each a single layer film made of single metal or a laminated film having different metals stacked on one another formed by vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like. The electrode pads A, B and the external electrodes A, B are electrically connected to each other via interconnections not shown. [Piezoelectric Vibrator Element] FIG. 5 3 30 41 48 30 As shown in , the piezoelectric vibrator element is provided with a piezoelectric plate , and electrodes through provided to the piezoelectric plate . 30 30 30 The piezoelectric plate is formed of a piezoelectric material. In the present embodiment, the piezoelectric plate is formed of a quartz crystal. It should be noted that the piezoelectric plate can also be formed of a piezoelectric material such as a lithium tantalate, or a lithium niobate. 30 31 32 31 32 35 31 32 33 34 33 34 35 31 32 70 35 30 The piezoelectric plate is provided with a pair of vibrating arm parts , (a first vibrating arm part and a second vibrating arm part ), a base part for connecting the base ends of the pair of vibrating arm parts , to each other, a pair of support arm parts , (a first support arm part and a second support arm part ) connected to the base part and disposed on the outer side in the width direction of the pair of vibrating arm parts , , and a connection part to which the base part is connected. Viewed from the Z-axis direction, the piezoelectric plate has a substantially line-symmetrical shape with the central axis O extending along the Y-axis direction as the axis of symmetry. [Vibrating Arm Parts] 31 32 31 32 35 31 32 31 32 31 32 31 32 35 31 32 31 32 The vibrating arm parts , each have the longitudinal direction along the Y-axis direction. The vibrating arm parts , extend from the base part toward the +Y-axis direction. The vibrating arm parts , are disposed in parallel to each other while being arranged in the X-axis direction. The vibrating arm parts , each vibrate with the base part functioning as a fixed end, and the tip functioning as a free end. The vibrating arm parts , are provided with main body parts A, A located on the base part side, and weight parts B, B located on the tip side of the vibrating arm parts , , respectively. 31 32 37 37 31 31 37 31 32 The main body parts A, A are each provided with a groove part . The groove part is recessed inward in the thickness direction on the both principal surfaces (the both surfaces in the thickness direction) of each of the main body parts A, B. The groove part extends throughout the longitudinal direction of each of the main body parts A, A. 31 32 41 42 41 42 31 32 41 42 In each of the main body parts A, A, there are disposed two systems of excitation electrodes (a first excitation electrode and a second excitation electrode ). The excitation electrodes , vibrate the respective vibrating arm parts , in the width direction when a predetermined drive voltage is applied. The excitation electrodes , are patterned in the state of being electrically isolated from each other. 41 37 31 32 42 31 37 32 Specifically, the first excitation electrode is formed in the groove part of the first vibrating arm part , and on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the second vibrating arm part . On the other hand, the second excitation electrode is formed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the first vibrating arm part , and in the groove part of the second vibrating arm part . 31 32 31 32 31 32 31 32 31 32 31 32 Viewed from the Z-axis direction, the weight parts B, B each have a rectangular shape having the longitudinal direction in the Y-axis direction. In the X-axis direction, the width of the weight parts B, B is larger than the width of the main body parts A, A. Thus, it is possible to increase the mass of the tip of each of the vibrating arm parts , , and at the same time, increase the inertial moment when vibrating. Therefore, compared to the piezoelectric vibrator element not provided with the weight parts B, B, it is possible to shorten the vibrating arm parts , . 31 32 50 50 41 42 50 31 32 50 31 32 The weight parts B, B are each provided with a weight metal film . The weight metal film is formed integrally with the first excitation electrode or the second excitation electrode . The weight metal film increases the mass of the tip of each of the vibrating arm parts , . The weight metal film prevents the resonant frequency from rising in the case of shortening the vibrating arm parts , . [Support Arm Parts] 33 34 33 34 35 31 32 31 32 33 34 35 31 32 Viewed from the Z-axis direction, the support arm parts , each have an L-shape. The support arm parts , are disposed on the outer side in the width direction of the base part and the vibrating arm parts , (the main body parts A, A). Specifically, the support arm parts , protrude from the both side surfaces in the width direction of the base part outward in the width direction, and then extend along the longitudinal direction in parallel to the vibrating arm parts , , respectively. 33 34 43 44 43 44 3 5 43 34 44 33 The support arm parts , are respectively provided with mount electrodes , (a first mount electrode and a second mount electrode ) as mount parts when mounting the piezoelectric vibrator element to the package main body . The first mount electrode is disposed on the tip side of the second support arm part . The second mount electrode is disposed on the tip side of the first support arm part . 41 42 43 44 45 46 45 46 45 34 31 32 35 46 33 31 32 35 41 42 43 44 45 46 30 The two systems of excitation electrodes , and the two systems of mount electrodes , are electrically connected to each other with two systems of wiring electrodes , (a first wiring electrode and a second wiring electrode ), respectively. The first wiring electrode is laid from the second support arm part to the vibrating arm parts , via the base part . The second wiring electrode is laid from the first support arm part to the vibrating arm parts , via the base part . The excitation electrodes , , the mount electrodes , , and the wiring electrodes , are formed on the both principal surfaces of the piezoelectric plate so that the respective planar shapes viewed from the Z-axis direction coincide with each other. 35 47 48 47 48 47 48 41 42 47 48 The base part is provided with a pair of extending electrodes , (a first extending electrode and a second extending electrode ). The extending electrodes , are electrically connected to the excitation electrodes , , respectively. The first extending electrode and the second extending electrode are electrically isolated from each other. [Connection Part] 70 3 30 62 70 70 3 70 FIG. 8 FIG. 8 FIG. 6 FIG. 6 The connection part is a part for connecting the piezoelectric vibrator element (the piezoelectric plate shown in ) and a frame part (see ) described later to each other. is a diagram showing the connection part viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction. In other words, shows the cross-section of the connection part after the piezoelectric vibrator element is broken off at the connection part . FIG. 6 FIG. 6 70 70 71 72 73 72 73 70 71 72 73 As shown in , viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction (in the cross-sectional view of the connection part ), the connection part is provided with a main body part having a rectangular shape, and guide parts , (a first guide part and a second guide part ) each forming a triangular shape having a vertex angle K on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part . For the sake of convenience, in , the boundaries between the main body part and the guide parts , are indicated by the dashed two-dotted lines. 71 71 72 73 70 Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the main body part has a rectangular shape having the longitudinal direction in the Z-axis direction. Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the main body part projects from the guide parts , outward in the thickness direction of the connection part . 72 73 72 73 70 72 73 70 70 72 72 73 73 a a a a a a The guide parts , respectively have tilted surfaces , tilted with respect to one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part an inner side of each of the tilted surfaces , in the thickness direction of the connection part is located on an outer side in the width direction of the connection part . Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the guide part forms an isoscales triangular shape having the tilted surfaces substantially the same in length as the oblique sides, and the guide part forms an isoscales triangular shape having the tilted surfaces substantially the same in length as the oblique sides. It should be noted that the isoscales triangular shape described above is illustrative only, the two oblique sides forming the vertex angle K can also be different in length from each other. 70 70 From the viewpoint of sufficiently ensuring the strength of the connection part , the degree of the vertex angle K is preferably no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees. Further, from the viewpoint of more reliably ensuring the strength of the connection part , the degree of the vertex angle K is more preferably no smaller than 80 degrees and no larger than 100 degrees. For example, the degree of the vertex angle K in the present embodiment is about 100 degrees. 72 73 71 72 71 73 71 72 73 71 72 73 1 71 72 73 2 71 The guide parts , are disposed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the main body part , respectively. Specifically, the first guide part is disposed on one side surface (the surface on the &#x2212;X-axis direction side) in the width direction of the main body part . On the other hand, the second guide part is disposed on the other side surface (the surface on the +X-axis direction side) in the width direction of the main body part . Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the first guide part and the second guide part are disposed at the center in the longitudinal direction of the main body part . Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with the central line L in the width direction of the main body part as the line of symmetry. Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with the central line L in the thickness direction of the main body part as the line of symmetry. 70 1 71 2 1 70 72 73 70 2 71 71 Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the width of the connection part is denoted by W, and the width of the main body part is denoted by W. Here, the width W of the connection part denotes the maximum length (i.e., the distance between the vertex of the first guide part and the vertex of the second guide part ) in the X-axis direction of the connection part . The width W of the main body part denotes the length between the surface on the &#x2212;X-axis direction side and the surface on the +X-axis direction side of the main body part . 1 70 2 71 W W The width W of the connection part and the width W of the main body part satisfy the following condition. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm 47 48 47 48 35 70 47 48 71 72 73 47 70 48 70 47 48 FIG. 5 The pair of extending electrodes , (the first extending electrode and the second extending electrodes ) are laid from the principal surface of the base part (see ) to the both side surfaces in the width direction of the connection part . Viewed from the &#x2212;Y-axis direction, the extending electrodes , are bent along the main body part and the guide parts , , respectively. The first extending electrode is disposed on one side surface (the surface on the &#x2212;X-axis direction side) in the width direction of the connection part . On the other hand, the second extending electrode is disposed on the other side surface (the surface on the +X-axis direction side) in the width direction of the connection part . The first extending electrode and the second extending electrode are electrically isolated from each other. [Connection State of Piezoelectric Vibrator Element] FIG. 2 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 3 2 33 34 20 20 14 14 31 32 35 43 20 44 20 As shown in , the piezoelectric vibrator element is housed in the cavity C of the package hermetically sealed. The support arm parts , are electrically and mechanically bonded to the two electrode pads A, B provided to the mount parts A, B, respectively, via electrically-conductive adhesive. The vibrating arm parts , are supported via the base part . The first mount electrode (see ) is electrically connected to the electrode pad B. The second mount electrode (see ) is electrically connected to the electrode pad A. 33 34 20 20 It should be noted that as the electrically-conductive bonding members for bonding the support arm parts , and the electrode pads A, B to each other, it is possible to use metal bumps. The metal bumps have fluidity in the initial stage of bonding, and have a characteristic of being solidified to develop the bonding strength in a latter stage of bonding. The electrically-conductive adhesive described above also has the characteristic common to the metal bumps. FIG. 5 FIG. 3 21 21 41 42 41 42 31 32 41 42 31 32 As shown in , when a predetermined voltage is applied to the external electrodes A, B (see ), a current flows through the excitation electrodes , to generate an electrical field between the excitation electrodes , . For example, the vibrating arm parts , vibrate at a predetermined resonant frequency in directions (in the X-axis direction) of getting closer to and away from each other due to the inverse piezoelectric effect by the electrical field generated between the excitation electrodes , . For example, the vibration of the vibrating arm parts , can be used as a time source, a timing source of a control signal, a reference signal source, or the like. [Method of Manufacturing Piezoelectric Vibrator Element] 3 Then, a method of manufacturing the piezoelectric vibrator element according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 3 10 20 30 40 50 As shown in , the method of manufacturing the piezoelectric vibrator element according to the present embodiment has an outer shape forming process S, an electrode forming process S, a weight metal film forming process S, a frequency adjusting process S, and a segmentalizing process S. [Outer Shape Forming Process] 10 10 60 30 62 70 30 62 FIG. 8 FIG. 8 Firstly, the outer shape forming process S is performed. As shown in , in the outer shape forming process S, a wafer is provided with a plurality of piezoelectric plates (just one is shown in ), a plurality of frame parts , and a plurality of connection parts each for connecting the piezoelectric plate and the frame part to each other. 30 62 70 60 60 30 62 70 30 30 62 70 60 FIG. 8 Specifically, a mask (hereinafter referred to as an “outer shape mask”) having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the piezoelectric plates , the frame parts , and the connection parts is formed on the both surfaces of the wafer using a photolithography technology. Subsequently, a wet-etching process is performed on the wafer . Thus, the area, which is not masked by the outer shape mask, is selectively removed to thereby form the outer shape of the piezoelectric plates , the frame parts , and the connection parts . On this occasion, the plurality of piezoelectric plates (just one is shown in ) is disposed so as to be arranged side by side in the X-axis direction, and the plurality of piezoelectric plates is in the state of being connected to the frame part via the respective connection parts . Further, among the outer surfaces of the wafer , the end surface (the side surface) formed by wet etching forms a natural crystal surface of the quartz crystal. 31 32 37 31 32 Subsequently, an etching process is performed on the vibrating arm parts , . Thus, the grooves are formed on the both principal surfaces of each of the vibrating arm parts , . 70 62 35 70 35 61 62 70 62 35 61 62 35 70 62 35 70 Here, the connection parts each connect the frame part and an end edge on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the base part to each other. The connection parts are each disposed at the center in the width direction of the end edge on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the base part . A connecting part between the frame part and the connection part projects from the frame part toward the base part along the Y-axis direction. The width in the X-axis direction of the connecting part gradually decreases in a direction from the frame part toward the base part . The connection part becomes the narrowest in width in the part between the frame part and the end edge on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the base part . For example, the width of the connection part is no smaller than 30 μm and no larger than 50 μm. [Electrode Forming Process] 20 20 60 41 42 43 44 45 46 30 47 48 30 62 70 61 41 42 43 44 45 46 50 FIG. 9 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 9 FIG. 11 Subsequently, the electrode forming process S is performed. As shown in , in the electrode forming process S, an electrode film is patterned on the wafer to form the excitation electrodes , (see ), the mount electrodes , (see ), and the wiring electrodes , (see ) on each of the piezoelectric plates , and at the same time form the extending electrodes , extending from each of the piezoelectric plates to the frame part through the corresponding ones of the connection parts and the connecting parts . It should be noted that in through , the excitation electrodes , , the mount electrodes , , the wiring electrodes , , and the weight metal film are omitted from the drawings for the sake of convenience. 60 Specifically, the electrode film is deposited on the principal surface and the side surface of the wafer using the sputtering method, the vapor deposition method, or the like. For example, the electrode film is formed of a single layer film made of metal such as gold, or a laminated film, which has metal such as chromium as a foundation layer, and metal such as gold as an upper layer. 41 48 Subsequently, a mask (hereinafter referred to as an “electrode mask”) made of a resist material having a shape corresponding to the outer shapes of the electrodes through is formed on the surface of the electrode film using the photolithography technology. 41 42 43 44 45 46 30 47 48 30 62 70 61 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 Then, an etching process is performed on the electrode film to selectively remove the electrode film in the areas not masked by the electrode mask. Thus, the excitation electrodes , (see ), the mount electrodes , (see ), and the wiring electrode , (see ) are formed on each of the piezoelectric plates . In addition, the extending electrodes , are formed in an area extending from each of the piezoelectric plates to the frame part through the connection part and the connecting part . 47 47 70 47 71 72 72 47 47 62 47 45 35 FIG. 5 FIG. 10 a a The first extending electrode extends in the Y-axis direction. The first extending electrode is disposed on the &#x2212;X-axis direction side of the central axis O (see ). In each of the connection parts , the first extending electrode is disposed on the side surface on the &#x2212;X-axis direction side of the main body part , and the tilted surface (see ) of the first guide part . The end part on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the first extending electrode is connected to a first pad part having a rectangular shape and disposed on the principal surface of the frame part . The end part on the +Y-axis direction side of the first extending electrode is connected to the first wiring electrode disposed on the principal surface of the base part . 48 47 48 70 48 71 73 73 48 48 47 62 48 46 35 FIG. 5 FIG. 6 a a a The second extending electrode extends in the Y-axis direction at the position distant in the +X-axis direction from the first extending electrode . The second extending electrode is disposed on the +X-axis direction side of the central axis O (see ). In each of the connection parts , the second extending electrode is disposed on the side surface on the +X-axis direction side of the main body part , and the tilted surface (see ) of the second guide part . The end part on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the second extending electrode is connected to a second pad part having a rectangular shape and disposed on the +X-axis direction side of the first pad part in the principal surface of the frame part . The end part on the +Y-axis direction side of the second extending electrode is connected to the second wiring electrode disposed on the principal surface of the base part . 47 48 30 47 48 47 48 47 48 30 30 a a a a a a a a FIG. 9 The pad parts , are disposed in accordance with the piezoelectric plate , and a plurality of pad parts , (just one pair are shown in ) is disposed so as to be alternately arranged in the X-axis direction. It should be noted that the positions of the pad parts , are not particularly limited, but the pad parts , can be disposed at positions overlapping the piezoelectric plate in the X-axis direction, or can also be disposed at positions corresponding to an area between two piezoelectric plates adjacent in the X-axis direction to each other. [Weight Metal Film Forming Process] 30 30 50 31 32 31 32 50 50 41 48 20 FIG. 5 Subsequently, the weight metal film forming process S is performed. As shown in , in the weight metal film formation process S, the weight metal films used for the frequency adjustment are formed on the weight parts B, B of the vibrating arm parts , . For example, the weight metal film is formed by vapor deposition. It should be noted that the weight metal films can also be formed at the same time as the electrodes through in the electrode forming process S. [Frequency Adjusting Process] 40 40 47 48 31 32 3 30 Subsequently, the frequency adjusting process S is performed. In the frequency adjusting process S, a predetermined drive voltage is applied between the extending electrodes , to vibrate the vibrating arm parts , to thereby adjust the frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator element (the piezoelectric plate ). FIG. 9 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 47 48 41 42 47 48 31 32 50 31 32 3 31 32 3 31 32 3 a a Specifically, as shown in , probes or the like of a measurement instrument for applying the drive voltage are pressed against the pad parts , . In this state, the predetermined drive voltage is applied between the excitation electrodes , (see ) via the extending electrodes , to vibrate the vibrating arm parts , . The weight metal films (see ) on the respective vibrating arm parts , are partially removed in accordance with a difference between the frequency measured on this occasion and a predetermined target frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator element . Thus, since the mass of each of the vibrating arm parts , varies, the frequency (the frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator element ) of the vibration of the vibrating arm parts , varies. Therefore, it is possible to approximate the frequency of the piezoelectric vibrator element to the target frequency. [Segmentalizing Process] 50 50 70 30 Subsequently, the segmentalizing process S is performed. In the segmentalizing process S, the connection parts are cut to segmentalize the piezoelectric plates . 3 62 70 70 62 35 30 62 30 70 Specifically, each of the piezoelectric vibrator element is broken off from the frame part at the connection part . As described above, since the width of the connection part is the narrowest in the part between the frame part and the end edge on the &#x2212;Y-axis direction side of the base part , if the piezoelectric plate is bent with respect to the frame part , the piezoelectric plate is cut out at the connection part . 3 60 3 62 70 Due to the processes described hereinabove, the plurality of piezoelectric vibrator elements can be manufactured in a lump from the single wafer . It should be noted that the piezoelectric vibrator elements are broken off from the frame part at the connection part , then land on a mounting stage not shown, and are then conveyed to the next process while being suction supported. [Function of Connection Part when Breaking Off Piezoelectric Vibrator Element] FIG. 10 3 70 70 3 71 1 As shown in , when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , the force is applied to the connection part from one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part . Specifically, when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , the force is applied to the main body part in the direction of an arrow F (i.e., from the +Z-axis direction side toward the &#x2212;Z-axis direction side). FIG. 11 FIG. 9 FIG. 11 70 47 48 is an XI-XI cross-sectional view (i.e., a cross-sectional view of the connection part ) in . In , the extending electrodes , are omitted from the drawing for the sake of convenience. FIG. 11 3 72 73 1 70 70 72 1 2 72 73 1 3 73 a a. As shown in , when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator elements , the guide parts , guide the force (the force applied in the direction of the arrow F), which is applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part , to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part . The first guide part guides the force applied thereto in the direction of the arrow F toward the direction of an arrow F along the tilted surface . The second guide part guides the force applied thereto in the direction of the arrow F toward the direction of an arrow F along the tilted surface 60 3 1 70 72 73 70 3 62 70 70 As described hereinabove, in the wafer , the piezoelectric vibrator element , and the piezoelectric vibrator according to the present embodiment, the connection part is provided with the guide parts , for guiding the force, which is applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element from the frame part at the connection part , to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part . Incidentally, in the conventional wafers, in the case in which the piezoelectric vibrator elements are miniaturized, the way of cracking the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element becomes apt to vary. Therefore, the landing posture of the piezoelectric vibrator element on the mounting stage becomes apt to vary. If the landing posture of the piezoelectric vibrator element is inappropriate, it becomes difficult to suction support and convey the piezoelectric vibrator element, and there is a possibility that the yield ratio decreases. Therefore, there is a room for improvement in stably breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. 70 3 70 70 3 70 3 3 In contrast, according to the present embodiment, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part , the way of cracking the connection part becomes apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . In addition, since the way of cracking the connection part is stabilized when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , the landing posture of the piezoelectric vibrator element on the mounting stage becomes apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it becomes easy to suction support and convey the piezoelectric vibrator element, and thus, it is possible to prevent the yield ratio from dropping. 72 73 72 73 70 72 73 70 70 a a a a Further, in the present embodiment, the guide parts , respectively have the tilted surfaces , tilted with respect to the one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part the inner side of each of the tilted surfaces , in the thickness direction of the connection part is located on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part . 70 3 72 73 70 3 a a According to the present embodiment, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided along the tilted surfaces , , the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 70 70 60 70 72 73 72 73 a a Further, if the wet-etching process is performed on the quartz crystal in the outer shape forming process, an irregularly-shaped part formed of the natural crystal surface of the piezoelectric material is formed on the side surface in the width direction of the connection part as the etching residue in some cases. For example, the irregularly-shaped parts are formed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the connection part , respectively. The surface of the irregularly-shaped part is formed as a surface tilted with respect to the principal surface of the wafer . In other words, the surface of the irregularly-shaped part is a surface tilted with respect to one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part . Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the surfaces of the irregularly-shaped parts can be used as the tilted surfaces , of the guide parts , , which is preferable. 70 72 73 70 Further, in the present embodiment, in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , the guide parts , each have a triangular shape having the vertex angle K on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part . 70 3 70 3 72 73 70 70 3 70 3 Incidentally, in the case of simply adopting a rectangular shape as the cross-sectional shape of the connection part , when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , the way of cracking the connection part is not fixed, and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. In contrast, according to the present embodiment, the guide parts , each have the triangular shape having the vertex angle K on the outer side in the width direction of the connection part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part . Therefore, since the cracks are guided along the oblique sides of the triangular shapes when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . Further, in the present embodiment, the degree of the vertex angle K is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees. 72 73 70 70 72 73 70 70 70 70 Incidentally, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle K exceeds 120 degrees, the width of the guide parts , in the width direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. On the other hand, in the case in which the degree of the vertex angle K is smaller than 30 degrees, the thickness of the guide parts , in the thickness direction of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. In contrast, according to the present embodiment, since the degree of the vertex angle K is no smaller than 30 degrees and no larger than 120 degrees, the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. 70 70 71 72 73 71 72 73 72 71 73 71 Further, in the present embodiment, in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , the connection part is further provided with the main body part having the rectangular shape, and the guide parts , are disposed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the main body part . In other words, the guide parts , include the first guide part disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the main body part , and the second guide part disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the main body part . 70 3 70 71 70 3 According to the present embodiment, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part starting from the main body part , the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 70 71 72 73 70 Further, in the present embodiment, in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , the main body part projects from the guide parts , outward in the thickness direction of the connection part . 70 3 70 71 70 3 According to the present embodiment, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to at least one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from the projected part of the main body part , the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 70 72 73 1 71 Further, in the present embodiment, in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with the central line L in the width direction of the main body part as the line of symmetry. 70 3 70 71 70 3 According to the present embodiment, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element is guided to the both sides in the width direction of the connection part in a balanced manner starting from the main body part , the way of cracking the connection part becomes more apt to be stabilized. Therefore, it is possible to more stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 70 1 71 2 70 W W Further, in the present embodiment, defining the width of the connection part as W, and the width of the main body part as W in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , the following is fulfilled. 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm 1 70 72 73 3 3 2 71 71 70 2 1 70 70 72 73 3 W W Incidentally, in the case in which the width W of the connection part is equal to or larger than 100 μm, the crack becomes apt to start from the guide parts , when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , and there is a high possibility that the piezoelectric vibrator element cannot stably be broken off. On the other hand, in the case in which the width W of the main body part is equal to or smaller than 10 μm, the width of the main body part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to the insufficient strength. Further, in the case in which W×2&#x2265;W is fulfilled, the width of the connection part becomes too thin, and there is a high possibility that the connection part breaks in an unintended situation due to insufficient strength. In contrast, according to the present embodiment, since the following is fulfilled, it becomes hard for the cracks to start from the guide parts , when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 10 μm<2×2<1<100 μm 71 3 3 70 70 In other words, since the crack becomes apt to occur starting from the main body part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element , it is possible to stably break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . In addition, since the strength of the connection part is sufficiently ensured, it is possible to prevent the connection part from breaking in an unintended situation. 47 48 41 42 31 32 47 47 48 70 48 47 48 70 Further, in the present embodiment, there are further provided the pair of extending electrodes , electrically connected to the pair of excitation electrodes , , which vibrate the pair of vibrating arm parts , when the predetermined drive voltage is applied thereto, wherein the first extending electrode (one of the pair of extending electrodes , ) is disposed on the one side surface in the width direction of the connection part , and the second extending electrode (the other of the pair of extending electrodes , ) is disposed on the other side surface in the width direction of the connection part . 47 48 47 48 70 47 48 70 3 3 3 According to this configuration, since it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes , from coming close to each other compared to the case of disposing both of the pair of extending electrodes , on one surface in the thickness direction of the connection part , it is possible to prevent the pair of extending electrodes , from shorting to each other. In addition, since the width of the connection part can be made narrower, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 72 73 1 71 70 172 173 170 172 173 170 272 273 270 FIG. 12 FIG. 12 FIG. 13 It should be noted that in the present embodiment, there is presented the description citing the example in which the first guide part and the second guide part form a line-symmetrical shape with the central line L in the width direction of the main body part as the line of symmetry in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , but the invention is not limited to this example. For example, as shown in , it is also possible for a first guide part and a second guide part to have respective shapes different from each other in the cross-sectional view of a connection part . In the modified example shown in , the outer shape of the first guide part is made larger than the outer shape of the second guide part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part . In contrast, in the modified example shown in , the outer shape of a first guide part is made smaller than the outer shape of a second guide part in the cross-sectional view of a connection part . 170 3 170 171 170 170 3 3 3 According to these modified examples, since the force applied thereto from the one surface side in the thickness direction of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element becomes apt to be guided to just one side in the width direction of the connection part starting from a main body part , the crack becomes apt to occur in a local area (i.e., a brittle part of the connection part ) of the connection part . Therefore, it is possible to easily break off the piezoelectric vibrator element . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the piezoelectric vibrator element from being damaged when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element . 170 170 60 172 173 Further, if the wet-etching process is performed on the quartz crystal in the outer shape forming process, an irregularly-shaped part formed of the natural crystal surface of the piezoelectric material is formed on the side surface in the width direction of the connection part as the etching residue in some cases. For example, the irregularly-shaped parts are formed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the connection part , respectively. The surface of each of the irregularly-shaped parts is formed as a surface tilted with respect to the principal surface of the wafer . The irregularly-shaped parts are formed asymmetrically between the &#x2212;X-axis direction side and the +X-axis direction side. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the guide parts , can be formed using the asymmetric property in the X-axis direction of the irregularly-shaped parts, which is preferable. 71 72 73 70 70 371 372 373 372 373 370 372 373 370 FIG. 14 FIG. 14 a a Further, in the present embodiment, there is presented the description citing the example in which the main body part projects from the guide parts , outward in the thickness direction of the connection part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , but the invention is not limited to this example. For example, as shown in , it is also possible for the end edge of one surface in the thickness direction of a main body part to have contact with the end edge of each of tilted surfaces , of guide parts , in the cross-sectional view of a connection part . In the modified example shown in , the outer shape of the first guide part and the outer shape of the second guide part form substantially the same shape in the cross-sectional view of the connection part . FIG. 15 FIG. 15 FIG. 15 FIG. 16 471 472 472 470 471 473 473 472 473 470 472 473 470 572 573 570 a a Further, as shown in , it is also possible for the end edge of one surface in the thickness direction of a main body part to have contact with only the end edge of a tilted surface of a first guide part in the cross-sectional view of a connection part . In other words, it is also possible for the end edge of the one surface in the thickness direction of the main body part to be distant from the end edge of a tilted surface of a second guide part . In the modified example shown in , the first guide part and the second guide part have respective shapes different from each other in the cross-sectional view of the connection part . In the modified example shown in , the outer shape of the first guide part is made larger than the outer shape of the second guide part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part . In contrast, in the modified example shown in , the outer shape of a first guide part is made smaller than the outer shape of a second guide part in the cross-sectional view of a connection part . 70 71 72 73 71 70 71 71 Further, in the present embodiment, there is presented the description citing the example in which the connection part is further provided with the main body part having the rectangular shape, and the guide parts , are respectively disposed on the both side surfaces in the width direction of the main body part in the cross-sectional view of the connection part , but the invention is not limited to this example. For example, it is also possible for the guide part to be disposed on one side surface in the width direction of the main body part . In other words, it is sufficient for the guide part to be disposed on at least one of the one side surface and the other side surface in the width direction of the main body part . It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the above embodiment described with reference to the drawings, but a variety of modified examples can be cited within the scope or the spirit of the invention. 3 33 34 31 32 For example, in the example described above, the piezoelectric vibrator element is a so-called side-arm vibrator element having the support arm parts , disposed on the outer side of the vibrating arm parts , . However, this configuration is not a limitation, but the piezoelectric vibrator element can also be, for example, a so-called center-arm vibrator element having a single support arm part disposed between the pair of vibrating arm parts, or a vibrator element not provided with any support arm part. Further, the vibrating arm part is not required to be provided with the groove parts. Besides the above, it is arbitrarily possible to replace the constituent in the embodiment described above with a known constituent within the scope or the spirit of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exterior perspective view of a piezoelectric vibrator according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the piezoelectric vibrator according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the line shown in . FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the piezoelectric vibrator according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a piezoelectric vibrator element according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a connection part related to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of manufacturing the piezoelectric vibrator element according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a process chart showing the method of manufacturing the piezoelectric vibrator element according to the embodiment, and is a partial plan view of a wafer. FIG. 9 FIG. 8 is a process chart following , and is a partial plan view of the wafer. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the connection part of the wafer according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a function of the connection part when breaking off the piezoelectric vibrator element. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the connection part related to a first modified example of the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the connection part related to a second modified example of the embodiment. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the connection part related to a third modified example of the embodiment. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the connection part related to a fourth modified example of the embodiment. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the connection part related to a fifth modified example of the embodiment.
135 P.3d 260 (2006) 340 Or. 530 STATE of Oregon, Respondent on Review, v. David Allen COOK, Petitioner on Review. (CC 961037561; CA A106503; SC S49851). Supreme Court of Oregon. Argued and Submitted March 4, 2004. Decided May 11, 2006. *261 On review from the Court of Appeals.[*] Rankin Johnson, IV, Deputy Public Defender, Salem, argued the cause for petitioner on review. With him on the briefs were Peter A. Ozanne, Executive Director, Peter Gartlan, Chief Defender, and David E. Groom, Deputy Public Defender, Office of Public Defense Services. Janet A. Metcalf, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause for respondent on review. With her on the brief were Hardy Myers, Attorney General, and Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General. Before CARSON,[**] Chief Justice, and GILLETTE, DURHAM, RIGGS, DE MUNIZ,[***] and BALMER, Justices.[****] *262 CARSON, J. At issue in this criminal case is whether the admission of hearsay statements by two codefendants who did not testify at defendant's criminal trial violated defendant's right "to meet the witnesses face to face" under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution, or his right "to be confronted with the witnesses against him" under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. During defendant's trial, the trial court allowed the state to introduce hearsay statements by defendant's two codefendants. Defendant was convicted and appealed, primarily claiming that the admission of those statements violated his confrontation rights under both the state and federal constitutions. In a per curiam opinion, the Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's conviction despite the admission of those statements. State v. Cook, 183 Or.App. 237, 51 P.3d 673 (2002). We allowed defendant's petition for review and now affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals and the judgment of the trial court. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On October 2, 1996, police discovered the bodies of two murdered men near a Larch Mountain rock quarry that commonly was used as a place for target shooting. One had a gunshot wound to his head and five or six additional gunshot wounds to his body; the second had 13 gunshot wounds to various parts of his body. The police officers investigating the murders identified defendant and his two codefendants, Gregory and Lewis, as suspects. Witnesses described seeing a vehicle that matched Gregory's at the scene of the murders, and Gregory had made a telephone call to the police on the night of the murders, informing them that he had information about the crime. Later, after Gregory made inculpatory statements about the murders when the officers questioned him, the police gave him Miranda warnings and arrested him. While in custody, Gregory made two recorded statements to the police. In those statements, Gregory stated that he, defendant, and Lewis had gone to Larch Mountain for target shooting. A short time later, the two victims arrived and also began target shooting. Gregory reported that, after speaking with the victims briefly, he and Lewis were walking with their backs to defendant when Gregory heard gunfire and turned to see one of the victims lying on the ground. According to Gregory, the other victim was looking in Gregory's direction and holding a gun. Gregory attempted to shoot at that victim, but the victim hid behind a pile of gravel before Gregory could fire. Gregory stated that he and Lewis then fled into the woods. When he came out of the woods, Gregory encountered one of the victims lying on the ground, wounded but still moving, and he shot that victim in the head to "put him out of his misery[.]" Gregory also stated that, after the killings, defendant had claimed that he had shot the victims because one of the victims had pointed his gun at Gregory. However, Gregory admitted that defendant might have shot the victims just for the thrill of shooting someone and that he, defendant, and Lewis had discussed shooting someone earlier that day and had discussed specifically shooting those victims. The police also went to Lewis's residence and asked to speak with him about the murders. After the police gave him Miranda warnings, Lewis made a recorded statement to the police in which he reported that he, Gregory, and defendant had talked about shooting someone earlier on the day of the shootings and had discussed shooting the victims a short time before they were shot. Lewis claimed that defendant had said that he felt energized ("pumped") about shooting the victims. Lewis also admitted that he had shot one of the victims twice in the back. Later, the police arrested defendant. Defendant admitted that he had shot the victims, but he claimed that he had done so in Gregory's defense. For the deaths of the victims, the state charged defendant, Gregory, and Lewis with multiple counts of aggravated murder and informed the trial court that it would be seeking the death penalty for each defendant. Prior to defendant's trial, Gregory and *263 Lewis pleaded guilty to several counts of aggravated murder. Their plea agreements did not require them to testify against defendant at his trial. Before his trial, defendant moved to exclude the statements that Gregory and Lewis had made to the police, claiming that the statements, if offered against him for the truth of their content, would be inadmissible hearsay and, if admitted, would violate his confrontation rights under the state and federal constitutions. The trial court denied that motion, concluding that the statements of Gregory and Lewis were admissible under the "against penal interest" exception to the hearsay rule. At defendant's pretrial hearing, Gregory and Lewis invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify. Both further stated that they would continue to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights if called as witnesses at defendant's trial. At defendant's trial, the state offered — and the trial court admitted — the testimony of a police officer describing Gregory's recorded statement, as well as an audiotape recording of that statement. The state also offered — and the trial court again admitted — another officer's testimony describing Lewis's statement and an audiotape recording of Lewis's post-arrest statement. After the trial, a jury found defendant guilty of three counts of aggravated murder and determined that defendant should be sentenced to "true life" imprisonment pursuant to ORS 163.105. Defendant appealed, but the Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions, remanding only for entry of corrected sentences. Cook, 183 Or.App. at 238, 51 P.3d 673. Defendant then petitioned this court for review.[1] This court allowed defendant's petition for review and took the case under advisement on March 4, 2004. Shortly thereafter, on March 8, 2004, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). In Crawford, the Court reconsidered its 1980 decision in Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). Roberts had held that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution permitted the admission of out-of-court hearsay statements if two conditions were met: (1) the declarant must have been unavailable to testify at trial; and (2) the statements must have carried "adequate indicia of reliability," either because those statements fell within a "firmly rooted hearsay exception" or because they otherwise possessed "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness." Id. at 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531. In Crawford, after reexamining the historical underpinnings of the federal constitutional right to confrontation in criminal prosecutions, the Supreme Court determined that the Roberts "reliability" requirement for the admission of hearsay evidence did not satisfy the Sixth Amendment when "testimonial evidence" was at issue. Crawford, 541 U.S. at 42-56, 61, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Specifically, the Court held: "Where nontestimonial hearsay is at issue, it is wholly consistent with the Framers' design to afford the States flexibility in their development of hearsay law-as does Roberts, and as would an approach that exempted such statements from Confrontation Clause scrutiny altogether. Where testimonial evidence is at issue, however, the Sixth Amendment demands what the common law required: unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination." Id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The Supreme Court's decision in Crawford overruled its contrary prior cases. Additionally, this court's jurisprudence relating to the state constitutional right to confrontation in criminal prosecutions under Article I, section 11, derived from and followed those Supreme Court precedents.[2] We therefore asked the parties in this case to submit supplemental briefing respecting the impact of Crawford on our deliberations. In doing so, this court *264 asked both the state and defendant to consider the following questions: "(1) Whether and to what extent the Supreme Court's decision in Crawford impacts this court's analysis in [this case] under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution; "(2) Whether this court should re-examine its case law concerning the `reliability' requirement respecting an accused person's right `to meet witnesses face to face' under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution; and "(3) If `yes' to question (2), how the court should construe the wording of the right `to meet witnesses face to face' under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution." In response to that request, both parties prepared and submitted additional briefing addressing each of those questions.[3] We turn now to an analysis of the various issues presented. II. ANALYSIS This court first considers a defendant's statutory claims, if any; next, the court considers a defendant's state constitutional claims; and, finally, the court considers a defendant's federal constitutional claims. See State v. Nielsen, 316 Or. 611, 618, 853 P.2d 256 (1993) (describing that paradigm). A. Oregon Evidence Code As noted, defendant claims at the outset that the statements of Gregory and Lewis were inadmissible hearsay under the Oregon Evidence Code. "`Hearsay' is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." OEC 801(3). The statements that Gregory and Lewis made to the police were offered for their truth, i.e., they were offered to prove that defendant did not act in defense of Gregory when he shot the victims because defendant previously had discussed shooting someone.[4] Therefore, the statements were hearsay. Hearsay statements are not admissible as evidence in Oregon courts in the face of a timely objection to their admission, unless the statements fit within one of the exceptions provided by the Oregon Evidence Code or provided by another source of law. OEC 802. OEC 804(3)(c) sets forth the "against penal interest" exception to the hearsay rule. That exception provides that a hearsay statement is admissible "if the declarant is unavailable as a witness" (OEC 804(3)) and if the statement "at the time of its making * * * so far tended to subject the declarant to * * * criminal liability * * * that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statement unless the person believed it to be true." OEC 804(3)(c). This court applies a two-part standard of review to a trial court evidentiary ruling that a statement fits within an exception to the hearsay rule. State v. Cunningham, 337 Or. 528, 538-39, 99 P.3d 271 (2004). The court will uphold the trial court's preliminary factual determinations if any evidence in the record supports them. Id. at 537, 99 P.3d 271. However, the court reviews the trial court's ultimate legal conclusion, as to whether the hearsay statement is admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule, to determine if the trial court made an error of law. Id. at 538, 99 P.3d 271. Returning to the present case, we first must determine whether Gregory and Lewis were "unavailable" for the purposes of OEC *265 804. A declarant is unavailable as a witness if, inter alia, the declarant "[i]s exempted by ruling of the court on the grounds of privilege from testifying concerning the subject matter of a statement[.]" OEC 804(1)(a). As noted, at defendant's pretrial evidentiary hearing, both Gregory and Lewis invoked their Fifth Amendment rights. They also stated that they would assert their Fifth Amendment rights at defendant's trial if they were called as witnesses. Under those circumstances, the trial court correctly held that Gregory and Lewis were unavailable.[5]See State v. Rawls, 252 Or. 556, 558-63, 451 P.2d 127 (1969) (holding that assertion of privilege to be free from compelled self-incrimination makes declarant unavailable). Next, we turn to the second criterion for admissibility under OEC 804(3)(c), that is, whether the declarant's statement tends to subject him to criminal liability. Gregory admitted to shooting one of the victims in the head and admitted that, earlier in the day, he had spoken with the defendant and Lewis about shooting someone. Lewis admitted to shooting one of the victims twice in the back and admitted that he had been part of the earlier discussion about shooting someone. Those statements potentially subjected Gregory and Lewis to criminal liability. Defendant claims that some parts of the statements made by Gregory and Lewis were not self-inculpatory in that they only inculpated the defendant. Defendant appears to ask us to parse a declarant's statement into single sentences or phrases and to examine each sentence or phrase wholly independent of its context. This court previously has rejected such an approach, and defendant has offered nothing in his arguments that persuades us to alter that view. See State v. Wilson, 323 Or. 498, 512 n. 9, 918 P.2d 826 (1996) (refusing to follow United States Supreme Court's interpretation of FRE 804(3)(c) that noninculpatory parts of broader narrative are not admissible under "against-penal-interest" hearsay exception). In fact, this court has "held that, under OEC 804(3)(c), a declarant's hearsay statements that were against the declarant's penal interest and that also inculpated a criminal defendant were admissible in the defendant's criminal trial." Wilson, 323 Or. at 512, 918 P.2d 826 (citing Nielsen, 316 Or. at 620-21, 853 P.2d 256). The statements of Gregory and Lewis were both self-inculpatory and inculpated defendant. Therefore, the trial court correctly held that the second requirement for admissibility under OEC 804(3)(c) was satisfied. Finally, we examine the third requirement for admissibility under OEC 804(3)(c), that is, whether a reasonable person in declarant's position would not have made the statement unless he or she believed that it was true, by considering the circumstances under which the statement was made. See Nielsen, 316 Or. at 620-21, 853 P.2d 256 (evaluating surrounding circumstances at time of statement). In carrying out our analysis, we consider whether the declarant made the statement while in custody; whether the police conducted a lengthy interrogation and gave the declarant Miranda warnings; whether the statement was detailed and made soon after the crime; whether the declarant described his role in the crime or tried to shift blame to the defendant; and whether the declarant exposed himself to the same level of criminal liability as the defendant. Nielsen, 316 Or. at 620-21, 853 P.2d 256; Wilson, 323 Or. at 513, 918 P.2d 826. Although Gregory and Lewis made their statements while in police custody and under police interrogation, other surrounding circumstances support the trial court's conclusion that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statements unless he believed that they were true. See Nielsen, 316 Or. at 620, 853 P.2d 256 (discussing concern for statements made while in custody but still finding them admissible). This court previously has stated, *266 "We decline to adopt a per se rule invalidating all hearsay `confessions' made in custody * * *." Nielsen, 316 Or. at 624, 853 P.2d 256. Gregory and Lewis made their formal statements after receiving Miranda warnings, and both knew that their statements could be used against them. Gregory and Lewis were not offered leniency for their statements. Both of their statements were detailed and were made within hours after the crime. Gregory and Lewis exposed themselves to the same degree of criminal liability as defendant by describing their roles in the crime; Gregory admitted to shooting one of the victims in the head, and Lewis admitted to shooting one of the victims twice in the back. Furthermore, Gregory was not evasive or defensive; he actually initiated contact with the police by calling them on the telephone the night of the murders. Similarly, Lewis was not evasive or defensive; he freely answered the police officers' questions. Finally, Lewis was aware of the consequences of his statement, as he acknowledged that he likely would be charged with murder. Those circumstances support the trial court's conclusion that a reasonable person in either declarant's position would not have made the statements that each made unless he believed that they were true. We therefore conclude that, under OEC 804(3)(c), the statements of Gregory and Lewis were admissible as statements against penal interest. B. Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution provides, in part: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right * * * to meet the witnesses face to face * * *." To determine if the admission of out-of-court statements made by a declarant who is not testifying violates a defendant's Article I, section 11, rights under the Oregon Constitution, this court has relied upon the test announced by the United States Supreme Court in Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597. State v. Campbell, 299 Or. 633, 648, 705 P.2d 694 (1985). As mentioned above, the Roberts test contains two requirements. First, the declarant must be unavailable, and, second, the declarant's statement must have "adequate indicia of reliability." Id. (quoting Roberts, 448 U.S. at 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531). A statement is considered reliable when it falls within a "firmly rooted hearsay exception" or when it is accompanied by "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness." Nielsen, 316 Or. at 623, 853 P.2d 256 (quoting Roberts, 448 U.S. at 65-66, 100 S.Ct. 2531). Although the United States Supreme Court no longer adheres to the Roberts test in the context of the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, we continue to use it to analyze Confrontation Clause claims under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution: "This court's holding in Nielsen — applying the test articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Ohio v. Roberts to analyze indicia of reliability and trustworthiness under Article I, section 11 — is not modified by subsequent decisions of the United States Supreme Court. See State v. Caraher, 293 Or. 741, 749, 653 P.2d 942 (1982)(`[w]hen this court gives Oregon law an interpretation corresponding to a federal opinion, our decision remains the Oregon law even when federal doctrine later changes')." Wilson, 323 Or. at 514 n. 10, 918 P.2d 826. "This court has noted the United States Supreme Court's [previous] departure[s] from Roberts, but has continued to apply the [Roberts test] to its analysis of confrontation issues under Article I, section 11." State v. Moore, 334 Or. 328, 336, 49 P.3d 785 (2002). As we previously have discussed, Gregory and Lewis would not have testified at defendant's trial. Therefore, Gregory and Lewis were unavailable under Article I, section 11. We now consider the second requirement of the Roberts test, i.e., reliability. This court has not determined previously whether a statement against penal interest falls within a "firmly rooted hearsay exception," but we need not reach that issue here, because, as described below, the statements of *267 Gregory and Lewis contained particularized guarantees of trustworthiness, satisfying the second part of the test for reliability. See Nielsen, 316 Or. at 623, 853 P.2d 256 (noting that no cited authority supported conclusion that statement against penal interest falls within a "firmly rooted hearsay exception"). In Nielsen, this court held that a declarant's statement contained particularized guarantees of trustworthiness if the statement clearly subjected the declarant to criminal liability and the record contained no evidence that the declarant had a motive to lie. Id. To determine whether the declarant had a motive to lie, this court considered whether the declarant tried to shift the blame to another; whether the police promised the declarant leniency or tried to intimidate him; whether the declarant was unaware of the consequences of his statement; whether the declarant had been given Miranda warnings; and whether the statement was the product of protracted interrogation or a plea bargain. Id. at 623-24, 853 P.2d 256. Like the declarant in Nielsen, the statements of Gregory and Lewis subjected them to criminal liability. Gregory admitted to shooting one of the victims in the head, and Lewis admitted to shooting one of the victims twice in the back. Furthermore, the record contains no suggestion that either had a motive to lie. Examination of the record reveals that neither Gregory nor Lewis attempted to shift blame to the defendant but, instead, exposed themselves to the same level of criminal liability as the defendant. In fact, Lewis was well aware of the consequences of his statement, acknowledging that he likely would be charged with murder. Furthermore, the police made no promises of leniency, and the statements were not made as part of a plea bargain. The police gave Gregory and Lewis Miranda warnings, and both gave detailed statements within hours after the murders. Finally the police did not attempt to intimidate Gregory or Lewis; Lewis even stated that "both of the officers were extremely polite." The facts contained in the record lead us to conclude that the statements of Gregory and Lewis contained adequate indicia of reliability under Article I, section 11. The trial court therefore was entitled to conclude, as it did, that the admission of those statements under OEC 804(3)(c) did not violate defendant's rights under Article I, section 11, of the Oregon Constitution. C. Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right * * * to be confronted with the witnesses against him * * *." In Crawford, the United States Supreme Court rejected the Confrontation Clause test that it had announced in Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597, and construed the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause to apply primarily to "testimonial" hearsay statements admitted in criminal trials against a defendant.[6]Crawford, 541 U.S. at 53, 60-61, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Conversely, if a hearsay statement is not "testimonial," then the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause does not apply. See id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (suggesting such an approach). Although the Supreme Court did not comprehensively define the word "testimonial," the Court concluded that a "recorded statement, knowingly given in response to structured police questioning, qualifies under any conceivable definition." Id. at 52, 53 n. 4, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Crawford went on to hold that a testimonial hearsay statement is admissible under the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause only if the declarant is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. Id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. In Crawford, the police questioned the declarant while she was in their custody. Id. at 65, 124 S.Ct. 1354. In response, she made a statement implicating herself and the defendant in a crime and undermining the defendant's self-defense claim. Id. at 39-40, *268 65, 124 S.Ct. 1354. After the declarant asserted a privilege and refused to testify, the trial court admitted the declarant's statement under the "against penal interest" hearsay exception. Id. at 40, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The Supreme Court held that the statement was testimonial because the declarant had made it while in police custody and in response to police questioning. Id. at 53 n. 4, 61, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The Court further concluded that the second requirement for admission of a testimonial hearsay statement was missing because "the State admitted [the] testimonial statement against [the defendant], despite the fact that he had no opportunity to cross-examine [the declarant]." See id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Therefore, the Court concluded that admission of the statement violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment confrontation right. Id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The present case is closely analogous to Crawford. Here, the declarants, Gregory and Lewis, made statements while in police custody and in response to police questioning. The statements inculpated Gregory, Lewis, and defendant in a crime and undermined defendant's defense-of-others claim. By asserting their rights against self-incrimination, Gregory and Lewis did not testify at defendant's trial, and the trial court admitted the statements of Gregory and Lewis under the hearsay exception for statements against penal interest. Under Crawford, those statements were testimonial because Gregory and Lewis made them while in police custody and in response to police questioning. Thus, although the first requirement for admitting testimonial hearsay under Crawford was met, because Gregory and Lewis were unavailable, the second requirement was not met, because defendant had no opportunity to cross-examine Gregory and Lewis. Therefore, admission of their statements violated defendant's Sixth Amendment confrontation right. D. Harmless Error We have held that the trial court's admission of the statements at issue here did not violate defendant's confrontation right under the Oregon Constitution but did violate his confrontation right under the United States Constitution. Finding a federal constitutional error, however, does not end our analysis, because some classes of federal constitutional errors do not require automatic reversal of a conviction in all cases. See Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967) (so stating). Rather, violations of federal constitutional rights must be analyzed under the federal harmless error test, and, if that test is satisfied, reversal may not be required. See id. at 21, 87 S.Ct. 824 (stating that "[w]hether a conviction for crime should stand when a State has failed to accord federal constitutionally guaranteed rights is every bit as much of a federal question as what particular federal constitutional provisions themselves mean, what they guarantee, and whether they have been denied"). "Trial errors" are subject to harmless error analysis. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 307-09, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). Violations of the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause are trial errors subject to harmless error analysis under the rule announced in Chapman. See Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250, 253, 89 S.Ct. 1726, 23 L.Ed.2d 284 (1969) (so stating). A federal constitutional error is harmless, such that the conviction will be upheld, "if the reviewing court may confidently say, on the whole record, that the constitutional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt." Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 681, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986) (describing the test announced in Chapman). In reviewing the whole record to determine whether an error was harmless, the court should consider "the importance of the [improperly admitted] testimony in the prosecution's case, whether the testimony was cumulative, the presence or absence of evidence corroborating or contradicting the testimony of the witness on material points, * * * and, of course, the overall strength of the prosecution's case." Id. at 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431. Stated at the outset, the sole issue that we must consider under the above-described harmless error analysis is whether the improperly admitted evidence, when viewed in the context of all the other properly *269 admitted evidence, uniquely established defendant's state of mind when he shot the victims, i.e., whether he acted under a reasonable belief that one of the victims was attempting to rob or kill Gregory.[7] Before trial, the police questioned defendant about the shootings, and he stated that he had seen one of the victims point a gun at Gregory and, in response, defendant fired all 30 shots from his gun into the victims. The state introduced those statements at defendant's trial. Also, defendant took the stand and admitted intentionally shooting the victims, though he claimed that he had done so in defense of Gregory. The physical evidence of the crime further established that the victims had been shot by the gun that defendant had admitted shooting. Thus, defendant's conviction turned on the issue whether he shot the victims in defense of others; consequently, that issue must be the focus of our harmless error analysis. To counter defendant's defense-of-others claim, the prosecution, in part, relied upon the hearsay statements of Gregory and Lewis. In those statements, Gregory and Lewis both claimed that defendant previously had discussed shooting someone on several occasions, thus undermining his defense-of-others claim. Specifically, Gregory stated that defendant "was always sayin' that he wanted to shoot somebody." Gregory further stated that one week before the murders he and defendant had been at Larch Mountain target shooting and had seen some "Mexicans" firing an automatic weapon. Upon seeing the "Mexicans," Gregory stated that he and defendant "probably" engaged in a conversation about shooting the "Mexicans." Gregory also stated that he and defendant "probably" had discussed shooting the victims before defendant began firing at them. Finally, Gregory stated that he, defendant, and Lewis had discussed killing the victims just before they were shot and that he thought defendant had shot the victims "[j]ust to shoot somebody." Lewis stated that Gregory and defendant had told him that, while they had been at Larch Mountain a week before the murders, some "Mexicans" arrived and began firing an automatic weapon. Lewis further stated that Gregory and defendant stated "they would have liked to shoot [the Mexicans] if they had both had [better weapons]." Lewis also stated that Gregory and defendant had told him, while they had been at Larch Mountain on the day of the murders, that, "if somebody came up there that day with the gun they wanted, that they'd probably shoot them * * *." Additionally, Lewis confirmed that Gregory and defendant had told him that, "if they [had] an opportunity on [the day of the murders] that they[] [were] going to shoot somebody." Eventually, Lewis admitted that he, Gregory, and defendant had discussed "killing somebody on the way up to Larch Mountain." Finally, Lewis stated that, while the victims had been checking their target, he, Gregory, and defendant "talk[ed] about shooting the guys * * *." In addition to the foregoing statements of Gregory and Lewis, the prosecution also introduced statements by several of defendant's other acquaintances to the effect that defendant previously had discussed shooting someone on numerous separate occasions. Several of defendant's acquaintances further stated that defendant often spoke of a desire to shoot someone, and one witness testified that, after the murders, Lewis told him that Lewis, Gregory, and defendant intentionally had killed the victims. Specifically, Crocker, defendant's friend, stated that defendant, while riding in a car *270 with Crocker two or three weeks before the murders, took out a handgun, waved it around, and stated that "he wanted to use it to try to kill someone someday." Crocker further testified that defendant had stated that "he wanted to use the gun to try to kill someone and get away with it * * * to reenact the movie `Seven.'"[8] Finally, Crocker testified that defendant had stated that he had brought some combat or jungle boots that would be useful for running through the forest when "try[ing] to kill someone[.]" Those were the same boots that defendant later wore on the day of the murders. Drinkard, Gregory's former girlfriend, testified that, two weeks before the murders, she had been riding in a car with defendant when defendant had stated, "I'm going to kill somebody[,] and I'm going to take down whoever goes with me." Another one of defendant's friends, Cassily, testified that defendant had stated, a few months before the murders, that "he wanted to * * * see what his gun would do to somebody * * *" and that "he wanted to see what a bullet would do to human flesh." Cassily also testified that defendant commonly talked about killing people and that defendant, two or three weeks before the murders, had stated that he "want[ed] to rob people of their guns on Larch Mountain[]" and "get away with it." Defendant's former roommate, McGee, testified that defendant, a week before the murders, had told McGee of a conversation that defendant had had with Gregory while defendant and Gregory had been at Larch Mountain. Defendant stated that he and Gregory had discussed shooting some "Hispanics" who were at Larch Mountain and taking an automatic weapon that the "Hispanics" were shooting. During that conversation, defendant and Gregory also discussed murdering any witnesses to the robbery so that "nobody would find out about it[.]" According to McGee, defendant stated that he and Gregory did not go through with the robbery because some additional people had showed up. Defendant's former coworker, Galbraith, testified that defendant had stated that "he was thinking about taking out [killing] one of his friend's girlfriends[]" and asked "how much he should charge to do something like that." A day later, defendant had stated that "he was thinking about [killing the girlfriend] for $400, maybe even free." Another one of defendant's former coworkers, Foht, testified that defendant had stated that "a friend of his had offered him several thousand dollars * * * to bump off somebody." Defendant's high school friend, Karczag, testified that, one week before the murders, defendant had stated that he wanted to "becom[e] a hired assassin * * * and kill[] for money." Defendant's friend Marcia Nicholas testified that defendant had made statements expressing an interest in killing people "[a]ll throughout high school." Defendant had stated that "he was curious as to what it would be like to kill somebody." Finally, David Nicholas, another one of defendant's high school friends, testified that he and defendant were at Larch Mountain target shooting about three weeks before the murders when other people arrived to target shoot as well. Nicholas stated that the other people had made some "rude comments toward us[]" and that, in response, defendant "said that we could take them out [and] take their weapons[.]" Nicholas also testified that, while visiting Lewis in jail some time after the murders, he had asked Lewis about what had happened on Larch Mountain, and Lewis had told him that "we did it on purpose."[9] The main distinction between the statements of Gregory and Lewis and the statements by the witnesses who testified at defendant's trial is that the former described the intent and plan to kill the specific victims in this case. The latter primarily helped *271 establish that defendant had a general interest and desire to kill someone. However, Cassily testified that defendant had expressed a more specific plan to "rob people of their guns on Larch Mountain[]" and "get away with it." That testimony is consistent with what Gregory and Lewis said about defendant planning to shoot or rob someone earlier on the day of the murders. Additionally, McGee's testimony about the plan to shoot the "Hispanics" during an earlier incident on Larch Mountain and steal their automatic weapon duplicates similar statements by Gregory and Lewis. Furthermore, David Nicholas's testimony about Lewis's post-murder statement that he, Gregory, and defendant had killed the victims "on purpose[,]" corresponds with what Gregory and Lewis told the police about the murders, i.e., that Gregory, Lewis, and defendant had planned to kill the victims and had not acted in self-defense. Hence, the probative value of the statements of Gregory and Lewis was diminished in comparison to the rest of the prosecution's case. The statements constituted cumulative evidence, and they were substantially corroborated by defendant's statements and several other witnesses. Finally, the prosecution's case, even after disregarding the inadmissible statements, was strong. In comparison, defendant's defense-of-others claim was weak. Specifically, defendant did not initially assert that he had acted in defense of others. During police interrogation after the crimes, defendant repeatedly claimed that he could not remember what had happened that evening. After further questioning, defendant eventually "remembered" that one of the victims had pointed a gun at Gregory and, in response, defendant began firing. Furthermore, defendant told conflicting versions of the shooting. At first, defendant told his cousin's husband, Daniels, that he had shot one of the victims and that Gregory had shot the other. Later, defendant told the police that he had shot both of the victims. Defendant's defense-of-others claim also was undermined by his actions after the shooting. Defendant did not report the shooting to the police but, instead, attempted to hide his weapon and otherwise cover up his involvement in the shooting. Additionally, the physical evidence present at the scene of the shooting contradicts essential parts of defendant's defense-of-others theory. According to defendant, Gregory, Lewis, and the victims were standing between two and ten feet apart, examining their target down in a gravel pit. At some point, defendant, who was about 60 feet away, saw one of the victims point his gun at Gregory. Defendant then began firing and fired all 30 bullets from his gun. Defendant stated that he did not remember specifically aiming at the victims or repeatedly pulling the gun's trigger. Part of defendant's case at trial suggested that either defendant had fired instinctively without aiming or that his gun had malfunctioned and began firing automatically. Defendant also claimed that he had done all the initial shooting and then ran into the woods when his gun was empty. However, the firearms experts who testified at defendant's trial, including both defense and prosecution witnesses, agreed that, if defendant had rapidly fired his gun while Gregory, Lewis, and the victims were between two and ten feet apart, both Gregory and Lewis would have been shot. Those firearms experts also testified that, based upon the number of times that defendant had shot the victims, defendant had been consciously aiming at the victims and had not just instinctively pulled the trigger. Moreover, a disinterested witness who had been present in the vicinity of the shootings testified that he had heard several different weapons being fired simultaneously. The expert testimony, taken in conjunction with that of the disinterested witness, not only contradicts defendant's claim that he did all the initial firing and then ran into the woods when his gun was empty, but it also more generally subverts defendant's entire version of what happened. The physical evidence, which established that defendant's expenditure of 30 rounds of ammunition was not a sudden, unanticipated reaction to events but was, instead, a focused and murderous undertaking, was sufficient by itself to scuttle defendant's theory of the case. *272 Therefore, considering the cumulative nature of the inadmissible statements and the relative strength of the prosecution's case, we conclude, on the whole record, that the constitutional error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed. The case is remanded to the circuit court for resentencing consistently with the Court of Appeals opinion. NOTES [*] Appeal from Multnomah County Circuit Court, William C. Snouffer, Judge. 183 Or.App. 237, 51 P.3d 673 (2002). [**] Chief Justice at the time of argument. [***] Chief Justice at the time the decision was issued. [****] Kistler, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case. [1] The state has not petitioned separately for review, so no issues related to the Court of Appeals' rationale for remanding the case for resentencing are before us. [2] See, e.g., State v. Nielsen, 316 Or. 611, 622-23, 853 P.2d 256 (1993); State v. Campbell, 299 Or. 633, 648, 705 P.2d 694 (1985). [3] Although addressing all the questions, none of the responses contained a principled, in-depth review of Oregon precedents with the purpose of persuading this court to reexamine its Article I, section 11, jurisprudence in this area. We therefore leave to another day the question whether, in fact, Crawford is also a correct statement of Oregon law. See State v. Ciancanelli, 339 Or. 282, 290-91, 121 P.3d 613 (2005) (discussing role of stare decisis and circumstances under which this court will reconsider its prior decisions). [4] The state argues that defendant failed to identify the statements that he claims were improperly admitted and, therefore, waived his objection. Although defendant's objections were not a model of clarity, we conclude that he identified the statements that he found objectionable with sufficient specificity to permit review of the issues. [5] The state and defendant both agree that Gregory and Lewis were unavailable; thus, we are not called upon here to decide whether the assertion of privilege by Gregory and Lewis was valid. We note, however, that this court previously has held that a witness who has been convicted of a crime and has exhausted his direct appeals may not assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to avoid answering questions about that crime. State v. Barone, 329 Or. 210, 232, 986 P.2d 5 (1999). [6] The Court declined to delineate the exact boundaries of the Sixth Amendment confrontation right, stating, "even if the Sixth Amendment is not solely concerned with testimonial hearsay, that is its primary object[.]" Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 53, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). [7] ORS 161.209 provides, in part: "A person is justified in using physical force upon another person * * * to defend a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force, and the person may use a degree of force which the person reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose." However, the legislature has imposed limitations on the use of physical force set out in ORS 161.219: "[A] person is not justified in using deadly physical force upon another person unless the person reasonably believes that the other person is: "(1) Committing or attempting to commit a felony involving the use or threatened imminent use of physical force against a person; or "* * * * * "(3) Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force against a person." ORS 161.219. [8] Seven (New Line Cinema 1995) (film portraying crimes of a serial killer who chooses victims based upon each victim's commission of one of the seven deadly sins). [9] We note that defendant did not object to David Nicholas's testimony about what Lewis had told him during the jail visit. In fact, defendant's lawyer specifically asked Nicholas to further explain the context of the statement on cross-examination.
The FSU-RISE program is located at Fayetteville State University (FSU), the second-oldest historically black public institution of higher education in the state and one of the 17 constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina System. Based upon the success of the FSU-RISE program since its inception in 2002, this application proposes to expand the dynamic, multi-faceted program to include math and computer science majors in the third funding cycle. The overarching goal of FSU-RISE is to increase the number of well-prepared Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Math, and Computer Science FSU graduates entering graduate programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences by having at least 75% (9 of 12) FSU-RISE graduates enroll in doctoral programs each year. To achieve this goal, four objectives have been proposed: (1) To enhance the academic preparation of biology, chemistry, psychology, math and computer science majors so that at least 80% of students earn a 3.0 GPA or better each year;(2) To provide students with research training and hands-on research experiences so that at least 85% of students will engage in research each year;(3) To enhance the capability of at least 75% (45 of 60) of faculty to provide biomedical and behavioral research training through development workshops each year;and (4) To improve the biomedical and behavioral research training environment at FSU by engaging at least 75% (45 of 60) of faculty in research-related activities each year. To address these objectives, a series of phased-in student development activities have been designed to strengthen the academic performance and research skills of students beginning with pre-freshmen and continuing through the senior year. Each year of participation in the program, students build upon skills developed and gain new experiences in preparation for competitive entry into graduate schools. Real world research experience is gained through extramural summer internships and intramural research activities. Faculty development and institutional development activities are designed to enhance the research training infrastructure at the institution. The expected outcomes of the continued successful implementation of the FSU-RISE Program are: (1) 75% of students entering the program each year will persist in the science, psychology, math and computer science major;(2) 100% of scholars completing the program will be accepted into a graduate program following graduation from FSU;and (3) each year, 75% of the FSU-RISE scholars who graduate will enter a doctoral program in biomedical/behavioral science fields. Formative and summative reports will be used to evaluate program performance measures and effectiveness. Relevance: The FSU-RISE program provides academic preparation and research training for FSU minority students, who will pursue and complete advanced degrees in biomedical and behavioral sciences.
https://grantome.com/grant/NIH/R25-GM064508-09
An unjust enrichment example, such as receiving payment for something not completed, involves one party benefiting at the expense of the other party in an unfair circumstance. What is Unjust Enrichment? When one party benefits at another's expense in an unjust situation, there is unjust enrichment involved. The elements of the enrichment include a payment or transfer of property between the two parties. It's typically used to describe situations where one party either in error or accidentally receives benefits they should not keep. Those deemed unjustly enriched must reverse the position and pay the monetary value of the received benefit, also known as restitution. If for some reason the other party refuses to make restitution, you can file a civil suit. However, proving unjust enrichment to a court can be difficult to accomplish due to unique circumstances and factors. Each case has its own facts, so the principles aren't as clear as others. A lawyer can provide you assistance in dealing with an unjust enrichment claim. Unjust Enrichment Examples Unjust enrichment typically occurs in situations involving a breach of contract when one party provides goods and services and expects payment only to find that the other party refuses to pay. For instance, a property owner might hire a contractor to install carpet in their home. The property owner terminates the contract prematurely due to a breach and only have several rooms in the house carpeted. The property owner refuses to pay for the partially completed work. This results in unjust enrichment because the property owner benefited from the work the contractor did complete. Another example is if you have two puppies and take them to the groomer for a cleaning and nail clipping. The groomer finishes the work on the first puppy, but something comes up, and he cannot attend to the other puppy. The groomer is unjustly enriched because you paid for both puppies, but only one had been taken care of. Categories of Unjust Enrichment To determine whether the benefits received were unjust or not, there must be the presence of at least one of these four categories: - Duress. The plaintiff transfers benefits after receiving a threat or being persuaded. - Failure to Provide Consideration. The plaintiff originally wanted to enrich the defendant, but other reasons caused it to not happen. Yet somehow the defendant still benefited. - Mistake. The plaintiff made a payment to the defendant on accident and wants a refund. The plaintiff can receive restitution. - Undue Influence. The defendant takes advantage of the plaintiff's trust. Proof of Unjust Enrichment Each state might have different definitions of what unjust enrichment is. Most of the time, the states rely on their own set of laws to make that determination, but the courts may use the following questions to make the decision: - Does the plaintiff request specific types of remedies? - Did the defendant receive enrichment due to the plaintiff's activity? - Was the enrichment done at the plaintiff's expense? From there, the court focuses on whether the enrichment was deemed unfair or unjust. If the defendant benefited at the plaintiff's expense, more than likely the enrichment that occurred was unjust. However, if the plaintiff also received something in return, the enrichment might not be qualified as unjust. Some areas state that the defendant must be aware that he or she is receiving an unjust enrichment in order to provide proof. Remedies for Unjust Enrichment In order to resolve unjust enrichment, there are two kinds of remedies: personal and proprietary. Pertaining to personal remedies, the defendant must pay restitution. Proprietary remedies involve instances where the plaintiff encountered damages after agreeing to a contract and the defendant doesn't fulfill the stated obligations. The court awards this option after it decides that the defendant holds a certain interest in property or an asset and benefits from it. Restitution or Compensation Although restitution and compensation have similar aspects, there are some key differences between the two when it comes to unjust enrichment. They can affect the total amount that goes to the aggrieved party. Restitution involves money made unjustly by the accused party, and this money must be returned. It can also involve a specific item mistakenly obtained. Compensation involves a monetary amount based upon what the plaintiff lost instead of how much the defendant gained. If it involves property, the defendant might end up paying the plaintiff for the property's value or based on another type of monetary loss. This type of resolution is typically found in standard breaches of contract. If you need help with an unjust enrichment example, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.
https://www.upcounsel.com/unjust-enrichment-example
Skip navigation. The Solstice Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College is pleased to announce its new faculty member, creative nonfiction writer Andrew X. Pham. Mr. Pham will begin teaching creative nonfiction and fiction at Solstice in January, 2013. Andrew X. Pham is an independent writer, instructor, culinary professional, and engineer. He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. His first book, Catfish and Mandala (1999), won the Kiriyama Prize, the Whiting Writers’ Award, Quality Paperback Book Prize, and the Oregon Literature Prize. It was also named a Guardian Prize Shortlist Finalist and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His second book, The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars (2008)—an innovative biography written as a memoir—was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Books of 2008, a Washington Post Top Ten Books of the Year, a Oregonian Top Ten National Books of the Year, and a Bookmarks Magazine Best Books of 2008. Andrew also translated Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diaries of Dr. Thuy Tram (2008) with his father. His poem “A Vision 9/11”—an architectural design rendered in prose (NPR, 17 Oct. 2001)—inspired multiple winning WTC designs. Andrew has also self-published two books, A Culinary Odyssey: A Southeast Asian Cookbook Diary of Travels, Flavors, and Memories and A Theory of Flight: Recollections, a collection of essays on life, love, loss, flight, and travel. He is working on the last book in his Vietnam trilogy, The Japanese Officer: A Love Story, an autobiographical novel based on his grandmother’s life (Knopf). He divides his time between California and the wooden bungalow he built on the Mekong River (on the Thai-Laos border) with his partner and two dogs. ABOUT SOLSTICE & PINE MANOR COLLEGE As an undergraduate institution consistently ranked among the most diverse in the country, Pine Manor College emphasizes an inclusive, community-building approach to liberal arts education. The Solstice MFA in Creative Writing reflects the College’s overall mission by creating a supportive, welcoming environment in which writers of all backgrounds are encouraged to take creative risks. We strive to instill in our students an appreciation for the value of community-building and community service, and see engagement with the literary arts not only as a means to personal fulfillment but also as an instrument for real cultural change. Directions to Pine Manor College, complete bios of our authors, and more information about the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program can be found at www.pmc.edu/mfa. ### Phone (617) 731-7000 | Fax (617) 731-7199 | 400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 Copyright © 2009, Pine Manor College All Rights Reserved.
http://www.pmc.edu/andrew-x-pham-joins-solstice-mfa-faculty
- How many kills, deaths and assists did I get in any particular game? - Where did the events occur on the map during a particular game and at what time? - Where is it that I die the most on the map over an individual game and multiple games? - How much income do I make per game? - What objectives am I completing at what times? - How much time do I spend in specific areas of the map? What We Wanted To Do We did not want to end up with a feature-rich application, but a poor visualisation. Issues include: - Map comparisons between different selected players - Filtered comparison between player matches and a player playing the same role in a selected tier - Placements and destruction of wards - Choosing effective symbols to represent events - Displaying large amounts of data on the map - Can only use competitive ranked match data Strengths - Easy to satisfy visual queries (Where did I die, kill or assist and where am I spending most of my time?) - Can see the impact that objective fights are having on your play - Colours are easily differentiable and along with the texture/shape for points aids ease of query. - Map is not overly cluttered even for large amounts of data due to time slider - Easy to compare performance between roles Weaknesses - Can not compare players with one another. - No plotting information about warding (very important, API restriction) - Difficult to display information we want to on the timeline, would have been nice to insert items and other cool features on the timeline using some overlays or filters. Future Plans - Approaching LoLKing (or someone of the sort) to host the visualisation and link with their data (additional rich data like LoLKing score) for more effective and meaningful data. - Adding item information to the time slider (purchases, use, etc.) - Adding a functionality for cross player comparisons or live cross role comparisons.
https://slides.com/banshee1221/lolstats
The Lynmoore Symphony Manor of Richmond — JSR Associates, Inc. The Lynmoore Symphony Manor of Richmond, located in Richmond, Virginia, is an example of a low-budget yet high-impact renovation that updated an existing three story, 120 room, 1980’s senior living facility. Hired to redesign and reconfigure the public spaces, JSR Associates, Inc. focused on de-institutionalizing the facility by using indirect fluorescent lighting, creating a more residential scale, specifying sustainable carpeting and recycled content wall coverings, and including a signage package to complete the project. JSR chose to break up the large, impersonal public spaces by using wall paneling systems combined with fabric panels that absorb sound, create privacy and add tactile interest. They enhanced the more intimate resident seating areas with flue-less electric fireplaces, desk niches and upholstered seating as well as combining down lights with accent lighting. JSR also designed the Spa for residents with dementia and physical frailty. Using ADA standards throughout, the Spa offers a walk-in bathtub, full access shower and double grab bars at the toilet, while the tile finish is chosen for its spa-like effect and feel. JSR Associates, Inc.’s responsibilities included initial design review with client and administrators for space planning and programming, healthcare model review and consulting, and budget analysis.
http://www.jsrassociates.net/the-lynmoore-symphony-manor-of-richmond
Several disadvantaged youth drawn from six communities in Monrovia, including Caldwell, King Gray, Duport Road, New Georgia, Gobachop and Clara Town Communities have said they believe they can become productive citizens in Liberia. The youth made the disclosure over the weekend during a media engagement in the six communities as part of the Angie Brooks International Centre (ABIC) and partners project to empower disadvantaged youth with entrepreneur skills Speaking to the media, Pico Sankalay a resident of Abuja Community in Clara Town commended the ABIC and partners for its gesture toward the disadvantaged youth, stating that they have been despised by their families and the communities. He told the media that people have considered them not to be important to the society but indicated that ABIC has come back to give them hope and make them believe they are part of the society to the extent that they have given them anti-covid-19 materials and a hand washing station aimed at keeping them safe. Sankalay indicated with the help of ABIC their disadvantaged Liberian brothers and sisters are being encouraged to follow Covid-19 protocols. “I have been down hearted for a very long time because I never had hope of coming out of anywhere but as long [as]ABIC has come to help me I believe that I can become somebody and can be part of the society and contribute to my community and Liberia at large,” he said. He emphasized that he can become productive if he is elevated from his current condition and given the necessary entrepreneurial skills in order to have a better status and contribute immensely to other Liberians. He used the occasion to call on the Government of Liberia and international partners to come to their rescue, because according to him, if ABIC had not come to their aid they would have remained in the slums and ghettos. Sankalay further called on government and partners to build a rehabilitation center and take them off the streets, ghettos, and that they will be afforded the opportunity to get treatment and acquire education and basic skills that would enable them lead better lives and make meaningful contributions to society.” “I believe by training us and giving us something to live on we will be productive and be able to help our brothers and sisters out tomorrow. We are prepared to leave the street because ABIC has given me hope that I should look up to them and I know by doing that I will leave this life and become great tomorrow,” he said. A 42-year-old woman and a mother of two, Patricia M. Weah, who lives in a ghetto in Caldwell, told the media that she is willing to leave drugs and live a normal life but stated that she has nobody to encourage and help her out. Patricia said she wants to leave the ghettos and with the help of God, ABIC has surfaced and they are trying to encourage she and others, as well as giving them hope that they can become better citizens in the society. “I want to tell ABIC thank you but I want them to find place where they will take us and treat us so that we can leave this drugs because for me once I am still outside I will not leave it because the moment I see my friend I will want to go back in the ghetto but if I am somewhere for like three months where I will not see drug and the people that using it, I will not think about it,” she said. According to her, when she was not using drug people had high respect for her but since she got into that habit for 12 years now all her family members and friends no longer regard her to the extent that when she even sees them in the street, she have to hide from them. “People who never used to insult me can look at me now and tell me anything, I was big woman before but look at me now,” she lamented. Meanwhile, the Angie Brooks International Centre (ABIC) in partnership with the Global Initiative Resilience Fund has piloted an entrepreneurial project in 5 counties for 250 gang youths between August to November. The project firstly links youth from selected slums and ghettos with entrepreneurship which creates role needs for other gang members within their communities. According to ABIC the youth in slums and ghettos in Liberia form the largest portion of the population with more than 50% rarely having job to do. This situation is commonly traced to the destructive 14 years civil war that brought the country unto its knees. This accounts for the several networks of organized crimes and gang violence which unfortunately transcend these youth groups to include state actors who instead of creating economic opportunities for the youth, act with impunity by recruiting, sponsoring and utilizing disenfranchised youth in criminal activities to win political power. ABIC further noted that youth in slums face not only a lack of basic services, little or no education and employable skills but additionally have to deal with the issue of creating economic opportunities, noting that such population is crucial for the peace and security of the country. The project also includes the donation of hand washing stations and anti-Covid-19 materials, youth-peer-to-peer peace process in six communities, meet the press conversation with disadvantaged youth, urban peace dialogue, training in entrepreneurship, soccer for peace event, certification, pitch festival and award of seed funding. Meanwhile, the ABIC in partnership with the Global Initiative Resilience Fund have piloted an entrepreneurial project in 5 counties for 250 gang youths between August to November. The project firstly links youth from selected slums and ghettos with entrepreneurship which creates role needs for other gang members within their communities. As part of the project, the ABIC over the weekend hosted a Urban Peace Dialogue with 250 disadvantaged youth from six communities, including King Gray, Caldwell, Duport Road, Gobachop Field, New Georgia and Clara Town Communities. The weekend’s event was geared towards strengthening youth resilience to organized-crime and gang violence held at the Paynesville City Hall in Paynesville. Giving the overview of the project at the peace dialogue, the Project Coordinator of ABIC, Gifty Mensah disclosed that her organization aims to understand the similarities of issues affecting disadvantaged youth in their various communities. Madam Mensah said that they ABIC intends to empower disadvantaged youth with entrepreneur skills as a way of empowering them through mentorship to develop their ideas into business plan that will then be organized into Liberia’s first ‘Slum Pitch Festival’ in May of this year. In a special statement, the Establishment Coordinator of ABIC, Cllr. Yvette Chesson-Wureh expressed excitement for seeing the youth, stating that the disadvantaged youth are one of her dreams. Cllr. Wureh told the youth that they should remember that the love their mothers give them and the way she looks at them and the thoughts that went through their mothers’ heads is the same thought that is in every mother head for their children, emphasizing that they want the best for them and they want aspiration and want their children to succeed no matter what the situation is, and no matter what the challenges are. She told the youth there is something that within each of them which needs to come out and make them to be part of society, stressing that the realization of this is one of her dreams for which ABIC launching such project. “This is not about money but it is about you. It’s about us seeing what is in you come out because when you come out and you are successful you are exemplifying it to the highest level. You can do it, we can do it and you will do it, I don’t care of what people will say so that is why we are tapping into you,” Cllr. Wureh said.
https://womenvoicesnewspaper.org/angie-brooks-centre-gives-hope-to-disadvantaged-youth/
This content is designed as an introduction and general overview of accessibility, its importance in education, and how certain content can be made accessible. While not fully comprehensive, the presented information can be applied to course design, web development, and towards the creation of educational materials, including open educational resources (OER). Users who review this information are encouraged to continue their accessibility education by visiting the provided links, speaking with colleagues and appropriate institution departments, and researching the subject further. The University of Texas System is committed to making information resources developed, maintained, distributed, and procured accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. There are three simple reasons for this commitment: - It's the right thing to do. - It's the smart thing to do. - It's the law. To further this initiative, the UT System is committed to educate faculty, staff and students by providing accessibility resources, training, and assistance. By campus communities accepting the responsibility for making resources accessible, we will collectively advance our valued tradition of diversity and inclusiveness. Users of this module are encouraged to visit the W3C page “Diverse Abilities and Barriers” to learn more about the types of disabilities and barriers to academic success. Ensuring that educational materials are accessible is complex. To ensure compliance with federal and state law, and UT System and institutional policy, those developing course and other educational materials to ensure accessibility should review UTS 150, the UT System policy governing access by persons with disabilities to electronic and information resources (EIR) procured or developed by The University of Texas System Administration and The University of Texas System Institutions. For additional guidance, they should also consult their accessibility office as well as their legal office. This content was developed as a deliverable of the UT System Affordable Learning Accelerator Task Force by Alan Safai, Instructional Designer II; Kerry Tate, Director of Student AccessAbility; and Darren Crone, Assistant Provost, Educational Technology Services, all at the University of Texas at Dallas. Additional Resources Below are some links to accessibility-related information and tutorials to help you continue your research into accessibility.
https://www.utsystem.edu/accessible-course-design/introduction-accessible-content
Know the Terms Heat Index An estimate of how it feels when air temperature and humidity are combined. Heat Emergency Based on the heat index forecast, the National Weather Service could issue: Heat Advisory : Issued when the heat index is expected to reach 95°F to 99°F for two or more consecutive days, or 100°F to 104°F for any length of time. Excessive Heat Watch : issued when the heat index is forecast to reach or exceed 105°F for at least two consecutive hours in the next 24 to 48 hours. Excessive Heat Warning : issued when the heat index is forecast to reach or exceed 105°F for at least two consecutive hours within the next 24 hours. Heat Illness Heat illness occurs when the body cannot cool down. The most serious forms of heat illness are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. For instance, heat stroke occurs when the body's temperature rises quickly, and can rapidly lead to death. Keeping cool can be hard work for the body. This extra stress on the body can also worsen other health conditions such as heart and lung disease. Signs of Heat Illness Serious signs of heat illness include: •Hot, dry skin OR cold, clammy skin •Confusion, hallucinations, disorientation •Unconsciousness or unresponsiveness •Nausea or vomiting •Trouble breathing •Rapid, strong pulse •Weakness •Dizziness Call 911 or go to the emergency room right away if you or someone you know has these symptoms of heat illness: •Heavy sweating •Muscle cramps •Light headedness, feeling faint •Headache •Decreased energy •Loss of appetite, nausea
Q: Not empty string generator with FsCheck using c# fluent interface I'm trying to create a not empty string generator but when running the test I still have empty strings as inputs. Here is the code I wrote: [Test] public void MyTest() { Func<Gen<string>> generateNotEmptyString = () => { var gen = Any.OfType<string>() .Where(name => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(name)); return gen; }; Action<string> assertIdIsNeverEmpty = name => { var id = MyService.CreateId(name); id.Should().NotBeNullOrEmpty(); }; Spec.For(generateNotEmptyString(), assertIdIsNeverEmpty) .QuickCheckThrowOnFailure() } I'm using NUnit v. 2.6.2.12296, FsCheck v. 0.9.4.0 and FluentAssertions v. 3.0.90.0. What if I also want to modify the generator so that it creates not empty strings that match a regular expression? [EDIT] This is the code I'm using to create strings that contain letters but don't contain special characters: private static Gen<NonEmptyString> GenerateValidNames() { return Any.OfType<NonEmptyString>() .Where(s => !s.Get.Contains("\r") && !s.Get.Contains("\n") && !s.Get.Contains("\t")) .Where(s => { var regEx = new Regex(@"^[A-Za-z]*$"); return regEx.Match(s.Get).Success; }); } A: Maybe you have a bug :) The following works for me: public void MyTest() { Gen<string> generateNotEmptyString = Any.OfType<string>() .Where(name => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(name)); Action<string> assertIdIsNeverEmpty = name => { Assert.False(String.IsNullOrEmpty(name)); }; Spec.For(generateNotEmptyString, assertIdIsNeverEmpty) .QuickCheckThrowOnFailure(); } Note you don't need the extra Func around the generator. A generator is a function already, under the covers, so just creating one won't execute any code (more or less), much like an IEnumerable. Alternatively, use the built in non-empty string generator: Action<NonEmptyString> assertIdIsNeverEmpty = name => { Assert.False(String.IsNullOrEmpty(name.Get)); }; Spec.For(Any.OfType<NonEmptyString>(), assertIdIsNeverEmpty) .QuickCheckThrowOnFailure(); Generating strings that match a regexp is a solved problem, but not straightforward. FsCheck currently has no support for it directly. Though I think it would make a great addition! See How to generate random strings that match a given regexp?
In recent decades, the remit of forensic psychology has considerably widened. From an original, narrow focus on presenting evidence to the courts, its scope now spreads across the whole span of civil and criminal justice. Forensic psychologists are now intimately involved with suspects, offenders, victims, witnesses, defendants, litigants, and justice professionals. As serious academic and practical thinking in and around forensic psychology continues to develop, this new four-volume collection from Routledge’s acclaimed Critical Concepts in Psychology series meets the need for an authoritative reference work to make sense of a rapidly growing and ever more complex corpus of literature. Edited by a leading scholar and practitioner, the collection gathers the foundational major works together with the very best contemporary scholarship. With a full index, and thoughtful introductions, newly written by the editor, Forensic Psychology will be valued by scholars, students, and professionals in the field as a vital and enduring resource. Volume I Foundational Concepts 1. J. Cattell, ‘Measurements of the Accuracy of Recollection’, Science, 1895, 2, 49, 761–6. 2. G. F. Arnold, Psychology Applied to Legal Evidence (Thacker, Spink and Co., 1906), pp. vii–ix. 3. H. Munsterberg, On the Witness Stand: Essays on Psychology and Crime (Littleton, 1908), pp. 3–12. 4. J. Brussel, ‘The Mad Bomber’, Casebook of a Crime Psychiatrist (New English Library, 1955), pp. 7–73. 5. B. H. Bornstein and S. Penrod, ‘Hugo Who? G. F. Arnold’s Alternative Early Approach to Psychology and Law’, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2008, 22, 759–68. Grounding Ideas 6. D. L. Rosenhan, ‘On Being Sane in an Insane Place’, Science, 1973, 179, 250–8. 7. E. Loftus and J. C. Palmer, ‘Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory’, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 1974, 13, 585–9. 8. R. Martinson, ‘New Findings, New Views: A Note of Caution Regarding Sentencing Reform’, Hofstra Law Review, 1979, 7, 243–58. 9. J. Q. Wilson and G. L. Kelling, ‘Broken Windows’, Atlantic Monthly, March 1982, 29–37. 10. U. Undeutsch, ‘The Development of Statement Reality Analysis’, in A. Trankell (ed.), Reconstructing the Past: The Role of Psychologists in Criminal Trials (Nordstedt and Soners, 1982), pp. 27–56. 11. J. Prochaska and C. DiClemente, ‘Stages and Processes of Self-change of Smoking: Towards an Integrative Model of Change’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1983, 51, 390–5. 12. R. P. Fisher, T. E. Geiselman, and M. Amador, ‘Field Test of the Cognitive Interview: Enhancing the Recollections of Actual Victims and Witnesses of Crime’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 1989, 74, 5, 722–7. 13. P. Garland, ‘The Punitive Society: Penology, Criminology and the History of the Present’, Edinburgh Law Review, 1996/7, 1, 180–99. The Definitional Divide 14. R. Blackburn, ‘What is Forensic Psychology?’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1996, 1, 3–16. 15. J. Brigham, ‘What is Forensic Psychology Anyway?’, Law and Human Behavior, 1999, 23, 273–98. 16. K. Heilbrun and S. Brooks, ‘Forensic Psychology and Forensic Science: A Proposed Agenda for the Next Decade’, Psychology Public Policy and Law, 2010, 16, 3, 219–53. Expanding Roles 17. G. H. Gudjonsson and L. R. C. Haward, ‘The Roles of the Forensic Psychologist, Forensic Psychology: A Guide to Practice (Routledge, 1998), pp. 67–78. 18. G. L. Wells, ‘Expert Psychological Testimony: Empirical and Conceptual Analyses of Effects’, Law and Human Behavior, 1986, 10, 1/2, 83–95. 19. B. Thomas-Peter, ‘The Modern Context of Psychology in Corrections, Influences, Limitations and Values of "What Work"’, in G. Towl (ed.), Psychological Research in Prison (Blackwell, 2006), pp. 24–39. 20. K. A. Beunswig and E. W. Paeham, ‘Psychology in a Secure Setting’, in W. O’Donohue and E. Levensky (eds.), Handbook of Forensic Psychology: Resource for Mental Health and Legal Professionals (Elsevier, 2003), pp. 851–79. 21. S. Morgan and G. Palk, ‘Pragmatism and Precision: Psychology in the Service of Civil Litigation’, Australian Psychologist, 2013, 48, 41–6. 22. E. Scrivner, ‘Psychology and Law Enforcement’, in I. B. Weiner and A. K. Hess (eds.), The Handbook of Forensic Psychology, 3rd edn. (Wiley, 2006), pp. 534–51. 23. E. Loftus, ‘Resolving Legal Questions With Psychological Data’, American Psychologist, 1991, 46, 10, 1046–8. Volume II Explanations 24. M. S. Hoghughi and A. R. Forrest, ‘Eysenck’s Theory of Criminality’, British Journal of Criminology, 1970, 10, 240–54. 25. R. D. Hare, D. Cooke, and S. D. Hart, ‘Psychopathy and Sadistic Personality Disorder’, in T. Millon, P. Blaney, and R. Davis (eds.), Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology (Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 555–84. 26. G. Adshead, ‘Three Degrees of Security: Attachment and Forensic Institutions’, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2002, 12, 2, 31–45. 27. T. Ward and R. J. Siegert, ‘Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Child Sexual Abuse: A Theory Knitting Perspective’, Psychology Crime and Law, 2002, 8, 4, 319–51. 28. R. Siegert and T. Ward, ‘Evolutionary Psychology: Origins and Criticisms’, Australian Psychologist, 2002, 37, 1, 20–9. 29. D. Canter, ‘Offender Profiling and Criminal Differentiation’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2000, 5, 23–46. 30. J. Thompson and S. Ricard, ‘Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Deconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective’, Critical Criminology, 2009, 17, 261–75. 31. A. R. Piquero and T. E. Moffitt, ‘Life Course Persistent Offending’, in J. Adler and J. Grey (eds.), Forensic Psychology: Concepts, Debates and Practice, 2nd edn. (Willan, 2010), pp. 201–22. 32. M. Daffern, L. Jones, K. Howells, J. Shine, C. Mikton, and V. Tunbridge, ‘Refining the Definition of Offence Paralleling Behaviour’, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2007, 17, 265–73. 33. S. Maruna, L. Porter, and I. Carvalho, ‘The Liverpool Desistance Study and Probation Practice: Opening the Dialogue’, Probation Journal, 2004, 51, 221–32. Epistemological Eclecticism 34. D. P. Farrington and B. C. Welsh, ‘Family-Based Prevention of Offending: A Meta-analysis’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 2003, 36, 127–51. 35. G. Köhnken, R. Milne, A. Menon, and R. Bull, ‘The Cognitive Interview: A Meta-analysis’, Psychology Crime and Law, 1999, 5, 1/2, 3–27. 36. D. Canter and L. J. Alison, ‘Converting Evidence Into Data: The Use of Law Enforcement Archives as Unobtrusive Measurement’, The Qualitative Report, 2003, 8, 7, 151–76. 37. E. Finch and V. R. Munro, ‘Lifting the Veil? The Use of Focus Groups and Trial Simulations in Legal Research’, Journal of Law and Society, 2008, 35, 30–51. 38. D. B. Fishman, ‘Background to the Psycho-legal Lexis Proposal: Exploring the Potential of a Systematic Case Study Data Base in Forensic Psychology, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 2003, 9, 3/4, 267–74. 39. T. Ward, K. Louden, S. M. Hudson, and W. L. Marshall, ‘A Descriptive Model of the Offense Chain for Child Molesters’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1995, 10, 452–72. 40. S. Hammond and M. O’Rourke, ‘The Measurement of Individual Change: A Didactic Account of an Idiographic Approach’, Psychology Crime and Law, 2007, 13, 1, 81–95. Volume III Assessment 41. J. E. Douglas, J. R. Ressler, A. W. Burgess, and C. R. Hartman, ‘Criminal Profiling From Crime Scene Analysis’, Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 1986, 4, 4, 401–21. 42. A. R. Beech, D. D. Fisher, and D. Thornton, ‘Risk Assessment of Sex Offenders’, Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 2003, 34, 339–52. 43. C. Duggan, ‘Does Personality Change and, If So, What Changes?’, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2004, 14, 5–16. 44. M. McMurran and T. Ward, ‘Treatment Readiness, Treatment Engagement and Behaviour Change’, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2010, 20, 75–85. 45. D. A. Andrews, J. Bonta, and J. S. Wormith, ‘The Recent Past and Near Future of Risk and/or Need Assessment’, Crime and Delinquency, 2006, 53, 7–27. 46. M. Ferguson and J. R. P. Ogloff, ‘Criminal Responsibility Evaluation: Role of Psychologists in Assessment’, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 2011, 18, 1, 79–94. Measurement 47. G. H. Gudjonsson, ‘A New Scale of Interrogative Suggestibility’, Personality and Individual Differences, 1984, 5, 3, 303–14. 48. Ronald Blackburn and Stanley J. Renwick, ‘Rating Scales for Measuring the Interpersonal Circle in Forensic Psychiatric Patients’, Psychological Assessment, 1996, 8, 1, 76–84. 49. G. D. Waters, ‘Predicting Institutional Adjustment With the Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form and Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles’, International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 2005, 4, 1, 63–70. Intervention 50. J. Shine and M. Morris, ‘Addressing Criminogenic Needs in a Prison Therapeutic Community’, Therapeutic Communities, 2000, 21, 3, 197–220. 51. T. Gannon, M. Rose, and T. Ward, ‘Pathways to Female Sex Offending: Approach or Avoidance?’, Psychology, Crime, and Law, 2010, 16, 359–80. 52. K. Howells, ‘Anger and its Links to Violent Offending’, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 2004, 11, 2, 189–96. 53. R. Blackburn, ‘Treatment or Incapacitation? Implications of Research on Personality Disorder for the Management of Dangerous Offenders’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2000, 5, 1–21. 54. P. Mullen, ‘Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder and in Need of Treatment’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 2007, 180, 3–7. Evaluation 55. A. Memon and M. Young, ‘Desperately Seeking Evidence: The Recovered Memory Debate’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1997, 2, 131–54. 56. R. Hare, ‘The Hare PCL-R: Some Issues Concerning its Use and Misuse’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1998, 3, 99–119. 57. A. Day and K. Howells, ‘Psychological Treatments for Rehabilitating Offenders: Evidence-Based Practice Comes of Age’, Australian Psychologist, 2002, 37, 1, 39–47. 58. A. Vrij, ‘Criteria-Based Content Analysis a Qualitative Review of the First 37 Studies’, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 2005, 11, 1, 3–41. 59. C. R. Hollin, ‘Evaluating Offending Behaviour Programmes: Does Only Randomisation Glister?’, Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2008, 8, 89–106. 60. J. W. Coid, M. Yang, S. Sizmur, D. Farrington, and E. Rogers, ‘Most Items in Structured Risk Assessment Instruments Do Not Work’, Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 2010, 22, 1, 3–21. 61. J. McGuire, ‘What Works to Reduce Reoffending: 18 Years On’, in L. A. Craig, L. Dixon, and T. A. Gannon (eds.), What Works in Offender Rehabilitation: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Treatment (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013). Volume IV Professionalization 62. American Psychological Association, ‘Speciality Guidelines for Forensic Psychology’, American Psychologist, 2013, 68, 1, 7–19. 63. R. K. Otto, K. Heilbrun, and T. Grisso, ‘Training and Credentialing in Forensic Psychology’, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 1990, 8, 217–31. 64. D. N. Bersoff, J. Goodman-Delahunty, J. Grisso, J. Thomas, V. P. Poythress, G. Norman, and R. R. Roesch, ‘Training in Law and Psychology: Models from the Villanova Conference’, American Psychologist, 1997, 52, 12, 1301–10. 65. A. Day and R. Tyle, ‘Professional Training in Applied Psychology: Towards Signature Pedagogy for Forensic Psychology Training’, Australian Psychologist, 2012, 47, 183–9. 66. L. Helmus, K. M. Babchishin, J. A. Camilleri, and M. E. Olver, Forensic Psychology Opportunities in Canadian Graduate Programs: An Update of Simourd and Wormith’s (1995) Survey’, Canadian Psychology, 2011, 52, 2, 122–7. 67. I. K. Packer, ‘Specialised Practice in Forensic Psychology: Opportunities and Obstacles’, Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 2008, 39, 2, 245–9. 68. C. B. Clements and E. R. Wakeman, ‘Raising the Bar: The Case for Doctoral Training in Forensic Psychology’, Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 2007, 7, 2, 53–63. 69. I. Lunt, ‘A Common Framework for the Training of Psychologists in Europe’, European Psychologist, 2002, 7, 180–9. Ethics 70. P. Wilson, R. Lincoln, and R. Kocsis, ‘Validity, Utility and Ethics of Profiling for Serial Violent and Sexual Offenders’, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1997, 4, 1, 1–11. 71. J. McGuire, ‘Ethical Dilemma in Forensic Clinical Psychology’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 1997, 2, 177–92. 72. D. Thompson, ‘Creating Ethical Guidelines for Forensic Psychology’, Australian Psychologist, 2013, 48, 28–31. 73. T. Ward, ‘Human Rights and Forensic Psychology’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2008, 13, 209–18. 74. A. Birgden and M. L. Perlin, ‘Tolling for the Luckless, the Abandoned and Forsaken: Therapeutic Jurisprudence and International Human Rights Law as Applied to Prisoners and Detainees by Forensic Psychologists’, Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2008, 12, 231–43. 75. S. Maruna, ‘Why Do They Hate Us? Making Peace Between Prisoners and Psychology’, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2011, 55, 5, 671–5. Practice 76. R. Milne and R. Bull, ‘Interviewing Witnesses With Learning Disabilities for Legal Purposes’, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 2001, 29, 3, 93–7. 77. M. B. Powell and T. Batholomew, ‘Interviewing and Assessing Clients from Different Cultural Backgrounds: Guidelines for all Forensic Professionals’, in D. Carson and R. Bull (eds.), Handbook of Psychology in Legal Contexts (Wiley, 2003), pp. 626–43. 78. W. R. Lindsay, A. J. Holland, D. Carson, J. L. Taylor, G. O’Brian, L. Steptoe, and J. Wheeler, ‘Responsivity to Criminogenic Need in Forensic Intellectual Disability Service’, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2012, 57, 2, 172–81. 79. G. Turpin, V. Barley, N. Beail, J. Scaife, P. Slade, J. A. Smith, and S. Walsh, ‘Standards for Research Projects and Theses Involving Qualitative Methods: Suggested Guideline for Trainees and Courses’, Clinical Psychology Forum, 1997, 186, 3–7. 80. D. L. Faigman, E. Porter, and M. Saks, ‘Check your Crystal Ball at the Courthouse Door, Please: Exploring the Past, Understanding the Present and Worrying About the Future of Scientific Evidence’, Cardozo Law Review, 1993–4, 15, 1799–835. 81. A. Day, ‘The Nature of Supervision in Forensic Psychology: Some Observations and Recommendations’, British Journal of Forensic Practice, 2012, 4, 2, 116–23. 82. C. Gumpert, F. H. Linblad, and M. Grann, ‘The Quality of Written Expert Testimony in Alleged Child Sexual Abuse: An Empirical Study’, Psychology Crime and Law, 2009, 8, 1, 77–92. 83. A. Frankland and L. Cohen, ‘Working With Recovered Memories’, The Psychologist, 2000, 12. International Perspectives 84. V. A. Polisenska, ‘Forensic Psychology in the Czech Republic’, Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 2007, 4, 1, 55–7. 85. J. F. Sigurdsson and G. N. Gudjonsson, ‘Forensic Psychology in Iceland’, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2004, 45, 4, 325–9. 86. M. Zaki, ‘The Field of Forensic Psychology in Israel: The State of the Discipline’, Medicine and Law, 2009, 28, 4, 688–96.
https://www.crcpress.com/Forensic-Psychology/Brown/p/book/9780415813020
"Unsafe levels of a weed killer chemical in oat products," cries a headline from CNN published earlier this week. The accompanying article cites a new report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit advocacy organization, that revealed traces of glyphosate—the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup—in several types of oat cereal, oatmeal, granola, and snack bars. Almost three-quarters of food samples tested "showed higher glyphosate levels than what the group's scientists believe to be 'protective of children's health,'" CNN reported. This sounds pretty scary, especially for anyone who eats oats regularly. (At Health, that’s a lot of us—the whole grain lowers cholesterol, burns fat, and fills you up with fiber, folate, and potassium.) Plus, we've been hearing a lot about Roundup lately: Last week, a California jury awarded $289 million to a man who says he got cancer from repeated exposure to the chemical during his years as a pest-control manager for the San Francisco school district. We couldn’t help but wonder: Does this mean we should ditch our go-to morning meal? We dug a little deeper, and here’s what we found out. What is glyphosate, and why is it in our food? Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world, and is used in hundreds of weed-killing products. Many health and agricultural experts say that humans don’t absorb glyphosate in the same way they do harmful chemicals like DDT, so it’s safe in low quantities—like what’s left on sprayed crops after they’re harvested, cleaned, and prepared for food sales. In 2015, however, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen” after studies linked it to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2016, the FDA announced that it would begin testing for glyphosate in four widely used crops: soybeans, corn, milk, and eggs. So how much is really there—and how much is safe? First, the bad news: It’s true that glyphosate has been found in several types of oat products. Scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have even spoken about this themselves: In a presentation at the North American Chemical Residue Workshop in 2016, FDA researcher Narong Chamkasem highlighted the amounts found in samples of instant oatmeal (maple brown sugar, cinnamon spice, peach and cream), non-instant steel cut oats, and infant oat cereal (plain, banana, and banana strawberry). These quantities ranged from 0.3 to 1.67 parts per million. Now, the better news: The tolerable limit for glyphosate residue in grains, set by the Environmental Protection Agency, is 30 ppm. The quantities found in that research, then, were well below that limit. (They were below Europe’s stricter limit of 20 ppm, as well.) At the time, an FDA spokesperson told Health that the oatmeal testing was done as part of an independent research project, and the results had not been published or peer-reviewed. Since then, the Agency says, preliminary testing of other food products have found no glyphosate residues over the allowable limits, either. The new EWG report contains numbers that sound a bit more alarming, but they should also be looked at in perspective. The EWG's tests found gyphosate levels ranging from 0 to 1,300 parts per billion (ppb). Take note: That's parts per billion, whereas we were previously talking about parts per million. When the numbers are converted, even the highest concentration found in the new EWG report—1,300 ppb, or 1.3 ppm—is still in line with what the FDA announced previously, and still lower than the EPA's tolerable threshold. The EPA's tolerable limit isn't good enough for the EWG, whose scientists say that "legal is not the same as safe." The authors of the new report cite a different glyphosate guideline for adults—of 1.1 milligrams per day—proposed by the state of California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to protect against cancer. "That level of exposure is more than 60 times lower than the safety level set by the Environmental Protection Agency," the report states. Then the EWG factored in "an additional 10-fold margin of safety," to account for the fact that children need much less exposure to chemicals to suffer adverse health effects, which left them with this: "EWG calculated that a one-in-a-million cancer risk would be posed by ingestion of 0.01 milligrams of glyphosate per day," the report states. "To reach this maximum dose, one would only have to eat a single 60-gram serving of food with a glyphosate level of 160 parts per billion, or ppb." In other words, the EWG's benchmark for a safe level of glyphosate is below 160 ppb, or 0.16 ppm—and most of the samples of conventional oat products tested in their study exceeded this. Several different brands of oats and granola were tested in the study, including Quaker Oats, Cheerios, Barbara's, and Giant. Quaker Old Fashioned Oats were found to have the most glyphosate per sample, with more than 1,000 ppb in two of three samples tested. Unfortunately, nothing definitive. It’s clear that many conventionally farmed crops that we eat in America are sprayed with glyphosate before harvesting, but so far no studies have found levels high enough to raise red flags, at least not officially. Want to play it safe? Avoiding oats has its downsides, too: The hearty whole grains are rich in fiber and important nutrients, and they’ve long been touted as a natural way to lower cholesterol. In fact, one 2016 study found that oat consumption doesn’t just help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, but that it also brings down two other markers of cardiovascular risk—non-HDL cholesterol (total cholesterol minus HDL) and apolipoprotein B, a protein that carries bad cholesterol through the blood. If you don’t want to give up your regular breakfast bowl but you’re concerned about pesticide levels, there is one thing you can do: Choose organic oats, says Health contributing nutrition editor Cynthia Sass, RD. Eating organic can help you lower your exposure to even trace amounts of pesticides, says Sass, particularly for foods you eat daily. In the new EWG study, a few of the organic products tested did contain traces of glyphosate—possibly from pesticides drifting from nearby conventionally grown crops, or cross-contamination in factories. But none of the levels were above even the EWG's stringent threshold for safety. Organic foods are pricier than conventionally grown ones, but they don’t have to break the bank, says Sass. “If you’re on a budget, look for store-brand organic products,” she recommends. “And you can save on name brand organic manufacturers by looking for printable coupons on their web sites, or on retailer sites.” She also suggests checking the bulk section at your supermarket, where items tend to cost less per serving, for organic options.
https://www.health.com/nutrition/pesticides-in-oatmeal
The characteristics of snowflakes observed at the surface provide information to make inferences about the dynamic and thermodynamic structures within winter, extratropical cyclones. A multi-angle snowflake camera (MASC) has collected images of snowflakes in freefall, from multiple angles simultaneously, since January 2015 at Stony Brook, NY on the north shore of central Long Island. These images provide information to assess the size, habit(s), degree of riming, and many other properties of the snowflakes in situ. To date, the MASC has captured more than one million images at Stony Brook. Observations from the MASC have revealed new insights on the diversity and complexity of snow aggregates. At Stony Brook, aggregates are a common if not predominant mode of snowfall. In contrast to idealized clusters of dendrites, these aggregates show a wide diversity of components. We frequently observe aggregates composed of multiple crystal habits. Furthermore, aggregate components are often not rimed uniformly. We sometimes see aggregates composed of rimed and unrimed crystals. We also observe partially melted aggregates and aggregates that have partially melted and then refrozen. This diversity reflects complex microphysical pathways. Aggregates are composed of crystals originating and growing at different times and places within the cyclone. Three dimensional winds and layers of higher turbulence within a storm produce differences in snow advection, growth, and riming; factors that affect not just the characteristics of snow at the surface but also the diversity of the characteristics and habits observed at the surface. Prior work has used a Lagrangian framework relative to the low-pressure center to relate the spatial patterns of snow habit and degrees of riming to temperature and vertical motion patterns within the northwest and northeast sectors of developing and mature cyclones. We also used a Lagrangian framework to provide insights on storm processes and structures that influence microphysical processes and how these influences change as a storm evolves. We coupled MASC observations with operational scanning radar (WSR-88D) data and vertically pointing radar (Metek Micro Rain Radar) data to put MASC observations into context with the three dimensional storm environment. MASC observations of large numbers of flakes and the derived information on the distributions of a variety of snow characteristics should inform efforts to retrieve snow mass flux using remote sensing. These data also provide a benchmark for evaluating model microphysics schemes. Figure 1. Images of a complex snow aggregate captured simultaneously from multiple angles, 30° apart, by a MASC at Stony Brook, NY on 9 January 2015 at 14:00:58 UTC. The maximum dimension of the snowflake is approximately 11 mm.
https://ams.confex.com/ams/17MESO/webprogram/Paper320116.html
Part of the first section of visual inspections completed during an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is that of checking the condition of the metering equipment. This visual inspection also applies to an EIC (Electrical Installation Certificate), issued after more complex installation worksThis inspection is purely visual and involves no works to the metering equipment itself. Indeed, the metering equipment belongs to the electricity supplier (or their agent). Tampering with this can be construed as potentially abstracting electricity, which is an offence under The Theft Act (1968). Read on for our full guide to checking the condition of the metering equipment during 18th edition electrical inspections. Safety First! – ALWAYS Ensure These Items Before Starting Specific risks which can be encountered inspecting the condition of the metering equipment include: - If the metering equipment is particularly damaged, or has any pieces missing then there is a risk of serious electric shock. By stating VISUAL INSPECTION only, it really does mean no need to touch. - If there is any doubt over damage, or the metering equipment is verified visually to be in an unsatisfactory state, you should always report your concerns to the electricity supplier. This is different to DNO reported issues and can be challenging to get someone to take responsibility for this, particularly with empty properties. Read our guide here for more help with contacting electricity suppliers. - This website is intended as a study/work aid to assist qualified/working electricians in order to keep current with changes in fields such as inspection & testing. It is also something of a repository for those studying in the field to gain general knowledge. It is in no way intended to be taken as DIY Electrical Advice and should never replace the services of a qualified & insured electrician. - electrical-assistance.co.uk assume no liability for any accident or injury, howsoever caused, whilst attempting electrical works. If you are working with electricity please ensure that you follow all local regulations in force in your particular area. What Am I Checking When I Inspect This? When inspecting the condition of the metering equipment, you are first and foremost looking for physical damage to the outer casing of the equipment. The most serious faults are of course, damaged enclosures and potentially exposed live parts. However there are some slightly less obvious signs of issues with the metering equipment which are worth double checking: - Signs of thermal damage around the meter tails – If the meter tails have a poor connection for any reason (usually due to loose terminal screws within the meter), then they can display thermal damage around their termination. This may only appear very slightly and is worth checking over carefully. A torch may be needed to inspect closely and accurately see the condition. Thermal damage may also be seen when undersized tails have been used and loads are particularly high. - Poorly secured metering equipment – The equipment should be securely fixed with no free movement. Any movement can cause strain on the meter tails and lead to loose connections. - Low Amp Rating – Some particularly old dial type meters have a 40A maximum rating. These are almost always fitted to more modern service heads with either BS88 or BS1361 fuses. The fuses fitted will generally be 60A minimum (indeed some are 63A, 80A or even 100A). If you do come across a meter with a 40A rating it should be referred to the electrical supplier for upgrade to a modern meter What’s the Best Way to Record These Inspection Items? It can be of upmost use to have a modern certification software that enables you to attach photos of anything untoward you find. It can be difficult to contact the electricity supplier when working in certain properties (empty homes or rental properties). This can lead to delays in getting the equipment repaired. Whilst it is not necessarily the responsibility of an electrician to ensure this is repaired (that would fall to the property owner or their agent), you do need to ensure that you have accurately documented the condition, and any issues found so that the responsible person is fully aware of the issues. Adding photos to an EICR also allows you to have a visual record, easily stored within the PDF file of that EICR. As such, you can easily revisit the exact issues and check the photos for yourself. This can be useful when preparing quotes for remedial works and the like. You already know that we recommend Tysoft Easycert Mobile for the best electronic certification. We are all about time saving for professional electricians here at electrical-assistance.co.uk and as such you need a solid and expandable certification software that you can depend on. See more information about how we recommend you record these types of inspections here: Best Electrical Certification Software for 2020 Further Resources & Information on ‘Condition of Metering Equipment’ Here are some further resources relating to checking the condition of service cable: - Help With Contacting Electricity Suppliers – If you need to contact the electricity supplier for any reason, check this guide to help you quickly and easily get in touch with the right people to help with metering equipment issues. What Next? If you have any views on this inspection item, please comment below….
https://electrical-assistance.co.uk/condition-of-metering-equipment/
We can all agree that basements are an ideal storage space for precious items. However, due to water damage, they are prone to bowing. In fact, a study shows that 98 percent of homes have basements affected by water damage once in their lifetime. Common signs of bowed basement walls include horizontal cracks and walls sliding in at the bottom. These issues take time to develop and may worsen if left unsolved. They could also pose safety hazards and lower your home’s resale value. Fix bowed basement walls to prevent property damage and flooding. It also keeps your lawn in good shape and brings personal comfort. Many homeowners don’t know how to proceed when they spot bowed walls in their basements. In this guide, we’ll take you through six ways to deal with this problem: Get Your Basement Walls Inspected Hire a home inspector to inspect your basement for any signs of water damage. The inspector will check the seals around the basement door and window seals for leaks. They will also inspect the window casements for the same reason. Expect the technician to inspect your basement walls to identify areas that bulge. They will also check whether there’s an uneven load on the walls. A good basement wall should be level and flush. After identifying the cracks, the home inspector will isolate them and determine their hazard levels. Expect them also to assess the integrity of the concrete floors and walls within the foundation. The inspection will take about one and a half hours to complete depending on the extent of water damage. The inspector will ask you to give more details about your home’s building and repair history during the inspection. Prepare Your Yard Avoid carrying out any landscaping work when you have bowing walls in your basement. You should also remove all items from the basement perimeter to reduce pressure on the walls. The home inspector will inform you about any areas where the yard has to be cleared. The basement should have proper access and clearance before the repair. You may have to remove some plants away from your home’s walls to prevent root damage. It’s also wise to regrade your lawn to improve its drainage and avoid water stagnation. Fix any wet areas in your lawn to reduce the water damage on your home’s walls. You may consider aerating previously flooded areas to allow proper drainage, If your place of residence is prone to flooding, install an artificial pond on a low-lying surface to collect excess water. Protect Valuable Items in the Basement You risk degrading the quality of your precious items when you store them in a basement with poor waterproofing. Avoid storing your possessions on the floor since they may absorb moisture from the ground and develop mold. You should also store them in airtight containers or bags if they fit in there. Keep your fabrics in airtight bags to absorb musty scents caused by water intrusion. Avoid storing delicate items made of wood or metal in the basement if it’s prone to water damage. You should also keep your electronics away from the water-damaged basement to prevent damage caused by water contact or rust. Have a list of items stored in the basement and examine them regularly for signs of water damage. Instead of placing the furniture on the floor, wrap them in plastic paper to prevent wood rot and rust. Choose the Reinforcement Material You have different options for fixing cracks in your basement walls. These options include hydraulic cement, carbon fiber straps, epoxy crack injections, and wall beans. Hydraulic cement is one of the safest and versatile solutions for wall cracks. Though you’ll need to apply it every couple of years, it can prevent moisture from seeping into the walls. Carbon fiber straps are a strong, easy to install, and durable solution for cracks not more than two inches. Reinforcing the cracks with epoxy injections can restore the structural strength of the wall for up to five years. Wall beams support the load coming from the top of the wall and transfer it to the side. Think About Temporary Relocation Basement repair and waterproofing are often very loud and intrusive. It may be uncomfortable for you and your family to cope with the noise and movements brought by the work. Relocating to a temporary location may thus be a good idea. Only think about relocation if your basement walls need extensive repair. You should also agree with the repair contractor about a repair schedule that doesn’t interrupt your daily life. Relocating during the repairs will give the contractor ample time and space to fix the bowed basement walls. Consider moving to a place that’s a few minutes away from your current home for you to monitor the repair project. Enlist Wet Basement Repair Help Hire a repair technician before the bowed walls in your basement affect your home’s structural integrity. You may seek referrals or search for the service online. Either way, ensure that the company has relevant certifications and skills related to the work. The company should have an excellent track record of using the latest technologies for wall repair. Their services should also come with long-term transferable or lifetime warranties. They should inspect your home once the work is completed to guarantee the safety of the walls. The technician will carry out basement waterproofing using sealant materials to keep out water from your home. This service will reinforce your property’s foundation and protect it against future basement problems. Waterproof sealants also prevent condensation and keep humidity levels in your basement down. Get Bowed Basement Walls Repaired Today Since your home rests on top of your basement walls, it may weaken when any of the walls experience water damage. Bowed basement walls are a safety hazard that needs to be addressed immediately. The water damage may extend to other parts of your home and attract hefty repair costs. You can count on our foundation repair and basement waterproofing services to improve your home’s structural integrity. We use the latest construction technologies and techniques in our work. Schedule a basement inspection with us today, and we’ll gladly be of great help to you.
https://luxcando.com/bowed-basement-walls/
Thursday 16 May 2013 by Catherine Baksi Experts whose evidence is 'not up to scratch' will be driven out of the family courts by reforms announced today by the Ministry of Justice. It has opened a nine-week consultation on new national standards designed to raise the quality of experts in family courts and to get rid of 'poor-quality' and 'time-consuming evidence which adds little value' in helping judges reach a decision. The move, to cut the £52m spent on experts, is the latest stage of reforms to speed up the family justice system. The new standards will mean that evidence provided in a family court can only be given by 'qualified, experienced and recognised professionals'. The ministry said that under its plan experts who are 'well-qualified and experienced' will continue to provide a 'valuable service' in advising the family courts - but the 'so-called experts who provide evidence which is simply not up to scratch will be driven out'. Justice minister Lord McNally said: 'Poor-quality expert evidence can lead to unacceptable delays for children and their families. By putting standards in place we will ensure only the highest calibre of evidence is permitted in family proceedings.' He said the government wants to ensure that evidence being put forward is 'more robust' and that cases are resolved more quickly. The consultation is jointly led by the Family Justice Council and follows the independent Family Justice Review by David Norgrove, which identified weaknesses in the quality of evidence being put forward by experts at family proceedings involving children. Dr Heather Payne, chair of the FJC's experts working group, which drafted the standards said: 'The standards are designed to improve the quality, supply and use of expertise to improve outcomes for children in the family courts. 'They are intended to help experts and the courts alike, to ensure that they are delivering the relevant and high-quality opinions based on the best possible evidence which the family courts need to help them make decisions.' She added: 'They also seek to provide the courts and lawyers with clear guidance on how to ensure that expert evidence is sought from an expert of the appropriate discipline, with appropriate professional qualifications. 'The standards are a first step to promoting the more effective and intelligent use of expert evidence.' In the 12 months up to October 2011, £52m of legal aid was spent on expert reports and this consultation is designed to tackle the costs and delays brought about through poor-quality evidence. The proposals will complement recent work by senior judges to ensure expert witnesses are only called when it is necessary. The consultation will run until 18 July.
https://www.lccsa.org.uk/moj-plans-crackdown-on-so-called-experts/
Having attended part of the recent principals’ and directors’ retreat at Hahndorf it made me reflect on what system leaders do. Senge, Hamilton and Kania (2015) provide the following ideas: “Though they differ widely in personality and style, genuine system leaders have a remarkably similar impact. Over time, their profound commitment to the health of the whole radiates to nurture similar commitment in others. Their ability to see reality through the eyes of people very different from themselves encourages others to be more open as well. They build relationships based on deep listening, and networks of trust and collaboration start to flourish. … As these system leaders emerge, situations previously suffering from polarization and inertia become more open, and what were previously seen as intractable problems become perceived as opportunities for innovation. Short-term reactive problem solving becomes more balanced with long-term value creation. And organizational self-interest becomes re-contextualized, as people discover that their and their organization’s success depends on creating wellbeing within the larger systems of which they are a part.” - The first capability is the ability to see the larger system. - The second capability involves fostering reflection and more generative conversations. - The third capability centres on shifting the collective focus from reactive problem solving to co-creating the future. It was so inspiring to observe and be part of generative conversations relating to sabb atical / personal professional learning and growing self-awareness. Throughout the sessions and indeed during break times, there was a positive, supportive professional culture evident ‘building wellbeing not only for self but for the larger systems” which we are all a part of.
http://www.lesnw.edu.au/system-leaders-in-action/
Carrie has been a fitness enthusiast her entire life. Throughout her adolescent and teen years she was a competitive swimmer and diver, and today maintains an active, healthy lifestyle enjoying outdoor activities such as paddle boarding, hiking and mountain biking. Carrie has a B.S. in Marketing from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. She holds a current certification from the American Council of Exercise (ACE) as a Personal Trainer, with specialty certifications in Sports Conditioning and Fitness Nutrition. In addition, she holds certifications in Spin, Kickboxing, and has completed the suspension training course at TRX headquarters San Francisco. As a Group Fitness Instructor, Carrie enjoys teaching a wide range of classes encompassing cardio, strength, core and flexibility. As a Master Trainer, Carrie enjoys connecting with clients to provide specialized programming to help them reach their goals. As a wife and a mother of 2 young children, Carrie recognizes the challenges of balancing work, family and keeping fit. She specializes in high energy, high intensity workouts while keeping things fun, exciting and motivating. Carrie’s passion is to help clients of all ages and fitness levels get in shape, feel great, possess more strength and confidence and learn to achieve individual fitness goals.
https://www.napahealthquest.com/carrie-anderson
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to center pivot irrigation systems having swing arms for providing water to the corners of a field and more specifically relates to a guidance system that is utilized for controlling the travel of the swing arm on a desired path. 2. Description of the Prior Art Center pivot irrigation systems have long been known in the art for providing water to large sections of land. A typical center pivot system is capable of irrigating one hundred and sixty acres or more. A center pivot system is formed of a main arm water conduit that is fixed at one end to a central point of water supply. The main arm is supported on a plurality of wheeled towers and is pivotally attached to the source of water to provide a circular irrigation pattern surrounding such supply. Center pivot irrigation systems have proven to be highly efficient in irrigating large sections of land. They suffer from the deficiency that they produce a circular water pattern, although most fields are either rectangular or square shaped. Accordingly, a center pivot system by itself will not be able to provide water to the corners of a field, resulting in decreased production or complete loss of production therein. To increase the amount of area that can be watered by a center pivot system, high pressure sprayers known as end guns have been mounted on the end of the center pivot main arm and are actuated at the corners to produce a water spray into only a portion of the corners. Due to this fact, end guns are not an effective or efficient method for watering the corners and improved corner watering systems have been desired. In the 1970's, the use of an additional watering arm (called a swing arm) was begun, with the swing arm being pivotally attached to the free end of the main arm to pivot out into the corners as desired. A variety of different methods for steering and driving the swing arm have been developed, but the most successful and predominantly used system for controlling the movement of the swing arm is through the use of an electromagnetically charged cable that is buried in the ground along the path that the swing arm is desired to follow. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,668 to Daugherty, et al. Through the use of buried cable controls, swing arm center pivot irrigation systems have been improved in efficiency and operation. Nevertheless, there are certain drawbacks in such systems, particularly in instances where the topsoil of a field may overlie a rock substrata. In view of the fact that a buried cable system requires the laying of ten thousand or more feet of cable, when rock is present in a field, installation of the buried cable becomes unusually difficult and expensive. It is also very expensive to repair or to alter the path of the system once the cable is buried. Other methods used to steer the swing arm include the use of encoders and angle comparisons or electrical control means with banks of switches and settings for the desired paths. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,183 to Kegel and U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,517 to Kircher, respectively. Until recently the use of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) data to guide the swing arm of a center pivot irrigation system would have been impractical from the standpoint that such position calculations were too inaccurate and GPS receiver/senders were prohibitively expensive. However, with advancements in GPS technology, systems have now been developed for guiding a swing arm along a desired preselected path. One example of a prior art swing arm guidance system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,439 issued to Segal, et al. A second known swing arm guidance control GPS system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,151 B1 issued to Barker, et al. Both of these prior art patents disclose guidance systems that include a single GPS receiving antenna positioned on the swing tower in a location between the wheels of the tower. However, locating the swing tower receiving antenna in such position is detrimental to optimum guidance of the swing tower. The present invention is designed to provide a new and improved guidance system for the steering control of a swing arm on a center pivot system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
Colleges that should be helping unemployed people into work are too often focused on "the achievement of qualifications" rather than getting them a job, Ofsted has claimed. Many learning providers and colleges take a "sheep dip" approach, directing learners en masse to available qualifications instead of focusing on individuals' needs, the watchdog's national director of learning and skills, Matthew Coffey, told TES. Last August, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) launched a new scheme to provide more "market-focused" training. Independent FE providers, which run apprenticeships, and colleges were expected to link up with Jobcentre Plus branches and employers to tackle long-term unemployment. But a report published yesterday by Ofsted, at the request of BIS, found that fewer than one in five learners on the scheme have actually gained a job as a result. "Providers and participants too often saw the provision primarily in terms of progression to further training such as qualifications at a higher level," the report said. "Although this may be appropriate for individuals with significant barriers to employment, not enough participants had clear employment goals or an action plan that provided them with clear direction on the path to employment. "Just under half of the 45 providers visited reported difficulties in recruiting participants to specific employability provision, often resulting in cancelled courses or low numbers." The findings come as youth unemployment soars. According to the latest statistics, just over 1 million young people aged 16-24 are unemployed - 22 per cent of the population for that age group. At the end of 2011, the youth unemployment rate had reached its second highest point of the last 20 years. But just a third of the providers visited by Ofsted as part of its report into the BIS scheme were deemed to have effective systems for assessing and recording participants' prior knowledge, barriers to employment and employability skills. Even learners with low levels of literacy, numeracy and language skills were referred to mainstream provision "based on the need to achieve a qualification" rather than with the aim of securing a job. "Providers are not looking sufficiently at individual barriers learners may well have (to employment)," Mr Coffey said. "`Sheep dip' is a term used by providers: just sending people on to a particular programme because it is available. It does move learners forward, but doesn't address their specific needs." Bespoke programmes from specific employers achieved better results, with 27 per cent going on to get a job. Ofsted called for participants in the BIS scheme to be given more experience of the workplace. "Those interviewed typically said that they would like the chance to try out their skills at work," the report said. Providers found that some Jobcentre Plus branches were making low numbers of referrals to the scheme, due to poor communication and a limited understanding of the programme. Ofsted called on BIS to clarify the scheme's aims and objectives, and promote it among staff at Jobcentre Plus and the Department for Work and Pensions. Graham Hoyle, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, backed Ofsted's calls for better, closer cooperation between government departments. "Qualifications are important for progression, but too much emphasis on achieving one before securing a job can be counterproductive, especially in the current economic climate," he said. "There is an appetite among our members to make a success of this provision," Mr Hoyle added. "But they require a clear signal from the Skills Funding Agency that it still sees funding of skills for the unemployed as a major priority, as well as the funding of growth in apprenticeships." A BIS spokesman said: "The findings of this report support the government's approach of encouraging local partnerships between Jobcentre Plus, colleges and training providers to ensure that training is relevant to individual and labour market needs, and has identified some very good practice." WORK IT OUT 45 - Number of colleges, independent learning providers and local authority providers visited by Ofsted for the report. 19% - Rate of participants on the `back to work' scheme who secured a job. 27% - Rate of participants on bespoke programmes from individual companies who secured a job. 1% - Lowest rate of students securing jobs. 46% - Highest rate of students securing jobs.
https://www.tes.com/news/sheep-dip-approach-unemployed-just-isnt-says-ofsted
1. Field of the Invention This invention pertains to process parameter sensors and related operating methods and program products, and more particularly, to vibrating conduit process parameter sensors and related operating methods and computer program products. 2. Statement of the Problem Coriolis effect mass flowmeters are commonly used to measure mass flow and other information for materials flowing through a conduit. Exemplary Coriolis flowmeters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,109,524 of Aug. 29, 1978, 4,491,025 of Jan. 1, 1985, and Re. 31,450 of Feb. 11, 1982, all to J. E. Smith et al. These flowmeters typically include one or more conduits having a straight or a curved configuration. Each conduit may be viewed as having a set of vibration modes, including, for example, simple bending, torsional, radial and coupled modes. In a typical mass flow measurement application, each conduit is driven to oscillate at resonance in one of its natural modes as a material flows through the conduit. The vibration modes of the vibrating, material-filled system are affected by the combined mass and stiffness characteristics of the conduits and the characteristics of the material flowing within the conduits. A typical component of a Coriolis flowmeter is the drive or excitation system. The drive system operates to apply a periodic physical force to the conduit that causes the conduit to oscillate. The drive system typically includes at least one actuator mounted to the conduit(s) of the flowmeter. The actuator typically contains one of many well known electromechanical devices, such as a voice coil device having a magnet mounted to a first conduit and a wire coil mounted to a second conduit, in an opposing relationship to the magnet. A drive circuit continuously applies a periodic, e.g., a sinusoidal or square wave, drive signal to the actuator coil. The periodic drive signal causes the actuator to drive the two conduits in an opposing periodic pattern that is thereafter maintained. When there is effectively xe2x80x9czeroxe2x80x9d flow through a driven flowmeter conduit, points along the conduit tend to oscillate with approximately the same phase or a xe2x80x9czero-flowxe2x80x9d phase with respect to the driver, depending on the mode of the driven vibration. As material begins to flow from an inlet of the flowmeter, through the conduit and out of an outlet of the flowmeter, Coriolis forces arising from the material flow tend to induce phase shifts between spatially separate points along the conduit. Generally, as material flows through the conduit, the phase on the inlet side of the conduit lags the driver, while the phase on the outlet side of the conduit leads the driver. The phase shift induced between two locations on the conduit is approximately proportional to the mass flow rate of material through the conduit. To measure mass flow rate, conventional Coriolis flowmeters typically measure phase at two transducers located near respective ends of the conduit, symmetrically placed with respect to a centrally positioned driver. However, manufacturing-induced asymmetries in transducer placement as well as other structural asymmetries and nonlinearities in the conduit structure may cause measurement inaccuracies. In addition, in some applications it may be desirable to utilize asymmetric transducer placements. In light of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide process parameter sensors and related operating methods and computer program products that can provide more flexible and accurate techniques for measurement of process parameters such as mass flow rate, totalized mass flow and the like. This and other objects, features and advantages are provided according to the present invention by vibrating conduit process parameter sensors and related operating methods and computer program products in which a process parameter associated with a material in a conduit of a sensor is estimated based on an estimated complex modal transformation. For example, an unknown mass flow may be estimated by estimating a complex modal transformation relating motion signals representing motion of the process parameter sensor conduit at the unknown mass flow to a complex eigenvector representing motion of the process parameter sensor conduit at the known mass flow. A plurality of complex measured values may be generated from the motion signals, and then used to estimate the complex modal transformation according to a best-fit technique such as a linear regression. According to an aspect of the present invention, motion signals representing motion at more than two locations are received, providing an overdetermined set of measurement data that can be used to produce a more accurate process parameter estimate. Complex modal transformation and process parameter estimation operations may be implemented in a microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) or similar computer. By using a complex modal representation of the motion of a sensor conduit, the present invention can provide more flexible and accurate techniques for measuring process parameters such as mass flow in comparison to conventional measurement techniques. According to the present invention, a At variety of different types of measurements can provide the needed complex information. In addition, the estimation techniques utilized according to the present invention are well suited to using overdetermined sets of measurements. In particular, according to the present invention, a process parameter is estimated by a parameter sensor having a conduit configured to contain material from a material processing system. A plurality of motion signals is received from a plurality of motion transducers. Each of the plurality of motion signals indicating indicates motion at one of a plurality of locations on the conduit. A complex modal transformation is estimated from the received plurality of motion signals, and a process parameter for the material processing system is estimated from the estimated complex modal transformation. According to an aspect of the present invention, a complex eigenvector is provided representing the motion of the conduit at a plurality of locations at a known mass flow. A plurality of motion signals is received from the plurality of motion transducers, the plurality of motion signals indicating motion at a plurality of locations on the conduit as a material flows through the conduit. A complex modal transformation relating the received plurality of motion signals to the complex eigenvector is estimated. Mass flow through the conduit is estimated from the known mass flow and the estimated complex modal transformation. According to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of complex measured values is generated from the received plurality of motion signals, a respective one of the plurality of complex measured values corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of locations. A complex modal transformation relating the generated plurality of complex measured values to the complex eigenvector is estimated. According to another aspect of the present invention, a complex modal transformation is estimated by constructing a complex vector from the generated plurality of complex measured values, and by determining a scaled rotation relating the complex vector to the complex eigenvector. According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a transformation which best fits the plurality of complex measured values to the complex eigenvector is determined, and mass flow is estimated from the known mass flow according to the determined transformation. Determination of a best fit transformation may include performing a linear regression to determine a transformation which best fits the plurality of complex measured values to the complex eigenvector. According to spatial integration aspects of the present invention, a plurality of motion signals is received representing motion at more than two physically separate locations. A complex modal transformation is then estimated, relating the plurality of motion signals representing motion at the more than two physically separate locations to the complex eigenvector. According to calibration aspects of the present invention, a plurality of motion signals are received from the plurality of motion transducers, the plurality of motion signals indicating motion at the plurality of locations at a known mass flow. A complex eigenvector is determined from the received plurality of motion signals, and a representation of the complex eigenvector is stored in the process parameter sensor. A process parameter sensor according to the present invention includes a conduit configured to contain material from a material processing system. A plurality of motion transducers is operative to produce a plurality of motion signals indicating motion at a plurality of locations on the conduit. A complex modal transformation estimator is responsive to the plurality of motion transducers, configured to receive a plurality of motion signals from the plurality of motion transducers and operative to estimate a complex modal transformation from the received plurality of motion signals. A process parameter estimator is responsive to the complex modal transformation estimator and operative to estimate a process parameter for the material processing system from the estimated complex modal transformation. In an embodiment of the present invention, the complex modal transformation estimator comprises means for estimating a complex modal transformation relating the received plurality of motion signals to a complex eigenvector representing motion of the conduit at a known mass flow. The process parameter estimator comprises means for estimating mass flow through the conduit from the known mass flow and the estimated complex modal transformation. According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product for determining a process parameter associated with a material in a conduit of a parameter sensor includes first computer readable program code means for receiving a plurality of motion signals representing motion at a plurality of locations on the conduit. Second computer readable program code means are responsive to the first computer readable program code means and estimate a complex modal transformation from the received plurality of motion signals. Third computer readable program code means are responsive to the second computer readable program code means and estimate a process parameter associated with a material in the conduit from the estimated complex modal transformation. Improved process parameter measurements may thereby be provided.
The level is determined by a majority opinion of students who have reviewed this class. The teacher's recommendation is shown until at least 5 student responses are collected. 141 Students -- Projects About This Class Overview In this course, you will learn C# programming for desktop applications. This journey will have you becoming proficient in - Visual Studio Interface and Shortcuts - Data Driven Graphical User Interface Applications using Windows Forms - Managing Databases with SQL Server Management Studio - Developing User and Roles Managed Interfaces and functions - Using Utility Classes for cleaner code - Developing Multi-Document Interface (MDI) Applications - Applying Object Oriented Programming with C# - Adding a Visual Studio Project to Source Control These lessons assume no prior knowledge of programming or the C# language, and will have you up and running in no time. Why Learn C# Language C# is the most versatile programming language in .NET Framework and .NET Core. Not only can you build Windows client applications, but you can also use C# to build Web and mobile apps. C# can be used to build: - Windows client applications using Windows Forms, WPF and UWP. - Web applications with ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core. - Native iOS and Android mobile apps using Xamarin. - Libraries, components, and console applications - Cloud and Azure apps - Block chain apps - Not only is C# language supported and maintained by Microsoft, but it also has a strong community support. More than 5 million developers use C# language. .NET Core and C# compiler are open source and the adoption is growing in open source community. Build A Strong Foundation in C# Programming: - Understand C# Syntax - Understand Datatypes and Variables - Understand Sequence, Decision and Repetition Control Structures - Understand String Manipulation - Understand Date and Time Manipulation - Understand Object Oriented Programming, Classes and Objects - Understand Visual Studio - Understand Debugging Techniques - Understand Event Driven Development - Develop Console Applications - Develop Windows Forms - Develop Data Driven Applications - Understand LINQ and Data Queries with C# Syntax - Setup Login and User Management Functionality Content and Overview This course is very beginner friendly and chock full of development tips. This huge course offers premium content, smartly broken up to highlight a set of related activities based on each module. We will also look at troubleshooting and debugging errors as we go along; implementing best practices; writing efficient logic and understanding why developers do things the way they do. Your knowledge will grow, step by step, throughout the course and you will be challenged to be the best you can be. By the time you have finished the course you will have moved around in Visual Studio and examined logic and syntax errors so much, that it will be second nature for you when working in the .NET environment. This will put your new learned skills into practical use and impress your boss and coworkers. The course is complete with working files hosted on GitHub, with the inclusion of some files to make it easier for you to replicate the code being demonstrated. You will be able to work alongside the author as you work through each lecture and will receive a verifiable certificate of completion upon finishing the course. Meet Your Teacher Hands-on Class Project Develop a Data Driven Winforms application using ADO.NET. This application can be as simple as an inventory system, or some application to use in your place of business. Place your source code on GitHub and share a link here. See full source code here: https://github.com/trevoirwilliams/CarRentalApp Be Sure to leave a class review Class Ratings - Exceeded!0% - Yes0% - Somewhat0% - Not really0% Reviews Archive In October 2018, we updated our review system to improve the way we collect feedback. Below are the reviews written before that update. Why Join Skillshare?
https://www.skillshare.com/classes/Building-C-Console-and-Windows-Forms-Applications-with-LINQ-and-ADO-NET/367290398?via=similar-classes
Alyssa B. Young Research Manager and Special Collections Librarian Dr. Eula Whitehouse March 16, 2018 In our "Hidden Treasures" series, Special Collections Librarian Alyssa B. Young features notable works in the BRIT rare book collection. The work of Dr. Eula Whitehouse spreads tentacles throughout BRIT. Our herbarium contains over 500 specimens she collected, our library houses six of her publications, and the Eula Whitehouse Collection in the BRIT Archives documents her life's work. Much like the names Mahler or Shinners, Whitehouse's name is omnipresent since she's integral to the core of BRIT as an institution. To celebrate Women's History Month, we want to tell the story of this remarkable woman. Eula Whitehouse was born in Cleburne, Texas, on August 1, 1892. She attended University of Texas in Austin, where she received a B.A. in 1918, M.S. in 1931, and a Ph.D. in 1939. Such educational accomplishments are impressive today, but a woman receiving and excelling in an academic or scientific field at her time is exceedingly rare. Dr. Whitehouse is among the 429 women in America to receive a Ph.D. between 1939-1940, which accounts for 0.0007% of the population of women in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics and 1940 Census Records). She quickly proved herself not only as an exceptional scientist but also a wonderful scientific illustrator. Dr. Whitehouse was listed in Who's Who of American Women (1959) and American Men of Science (1944), seemingly because there was no publication devoted to honoring women in science. In 1936, Dr. Whitehouse authored and illustrated one of the first books devoted to Texas wildflowers, Texas Flowers in Natural Colors. This work was released to high acclaim and remains a favorite among many Texas botanists. The Eula Whitehouse Archives Collection at BRIT contains documents outlining her professional career. The collection demonstrates her supreme appreciation for plant morphology. Throughout her career, Dr. Whitehouse exhibited an eye for science and botany. She excelled in describing plants' physical characteristics for scientific value as well as illustrating the beauty in botany. Her interest in wildflowers developed during a trip from New Mexico to California, during which she gazed out the train window and marveled at the beautifully diverse landscape. This inspired her to begin studying botany on her return to graduate school, and she took her new passion very seriously. Her master's thesis, titled "Ecology of Enchanted Rock Vegetation," and doctoral dissertation, "A Study of the Annual Phlox Species," were highly lauded by academic advisers. Both titles are available in the BRIT library (contact [email protected] to set up an appointment for access) She held jobs throughout North and Central Texas, working as an instructor at the University of Texas College of Mines (1931-1934), Curator of Botany and Zoology at Texas Memorial Museum at Austin (1938-1943), and a schoolteacher in Electra (1944-1946). In 1946, Dr. Whitehouse was hired as a technical assistant at the SMU herbarium under Dr. Lloyd Shinners. She was appointed Curator of Cryptograms in 1954, a position she held until retiring in 1958. During this time she traveled extensively. She collected mosses in Africa in 1953, botanized on an around-the-world trip in 1954, traveled and collected in Hawaii in 1955, and studied mosses and liverworts at the University of Washington in 1956. Her collections include specimens from Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus, India, Singapore, Fiji, and Mexico. During her retirement, Dr. Whitehouse developed a passion for birdwatching and became a founding member of the Dallas Audubon Society, for which she served as president and vice-president. She also held memberships in American Society of Plant Taxonomy, International Society of Plant Taxonomists, Botanical Society of America, American Bryological Society, American Fern Society, American Forestry Association, Texas Academy of Science, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, Torrey Botanical Club, Texas Fine Arts, Sigma XI, and Sigma Delta Epsilon Dr. Eula Whitehouse died at the age of 82 on September 6, 1974, and is buried in her hometown of Cleburne, Texas. Three years later, in 1987, BRIT was incorporated as a non-profit organization to house the SMU herbarium of 450,000 specimens and 75,000 botanical books; Dr. Whitehouse is responsible for thousands of the specimens and books that serve as the core of BRIT. With the SMU collection, BRIT gained one of the best collections of Texas bryophytes, including the vouchers for the The Mosses of Texas (Whitehouse & McAllister 1954). We are proud that Dr. Eula Whitehouse is ingrained in the collections that serve as the foundation of BRIT. In many ways, she is an example of an "ideal" botanist, a well-rounded scientist with a contagious passion and legacy of substance. She inspired an appreciation for botany through her artistic talents, built substantial scientific collections with her decades of explorations, and contributed heavily to scientific research through numerous publications. And most importantly, she promoted the importance of plant life to the public, amateur botanists, and scientists alike. Although she didn't leave behind direct descendants, she left a strong legacy. Her publications, specimens, and research documents are still in use today and will continue to be so for generations to come. She was a devoted and dedicated scientist at a time when societal expectations would have her be anything but, and she worked hard to prove her merit. Dr. Whitehouse paved the way for women in the scientific community, which means her impact now reaches far beyond her own work. Related Articles Curtis’s Botanical Magazine One of the treasures of BRIT’s rare book collection is Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, a premier journal for early botanical illustrations and descriptions. The journal has featured over 10,000 color illustrations in its 230 years of publication. Originally titled The Botanical Magazine, it is the longest running illustrated botanical periodical and is still being published today. The Unusual Binding of “Flora Sibirica” As you look through the shelves in our rare book room, you see rows and rows of beautifully-bound books. They have bindings of leather and vellum, ornate embossed and gilded decorations on the covers and spines. Two volumes stand out: Flora Sibirca. The Legacy of Alexander von Humboldt How much do you know about Alexander von Humboldt, one of the most influential naturalists in history? More species and plants are named after him than after any other human being, but in the last 150 years he's been nearly forgotten. Let's change that.
Travel and Tourism Industry is one of the fastest growing industry in the world contributing a colossal US $6 trillion dollars in 2011 and creating 5 million new jobs (Travel and Tourism Economic Impact Report, 2012). Hospitality sector is one of the main pillars of this industry in Kenya which has generally continued to experience phenomenal growth both in terms of revenues generated and infrastructure to support the industry. Its phenomenal growth has come along with fierce competition among the players in the industry for the limited human resource available. Increased ability to retain their current employees has therefore become a very important objective for most employers in this sector. This study seeked to identify the effects of the pay and work environment on the retention of employees in the Hotel Industry in Mombasa County. Findings revealed that pay had a weak influence on employee retention while work environment had the strongest influence which was significant at (p = .005) 2-tailed. While it was evident from the results that work environment plays a major role in employee retention, to remain competitive it was recommended that employers in the industry also need to re-evaluate the current weaknesses associated with pay.
https://ir.tum.ac.ke/handle/123456789/5132
About 20% of all small businesses transition in some way or another each year, some sell, some liquidate and some totally close up shop. But what happens to the local economy and jobs when each of those transitions happen and how can we ensure that we preserve more of that capital? In this keynote, we’ll explore: Key Takeaways1. How big of an impact small business transitions have on local economies 2. How we as professionals and consumers can help preserve capital and jobs 3. What trends we should be aware of in the future Seller Tsunami - The Opportunity We’re Missing (cultural and technological shift) More than 50% of small and medium-sized businesses are owned by the baby boomer generation. During the next ten years, we will not just see a transfer of wealth unlike anything before, but also a transfer of entrepreneurship. The opportunity we are missing, however, is the cultural and technological shift that this Tsunami will create. In this keynote, we’ll explore: Key Takeaways1. What is the Seller Tsunami, the opportunities and challenges it presents 2. How can we as entrepreneurs and consumers benefit 3. What kind of cultural changes may happen as well Women Building Million Dollar Companies (personal story) The number of women-owned companies reaching $1 million in revenue has been steady at roughly 2% for the last two years, but why? In this keynote, I share the top reasons I see women-owned businesses struggle to break the $1 million and how I have personally done it with two different businesses. Key Takeaways1. Understand the internal factors holding us back and learn to overcome them 2. How to leverage your network and net worth to grow your business 3. Making the ask (not just financial) to get to where you want to go Talks & Workshops Growth Through Acquisition There are many ways to grow your company, and one of them is acquiring another company! Many business owners forget this method and neglect something that can help them increase their business by 30, 50 or even 100% overnight. In this workshop we will explore the following: Key Takeaways1. Learn how the business purchase process works 2. Identify where to find potential acquisitions 3. Set a financial strategy for how to finance the deal and get the most ROI out of our investment Prep to Sell - Preparing Your Business Now for A Future Exit Many business owners don’t realize that only 20% of the companies that are listed for sell, actually sell. What if you knew a formula to increase the value for your business and the likelihood that it would sell? In this workshop, we will explore the following: Key Takeaways1. Set realistic valuation prices for where your businesses are now, and where you want them to be 2. Learn what buyers of businesses are searching for an what truly matters to them 3. Design a plan for the next 1-3 years to increase the value of your business How Women Can Build a Profitable & Valuable Business It’s not your baby, it’s a business! Many women entrepreneurs fail to realize their financial dreams because they are caught up in the passion of the business and don’t learn some financial fundamentals. In this workshop, we’ll dive deep into how to build a business that is profitable, and able to be sold for a large chunk of cash. We’ll also address the following:
https://jessicafialkovich.com/speaking/
Are you feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed? Do you feel like you are stuck and aren’t sure how to take the next step forward? Do you feel as though you are just “surviving” instead of thriving? If these questions resonate with you, I am here to help. Life can often feel messy and chaotic. My passion is to help bring order out of chaos to facilitate growth and peace. My goal is shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, wholeness and universal flourishing. Operating from a strengths-based perspective, I work to create a safe environment and partner with clients to help empower and equip them to face life’s challenges, while creating meaning for themselves along the way. My Experience: My years of experience have fostered in me a great love for coming alongside people to help them move towards becoming the best version of themselves. From my time as a reading tutor for elementary students, a mentor for Latina youths, a health and wellness workshop leader for senior citizens in public housing, a collegiate tutor for student-athletes, a discipler and campus minister with The Navigators, and an academic advisor for students at UGA, my whole professional career has centered around helping others maximize their strengths and flourish in their own unique ways and contexts. My heart is to help individuals, couples and families experience rich health, wholeness and inner-healing, and I now have the great privilege of utilizing these skills and passions as an intern at the Banyan Tree Center. My Education: I earned my Bachelor of Science in Family Science with concentrations in human development and counseling from the University of Maryland in 2010. I am currently a graduate student at the University of Georgia, pursuing a degree in clinical social work and a certificate in marriage and family therapy. I have also received additional training and have special interest in the following areas: identity development; transition; grief and loss; couple relationships; families; depression; anxiety; Christian counseling; and crises of faith/spirituality. What to Expect from Me: I am available throughout the week (Monday – Friday) for individual, couples or family counseling sessions. Sessions are typically one hour long. If you would like to find out more information about us or schedule an appointment, feel free to call our main office at (706) 850-7041. I am looking forward to working with you!
https://www.athenscounseling.com/ellen-pauloski
What is network and system hardening? What is a firewall? Are there different kinds of firewalls (not manufacturers of firewalls, different types of firewalls)? How do firewalls work? Should you drop or deny requests when configuring a firewall? What is a blocklist (previously referred to as blacklisting)? Allow-list (previously referred to as Whitelisting)? What is a proxy? What is an IDS? An IPS? What is the difference between passive and active scanning on a network? What is spoofing? What is war driving? How do you close ports? What is hacking? What is a white hat (ethical) hacker? A black hat (un-ethical) hacker? Gray hat? What is social engineering? What is virtualization? What is a guest OS? A host OS? What is a hypervisor? What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors? What is a VPS? A VPN? A VLAN? SDNs? Share 0 Related posts October 19, 2021 How to write a Professional Essay Read more October 12, 2021 You have been asked to provide immediate care and to assist with.. Read more October 12, 2021 How does the theory of expanding consciousness apply to our healthcare society today? How does theory affect nursing profession to provide care to a diverse population of patients? Can you identify with any of these theories in your profession?
https://topcustomwriters.com/2021/09/22/networking/
"A more fragrant cherry than Karin Dornbusch I have seldom heard.... To me personally, one finalist, Karin Dornbusch, came as a revelation... she has a gentle, blossoming tone on her clarinet, a wide expressive register and perfect command of dynamics all the way from whispering to bellowing." (Per-Anders Hellqvist, Göteborgs Posten 1995) "For convincing musical interpretation, strength of personal expression and an obvious sense of audience communication." (Citation for the 1996 Soloist Prize) "Karin Dornbusch is manifestly endowed with the prize-winning qualities of personality and fingerspitzengefühl for every nuance." (Thomas Anderberg, Dagens Nyheter 1996) "She had a wonderful tone and exquisite articulation. Sincerity, pride, exuberance and love of her instrument were some of the ingredients making for a first-class achievement." (John Lidström, Länstidningen, Södertälje 1996) "There was breathless admiration of Karin Dornbusch's playing in Mozart's clarinet concerto... Her sublime tone blossoms forth in the dark registers of the clarinet, as enchantingly as in the high ones. Even in the fastest passages, her legato playing is of silken softness." (Seth Karlsson, Falukuriren 1996) "The immensity of her talent is clear to anyone listening to her first CD." (Seth Karlsson, Södra Dalarnes Tidning 1996) "The highlight of the evening was Mozart's clarinet concerto with Karin Dornbusch as soloist. She has a sovereign command of the instrument, leaping with feline agility from one register to another. The tone is soft, with no joins. The adagio took on an etherial purity of naked pianissimos, especially after the cadenza. Then came the rondo, which was all humour, playfulness and elegance." (Fride Jansson, Länstidningen, Nyköping) "A pearl of price!" (Stig Jacobsson, Hifi & Musik 1996) "This début record by 25-year-old Karin Dornbusch is the obvious choice for a clarinet lover." (Björn G. Stenberg, Upsala Nya Tidning 1996) "...the playing of Karin Dornbusch puts new life into the clarinet and its qualities... Dornbusch displays an immensely versatile and lively relation to her instrument, strenghthens its power of rapid and rhythmic movement, deepens its capacity for dwelling on a single note, as if that note were a complete song in itself." (Hans-Gunnar Peterson, Svenska Dagbladet 1996) "...Karin Dornbusch, in whose impressible personal playing, virtuosity and feeling combined to shape the character of the different movements... Musicianship of the highest order." (Lars Hedblad, Svenska Dagbladet 1997) "...the 1996 prize-winner, clarinet artist Karin Dornbusch, has now made a record demonstrating an unparalleled instrumental confidence... an almost extreme capacity for varying and controlling the tone colour of her instrument." (Lennart Bromander, Arbetet 1997) "...Karin Dornbusch, last year's winner of the prestigious Swedish Soloist Prize, played with utter buoyancy and elegance and, at the same time, with absolute fullness and consistence of tone." (Lennart Bromander, Arbetet 1997) "In all registers and nuances she was improvisational and exploratory, and in superb technical control, which was especially noticeable in the softspoken lyrical interjections. This performance was a masterpiece in every sense of the word." (Carlhåkan Larsén, Sydsvenska Dagbladet 1997) "Everything is played with enthusiasm, stunning virtuosity and tremendous brillance." (P-G Bergfors, Göteborgs-Posten 1997) "Judging from 'Clarinet', we can expect almost anything..." (Mikael Widell, Dagens Industri 1997) "..just close your eyes and enjoy this interpretation." (Mikael Bengtsson 1999) "...the virtuoso passages and the fast staccatos are perfect, she fills the dark register of the clarinet with thrilling intensity, the high notes roll like pearls." (Siegfried Schibli, Basler Zeitung 1999) "...the playing of the soloist was characterised with confidence and elasticity. The shape and the technique was very well-balanced. This work, which is a masterpiece through its warm sonorous image got an adaquate interpretation. The applause intensified into a rhythmic clapping." (Paul Schorno, Basler Landschaftliche Zeitung 1999) "...a musician's capacity of agile tone shaping was made evident as Karin Dornbusch entered the stage. John Fernström's clarinet concerto opens with a Bartók-related thunder, where Karin, with self-evidence and steady tone, initially spreads out the lower register of the clarinet... The solo cadenza flashes by in high tempo, without Dornbusch renouncing any aspect of her soft, broad tone." (Magnus Edholm, Piteå-tidningen, 5 July, 2003) "Karin Dornbusch excelled in her interpretation." (Michael Kunkel, Tages-Anzeiger, 11 April, 2005) "The clarinetist Karin Dornbusch blessed her solo part with passion and contagious enthusiasm. Every note a celebration!" (Gottfried Wiedemer, Offenburger Tagesblatt, 20 June, 2006) "The young Swedish clarinetist Karin Dornbusch was convincing in her sincere and at the same time un-pathetic mode of playing. She is incessantly picking up sonant treasures from the depths, thereby opening an entirely new dimension, a new angle of approach."
http://karindornbusch.ch/index.php/en/press-en
On World Suicide Prevention Day (10 September), City of York Council welcomes the introduction of a new group for survivors of bereavement by suicide (SOBS), with its first meeting taking place the following week. A nationwide charity established in 1991, SOBS groups are all about bringing people together that have lost loved ones to suicide and help them overcome the isolation experienced by those bereaved or personally affected by suicide. SOBS York group, which is volunteer-led, will launch on Wednesday 19 September at 7.00 pm in the cafe in St Pauls Church, Holgate Road, York, YO24 4BF. It will then hold sessions on the third Wednesday of every month at 7pm. Councillor Carol Runciman, Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care said: “I would like to thank all those volunteers involved for their work in setting up this group which can provide invaluable support for those bereaved by suicide.” “The loss of a loved one through suicide can have a devastating impact. It is important that those bereaved in this way have a safe space to meet others with similar experiences and help each other, rather than suffer alone. I give this group my full support.” Alex Sutcliffe from SOBS York, said: “We are hugely grateful to City of York Council for its support helping us to establish SOBS York. “Being bereaved by suicide at the age of 14, it has always stayed with me that there was no help that we knew of back in the 1980s. “I am immensely proud to be able to set up this local group with two friends – also bereaved by suicide – to help those suffering. In this safe space, people bereaved in this way can meet others informally, have a coffee and share their feelings and experiences.” All are welcome to attend the group and anyone wanting more information can visit https://uksobs.org/about/who-we-are/ or email [email protected] or call its helpline from 9am to 9pm on 0300 111 5065.
https://theyorkshirepress.co.uk/news/city-of-york-council-welcomes-new-support-group-for-those-bereaved-by-suicide/
Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are delighted to present mk/ULTRA, the second solo exhibition of new work by Thomas Scheibitz at the gallery in Berlin. In his paintings and sculptures, Thomas Scheibitz explores the possibilities of abstraction and figuration, transcending the categorical assignment of these concepts by evolving his own pictorial language. His work examines the interrelationship between visual and linguistic information, incorporating architectural and landscape elements alongside value-laden symbols or heraldic motifs. Although Scheibitz’s multipart compositions bear legible traces of reality, attempting to determine their meaning with the aid of conventional principles of classification and systems of order does not take us very far. The process of determining the appropriate degree of encoding when combining existing elements and things that have never been seen before is repeated in the work titles, which are derived from an individual collection of names, slogans, literary references and invented terms accrued from art history, the media or popular culture. The titles provide no explicit indication of the works’ content; indeed they themselves emphasise the variable meaning of linguistic signs, their capacity to migrate into other contexts and their expressive potential as text-based images.
https://spruethmagers.com/exhibitions/thomas-scheibitz-mk-ultra-berlin/
Unilateral vestibular lesions cause marked asymmetry in the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) during rapid head rotations, with VOR gain being lower for head rotations toward the lesion than for rotations in the opposite direction. Reducing this gain asymmetry by enhancing ipsilesional responses would be an important step toward improving gaze stability following vestibular lesions. To that end, there were two goals in this study. First, we wanted to determine whether we could selectively increase VOR gain in only one rotational direction in normal monkeys by exposing them to a training session comprised of a 3-h series of rotations in only one direction (1,000°/s2 acceleration to a plateau of 150°/s for 1 s) while they wore 1.7× magnifying spectacles. Second, in monkeys with unilateral vestibular lesions, we designed a paradigm intended to reduce the gain asymmetry by rotating the monkeys toward the side of the lesion in the same way as above but without spectacles. There were three main findings (1) unidirectional rotations with magnifying spectacles result in gain asymmetry in normal monkeys, (2) gain asymmetry is reduced when animals are rotated towards the side of the labyrinthectomy via the ipsilesional rotation paradigm, and (3) repeated training causes lasting reduction in VOR gain asymmetry.
https://jhu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/unidirectional-rotations-produce-asymmetric-changes-in-horizontal-4
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light position detector which has excellent lineality and stability of detection of the light incident position. SOLUTION: The total quantity of light received by N photo diodes PDmn in an mth line in a light receiving section 10 is multiplied by a constant am which represents a coordinates value in the line direction, and then the multiplication results of each line are added together. The voltage value Vsum2 outputted from a second addition circuit 50 is in accordance with the sum of the multiplication results. The total quantity of light received by M photo diodes PDmn in an nth row in the light receiving section 10 is multiplied by a constant bn which represents a coordinates value in the row direction, and then the multiplication results of each row are added together. The voltage value Vsum4 output from a fourth addition circuit 70 is in accordance with the sum of the multiplication results. The voltage value Vsum5 is in accordance with the total quantity of light received by all the photo diodes PDmn in the light receiving section 10. COPYRIGHT: (C)2001,JPO
Portraits of Tribal Cultures in Myanmar The diverse culture of Myanmar is part of the country’s unique identity. I was honored to visit different tribes that amazed me by the variety of their traditions, beliefs, and practices. What I witnessed in Myanmar exceeded my expectations even though I had done my research before I traveled. In the central region, I visited the Kayan tribe, whose women wear heavy ring coiled necklaces around their necks. According to their belief, these rings make them more beautiful. However, there are many stories told about the origin of how people started wearing these rings. It is believed that it started as being a protective shield from tigers who would attack their prey by biting their neck. With time, this shield transformed into a sign of beauty and fashion. The rings can weigh around 10 kilograms (~22 pounds). The ladies informed me that this process is done through three phases in life, during their childhood and teenage years specifically. The extra weight of the rings is not painful on the neck but rather on the knees. Unfortunately, with time these rings deform the shoulders, and the neck muscles become too weak to support the head. In the eastern region, I met various Hill tribes including the Enn tribe, whose members are known for their black teeth. They believe that it makes them more beautiful. The Akha tribe’s women are proud of wearing the silver head cap since it reflects wealth and beauty. Last but not least, the Akhu tribe’s women wear black and they are masters of smoking the pipe. In the western region, I was able to meet various tribes who are known from having a facial tattoo as a sign of beauty as well. The Oppru tribe women get a full face one. The Mon tribe has a rounded pattern one. The Dai and Ta Yindhu tribes have the dots one but in different sizes. Besides having tattoos, the Magan are also known for the big earrings that are a unique fashion decoration. Visiting these tribes was an unforgettable experience that I added to my growing list of my acquaintances with tribes from different areas around the world. Witnessing the last people who practice these unusual traditions in our modernizing world has blown my mind in a way that exceeds all the world’s wonders. About the author: Omar Reda is a travel photographer based in Saudi Arabia. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Reda’s work has been featured in publications including National Geographic, CNN, Daily Mail, The Sun, and more. You can find more of Reda’s work on his website and Instagram.
https://petapixel.com/2019/04/30/portraits-of-tribal-cultures-in-myanmar/
- B.Sc., Economics (Honours), Banking and Finance from Cardiff University, Wales, U.K. - Chartered Accountant in England & Wales - Chartered Accountant, Australia and New Zealand - Certificate III, Investigative Services (Australia) - Investigation of Persons License (CAPII Australia) - Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) - Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) - Forensic Accounting & Investigations - Disputes - International Arbitration - Valuation - Expert Testimony Jon Rowell is Co-Lead of Asia and Head of the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment at FTI Consulting and is based in Hong Kong. A Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years of professional services experience, since 1997 he has focussed on providing independent expertise and evidence in relation to complex business, valuation, accounting and financial issues in both contentious and non-contentious situations. Jon was first appointed as a testifying expert in 2003, and has provided expert evidence in Court and before International Arbitration hearings on behalf of both claimants and respondents. Jon’s work primarily involves issues regarding the identification and valuation of damages, the valuation of businesses and the investigation of fraud and corruption. He has acted as an independent expert, a consulting expert and an investigating accountant in a wide variety of situations, including in relation to commercial and joint venture agreement disputes, merger and acquisition disputes, pricing related disputes, intellectual property and patent disputes, shareholder disputes and fraud and corruption investigations. Jon has worked on projects in a broad range of industry sectors, including energy and natural resources, property, mining, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing and retail. Jon is one of the leading quantum of damages and forensic accounting experts worldwide identified by Who’s Who Legal: Consulting Experts guide 2016, a comprehensive guide of the leading professionals across the globe specialising in economic and forensic and litigation consulting. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics, Banking and Finance from Cardiff University, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Member of Chartered Accountant’s, Australia and New Zealand. Jon has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong and has led cross-border client engagements in China, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
https://www.fticonsulting-latam.com/en/our-people/jon-rowell
Full text loading... - Why we need to investigate casual speech to truly understand language production, processing and the mental lexicon - Author(s): Benjamin V. Tucker 1 and Mirjam Ernestus 2 - View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations:1 University of Alberta2 Radboud University / Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics - Source: The Mental Lexicon, Volume 11, Issue 3, Jan 2016, p. 375 - 400 - DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.11.3.03tuc - - Version of Record published : 16 Dec 2016 Abstract The majority of studies addressing psycholinguistic questions focus on speech produced and processed in a careful, laboratory speech style. This ‘careful’ speech is very different from the speech that listeners encounter in casual conversations. This article argues that research on casual speech is necessary to show the validity of conclusions based on careful speech. Moreover, research on casual speech produces new insights and questions on the processes underlying communication and on the mental lexicon that cannot be revealed by research using careful speech. This article first places research on casual speech in its historic perspective. It then provides many examples of how casual speech differs from careful speech and shows that these differences may have important implications for psycholinguistic theories. Subsequently, the article discusses the challenges that research on casual speech faces, which stem from the high variability of this speech style, its necessary casual context, and that casual speech is connected speech. We also present opportunities for research on casual speech, mostly in the form of new experimental methods that facilitate research on connected speech. However, real progress can only be made if these new methods are combined with advanced (still to be developed) statistical techniques. Article metrics loading...
https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ml.11.3.03tuc
There are some simple steps to ensuring that your Internet browser is as safe and secure as it can be. This guideline is intended to be self-serve, but do not hesitate to contact DICTS support via [email protected] or log a ticket via https://support.mak.ac.ug/ if you need assistance at any point. 1. Use a current, up-to-date Internet browser—for daily Internet browsing. Follow the links below to update your browser Google Chrome https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95414?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDeskt op&hl=en Mozilla Firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version 2. Regularly check to make sure your browser and plugins are up to date— don’t assume that your computer will automatically download and install updates for itself—regularly check the status of your browser and its plugin software to ensure they are up-to-date. 3. Run a browser scan to check your browser and its plugins. You may be asked to install a plugin if its supported by your computer, making for quick and easy scanning on a regular basis—this is recommended. We have verified that the plugin is safe despite showing permission warnings in certain browsers. https://browsercheck.qualys.com/ To read more, please download the pdf that is attached.
https://answers.mak.ac.ug/security/web-browser-security-recommendations
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND DETAILED DESCRIPTION This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/151,221 filed Apr. 22, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The present invention relates generally to capacitive sensors and specifically to graphene-based capacitive sensors. Capacitive sensors, such as touchpads, are computer input devices that can include one or more touch sensitive areas, which can sense the position of a user's finger (or fingers) on its surface to provide a platform for interactive input. Capacitive sensors can utilize surface capacitance to determine the position of the user's finger (or fingers). Capacitive sensors can alternatively utilize projected capacitance to determine the position of the user's finger (or fingers). The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. Certain terminology may be employed in the following description for convenience rather than for any limiting purpose. For example, the terms “forward” and “rearward,” “front” and “rear,” “right” and “left,” “upper” and “lower,” and “top” and “bottom” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made, with the terms “inward,” “inner,” “interior,” or “inboard” and “outward,” “outer,” “exterior,” or “outboard” referring, respectively, to directions toward and away from the center of the referenced element, the terms “radial” or “horizontal” and “axial” or “vertical” referring, respectively, to directions or planes which are perpendicular, in the case of radial or horizontal, or parallel, in the case of axial or vertical, to the longitudinal central axis of the referenced element, and the terms “downstream” and “upstream” referring, respectively, to directions in and opposite that of fluid flow. Terminology of similar import other than the words specifically mentioned above likewise is to be considered as being used for purposes of convenience rather than in any limiting sense. In the FIGS., elements having an alphanumeric designation may be referenced herein collectively or in the alternative, as will be apparent from context, by the numeric portion of the designation only. Further, the constituent parts of various elements in the figures may be designated with separate reference numerals which shall be understood to refer to that constituent part of the element and not the element as a whole. General references, along with references to spaces, surfaces, dimensions, and extents, may be designated with arrows. Angles may be designated as “included” as measured relative to surfaces or axes of an element and as defining a space bounded internally within such element therebetween, or otherwise without such designation as being measured relative to surfaces or axes of an element and as defining a space bounded externally by or outside of such element therebetween. Generally, the measures of the angles stated are as determined relative to a common axis, which axis may be transposed in the figures for purposes of convenience in projecting the vertex of an angle defined between the axis and a surface which otherwise does not extend to the axis. The term “axis” may refer to a line or to a transverse plane through such line as will be apparent from context. Capacitive sensors, such as touchpads, are computer input devices that can include a plurality of touch sensitive areas. Capacitive sensors can sense the position of a user's finger (or fingers) on its surface to provide a platform for interactive input. Capacitive sensors can function by the use of surface capacitance. Such sensors can comprise insulator material that is coated on one side with conductive material. A small voltage can be applied to the conductive material in a manner to form a uniform electrostatic field. When a conductor, such as a human finger, touches the uncoated surface, a capacitor can be formed. As a result of surface dimensions, each corner of the sensor is measured to have a different effective capacitance. A controller can determine the location of the touch indirectly from the change in the capacitance as measured from the four corners of the insulated sensor. Here, the larger the change in capacitance, the closer the touch is to that particular corner. Capacitive sensors can also utilize projected capacitance to sense the position of the user's finger (or fingers) on its surface. Such capacitive sensors typically comprise a conductive layer that is etched into a grid of perpendicular layers of conductive material having parallel lines or tracks to form the grid. Capacitive sensors typically require no direct contact between the sensor and the finger(s). Embodiments of the present invention seek to provide graphene-based capacitive sensors (“the capacitive sensors”). The capacitive sensors can utilize surface capacitance to determine the location of a finger (or fingers). The capacitive sensors can utilize projected capacitance to determine the location of a finger (or fingers). The capacitive sensors can be flexible capacitive sensors. The capacitive sensors can comprise a substrate having one or more layers (“the layers”) applied to one or more of its sides. The layers can be applied to the substrate and/or one another using an adhesive or a forming technique, including but not limited to printing, coating, heat sealing, laminating, and/or spraying. In general, the layers can be applied to the substrate using any technique that can form layers on or adhere layers to the substrate or each other, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Applicable substrates can include non-porous insulating substrates, including but not limited to, vinyl, thermoplastic polyurethane (“TPU”), polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”), polyethylene (“PE”), Kapton®, and polyurethane (“PU”). The layers can comprise a conductive composition (“the composition”). The composition can include one or more metals (“the metallic composition”). The one or more metals can include, but are not limited to, Ag, Au, Cu, Pb, Sn, steel, and Al. The composition can comprise individual graphene sheets, graphite oxide, and/or carbon. The composition and/or individual graphene sheets can be prepared and/or formed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,901 B2 to Prud'Homme et al., U.S. 2011/0189452 A1 to Lettow et al., U.S. 2014/0050903 A1 to Lettow et al., and/or U.S. Pat. No. 8,278,757 B2 to Crain et al. The layers may comprise one or more insulating layers having insulating material. The insulating material can comprise insulating solid films, including but not limited to, PET films. The insulating material can comprise an insulating adhesive. The insulating material can include one or more UV-curable insulating inks. The UV-curable inks can include UV-oligomers resins, UV monomers, and photo-initiators. Applicable UV oligomer resins include, but are not limited to, urethane acrylate, amine modified polyester acrylate, aisobornylacrylate, polyurethane acrylate, epoxy acrylate, polyether acrylate, and polyester acrylate. Applicable UV monomers include, but are not limited to, isobornyl acrylate (“IBOA”), hexanediol diacrylate (“HDDA”), trimethylopropane triacrylate (“TMPTA”), butainediol diacrylate (“BDDA”), hexanediol diacrylate (“HDDA”), tripropylene glycol diacrylate (“TPGDA”), dipropylene glycol diacrylate (“DPGDA”), and phenoxyethyl acrylate (“POEA”). Applicable photo-initiators can include, but are not limited to, alpha hydroxyl ketones type initiators, such as 1-hydroxy-cyclohexyl-phenyl-ketone, 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-propanone, 2-hydroxy-1-(4-(4-(2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propionyl-benzyl)-phenyl)-2-methyl-propan-1-one, and 2-hydroxy-1-(4-(2-hydroxethoxy)phenol)-2-methyl-1-propanone. Applicable photo-initiators can include, but are not limited to, photo-initiators that are benzophenone-based, phenylglyoxylate-based, and/or benzyl dimethyl ketal-based. Applicable photo initiators can include photo-initiators that are phenylglyoxylate-based, including but not limited to, oxy-phenyl-acetic acid 2-(oxo-2-phenyl-acetoxy-ethoxy)-ethyl ester, oxy-phenyl-acetic acid 2-(2-hydroxy-ethoxy)-ethyl ester, and phenyl glyoxylic acid methyl ester. Thermal curable insulating inks can include insulating pigments and/or insulating binders. Applicable insulating pigments can include, but are not limited to, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), ceramic microspheres, barium titanate, nepheline syenite, alumina silicate, silica, titanium oxide, glass beads, polyethylene waxes (such as MPP-230F and MPP-230VF), micronized polyolefin waxes (such as Acumist A6 and Acumist B12), Beeswax, Carnauba wax, polystyrene, a saponified ester wax of montanic acids (such as Licowax® OP and Licowax® E), a amide wax of type N,N-bis-stearyl ethylenediamine (such as Licowax® C). Applicable insulating binders can include, but are not limited to, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl butyral, epoxy, and acrylic. FIG. 1 FIG. 1 100 100 100 100 110 101 102 101 103 102 101 140 102 140 150 140 102 150 150 102 140 150 110 depicts a capacitive sensor assembly stack (“stack”), generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, is a cut through view of stack . Stack is a capacitive sensor assembly stack. Structure can comprise substrate , which comprises first side and second side . First side can be proximate to user finger . Second side is positioned opposite to first side . Layer can be formed on second side . Layer can comprise the composition. Layer can be applied to at least a portion of layer and/or second side . Layer can comprise the metallic composition. Alternatively, layer can be applied directly on second side and layer can be applied/formed on at least a portion of layer and/or substrate . 120 101 120 130 101 120 130 130 100 103 100 130 130 FIG. 2 Layer can be applied to first side . Layer can comprise the composition. Layer can be formed on first side and/or layer . Layer can comprise the metallic composition. Layer can be applied in a manner to form a linearization pattern, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Stack can operate via surface capacitance to determine the location of finger . illustrates the top view of structure , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Although layer is depicted as comprising four linearization ends having dual solid filled extending traces, layer can comprise extending traces having interlocking geometric shapes, for example, diamond and circular. FIG. 3 FIG. 3 300 300 300 100 250 102 240 250 102 230 101 210 240 102 230 220 230 101 depicts a stack, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, is a cut through side view of stack . Stack comprises the components of stack (discussed above) arranged in a different order. Layer can be formed on second side . Layer can be formed on at least a portion of layer and/or second side . Layer can be formed on at least a portion of first side of substrate in a manner to mirror the position of layer on second side . Layer can be formed in a manner to reflect a linearization pattern. Layer can be formed on at least a portion of layer and/or first side . 120 130 140 150 220 230 240 250 Layers , , , , , , and/or can each have a thickness of about 2 μm to about 2.5 μm, about 2.5 μm to about 3 μm, about 3 μm to about 3.5 μm, about 3.5 μm to about 4 μm, about 4 μm to about 4.5 μm, about 4.5 μm to about 5 μm, about 5 μm to about 5.5 μm, about 5.5 μm to about 6 μm, about 6 μm to about 6.5 μm, about 6.5 to about 7 μm, about 7 μm to about 7.5 μm, about 7.5 μm to about 8 μm, about 8 μm to about 8.5 μm, about 8.5 μm to about 9 μm, about 9 μm to about 9.5 μm, about 9.5 μm to about 10 μm, about 10 μm to about 10.5 μm, about 10.5 μm to about 11 μm, about 11 μm to about 11.5 μm, about 11.5 μm to about 12 μm, about 12 μm to about 12.5 μm, about 12.5 μm to about 13 μm, about 13 μm to about 13.5 μm, about 13.5 μm to about 14 μm, about 14 μm to about 14.5 μm, or about 14.5 μm to about 15 μm. FIG. 4 400 400 303 400 420 410 420 410 410 415 416 416 423 425 410 510 The capacitive sensors of the present invention can also function via projected capacitance. depict a bottom view of a capacitive structure, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Structure can be a component of a capacitive sensor that utilizes projected capacitance to determine the location of finger . Structure can comprise substrate . Electrode pins can be formed on the bottom of substrate . Electrode pins can comprise the composition. Electrode pins can each comprise a trace that is in communication with an electrode . Electrodes can each have a width or . Electrode pins (including electrode pins , discussed below) can be formed in a manner to have a thickness of about 2 μm to about 2.5 μm, about 2.5 μm to about 3 μm, about 3 μm to about 3.5 μm, about 3.5 μm to about 4 μm, about 4 μm to about 4.5 μm, about 4.5 μm to about 5 μm, about 5 μm to about 5.5 μm, about 5.5 μm to about 6 μm, about 6 μm to about 6.5 μm, about 6.5 to about 7 μm, about 7 μm to about 7.5 μm, about 7.5 μm to about 8 μm, about 8 μm to about 8.5 μm, about 8.5 μm to about 9 μm, about 9 μm to about 9.5 μm, about 9.5 μm to about 10 μm, about 10 μm to about 15 μm, about 15 μm to about 20 μm, about 20 μm to about 25 μm, about 25 μm to about 30 μm, about 30 μm to about 35 μm, about 35 μm to about 40 μm, about 40 μm to about 45 μm, about 45 μm to about 50 μm, about 50 μm to about 55 μm, about 55 μm to about 60 μm, about 60 μm about 65 μm, about 65 μm to about 70 μm, about 70 μm to about 75 μm, about 75 μm to about 80 μm, about 80 μm to about 85 μm, about 85 μm to about 90 μm, about 90 μm to about 95 μm, or about 95 μm to about 100 μm. 423 425 Widths and/or can be about 0.25 mm to about 0.5 mm, about 0.5 mm to about 0.75 mm, about 0.75 mm to about 1 mm, about 1 mm to about 1.25 mm, about 1.25 mm to about 1.5 mm, about 1.5 mm to about 1.75 mm, about 1.75 mm to about 2 mm, about 2 mm to about 2.25 mm, about 2.25 mm to about 2.5 mm, about 2.5 mm to about 2.75 mm, about 2.75 mm to about 3 mm, 3 mm to about 3.25 mm, about 3.25 mm to about 3.5 mm, about 3.5 mm to about 3.75 mm, about 3.75 mm to about 4 mm. FIG. 5 400 420 510 510 420 410 510 510 515 515 520 520 525 520 530 depicts a top view of capacitive structure , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Substrate can also have a top side, wherein electrode pins can be formed upon. In certain embodiments, electrode pins can be formed on a separate substrate having similar characteristics as substrate , wherein the two substrates are subsequently adhered together to expose electrode pins and . Electrode pins can comprise one or more copies of trace , wherein each copy of trace can be in communication with a copy of electrode pair . Each element in electrode pair may be separated by width . Each adjacent copy of electrode pair can be separated by width . 525 530 525 530 525 530 520 420 510 420 410 420 510 510 410 Widths and can be substantially similar. Widths and can be dissimilar. For example width and/or can be about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm, about 1 mm to about 1.5 mm, about 1.5 mm to about 2 mm, about 2 mm to about 2.5 mm, about 2.5 mm to about 3 mm, about 3 mm to about 3.5 mm, about 3.5 mm to about 4 mm, about 4 mm to about 4.5 mm, about 4.5 mm to about 5 mm, about 5 mm to about 5.5 mm, about 5.5 mm to about 6 mm, about 6 mm to about 6.5 mm, about 6.5 mm to about 7 mm. Elements that comprise electrode pairs can have a width equal to width . Electrode pins can be formed on the top side of substrate in a manner to be at least about perpendicular with electrodes that can be present on the bottom side of substrate (not shown). Electrode pins can form the touch side of the capacitive sensor. Electrode pins and electrode pins can have similar thicknesses. FIG. 6 600 600 600 400 640 410 640 650 410 640 650 410 650 650 illustrates an exploded view of a capacitive sensor, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Capacitive sensor can utilize projective capacitance. Structure can comprise structure (discussed above). Insulating layer can be formed on the sensing regions of electrode pins . Insulating layer can comprise any of the aforementioned insulating materials. Ground plate is a grounding layer that can be applied to the non-sensing regions of electrode pins and/or insulating layer utilizing any of the aforementioned techniques. Ground plate can shield at least a portion of electrode pins . Ground plate can comprise the metallic composition or one or more metals, including but not limited to, copper, graphene, silver, gold lead, tin, and/or aluminum. Ground plate can be found to have a thickness of about 10 μm to about 15, about 15 μm to about 20 μm, about 20 μm to about 25 μm, about 25 μm to about 30 μm, about 30 μm to about 35 μm, about 35 μm to about 40 μm, about 40 μm to about 45 μm, about 45 μm to about 50 μm, about 50 μm to about 55 μm, about 55 μm to about 60 μm, about 60 μm to about 65 μm, or about 65 μm to about 70 μm. As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 100 depicts a capacitive assembly stack, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 depicts illustrates a top view of the capacitive assembly stack, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 300 depicts a capacitive assembly stack, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 400 depicts a bottom view of a structure, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 depicts a top view of the structure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 600 depicts an exploded view of a capacitive sensor, generally , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Modern PHP is mostly written Object Oriented. Other than the fact that there is inertia towards the Object Oriented in the PHP community, is there anything about the language itself that would make it a poor idea to use functional programming? - 1You can do functional programming in a limited way in any language that has functions. But to get the full benefits of functional programming, the language has to support functional programming as a first-class programming paradigm. Jun 29, 2016 at 16:21 - @RobertHarvey can you explain or point me to a question/answer that addresses that?– GooseJun 29, 2016 at 16:28 - phptherightway.com/pages/Functional-Programming.html Jun 29, 2016 at 16:29 - @RobertHarvey "PHP supports first-class functions", does this mean that PHP gives the full benefits of functional programming?– GooseJun 29, 2016 at 16:33 - First-class functions are one of the features that functional programming languages have, but there are others. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_programming#Concepts Jun 29, 2016 at 16:46 1 Answer There's nothing missing from the language itself that would prevent you from doing functional programming. The only thing missing from the runtime is tail call optimization, and you can actually do quite a bit of FP before hitting that limitation. What's really going to hurt you if you try to do FP in PHP is lack of library support for it. You need a fundamentally different collections library, and functional programmers use more semantically precise library functions in many cases where imperative programmers use built-in loops and other language features. Without that library support, you can technically do FP, but you're going to be reinventing the wheel a lot, and likely not doing what other programmers would recognize as idiomatic FP.
https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/323583/functional-programming-in-php
Every traveler was recommended to bring jackets because it was fairly cold outside. When we arrived, I witnessed two little poor children. The little girl said: “Brother, I’m so cold!”. The little boy hugged his younger sister to keep her warm in the cold weather. He did not wait for either any charity program or support from the government. This suddenly makes me recall the roles of any People Manager: - Without waiting for the company policies or strategies, how fast and how far would they provide support to their team members when these people are under pressure from higher targets, difficult customers, or even from their personal issues? - How can they help their staff enhance their critical thinking, emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving skills, etc. so that they are able to evolve and grow in this ever-changing world? - How do they ensure their people can become curious, determined, adaptable and independent learners? With over 30 years of working in Production, Sales, HR Management and Consulting in Performance Management, assuming that all People Managers are willing to develop people, I notify the following obstacles that may refrain their people development: - They are struggling to uncover hidden meaning behind people’s words, personal values/ beliefs under their people’s results - They have difficulties in asking precise questions to challenge the potential limitations of a person - It takes much time and energy to transform new habits for themselves and for others - They don’t know how to help their staff install and sustain a positive desired state from an unwanted negative state - They wonder which methods they can apply to maximize the ability of “thinking out of the box” of their people Today, it's all about quick change, rapid change, exponential change. I think it’s time to find a new way of learning: Integrated, brain-based and competency-based training instead of a series of short soft skill courses. Lisa Wake – MSc, reports a case study in regulatory affairs using NLP, for TOPRA.org, U.K., 2011: “Evidence suggests that when outcomes are driven by intrinsically held motivation, personal choice and autonomy, supported by strong self-efficacy beliefs – they are more likely to be powerfully motivating and self-correcting” What is NLP? How can NLP help? With 70% practical course, NLP helps you apply the tools and techniques to use our brain to maximize our potential, the models to recreate excellence and the strategies for enabling change: Thoughts of NLP Practitioners who have joined this NLP Program "This course is 70% practical and allows you to acquire NLP and coaching skills through in-class activities. You get the first-hand experience of the coaching skills before you use them on others. NLP is about modelling and to be great leaders and coach, we must model for others." Gillian Tan | General Manager, Singapore "I’ve attended many programmes before and what strikes me about Mind Transformations is the non-commercial approach they have toward teaching NLP. Despite my busy schedule, I committed to the 16 days of training because of its practical nature—the relevance of the tools to my life and work. The course helped me create total alignment between my thoughts, emotions, actions & purpose—and this is when miracles happen!" Gaurav Sharma | Human Resources Director, Singapore "This NLP course helped me gain back my self-confidence; I am now able to engage and influence senior leadership. Just recently, I’ve managed to resolve a conflict between two senior leaders by making use of the NLP techniques on persuasion and accessing cues. I successfully got them to agree on a common path to move forward." Tan Yee Sin | HR Business Partner, Singapore "NLP enabled me to communicate with a clear intention, better negotiate contracts and facilitate dynamic workshops. Saying ‘no time’ to the NLP course is like saying “no time” to servicing your car. It still runs, but it makes that rumbling noise. Doing it means you may be a bit uncomfortable during the process, but when you’re out of the garage, you’re purring and ready to hit the road! Barney is a powerful mechanic who knows how to push the right button for the reset." Nadia Peerun | Consultant & Life Coach, Mauritius "Understanding the connection between my IQ, EQ, PQ and SQ was an awakening for me. I started perceiving my limiting beliefs & habits differently and I’ve improved my relationships. Considering the positive changes it brought to my life, the Masters course was the best investment I’ve made in the past 20 years." Amy Fang | Sales Support Senior Manager, Singapore ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you ready to transform your learning journey with us? - Module 1: 6 - 9 April - Module 2: 11 - 14 May - Module 3: 6 - 9 June Secure a seat for your development by 8 Mar to save up to 3 million for group sign-up.
https://dynamicco.com.vn/en/events/accelerating-personal-development-from-your-people-managers-52.html
The Nantes area will acquire a device to measure these fields. Health prevention measure is part of the law. Nantes metropolis will buy a spectrum analyzer, a device to measure electromagnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields, what is it? Electromagnetic fields are present everywhere. Any electrical installation creates in its neighborhood an electromagnetic field, consisting of an electric field and a magnetic field. What is also called the electromagnetic waves emitted by the particular phone antennas. What effect? The health effects are feared. Often, residents are mobilizing when they have knowledge of a mobile phone antenna installation project. At some level, thermal effects (heating of biological tissue) are proven. Some people are more sensitive than others to these waves. A law that frames The spectrum analyzer that the city will acquire is in line with the loi Abeille. This law, adopted in 2015, oversees exposure to electromagnetic waves. Upstream, it is necessary to assess the power. The same law prohibits wifi signals in “reception areas, rest and activities areas of children under 3 years.” And every year, the National Frequency Agency will publish a list of places where the wave level is important.
https://chb44.com/2017/08/nantes-measure-electromagnetic-wave/
To comment scroll to the bottom of the entry. Your e-mail address and URL are optional fields. 2007 04 13 Open Cities Toronto 2007 Open Cities is a collaborative initiative fostering creativity, innovation, networked business, open education, and accessible communities in Toronto and elsewhere. The Open Cities vision: Inspired by open source software, people around the world are embracing open business, culture and education. Open Cities are places that accelerate this process, encouraging investment, implementing policies, creating spaces and holding events that encourage all that is ‘open’. These cities thrive economically while at the same time producing a new generation of artists, teachers and inventors who understand the power of openness and collaboration. They are hubs in the global growth of open societies and economies.Open Cities Toronto 2007 is a two-day unconference planned for the weekend of June 23 and 24 2007 at the Centre for Social Innovation (215 Spadina) and environs, and is envisioned to intersect with other ongoing events including the June 24th Pedestrian Sundays event in Kensington Market. Open Cities Toronto 2007 is still in the planning stages. However, the unconference is taking shape as two days of innovative, creative, thoughtful, transgressive, and fun events, including open design, open education, open kids, open neighbours, urban exploration, psychogeographic, puppet-show, hula-hoop, and literary events taking the form of workshops, activities, discussions, interventions, and parties. Interested in attending or joining in? Want to get involved? You can contact any of the organizers through the Open Cities website. Some Open Cities collaborators' dreams of the open city (from the Open Cities website): * “An Open City is where one person’s creative expression plus another’s does not equal that of two people, but of three at least.” Andrew Chiu of 1plus1equals3 (at least) * “I dream of a city where people who have common interest or common cause can find each other easily and effectively, and that’s well-connected to other cities around the world.” Misha Glouberman * “My dictionary defines open as not closed or locked or blocked up; allowing entrance or passage or access. I dream of city where groups, decisions and structures are judged on that basis. Where architecture, politics, art, justice, business and life are neither closed, locked or blocked up. Where these things, the city itself, are open for everyone’s benefit.” Patrick Dinnen * “I dream of a city where innovation changes people’s lives in many ways for the better. In the open city, communities collaborate to exchange knowledge, ideas, and information. Having this open-collaboration will solve many issues that are faced by many; social, political, wealth, health etc. in the open world, everyone is aware of everything; our city will be a global example.” Gunalan Nadarajah * “I dream of an open and profoundly global city, where hundreds of open communities of interest, practice, proximity, culture and values actively participate in the co-creation of place, culture and meaning.” Mark Kuznicki of Remarkk * “I dream of a city where technology has strengthened democracy, and has bridged the political gap between citizens and decision-makers, empowering the individual and the community in ways never before realized; I dream of supplying people with tools for action.” Kevin Bracken of Newmindspace * “I dream of Toronto as a magnet and showcase for the growing movement for ‘open’. It’s known world wide for it’s cutting edge open source software companies, groovy mash up artists and culture mixers, innovative schools experimenting with open curriculum (written by teachers and students), beautiful public spaces and streetscapes, and so much more. Toronto is the place to be for ‘open’.” Mark Surman * “I dream of a culture where there are no boundaries.One in which everyone interacts in a positive way with each other. I dream of open dialogs between friends, strangers, politicians and enemies alike.” Rochelle Latinsky * “I dream of a city where communities and individuals feel empowered to pursue their hopes, and are capable of achieving them through collective values, resources and access. Where people, technologies and ideas alike become platforms for possible futures. I dream of an open culture fueled by empathy, integrity and passion, where critical conversations cascade into transformation.” Michele Perras * “In my dream Toronto, the dynamic, creative, healthy and brave society communicates effectively and across old ‘discipline’ barriers, and then brings its own best ideas to life in a seeming instant. One hesitates to speak of ‘efficient dreaming,’ but this fantasy Toronto is envied by the world not only for its tendency to muse about its future form—as it already does, powerfully—but for being uniquely ready to implement the innovations and improvements born of its citizens’ imaginings.” Kate Lawrie * “I dream of a city where the physical, technological and political infrastructure enables citizens to create their own projects or contribute to those that are ongoing – be they private, public or non-profit. Where decision making is as flat as and transparent as possible so that an Open City both nourishes and draws from its most valuable resource: its citizens.” David Eaves * “I dream of a city that makes its own fun; a built environment that whispers subtle invitations for creative intervention. In my city, each person is both dreamer and doer, and the familiar is continuously rediscovered through the actions of countless hearts and minds at play.” Kelly Seagram * “I dream of a city where fun, creativity, and work are all the same thing; a city of believers of magic and those who make dreams come true for themselves and others. People making up a global culture integrating technology, art and community, learning and teaching simultaneously.” Lori Kufner of Newmindspace * “Use of the qualifier “open” generally conjures a positive aura. But what would a dream of an open city look like? I would hope that such a dream would allow the splintered post-structures of the contemporary metropolis to provide a flexible framework for innovation, access, hybridity and diversity rather than decline, polarization, anonymity and alienation. Openly collaborative social formations would allow for new processes for planning, art, development, and business that are inclusive, yet creative, leading to new forms of the idea of the “city” itself. ” Charles Finley * “Openness: horizontality. mutability. creativity. mobility. flexibility. replicability. responsibility. transparency. intimacy. Open city: a self-aware city, a city of feedback, where democracy is a verb, its etymology open for revision. Where all citizens have access, and where citizen means only that: living in a city. A city of ferment, which reacts to threats by relaxing, not tensing. Civic judo. An erosion of distinction between government and governed, economy and culture, have and have-not, I and The Other. Public spaces, decision-making processes, and doors to decent housing, sustainable transit, and meaningful work open to all. A city of networks, not pyramids. A city of a thousand city halls.” Mike Smith of Toronto Poetry Slam * The open city I dream of is principled, curious, and brave: it works as well as it plays, asks hard questions and pursues difficult answers over easy ones, welcomes controversy rather than repressing (or shying away from) dissent, rewards honesty, respects privacy, upholds responsibility at the personal and collective level, protects the weak as well as the strong, admits its likes and dislikes, and listens to the quietest of voices. Amy Lavender Harris of Imagining Toronto Your dream of the Open City? Feel free to add it here and/or here. The next Open Cities Toronto 2007 planning meeting is scheduled for Thursday May 10th 2007 at 5:30 pm at the Centre for Social Innovation.
http://readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/open_cities_toronto_2007/
ASDWA Recommends Additional Time for Industry to Comply with Proposed Asbestos Rule On July 13, ASDWA submitted comments to EPA in response to the proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule for conditions of use for chrysotile asbestos. EPA’s proposal would prohibit the manufacturing (including importing), processing, distribution in commerce, and the commercial use of chrysolite asbestos for chrysolite asbestos membranes in the chlor-alkali industry and several other commercial and consumer uses. The potential impacts of this prohibition on the water sector are significant for chlorine production and distribution. Chorine production plants would be required to switch from asbestos diaphragm cells to membrane cells. ASDWA’s comments raised concerns that, according to the proposal, the Agency has “insufficient information to fully assess the impact of this proposed rule on the cost or availability of water treatment chemicals.” ASDWA recommended that EPA delay the publication of a final rule until this crucial data is collected. Additionally, ASDWA highlighted a concern that the Agency’s proposed two-year implementation timeline for the rule would be insufficient to ensure that there are no disruptions in chlorine supply. ASDWA noted that the processors and industrial users of chrysotile asbestos have stated that transitioning plants to asbestos-free technology could take 4-5 years and that there is currently no surplus of chlorine on the market. Therefore, removing one-third of the chlorine produced in the United States, as is estimated in this proposed rule, will have an immediate impact on supply. To alleviate this concern, ASDWA recommended that EPA select an alternative option provided in the proposal to allow the industry five years (instead of two) to ensure that this change will not impact the supply of chlorine that water systems rely on to keep drinking water safe.
https://www.asdwa.org/2022/07/15/asdwa-recommends-additional-time-for-industry-to-comply-with-proposed-asbestos-rule/
project plan: methods For this assignment, you must address the critical elements listed below. I. Methods: You will research and choose methods to measure the progress of your project goals. In your research, look for current methods for assessing projects similar to your own. (My project is on creating an educational campaign aimed at reducing stigmas associated with seeking and utilizing mental health services) A. Select appropriate methods to measure the progress for meeting the project goals based on the research conducted. B. Defend the chosen methodological procedures to evaluate project goals. In your response, consider why these are the best methods to use based on your project goals and target population. (The target population is North Texas residents) C. Develop a timeline for implementing your methods.
https://myacademic-support.com/project-plan-methods2022-latest-answers/
This is my statement of intent and the introduction to my 30 days of work. So – I have decided to take on Andrieh’s Challenge and work with an Angel and an “opposite” Daemon every day for 30 days. I really thought long and hard on this and, for my own reasons that I won’t get into here (since it’s rather personal) have chosen to work with Uriel and Belphegor. This is rather interesting for me since I don’t really believe in positive/negative contrasts and I view angels as simply another “type” of Daemon (i.e. Divine Intelligence). So hopefully my point-of-view won’t offend or confuse anyone. The universe is mental, after all. I chose Uriel because he is the light of God and rules over fire, energy, passion and creativity. Belphegor, according to Judeo-Christian classifications, is a Daemon of sloth and wealth by underhanded means. However, in Daemonolatry, he’s a Daemon of success, abundance, and prosperity. Not only that, but I’ve been doing a lot of planning for my Belphegor work for this spring anyway, including some writing about him, so this will fit in to my existing work. Not only do I anticipate an interesting active/passive quality going on between the two spirits (Uriel as Active and Belphegor as Passive), but I like the Fire – Earth combination – which I’m hypothesizing might promote a slow creative burn (stamina and creative consistency), which is kind of what I’m looking for right now. Of course the other possibility is one will overtake the other, especially if I’m not careful in keeping myself balanced (i.e. grounded). The plan is to do my work with Uriel in the morning and my Belphegor work at night. All Belphegor work will contain blood-letting. This will further create that mental separation of light and dark. The work will consist of daily respectful evocation (since I respect myself and my inner Daemons, and want to draw this creative slow burn from within myself) AND invocation to invoke the powers that be outside of myself. Actually, I will likely invoke first, then evoke from within to draw these spirits through myself. Yes, I realize people will say this is dangerous, but I have been using a method like this for years. I know when to stop AND how to fix myself if I mess myself up, which I admit is a possibility. I don’t recommend beginners or those with un-managed mental illnesses try this. I’ll be the first to admit that some of the techniques that I use are not safe for the inexperienced. This method also has the potential to bring about some willful channeling, which may result in some helpful divination if necessary. I want to state up front that I have worked with both of these spirits previous to this, so there is an existing relationship there. It was actually hard to find any spirits I wanted to work with that I hadn’t already worked with at least once. I should also probably point out I already have a regular morning and evening magickal practice so the practice of working every day is unlikely to be difficult for me. Thursdays and Sundays are my divination days (and have been for years). I will do Belphegor divination sessions on Thursdays and use Sundays to perform Uriel divination sessions. Saturdays are my “artifact days”. That is – days I create talismans, incenses, oils, tablets, etc… for any work I’m doing. It has always seemed the Saturn (task-master) thing to do. During this thirty days I plan on also using Thursdays to incorporate Jupiter work with both my Angelic and Daemonic work for success in the creative burn. This entire challenge and my intent is one of stamina. I will be committing at least one hour a day minimum to these operations. As a recap – I will include at least one gate opening operation during the 30 days for each spirit, a minimum of one skrying or ascension session per week per spirit, and at least one herbal experiment for each spirit over the 30 days. Perhaps alchemical if there is time? So that is the plan. Ultimately, however, the work will inspire me as I go. For preparatory work I plan on doing some meditation and carefully planning the first week of rituals.I’ll see from there where the work seems to be heading and plan accordingly for subsequent weeks. I will also be taking into account any messages obtained from the spirits themselves about the work to be done. What I ultimately hope to accomplish with this entire experience, through the work itself, is a deeper understanding of my current creative process, and methods I can use to facilitate more self-discipline and stronger. successful creative output with input from the spirits. I am already anticipating revelations of fears and weaknesses, and in a strange way I’m actually looking forward to that part of it. As they say – once you know what the problem actually is, you can start to fix it. This entire experiment is also likely to serve as a continuing study in “processes” for me. Incoming search terms:
http://www.magical30.com/2014/02/s-connolly-preliminary-thoughts-entity-challenge-2-uriel-belphegor/
My Health Journey My health journey was one of pain, frustration, and revelation of what it truly means to be intentional with and honor God with every part of my life, to walk in full surrender to Christ, and to find freedom. Sophomore year of college (spring 2014) was the dramatic turning point in my health journey. I found myself very physically unhealthy after getting food poisoning which triggered IBS-D (irritable bowel syndrome with increased diarrhea). On its own, this trigger may not have affected me as intensely as it did if I would have had a stronger foundation. However, several years of hormonal imbalances leading to what’s termed hypothalamic amenorrhea (or a loss of menstrual cycle) was compounded on an overall SAD (Standard American Diet) diet and lifestyle growing up. I ate decent, but loved my fill of dairy, refined carbs, and sugar. Along with other lifestyle factors, my gut was set up for bad bacteria to take over. What seemed like an overnight occurrence, I wasn’t able to digest certain foods well – ones I had been able to eat without issues even just a week prior. My new normal after eating became intense cramps, bloating, and gas. Beyond that, diarrhea became a part of my routine every morning. At this point, I had taken interest in studying nutrition and had made some changes to my dietary patterns. To be honest, I thought I was doing the whole “nutrition thing” well (looking back, I definitely was not). With the onset of IBS I cut out dairy, gluten, and processed foods but it was around that time that I shifted to a paleo/keto-ish, high meat/fat, and very low carb diet. I weighed every ounce of food I ate and feared fruit. All of this led me to a place of very low body weight/fat and ketoacidosis. My digestive system was worse and so were my hormones. Sure, my overall diet was comprised of whole foods and a lot of vegetables, BUT, I was not absorbing the much-needed nutrients because my gut was such a mess. Beyond eating, my exercise routine was pretty intensive – running about 25 miles a week and heavy weight training six days a week. While those inherently aren’t bad, they were not helping my situation or creating a conducive environment to heal, especially hormonally. I also noticed that I began to isolate myself as much as I could. Never had I felt so horrible for such a long period of time in my life. I was unhealthy, hurting, tired of eating, and sick of being sick. The doctor and GI specialist directed me toward pharmaceuticals and conventional treatments focused on symptoms rather than pursuing the root cause. After about a year of IBS frustration and being dissatisfied with conventional medicine, I first realized the necessity to surrender this to the Lord, and then began to investigate it from a holistic and integrative perspective on my own and with the guidance of a holistic Registered Dietitian. Over the next two years, I made slow progress and my GI tract began to heal. In working with the RD, I went through the LEAP program (a personalized elimination diet), which allowed me to remove my problem foods and reduce the inflammation in my body to help create an opportunity for healing. I started focusing on my gut health, digestion, and replenishing the good bacteria. It involved a process of trial and error, so to speak, to figure out what worked for me. Several of the food changes that were critical in my healing beyond the elimination diet were: - starting my morning with a fruit and veggie smoothie - taking digestive bitters (to help stimulate my body’s digestive processes) - choosing organic - lightly steaming or blending my vegetables - eating naturally fermented foods like traditional sauerkraut - traditionally preparing foods (think soaking, sprouting, fermenting) - allowing ample time between meals for digestion (usually 3-4 hours) - taking a probiotic - slowing and sitting down when eating - becoming more in-tune with my body, hunger cues, etc. During this period of time, my eyes were opened to 1) how critical gut health is, and 2) how much of an impact what we put in, on, and around our bodies has on health. Food wasn’t the only factor however. It took an overhaul of my entire lifestyle. My body was so internally inflamed and I realized how every system of the body are so intimately connected. Once I started getting a handle on the IBS and rebalancing my gut, I had to turn to my exercise and overall toxic load. I removed the toxins from what I put on my face and body, cleaning supplies, etc., and began using essential oils. Regarding exercise, slowly (and begrudgingly) I transitioned from long runs and heavy lifting to shorter runs, HIIT, and bodyweight strength and flexibility workouts. However, I soon realized even this was too much stress on my body while trying to heal. Finally, I became okay with walking and bodyweight exercise only. Finally, I had to own up to the damages I brought onto myself and address my underlying hormonal imbalances, pursuing the rebalancing of my hormones and restoration of menstrual cycle (which was nonexistent in total about six years). Let’s back up a moment, because I need to highlight a very important aspect of this = my mindset. At the time of my IBS, I claimed to be living surrendered to Christ. I professed Him as Lord and desired His will for my life. He revealed to me though that I was not doing that with my physical health and lifestyle choices. Rather than seeking what God had to say about it, I was looking to the world and what the culture was saying. I was seeking to glorify my body rather that glorify Him with food, exercise, and desire to be healthy. It consumed me. It became an idol, distracting me from going deeper with Christ and inhibiting me from fully carrying out the Kingdom mission and His plan for my life individually. I realized the necessity of declaring victory, by the power of the Holy Spirit, against the enemy who was stirring lies of comparison in my mind between myself and others. I have experienced in my own life what it means to have years where I was rather ineffective for the Kingdom because of my own decisions, because of following the world and what the culture said was best in terms of health, eating, and exercise. Yet through it all, God was faithful. When I surrendered the entirety of my life to Him, including my eating and health, He worked through the disorder and chaos of my life. My prayer became “Teach me what I should eat and how to take care of my body. I need your help in healing because I can’t do this on my own and don’t want to follow the world anymore.” The Lord is for restoration and redemption. He took me on a journey of healing and opening my eyes to His original design – how to eat and live according to Biblical truth. I discovered the ways in which He created us to live an abundant life – to thrive and be physically well. God is wanting us to surrender every part of our lives to Him, and the Holy Spirit led me in that to a place of freedom. He is faithful to bring about good from the most hopeless situations. It was through my circumstances that He brought clarity to the call He has placed on my life. Through my journey, I have become deeply aware of how impactful physical health is on overall well-being, the health of others, and the earth. Nutrition and lifestyle go far beyond physical health. The entire body – physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally is connected. And beyond ourselves, our lifestyle choices are so powerful and impact all of God’s creation. My passion for nutrition and wellness, food as medicine, and helping others thrive as God intended and created them to deepened, which led me to study nutrition and wellness on a deeper level and get a MS in Nutrition for Wellness. Throughout grad school, He answered my question of “how do I use my love for nutrition and wellness to build the Kingdom?” God revealed to me the bigger picture of how they are intimately connected and stirred in me a passion to wake up the Body of Christ to this reality; to equip believers to physically thrive for the purpose of furthering His Kingdom. For those who are in the thick of similar circumstances, I hear you. I understand to some extent what you’re going through, but most importantly I know what it takes to move past that and get to a place of abundant living (even if not completely healthy) by pursuing His ways. Interestingly, I eat healthier and am healthier now than ever before. Please hear me though, I am not perfect. And I still have some residual hormonal imbalances that are in the process of balancing. Although I deliberate with my choices, and yes there are foods I don’t eat, my very purpose for which I do so has drastically changed. I am very intentional with my choices because my purpose in caring for my body is rooted in honoring and glorifying God with every part of my life. The Lord has taught me the beauty of a simplified life. Would you join with me as I continue to explore and discuss how nutrition and wellness is relevant to life as a follower of Christ through a simple and intentional lifestyle? To begin, I invite you to go through my 3-day devotional Rooted, where I go through 3 key pieces of the foundation of why our lifestyle choices do matter as a Christian. Download for free below! get my 3-day devotional - Rooted
https://www.noelleparton.com/my-health-journey
MANBAIT, Selviana (2019) A Study On The Use Of Picture As Media To Improve Speaking Ability Of The Tenth Grade Students Of SMA Negeri 2 Kupang In The Academic Year 2018/2019. Diploma thesis, Unika Widya Mandira. | Text | Abstrack.pdf Download (185kB) | Text | Bab 1.pdf Download (103kB) | Text | bab 2.pdf Download (129kB) | Text | bab 3.pdf Download (121kB) | Text | bab 4.pdf Download (309kB) | Text | bab 5.pdf Download (111kB) Abstract The study is conducted to answer the following questions: (1) Is the use of picture as media able to improve student speaking ability in teaching speaking to tenth grade student of SMA Negeri 2 Kupang in the academic year 2018/2019? (2) What extent is the improvement of student’s ability in speaking after being taught using picture as media? This study is limited in four aspects as proposed by Hughes in term of Content, Grammar, Pronunciation, Vocabulary. This study was classified as Classroom Action Research (CAR). This study was concluded in two cycles. It consists of: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The instruments used in this study are pre-test, classroom performance and post-test. Based on the analysis of data, the writer concludes that (1) picture as media is able to improve the speaking ability of tenth grade students of SMAN 2 Kupang and (2) there are significant differences in result of teaching speaking by using picture as media. They are as follows. The students’ level of speaking in the pre-test is below (2.19) while in the post-test 1 the level is above average (4.75). Similarly, the result of post-test 2 is still above average (5.86) with 1,11 higher than the result of post test 1. The pre-test given before applying the picture as media in teaching speaking. Based on the results of the study the writer would like to propose some suggestions as follows: 1) The English teacher of researched school should pay attention to students’ needs and characteristic by giving them picture as media to make them easier to speak English. 2) The English teacher should be more serious in helping the students to develop their speaking skills in some aspects such as content, grammar, pronunciation and the vocabulary , of the sentence that the students make.
http://repository.unwira.ac.id/1810/
Featured below are companies that have experienced recent insider trading activity in the public market through their direct and indirect ownerships. Keep in mind, when looking at transaction activities by insiders, purchasing activity may reflect perceived value in a security. Selling activity may or may not be related to a stock's valuation; perhaps an insider needs to raise money for personal reasons. An insider's total holdings should be considered because a sale may, in context, be insignificant if this person has a large remaining position in the company. I tend to put great weight on insider transaction activity when I see multiple insiders trading a company's shares or units. Let's begin the report detailing several securities with buying activity. On August 14, chief executive officer Stephen Evans purchased 32,000 units for an account in which he has indirect ownership (Triple E Ventures Inc.), increasing the portfolio's holdings to 279,400 units. On August 16, president and chief executive officer Renaud Adams purchased 5,000 shares at an average cost of $9.69 per share. The prior day, he also bought 5,000 shares at the same price. After these two purchases, he held 123,259 shares in the portfolio. On August 17, Donald Lowry, who sits on the company's board of directors, purchased 3,000 shares at an average price per share of $33.50 for an account in which he has indirect ownership, increasing the portfolio's holdings to 9,000 shares. On August 14, management executive Louise St-Jean, vice-présidente - Fiscalité, exercised her options and sold the corresponding number of shares (5,238) at an average price per share around the $43.35 level, reducing her portfolio's position to 3,996 shares. On August 7, board member Robin Abrams, exercised her options and sold the corresponding number of shares (4,259) at an average price of $24.65 per share, reducing her portfolio's holding to 14,709 shares. Jennifer Dowty, CFA, is an equities analyst at The Globe and Mail. She has approximately 18 years of experience working in the financial industry, 14 of those years were at Manulife Asset Management, where she worked her way up to become an Equities Portfolio Manager. More The Globe invites you to share your views. Please stay on topic and be respectful to everyone. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions. We’ve made some technical updates to our commenting software. If you are experiencing any issues posting comments, simply log out and log back in.
Photographs taken at Talawanda High School Football Stadium on Aug. 17, 2018. Home of the Braves? Note: On June 29, 2018, Bob Ratterman and Brennen Kauffman of the “Journal News” reported at the June 18, 2018 Talawanda School Board meeting Kathy McMahon-Klosterman read excerpts from a six-page letter from the Native American Rights Fund urging Talawanda to change its district mascot (https://www.journal-news.com/news/native-american-group-wants-butler-county-school-mascot-changed/lF739qRLXnDWuR4fz2sr1L/). For information on NARF see: https://www.narf.org/. Article originally appeared […] The Cavs Past and Future The Cleveland Cavaliers. Six time Central Division champions, four time Eastern Conference champions, and one time NBA champions. Lebron James was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003 and spent 7 years in Cleveland until he signed with the Heat in 2010. People all over Cleveland called him “the most hated player,” but in the 2010-2011 […] College Basketball 2017-2018: Early Season Wonders With being only a week into the 2017 college basketball season, there is more than enough to be excited about especially after a thrilling 2016-2017 tournament that ended with North Carolina winning it all for their sixth NCAA National Championship. With so many good teams and great players, it will be interesting to see what […] Braves Snag First and Only Win of Season OXFORD — On a chilly, rainy evening at Talawanda High School on Oct. 27, 2017, the Braves took on their long time rival the Ross Rams. Coming into the night, Ross had one win with nine losses while Talawanda came in with zero wins and nine losses. This game had no effect on playoffs but […] Coach Kate on Field Hockey at Talawanda OXFORD — It seems a bit questionable as to just how popular the Talawanda field hockey team really is. Squished in between football, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, and other fall sports, our branding lands within some odd categories with most students. “The field hockey team has always been a unique team at Talawanda and something special […] Volley for the Cure!
http://talawandatribune.org/category/sports/page/2/
5 edition of THE HOUSE OF STONE MYSTERY and Other Stories found in the catalog. Published February 10, 2003 by 1st Books Library . Written in English |The Physical Object| |Format||Paperback| |Number of Pages||164| |ID Numbers| |Open Library||OL11639352M| |ISBN 10||140335197X| |ISBN 10||9781403351975| According to the terms of Hatton’s will, the Murder Stone must be dug up and transported to Scotland, where it is to be buried forever. But before Francesca can begin the journey, a series of ominous “accidents” occur, culminating in the discovery of a bleeding body on the Murder Stone itself. "Blunt and compelling, Putnam's seventh franchise installment makes up in pace and punch what it lacks in finesse." An ex-cop struggles to raise his rebellious teen daughter but knows no limits when it comes to protecting her. Read full book review > FICTION & LITERATURE. Released: Feb. 4, Reviewed: Nov. 10, THE KILLING TIDE. House of Mystery is an American occult and horror-themed comic book anthology series, based on the House of Mystery series that ran from to The writers, Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges (credited as "Matthew Sturges"), debuted the series in July under the Vertigo imprint of DC : Horror. As I read each of these books in turn, I feel as if I'm really getting to know the characters quite intimately - each installment reveals a bit more about the person, which to me is as important as the main plot itself. The author strikes the perfect balance between focusing on the murder mystery and the back stories of the characters/5(K). The Under Dog and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the United States in , Dodd Mead and Company. The title story was published in booklet form along with Blackman's Wood (by E. Phillips Oppenheim) in the United Kingdom in by The Reader's Library. The first US edition retailed at $Author: Agatha Christie. T: In this story, The Mystery at the Mays’ House, Zoe and Sam Mays are puzzled because things keep mysteriously disappearing in their house. Please read aloud pages 3 and 4. Show the student where to stop reading at the. RECORD OF ORAL READING Record the student’s oral reading behaviors. Note the student’s fluency (expression and phrasing).File Size: KB. The golden age Robert Burns London bus tendering God, sex, and your child Auditing practice and procedure. Facts about wage-earners in the United States census Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. Practical surgery of the Joseph Price Hospital. The India we served abstract, of certain acts of parliament Fraternity. Measuring zooplankton net filtration efficiency in Dorset lakes The Old Stone House and Other Stories. Collection of mystery stories. According to Wikipedia: "Anna Katharine Green (Novem – Ap ) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories."/5(6). The Gate House Secret, a Jenessa Jones Mystery: Book 4 The Scent of Lies, A Paradise Valley Mystery THE HOUSE OF STONE MYSTERY and Other Stories book Book 1, When Emily Parker digs into her late husband's murder, she discovers he may not have been who he claimed. Can she discover the truth with the help of her best friends and the handsome new detective in town?/5(). The Old Stone House and Other Stories - Kindle edition by Green, Anna Katharine. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Old Stone House and Other Stories.3/5(4). My favorite stories in the volume are: 'Ship Full of Jews' (in which Christopher Columbus sails to the New World with a hold full of Jewish slaves), 'Hitler at Nuremberg' (in which Hitler does not commit suicide, is tried at Nuremberg, and revealed to be Goering's patsy), 'In the Stone House' (Twisted Kennedy politics, Dad Kennedy survives and rules his family with an iron hand) and 'Standards & Practices' 5/5(3). In this novella, we see the beginning of the torture and pain that Raven undergoes at the hands of the Countess of. The House of the Stone is a novella from the perspective of Raven, Violet’s best friend and takes place during Raven’s time with the Countess of the Stone. “I am a person. I am Raven Stirling/5. Theres an old stone house near Coal Hill School. Most people hurry past it. Theyve heard the stories. But, if you stop, and look up, youll see the face of a girl, pressed up against a window. Screaming. Tanya finds herself drawn to the stone house. Theres a mystery there, and shes/5. The spooky and mysterious read titled The House in Stones Throw Island, by Dan Poblocki, takes place on Stones Throw Island, a land mass off of the shore of Maine. The island has beautiful scenery, therefore many weddings are held there. There is also a gigantic house for celebration guests to stay/5. The Lucy Stone Mysteries is a series that has been watched across countries with some of the book sections being aired on television. Leslie Meier is a strong woman and has played vital roles in her books. Some of the major book sections include the Mistletoe Murder. Jesse Stone on Film. In February ofCBS released the very first Jesse Stone film, Stone Cold on television with Jesse Stone played by Tom Sellick. Although it is the fourth novel of the Stone series, it was the first to be made into a film. The prequel to Stone Cold. 5 Novels That Feature Unforgettable Houses. One I read years ago in Jr. High was Thunderbolt House by Howard Pease () – A mystery set in San Francisco in A house is inherited by a family from an estranged uncle. They move there and find the history of the house and the uncle that lived there. I find the love stories in her. This is a lovely mystery set in the States where several close friends buy a house to do up and flip. The house is supposedly haunted, though the friends are not so gullible. They do find, however, that the house has a history, which needs to be unravelled.4/5. The Old Stone House and Other Stories Contents: The old stone house -- A memorable night -- The black cross -- A mysterious case -- Shall he wed her. Language: English: LoC Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature: Subject: Detective and mystery stories, American Category: Text: EBook-No. Release Date: Jun The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Old Stone House and Other Stories, by Anna Katharine Green This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at Here are some of the scheduled mystery book releases by authors currently on the Cozy Mystery site. I will continue to update this page as I find more soon-to-be-released mysteries by “our” authors. (The pictures on the right are in alphabetical order.) Ellery Adams (aka J. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): The Book of. Gr 6 Up—Even before the wedding party reaches remote and isolated Stone's Throw Island, peculiar things begin to happen. Once there, the appearance—and disappearance—of a girl, followed by disembodied words whispered in German, quickly convinces Josie Sandoval and Eli Barker, strangers before meeting on the way to the island, that something about Stone's Throw is odd/5(9). The adventures that started it all. Newly bound together, the first four books of the fan-favorite chapter-book series are the perfect introduction to the New York Times bestselling Magic Tree House series. Parents, teachers, and librarians hail the series as a tool to promote reading, as even the most reluctant readers want to know where the Magic Tree House will take the brother-and-sister /5(K). First series Genesis. House of Mystery started out as a horror anthology, featuring tales of the supernatural as well as supernatural-themed mystery stories. Issue #1 was dated December-January With the growing backlash against American horror comics in the mids, as well as the advent of the Comics Code Authority and its restrictions on horror-themed storylines (banning stories Format: Ongoing series. Poblocki returns with another eerie vision of lingering spirits (The Book of Bad Things,etc.).Josie and Eli, both about to start seventh grade, meet each other for the first time on a dock in Maine, boarding the ferry that will take them and their families to far-off Stone’s Throw Island, where their. Content of the page. w05 wstartpage wstartpage-romantic-paris. w05 wstartpage wstartpage-a-softer-turn. Next level knits. w05 wstartpage wstartpage-red-knits. w05 wstartpage wstartpage-whats-new-clothing. w05 wstartpage wstartpage-whats-new-shoes. Join our newsletter and get a 10% off treat. Click on an author’s name to see the author’s bio page and their books in order of publication and chronological timeline, along with a link to reviews for books in the series. Most mystery authors have written more than one series, so if you are looking for a particular series in order, rather than all the books written by the author, here. Poblocki returns with another eerie vision of lingering spirits (The Book of Bad Things,etc.). Josie and Eli, both about to start seventh grade, meet each other for the first time on a dock in Maine, boarding the ferry that will take them and their families to far-off Stone's Throw Island, where their siblings are to be : $ Stories in Stoneprovides history along with images of a wide variety of common and not-so-common cemetery symbols, and offers an in-depth examination of stone relics and the personal and intimate 4/5(10).I've put together a list of all the 'old house' mysteries posted to IA that I and others have found. These are dramas and comedies that take place primarily in an old house, mansion, or castle, and involve a number of suspects, secret passages, and often have hands reaching out toward someone, ghosts, reporters, bad weather, well you get the idea.
https://fyxikimytezywi.gulfpbc.com/the-house-of-stone-mystery-and-other-stories-book-22413fu.php
Modern fire and building codes require complete automatic fire sprinkler protection and a variety of other safety features in new high-rise construction.1 Many older high-rise buildings lack automatic fire sprinkler protection and other basic fire protection features necessary to protect the occupants, emergency responders, and the structure itself. Without complete automatic fire sprinkler protection, fire departments cannot provide the level of protection that high-rise buildings demand. Existing high-rise buildings that are not protected with fire sprinklers installed in accordance with national standards represent a significant hazard to the occupants and firefighters forced to mitigate this protection shortfall.2 Additionally, high-rise fires can significantly impact a communities’ infrastructure and the economic viability of a downtown area. Between 2003 and 2006, there was an average of 13,400 reported structure fires in high-rise buildings per year and associated losses of 62 civilian deaths, 490 civilian injuries, and $179 million in direct property damage per year. Furthermore, from 1977 to 2009, 25 firefighters died from non-stress related cardiac death during fire suppression operations in high-rise buildings.3 By their very nature, high-rise fires present unique firefighting challenges that are extremely difficult for firefighters to mitigate without the presence of fire sprinkler systems. Some of these challenges include: Based on the extreme life hazard to both occupants and firefighters, it is the position of the International Association of Fire Chiefs that: 1 High-rise buildings are those that have a floor greater than 75 feet. 2 A prime example of this hazard is the One Meridian Plaza fire. This fire occurred on the 22nd floor of the 38-story Meridian Bank Building and was reported to the Philadelphia Fire Department on February 23, 1991 at approximately 2040 hours and burned for more than 19 hours. The fire caused three firefighter fatalities and injuries to 24 firefighters. The 12-alarms brought 51 engine companies, 15 ladder companies, 11 specialized units, and over 300 firefighters to the scene. It was the largest high-rise office building fire in modern American history, completely consuming eight floors of the building, and was only controlled only when it reached a floor that was protected by automatic sprinklers. 3 From NFPA report on “Traumatic Firefighter Fatalities in High-rise Buildings in the United States 1977-2009.” 4 Of the two national model fire codes, the International Fire Code does not currently require the retrofit of existing high-rise buildings with fire sprinkler protection. NFPA 1 does require retrofit of existing high-rise buildings. 5 An eight to twelve year implementation time frame with intermediate progress reports is a reasonable approach. ADOPTED BY: IAFC Board of Directors on November 5, 2010 No categories have been created yet. Subscribe 4795 Meadow Wood Lane, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151 | Tel: 703-273-0911 | Fax: 703-273-9363 © 1999 - 2021 International Association of Fire Chiefs. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.iafc.org/topics-and-tools/resources/resource/iafc-position-fire-sprinkler-retrofit-of-existing-high-rise-buildings
FIRE DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS Fire department communications systems are two-way telephone systems typically required in high-rise buildings. The command center contains the control unit with the main handset for use by the fire department commanders (Figure 6.8a). Either handsets or jacks for handsets are then placed in areas of the building for firefighters to communicate with the command center (Figure 6.8b). If the system uses jacks, a number of portable handsets with plugs are provided in the command center for distribution to firefighters. Designers should plan for handsets or jacks in locations where firefighters are likely to be operating. NFPA 72 requires only one handset or jack per floor, one per exit stairway, and one in each fire pump room. NFPA 101 requires them on every level in each enclosed stairway, each elevator car, and each elevator lobby. The IBC currently requires handsets or jacks in the same locations as NFPA 101 and also in standby power rooms, fire pump rooms, and areas of refuge. These additional jacks or handsets can provide more rapid communications from these critical areas. Both the IBC and NFPA 101 contain exceptions that allow fire departments to approve their radio systems as a substitute for two-way telephone systems. For a radio system to be equivalent, the radio signals should be operable in the same areas (the command center and each remote jack or handset location). To exercise this option, designers or building owners should test radio signals and document of successful results. Signal retransmission devices may be necessary; this is discussed further in the section, Firefighter Radio Signal Retransmission Systems, on page 61.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/firetech/chapter/fire-department-communications-systems/
The opinions and recommendations are impartial and the products are selected independently. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on this page. Content of the article Jamie Kwong, Executive Director of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, is stepping down early next month to pursue a new opportunity. Content of the article In a statement from the coalition board of directors, Chairman Steve Foley said Kwong led them through “the most debilitating time for the music industry” by navigating the “unprecedented challenges” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other accomplishments during his tenure, Kwong expanded the organization’s strategic partnerships with business and government, organized and hosted the second annual Capital Music Awards, presented a series of independent music business seminars, and assisted to create paid opportunities for dozens of local musicians and music industry professionals. . It also expanded the membership of the organization. “It has been a pleasure to serve our local music community and help create a thriving music economy in Ottawa,” Kwong said in the statement, adding that she was optimistic the industry “will rebound and prosper.” The board of directors will soon announce a succession plan to replace Kwong.
https://reidvansante.com/ottawa-music-industry-coalition-ceo-takes-new-role/
This article is about the weapon used by Jake. For other uses, see Sword (disambiguation). The Sword of Destiny (also called the Destiny Sword) is a magical, golden sword bestowed upon Jake in the special series Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Never Land Rescue. Description The Sword of Destiny is a scimitar, golden in color and shining bright like a sun. Appearances Jake and the Never Land Pirates When Jake finally reaches the door to the Forever Tree after facing various trials of a fading Neverland, he uses a medallion the guardian gave him to open the door. He gets a new golden sword from the old tree, and then the tree disappears. Meanwhile, the rest of Jake's crew has finally gotten rid of Captain Hook, just in time for the small flying light to find them and lead them to Jake and the guardian, who need their help to make a new Forever Tree grow. They scream, "Yo Ho, Forever Tree Grow!" continuously, and a new Forever Tree grows, the magic is restored, everything reappears, and Never Land is saved! The Sword of Destiny reappears in the special Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Battle for the Book. Gallery Trivia - The Destiny Sword is similar to the Golden Bell from the special Jake's Never Land Rescue both objects are made of gold, both object replace a key object in the series (for Bucky, his bell he uses to communicate, for Jake, the Forever Sword). - Both objects have only appeared in a specials while the original objects they replace reappear in later episodes after the events of specials.
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Sword_of_Destiny
SAO PAULO (AP) -- Workers at the Brazilian subsidiaries of French carmaker Renault and Swedish truck and bus manufacturer Volvo have returned to their jobs -- ending strikes to demand increased profit-sharing. Renault do Brasil SA and the auto workers' union say they agreed to profit sharing payments of between 7,500 and 9,000 reals ($4,000 and $4,800) for each worker. Volvo do Brasil Veiculos Ltda and the union say they agreed to 9,000 reals ($4,000). The end of the strikes was announced Thursday. The four-day strike at Renault paralyzed production of close to 3,000 vehicles, while the two-day stoppage by Volvo stopped production of 80 vehicles. Workers at both plants returned to work on Thursday.
https://www.manufacturing.net/labor/news/13074261/renault-volvo-workers-end-strike-in-brazil
Select menu: Stats | Design | Generate a Fractional Factorial Design Use this to generate an efficient fractional factorial design using the minimum aberration algorithm of Laycock & Rowley (1995). To explain minimum aberration for a block design, we start by defining the resolution of a design as the largest integer r such that no interaction term with r factors is confounded with blocks. The aberration of the design is the number of interaction terms with r+1 factors that are confounded. A minimum aberration design is defined as a design with the smallest aberration out of the designs with the highest available resolution. So, essentially this minimizes the number of interactions with the minimum number of factors that are confounded. The fractional factorial is constructed by taking only one block from the block design, and the terms that were confounded with blocks in the block design become aliased in the fractional factorial. - From the menu select Stats | Design | Generate a Fractional Factorial Design. - Fill in the fields as required then click Run. You can set additional Options before generating the design. Number of treatment factors The number of treatment factors for the design. Treatment factor names Provides a list of the treatment factor names to use in the generated design. The number of items in the list is controlled by the Number of treatment factors option. To change a name either click or double-click on the name in the list and rename it as required. Number of levels for all treatment factors Specifies the number of levels. Each treatment factor must contain the same number of levels. The number of levels must be a prime number (e.g. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11) or 4. Number of units in each block Specifies the number of the units in each block; this must be a power of the number of levels. Name of the sub-block factor Specifies the name for the identifier for the sub-blocks. Pseudo-factors for ANOVA Designs where the treatment factors have more than two levels may require pseudo-factors to be defined in order for them to be analysed by analysis of variance. This option can be used to specify the name of the pseudo-factors. Number of block for fractional factorial The number of the block to form the fractional factorial. Alternatively, a zero can be supplied to take a block at random. Number of units in sub-blocks Defines the size of the sub-blocks for a fractional factorial. This must be a power of the number of levels. Options Specifies additional options for randomizing and displaying the design.
https://genstat.kb.vsni.co.uk/knowledge-base/generate-fractional-design/
Filtered by: US Army Research Laboratory Company Topic 3D printing 5G Advanced Materials Agtech Artificial Intelligence Autonomous vehicles Autonomy Barrier films, Adhesives & Substrates Biobased materials Composites Conductive Adhesives Conductive Inks Displays Electric vehicles Electroactive Polymers Energy Harvesting Energy Storage Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes Green Technology Haptics Internet of Things Life Sciences Lighting Lightweighting Microcontrollers Mobility Nanomaterials Off Grid Photonics Photovoltaics Printed, Flexible and Organic Electronics Recycling RFID Robotics Sensors Smart glass & smart windows Smart Packaging Stretchable electronics Structural Electronics Superconductors Thermal Interface Materials Transparent Conductive Films User Interfaces Wearable Technology Show All Standard Article External Press Release Full Profile Background Youtube Video Youtube Video Interview Forecast Presentation Publication Future Show Participation Apply Filter 2019 11 Oct Army researchers test human-like robots Army researchers tested ground robots performing military-style exercises, much like Soldier counterparts, at a robotics testing site in Pennsylvania recently as part of a 10-year research project designed to push the research boundaries in robotics and autonomy. 24 Sep Shape-shifting robots built from 'smarticles' Building conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as "smarticles" to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique. 26 Aug Study identifies main culprit behind lithium metal battery failure A research team has discovered the root cause of why lithium metal batteries fail—bits of lithium metal deposits break off from the surface of the anode during discharging and are trapped as "dead" or inactive lithium that the battery can no longer access. 16 Jul US Army wants world's largest, fastest metal powder 3D printer This printer will revolutionize key supply chains associated with long-range munitions, next-generation combat vehicles, helicopters, and air and missile defense capabilities. 29 May Army project develops agile scouting robots Researchers have developed an agile robot that may be able to aid in scouting and search-and-rescue operations. 17 May Army discovery opens path to safer batteries Soldiers carrying 15-25 pounds of batteries could carry batteries a fraction of the weight but with the same energy and improved safety, a new study shows. 14 Feb Converting Wi-Fi signals to electricity with new 2-D materials Imagine a world where smartphones, laptops, wearables, and other electronics are powered without batteries. Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have taken a step in that direction, with the first fully flexible device that can convert energy from Wi-Fi signals into electricity that could power electronics. 2018 29 Oct Small flying robots haul heavy loads A closed door is just one of many obstacles that poses no barrier to a new type of flying, micro, tugging robot called a FlyCroTug. Outfitted with advanced gripping technologies and the ability to move and pull on objects around it, two FlyCroTugs can jointly lasso the door handle and heave the door open. 26 Oct World's first 3D volumetric circuit Research on the 3D/volumetric circuit technology was borne out of the notion that a three-dimensional circuit offers more freedom to make circuits smaller, lighter and more efficient. 3D printing allows them to be manufactured into arbitrary form factors that can be integrated into any object or surface. 5 Sep If military robot falls, it can get itself up Scientists at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have developed software to ensure that if a robot falls, it can get itself back up, meaning future military robots will be less reliant on their Soldier handlers. Appears in IDTechEx Report 29 Aug Multifunctional Composites 2019-2029: Technology, Players, Market Forecasts IDTechEx Report: Dr Richard Collins 27 Aug Water bottles and other recycled 3D printing materials Soldiers on the battlefield or at remote bases often have to wait weeks for vital replacement parts. Now scientists report they have found a way to fabricate many of these parts within hours under combat conditions using water bottles, cardboard and other recyclable materials. 15 Aug Introducing the latest in textiles: Soft hardware The latest development in textiles and fibers is a kind of soft hardware that you can wear: cloth that has electronic devices built right into it. Appears in IDTechEx Report 21 Jun Additive Manufacturing and Lightweight Materials for Aerospace and Defense 2018-2028 IDTechEx Report: Dr Richard Collins and Dr Bryony Core 27 Apr A higher-energy, safer and longer-lasting zinc battery A team of researchers has created a water-based zinc battery that is simultaneously powerful, rechargeable, and intrinsically safe. 23 Apr Invertebrates inspire first fully 3-D printed active materials To overcome the material rigidity and actuation limitations in current robotic systems, a joint U.S. Army Research Laboratory and University of Minnesota research project sought inspiration from invertebrates. 21 Mar Scientists mimic neural tissue Researchers have discovered a process for engineering next-generation soft materials with embedded chemical networks that mimic the behavior of neural tissue. The breakthrough material may lead to autonomous soft robotics, dual sensors and actuators for soft exoskeletons, or artificial skins. Appears in IDTechEx Report 27 Feb Non-Toxic Materials for Electronics/ Electrics: Large Emerging Markets 2018-2028 IDTechEx Report: Dr Peter Harrop and Dr Lorenzo Grande 8 Feb New algorithms to train robots Researchers have developed new techniques for robots or computer programs to learn how to perform tasks by interacting with a human instructor. 2017 21 Dec Army partners with Marine Corps on 3-D printed drones Army researchers are working with the Marines to develop 3-D printed drones as materials science, aviation technology and software development merge to deliver new capabilities.
https://www.idtechex.com/en/timeline/us-army-research-laboratory/c4072
Hey everyone, here is a little about me. I like playing chess alot and my chess goal is to become at least a NM (National Master). I also really like playing sports. I know a lot about sports and if you ever wanted to talk about sports with someone on chess.com, I am that person! I like to play travel baseball and i am pretty good at baseball. I play football with my friends at school a lot. I am ok at basketball, and i usually practice at my house or with my friends. I used to play soccer, but i don't really anymore other than practicing with my sister. I like to play ping pong and am pretty good. Here are my top 3 friends on chess.com! 1. @Master49er - he is really nice and like sports just like me! He joins your clubs if you ask him to and participates in daily matches and vote chess A LOT! 2. @kzhang41 - he is also really nice and gives good ideas to improve some of my clubs. He always joins daily matches where we need him and always does it happily. 3. @hiqwerty - he is really nice most of the time and joins your clubs when you want him to. He is fun to talk to and likes to play chess alot. Here is my trophy case: B4 for TBD in Not So PRO Puzzle Battle League (NSPPBL). Here are some of my favorites:
https://www.chess.com/member/dark_knight_dk14
Eastern bluebirds are year-round residents of Florida. They have beautiful blue plumage that spans from their head to their tail, with rusty-colored feathers on their chest. The males are a deep, chalky blue and more vibrant during mating season, while the females have a faded bluish/gray coloring. Eastern bluebirds are known as secondary-cavity nesters which means they seek out previous nesting sites excavated by primary cavity-nesting birds, like woodpeckers. Nesting cavities can be in live trees, snags (standing dead trees), or fence posts. From the 1920s to the 1970s, their population began to decline. There was a lack of nesting sites due to territorial competition with other secondary cavity-nesters like Carolina chickadees, house wrens, and some species of owls. But that’s not all that played a role in the decline. Reduction of their natural habitat and habitat fragmentation were also big factors. Habitat fragmentation is the breaking up of a largely intact area of habitat into smaller isolated patches. Along with the reduction of natural habitat, other factors contributing to the Eastern bluebird population decline were the loss of snags as nesting sites and the increase in predators, like cowbirds, snakes, and raccoons. Additionally they faced aggressive competitors in other bird species like house sparrows and starlings. These two bird species have been documented in killing eastern bluebirds, both adults and young in order to claim their nesting site. In June of last year, a male eastern bluebird’s behavior caught my attention. He was checking out the snag in our backyard. This snag has previous nesting cavities and we had never noticed any birds occupying them. Male eastern bluebirds must find a suitable home for the female to raise their young, and we were able to observe this happening in our backyard. The male would check out the pre-excavated cavity, fly away, come back and perch on the nearby branch. He would sing and flutter his wings. When the female appears, she will check the nesting site out. If she accepts then she will begin to bring nesting materials. Unfortunately, a Carolina chickadee was interested in that particular nesting site. But ultimately, a pair of downy woodpeckers moved in and raised two healthy chicks. Quick Nature Notes about Eastern Bluebirds: Eastern Bluebirds are a member of the Thrush family They only weigh about an ounce- the weight of a AA battery or ten pennies They are sexually dimorphic- meaning the male and female look different They prefer open grassy areas The female will build a cup-shaped nest constructed with pine needles, twigs, and grass. She will add animal hair and feathers as well. Their nesting begins in mid-February (for Florida) and mid-September in the northern states. Bluebirds are territorial when nesting and will re-nest two to three times per year Females lay between three and five beautiful blue colored eggs, although there has been documentation of white eggs Chicks will hatch within a week and fledge (leave the nest) within twenty days Bluebirds primary diet consists of fruit and insects They can spot an insect around 50 feet away, which is why they are classified as a sit and wait predator. Bluebirds may rarely visit bird feeders. Providing Florida native plants that produce berries would be beneficial and limit pesticide use because, after all, eastern bluebirds and other birds need insects to survive and feed their young. When the population of bluebirds was declining, conservation pioneers got to work in trying to preserve the species. In the 1970s, Wisconsoners began building artificial nesting sites called bluebird-boxes, to replace the loss of natural nesting sites. Their action created a new movement of building bluebird-boxes throughout the United States. Their efforts and commitment helped bring awareness to the plight of this avian species and the eastern bluebird population began to recover. February is when bluebirds seek nesting sites and providing a nesting site on your property can help your neighboring eastern bluebirds. You can build a bluebird-box or place a prebuilt one on your property. But before you do, a couple of things to consider are location and commitment. Location is extremely important. Eastern bluebirds need open grassy-mowed areas and the absence of/or a limited number of bird feeders for successful nesting. It is recommended that the placement of the bird-box be more than 50 feet from any scrubby or woody areas. If you decide to place more than one, the distance between the two should be 330 feet. There are a few bird-box designs suited for bluebirds. Here is a link to a website for those that wish to build their bluebird box: https://nestwatch.org/learn/all-about-birdhouses/birds/eastern-bluebird/ or purchase a premade one from a nature/wildlife bird supply store. Having a birdhouse also comes with a great deal of commitment and the responsibility of cleaning. After the bluebird’s chicks have all fledged, it is recommended to clean the bird box. The cleaning consists of removing any nesting materials, and this should be reasonably accessible since the height placement of the bluebird box is generally at eye level. While the nest is in use, enjoy viewing from afar!
https://www.hernandosun.com/2022/02/19/connecting-with-nature-eastern-bluebird-sialia-sialis/
A LONG TIME AGO, I was once given the advice, "Find the thing that you want to do most with your life, and then do one thing every day to get yourself closer to that goal." I remembered and repeated these words to a friend recently, hoping it would help with what she was going through at the moment, to which she replied, but sometimes we get stuck. This article is for her, and for everyone who has ever been stuck. In a rut, a job, a bad routine or a negative way of thinking, or any of the many number of ways it's possible to be held back somehow from moving forward. It is something that happens to many of us at one time or another. At the beginning of this year, I wrote out my New Year's Resolutions as usual, and the first one was to "Begin every morning with a book." The reason why I had made this resolution was that I, myself, had become stuck. It's easy to fall into a rut, to have goals that seem out of reach, to judge yourself too harshly, creating low expectations and a low sense of self-worth. Worry and disappointment from past situations can also weight to the situation, preventing you from making positive changes. When we become stuck, we somehow end up waiting for external changes to happen, but the truth of the matter is that change does not happen to us, but rather, change comes from within us. Because change is difficult for most of us, it is often easier to keep on doing as we've always done. If you feel that you're holding yourself back from reaching your potential, or you feel stuck where you are, it may be time to make a change. Here are five ways that will (hopefully) help inspire you to become unstuck... Start small Change is difficult, and even more so when you're stuck, so it's perfectly okay to start by setting small, manageable goals every day and building upon these steps. Change stimulates different areas of the brain that affect creativity and clarity. Start small by moving things around your house, going to new places (restaurants, museums, parks), take up a new sport or hobby, begin a new exercise routine, speak to new people and make new friends. I once signed up for a pottery class one drab January in Edinburgh and it was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable new skills I have ever learned. Your usual surroundings may also be draining your inspiration and keeping you stuck, so try changing up your work environment by taking your laptop to bustling café, restaurant or park. Changing something small in your daily routine can have a major impact. The one small change, mentioned earlier, of reading instead of looking at my phone at the beginning of the day has made an enormous difference to not just this year, but to my life as a whole. I am now beginning each day in a much more positive way by spending time doing something worthwhile, and not letting the noise of social media and all of its (possibly negative) psychological affects in before I am properly awake. As Thoreau says, "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." By starting with small changes, it makes it more difficult to get discouraged. Often the hardest part about getting started on something new is becoming overwhelmed by the sheer size of the goal that you’ve set for yourself. Breaking it up into smaller steps will help make it seem more attainable. After a while, the accumulation of small changes will help you accomplish your goal and you will begin feeling unstuck. Taking charge in one small area of your life can help you regain control of your life in other areas as well and help you move toward running your life, instead of running from it. Gain a new perspective "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." (Oprah said that.) In other words, if you see what you have in terms of what you don't, nothing will ever be enough. But if you look at what you already have with a sense of thankfulness, you will begin to see that you have more than you need. When you're stuck, one of the best things you can do is change your perspective on things, and the most productive way of doing so is by looking at life with gratefulness and hopefulness. Perhaps you've experienced enough disappointment in your life to feel helpless, or use pessimism as a protective mechanism. Finding a way to look at life in a hopeful manner does not come naturally to many people. Whether you try meditation to help in this way of thinking or reading inspirational books, being hopeful is something that takes practice and needs to be worked on everyday. Always remember that, "Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." (Marcus Aurelius) Embrace the prospect of failure There is a line in an old Coldplay song that goes, "...and if you never try, you'll never know just what you're worth." If you find yourself stuck, perhaps the solution is to stop letting yourself be paralyzed by fear. Whether is fear of failure or of what others think, always remember that if you try your very best and still fail, all is not lost, for you will have learned something valuable from the experience that will prepare you for whatever else may come. If your fear stops you from even trying, all that will be left is regret. Trust that you can reach (and even surpass) your highest expectations. Deep-seated fears are limiting beliefs that will only make you sabotage your own progress (whether consciously or not), so stop fearing failure and believe in yourself again. Remember the words of George Bernard Shaw, “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” Stop comparing yourself to others It has been said that comparison is the thief of joy. One of the reasons you may find yourself stuck is because you're comparing yourself to others. It's easy to do when you're constantly bombarded with the filtered squares of others' perfect lives. Comparing your real life to others' social media profiles does not often end well. Unless you know their circumstances as well as your own, it is not at all productive to compare where you're currently at in life with what you believe others have achieved. Instead, if you compare yourself to where you started, you'll see just how far you've come, and can begin making plans for where you're headed. Rediscover your purpose Wondering why we're here or what our purpose is, is not only saved for existential crises. The purpose of our lives goes beyond our jobs, our families and friends, or goals and accomplishments. Having a purpose means having something that makes you come alive, something you are truly passionate about and that you feel is worth fighting for. Perhaps you want to help others, or care about causes close to your heart such as the climate emergency, or homelessness or protecting animals. Perhaps there are things about yourself that you would like to improve. If you no longer feel inspired by your life's purpose, it may be time to change it. If you don't know your purpose or feel that you have one, now might be the time to find it. Reconnect with what makes you happy. Rediscover all of the things you love to do so much that you lose all track of time. Think about what your talents are, who inspires you and what makes you happy to be alive. Hopefully one or all of these things will help you to become unstuck. "It’s the small habits. How you spend your mornings. How you talk to yourself. What you read and what you watch. Who you share your energy with. Who has access to you. That will change your life." (Michael Tonge). GET TIG ARTICLES IN YOUR INBOX More Wellness Shop This Is Glamorous Shop Belgrave Crescent 0 Notes Thank you for stopping in to say hello — it's lovely to hear from you! Please note that comments are moderated for spam, profanity, hate speech or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business.
https://www.thisisglamorous.com/2019/12/wellness-5-ways-to-become-unstuck.html/
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — also called drones — are used with increasing interest in civil and commercial applications. Drones can fly routes in an autonomous manner and carry cameras for aerial photography. Research and development efforts have recently addressed drone systems for monitoring, surveillance, or disaster assistance. Small-scale multicopters are of particular interest in this context due to their simple deployment, high maneuverability, and low costs. It is often beneficial to deploy a team of drones rather than a single drone, since multiple drones can explore areas faster. The research at our institute focuses on such multi-drone systems with emphasis on communication, coordination, and decision making. “We focus on the design principles for a team of multiple aerial robots,” predoctoral researcher Samira Hayat explains and continues, “where a key question is how to integrate sensing, networking, and coordination on the resource-constrained drone platforms.” She explores the dependencies between the aerial flying paths and mission constraints on the communication performance among the drones and the base station. The goal is to establish and maintain a reliable aerial communication network. The experimental evaluation of the developed methods and algorithms is an important objective. “We have successfully demonstrated our approach in a search-and-rescue prototype where four drones collaborate to find a person,” researcher Jürgen Scherer summarizes. “Depending on the prevailing situation, the drones explore the environment, perform target detection, and serve as communication relays,” he explains further. A dedicated multi-drone framework has been developed for the robot operating system (ROS). Another use case involves employing a network of drones for delivery of important goods in remote areas. “Imagine a large disaster area in which medicine is required in some villages, but roads are flooded or destroyed,” Bettstetter argues. The question arises as how the jobs are allocated to many drones based on customer demand and locations of depots. Pasquale Grippa, a predoctoral researcher on this topic, is fascinated by the multidisciplinarity of his work. “It involves multi-agent systems, scheduling, logistics, queuing theory, and others,” he says. This video shows a team of three UAVs autonomously covering a predefined region of interest and delivering the captured images to the base station where an overview image is generated in real-time. Selected Publications P. Grippa, D. A. Behrens, F. Wall, and C. Bettstetter. Drone delivery systems: Job assignment and dimensioning. Autonomous Robots, 2019. E. Yanmaz, S. Yahyanejad, B. Rinner, H. Hellwagner, and C. Bettstetter. Drone networks: Communications, coordination, and sensing. Ad Hoc Networks, 2018. S. Hayat, E. Yanmaz, and R. Muzaffar. Survey on unmanned aerial vehicle networks for civil applications: A communications viewpoint. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 2016. A. Khan, B. Rinner, and A. Cavallaro. Cooperative robots to observe moving targets: A review. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 2016. A. Khan, E. Yanmaz, and B. Rinner. Information exchange and decision making in micro aerial vehicle networks for cooperative search. IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, 2015. T. Andre, K. A. Hummel, A. P. Schoellig, E. Yanmaz, M. Asadpour, C. Bettstetter, P. Grippa, H. Hellwagner, S. Sand, and S. Zhang. Application-driven design of aerial communication networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 2014. E. Yanmaz, R. Kuschnig, and C. Bettstetter. Achieving air-ground communications in 802.11 networks with three-dimensional aerial mobility. In Proc. IEEE INFOCOM, 2013. M. Quaritsch, K. Kruggl, D. Wischounig-Strucl, S. Bhattacharya, M. Shah, and B. Rinner. Networked UAVs as aerial sensor network for disaster management applications. e & i Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, 2010.
https://nes.aau.at/?portfolio=multi-drone-systems
Release 5.41 solves problems with missing WordPress actions in the context menu and problems with SASS compilation if import statements contain .scss extension. Introducing sub-menus allowed us to better organize the menu and to add more commands. For example, new elements can be added to the page directly from the menu. Hint: Hold down the SHIFT key when right-clicking to jump straight into the Insert menu. Use Paste to add copied actions to another element. And, as mentioned above, WordPress actions can also be copy pasted between elements. In the Tree panel view, actions are now displayed before the text snippet in order to make them more visible. Note that having a fixed element id on the post element only makes sense if only one post item is shown. Otherwise there would be multiple elements with the same id. Sometimes we just want to display a subset of posts contained in the WordPress loop (or custom query). For example, we might want to display the first post in one way and the rest of posts in another way. Or, we might have predefined positions for individual posts and we can’t just display all of them with the same loop. We can either specify a single post, for example 0 for the first one, or a range, for example 1-3 to display second, third and fourth posts. Note: the post count starts at 0. Note: this parameter doesn’t affect what posts are retrieved from the WordPress database – it is used to specify which of the posts returned by the WordPress query should be displayed. The same argument is also available directly on “The Loop” action. The behavior of the action is changed. It now uses Smart menu walker by default on pages that don’t use Bootstrap (Bootstrap menus are used there). The Smart menu walker replicates the exact HTML layout of menu items, instead of using the default WordPress markup. The action is also now smarter in figuring out which class is used to denote the active menu item. As always with smart actions, if you need more control over these actions change them to regular WordPress actions. Customizer Sections (both Smart and regular actions) got the checkbox “Use section id as prefix for enclosed fields”. When checked, the id of the section is used as a prefix for all enclosed customizer fields. This is very useful in many cases. Let’s take a look at an example. Imagine that we have four sections for showcasing our past experience on our portfolio website. Each section contains fields for a company name, our job position and duration of the engagement. We want to use the Customizer to control the content of these values. Normally, we would have to setup four unique fields for company names, four for position and four for the duration – each with unique field id. That makes it impossible to simply copy paste actions from one item to another, or to define these blocks as reusable components. Now we can check “Use section id as prefix…” on the first section with id exp1 and assign simple ids – company, job, duration – to enclosed fields. When Pinegrow exports the theme it will append the session id “exp1_” to fields ids, thus creating unique fields ids “exp1_company”, “exp1_job” and “exp1_duration”. If we copy paste these actions on related elements in other experience sections we’ll get fields experience2\_company and so on, provided that “Use section id as prefix…” is checked on their Customizer section actions. We can go a step further and create a reusable component in the Actions panel with editable attributes that control section id and name. When “Use section id as prefix…” is on the section id will be prepended to all field ids – regardless is fields are registered or just used. If we want to simply use a value of customizer field from another section – for example, a color value defined in Colors section – we can use Display theme mod action and check its “Don’t use enclosing section id as field prefix” setting.
https://pinegrow.com/release_notes/release-5-4-27-march-2019/
Each course is conducted twice a year at the University Medical Centre of Geneva and Clinique Générale Beaulieu and consists of hands-on training on synthetic and animal models. The limited number of participants allows for a very friendly and interactive approach, which contributes to quick learning. During the courses various international speakers share their expertise and discuss their case scenarios with the participants. Offers a wide range of Medical Services in the Canton of Geneva. The Générale-Beaulieu Clinic offers over twenty different kinds of Specialist care. Pioneer in Switzerland, the Geneva faculty of medicine started a fundamental reform of medical studies in 1995. Its aim was to promote the students autonomy and to develop their clinical, relational and practical skills. The SMB is the scientific society of the "Clinique Générale Beaulieu". It was created in 1983 and is composed of several hundreds of doctors of all specialties from Geneva. The aim of this society is to support scientific research in private medicine. Founded in 1995, the University Hospitals of Geneva is one of the leading hospital groups in Switzerland. Its mission is defined by law, and includes care, education and research.
http://sialendoscopy.net/index.php/courses/day/01-05-2019/191
Thus, we will solve for the temperature as function of radius, T r , only. We already talked about the number of protons, so we have 90 protons on the left, how many neutrons do we have? For constant , k, the appropriate form of the cylindrical heat equation, is: The general solution of this equation is: where C 1 and C 2 are the constants of integration. It is made of a corrosion-resistant material with low absorption cross section for thermal neutrons, usually zirconium alloy. Krypton-82 is produced after nucleus underwent beta decay. For constant thermal conductivity, k, the appropriate form of the cylindrical heat equation, is: The general solution of this equation is: where C 1 and C 2 are the constants of integration. I have a zero here, so I need 234 nucleons. The reaction in our example above would be written as Li-6 d,α α. It's still technetium; it's just in the ground stage. Nuclear binding energy curve: This graph shows the nuclear binding energy in MeV per nucleon as a function of the number of nucleons in the nucleus. Mass must be in units of kg. As the size of the nucleus increases, the strong nuclear force is only felt between nucleons that are close together, while the coulombic repulsion continues to be felt throughout the nucleus; this leads to instability and hence the radioactivity and fissile nature of the heavier elements. Contact us: The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. In parentheses are the atomic symbols for each atom in case you need them. This website does not use any proprietary data. Two Steps: 1 238 92U à 4 2He + 234 90Th 2 234 90Th à 4 2He + 230 88Ra. Let's start with technetium-99m, and the m right here stands for metastable, which means a nucleus in its excited state, so a nucleus in its excited state, so it has more energy. Due to symmetry in z-direction and in azimuthal direction, we can separate of variables and simplify this problem to one-dimensional problem. On the other hand the uranium dioxide has very high melting point and has well known behavior. Common light particles are often abbreviated in this shorthand, typically p for proton, n for neutron, d for deuteron, α representing an alpha particle or helium-4, β for beta particle or electron, γ for gamma photon, etc. In order to limit these hot places the must be introduced. These cylindrical pellets are then loaded and encapsulated within a fuel rod or fuel pin , which is made of zirconium alloys due to its very low absorption unlike the stainless steel. On the left, I know I have 92 protons, so 92 positive charges on the left. Thorium-234 is produced after a nucleus underwent alpha decay. In this example, we will assume that there is strictly no heat generation within the cladding. These points present a simplified view of what beta decay actually is: 1 A neutron inside the nucleus of an atom breaks down, changing into a proton. In comparison to fuel pellet, there is almost no heat generation in the fuel cladding cladding is. As a consequence, there is always one fuel rod and one local volume, that are hotter than all the rest. So in beta decay, an electron is ejected from the nucleus. I need 92 positive charges on the right. And in terms of charges, we have 43 positive charges on the left, we need 43 positive charges on the right. We could put a beta here, and it's an electron, so a negative one charge, and then a zero here. If the published descriptions are correct, the W-88 will fully fission about 26 kilograms of uranium, a liter and a half, or two wine bottles' worth. Don't change the mass number Praseodymium is element 59 The answer is Pr-144. Many isotopes do it naturally. What is happening in beta decay? Alpha decay occurs when the nucleus of an atom spontaneously ejects an alpha particle. And since the atomic number isn't changing, it's 43 on the left, it's 43 on the right, we're dealing with technetium here. To convert to joules per nucleon, simply divide by the number of nucleons. Our is a legal statement that explains what kind of information about you we collect, when you visit our Website. The peak power limits are associated with a boiling crisis and with the conditions which could cause fuel pellet melt. This is our beta particle. Above these there is a danger that the fuel may be damaged. For the atomic number, we take 84 for polonium, add 4 two times two for helium, then subtract two two times -1 for two electrons lost through beta emission, to give 86; this is the atomic number for radon Rn. So for representing an alpha particle in our nuclear equation, since an alpha particle has the same composition as a helium nucleus, we put an He in here, and it has two positive charges, so we put a two down here, and then a total of four nucleons, so we put a four here. Here are five more to try: And here are five more: Beta Decay Beta decay is somewhat more complex than alpha decay is. So we need 90 positive charges. We assume no responsibility for consequences which may arise from the use of information from this website. On the right, we have 91 protons, how many neutrons do we have? Nuclear binding energy can also apply to situations when the nucleus splits into fragments composed of more than one nucleon; in these cases, the binding energies for the fragments, as compared to the whole, may be either positive or negative, depending on where the parent nucleus and the daughter fragments fall on the nuclear binding energy curve. Identify the weapon that comes closest to this limit and state its yield-to-weight ratio. Then click the link to see the answers. Here are five more to try: And here are five more: A Brief Note on the Antineutrino As beta decay was studied over the years following 1899, it was found that the same exact beta decay produced an electron with variable energies. The centre plane is taken as the origin for x and the slab extends to + L on the right and — L on the left. This mass, known as the mass defect, is missing in the resulting nucleus and represents the energy released when the nucleus is formed. Some of them require you to determine whether it is alpha or , and some may be more than one step. Let's look at it in a little bit more detail.
http://creyle.jp/nuclear-equation-problems.html
If you would like to download a copy of the Camden School Calendar, please use the links below or visit the Camden County Schools Calendar. - This event has passed. Kindergarten All Kids Swim October 21, 2019 @ 9:00 am - October 24, 2019 @ 12:00 pm |Recurring Event (See all) An event every day that begins at 9:00 am, repeating indefinitely Grandy Primary’s Kindergarten students from Mrs. Thornley’s, Mrs. Barrow’s, Mrs. Berard’s and Ms. Croley’s classes will be participating in the Elizabeth City’s YMCA All Kids Swim program this week.
https://gps.ccsnc.org/event/kindergarten-all-kids-swim-3/2019-10-21/
For hundreds of years, people have looked to the skies and tried to imagine what – or who – could be found on that red, flickering orb millions of kilometres away. Now, with unmanned spacecraft routinely sent to Mars to explore the planet, we know more than ever before about what to expect when we get there. And with renewed public interest in space travel, and space agencies and private space organizations advancing technology by leaps and bounds, the first human voyage to Mars is within our reach. Though estimates of when such a mission might take place range from the year 2020 to the end of the century, settling Mars is a serious discussion. But there are still countless challenges to overcome and problems to solve before humans ever set foot on the Red Planet, let alone survive or thrive there. "We will be on Mars 20 years from now," says Dr. Robert Thirsk, chancellor of the University of Calgary and alumnus of the Schulich School of Engineering, who was a member of Canada's first astronaut class. "It sounds like science fiction, but the International Space Station program, made up of five space agencies, is already meeting to decide what the next step will be. Everyone agrees Mars is the ultimate destination. We're not quite ready to go there now. There are many technological, financial and leadership obstacles to overcome." In 2009, Thirsk spent 188 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 20/21. This remains the longest time spent in space by a Canadian, and Thirsk experienced many of the difficulties that astronauts would face on a trip to Mars. "A big medical issue is ionizing radiation," says Thirsk. "You're exposed to radiation during spaceflight – and I was exposed to higher fluxes of radiation. Radiation causes changes in our DNA and the internal matrices of our cells, and that could be permanent damage. We need to find a way to not only measure the radiation environment in space, but to provide better shielding for astronauts." It's long been known that astronauts lose muscle mass and bone density in microgravity, or a weightless environment, as their bodies don't have to work as hard as they do in a higher-gravity environment, like on Earth. While most of these changes are reversible, what's not known is if those changes eventually become permanent, or how to prevent them from happening in the first place. "Another show-stopper is some of the musculoskeletal changes that take place in your body," Thirsk says. "Muscles waste away, they atrophy, they lose strength and bones demineralize. We know that the effects of weightlessness, or microgravity, are more or less reversible after a six-month voyage, such as on the International Space Station, but the question is, when you stay in space for a year, or two-and-a-half years, when we're talking about going to Mars, are they reversible then?"
http://explore.ucalgary.ca/node/1139
"Street of Old San Juan" 36x36 Oil on Canvas36x36 inchesOil on stretched canvasThis painting is inspired by a picture I took of a long narrow street in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico which led all the way to the sea if you stand to look from the top. This picture has high light and dark contrasts, which is depicted through geometric shapes to show how vibrant this area is. There is a soundtrack of music, singing, and laughter in Old San Juan always and I aimed to show this through the moving shapes and colors.Something that really struck me about this particular historic part of town is how beautiful the old town always looks in pictures and in person, yet when you spend time in the town you will see a fairly large homeless population and stray animals. "Buildings of Blue" 18x18 Oil on Canvas18x18 inchesOil on stretched canvasMy hope with this series is to increase awareness of Puerto Rico, showcasing its natural beauty, history, and heart. This particular piece was created from a photo I took of blue and purple houses next to a tree in Old San Juan (a beautiful historic and colonial part of Puerto Rico) while I lived there. I wanted to capture the beautiful Caribbean colors of the old town in large geometric shapes to emphasize light and dark registrations of the scene. My process involves digitally distorting the original image so that I can extract out color, light, and dark geometric shapes. Once I am happy with how the distortion appears, I then paint it in oil. The idea here is to capture the vibrancy of emotions and movement of Puerto Rico in its most simplest form. "The Accordion Player" 18x18 Oil on Canvas18x18 inchesOil on stretched canvasThis painting was created from a photo my fiancé took of an accordion player resting against a brown door in Old San Juan. He is very old, but is there every day to play tunes for visitors and residents. His figure is hunched over with his hat covering his face, which is represented in black. His feet hang out into the cobblestone road as he rests between songs. "Skyline" 18x18 Oil on Canvas18x18 inchesOil on stretched canvasThis is a view from a street in Old San Juan of old colonial pink and blue houses in the sun, while the buildings to the right are in the shade. The sky is typical Caribbean blue, no cloud in site. The abstracted version of this photo has been reduced to geometric shapes of color that capture the light and vibrance of the area. "Gradients" 10x10 Acrylic on Canvas10x10 inchesAcrylic on stretched canvasI was walking through Old San Juan and noticed this blue building being shown in yellow from the street lights. It was a beautiful gradient transitioning from yellow to green to blue. My interpretation in this painting is through a Spanish mosaic tiled lens, which you see everywhere in Puerto Rico. I captured the yellow light from the streets, while the black windows look as if they are dancing figures. "Caribbean Blue, Black, and White" 10x10 Acrylic on Canvas10x10 inchesAcrylic on CanvasThis piece is a blue, black, and white version of a photo of a flower I took in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico. I really like the idea of playing with hue variation--colors are very powerful to me. they communicate energy in its basic form. Instead of black and white, this particular painting is blue, black, and white. These colors have a racial connotation toward Puerto Rico's mixed races as they live among the variants of blues seen throughout the island. "El Yunque Flower" 10x10 Acrylic on Canvas10x10 inchesAcrylic on CanvasInspired by a picture I took of a tropical flower in the El Yunque Rain Forest in Puerto Rico.
http://www.andreabijou.com/oil
separation of fe feo and fe2o3 Iron II III oxide Iron II III oxide is the chemical compound with formula Fe3O4 It occurs in nature as the mineral magnetite It is one of a number of iron oxides the others being Get Price Iron II III oxide... Search results for Fe2O3 at Sigma-Aldrich Compare Products Select up to 4 products Please select more than one item to compare... What Is the Chemical Name for Fe2O3 The chemical name for Fe2O3 is iron III oxide which is also called ferric oxide This compound is inorganic red-brown in color and odorless It is often referred to as rust although moisture has to be present for rust to occur Iron III oxide is commonly... What are the common names of FeO Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 in chemistry Update Cancel a d by Zoho FeOFe2O3 Molar mass 231533 g/mol Appearance black powder Density 517 g/cm3 Melting point Why is Fe3O4 formed instead of FeO when Fe reacts with... Answers ® Categories Science Chemistry Elements and Compounds Oxidation Numbers What is the Oxidation number of Fe in Fe2O3 There is no compound with the formula FeO 3 as originally... Sep 11 2018 0183 32 Gravity Separation Equipment 3 Magnetic Equipment 3 Gold Extraction Equipment 6 Recycling of steel plant mill scale via iron ore sintering plant The mill scale contains high amounts of Fe and low amounts of silica and People also read II oxide FeO iron III oxide Fe2O3 and iron II Views Read Edit View history... Oct 26 2015 0183 32 Re If I have a container of FeO and Fe2O3 how would I separate them Being Fe II or Fe III is not an intrinsic or immutable property of an iron atom Saying that Fe II or Fe III are already present in the nail is as silly as saying that some carbon atoms in a lump of graphite are sugar carbons and some are gasoline carbons... How To Remove Fe2o3 From Fly Ash By Dry Coal Ash Beneficiation and Utilization in Coal Separation Process Coal Ash Beneficiation how long to grind black sand... Aug 22 2015 0183 32 In order to balance Fe O2 = Fe2O3 you ll need to watch out for two things First be sure to count all of Fe and O atoms on each side of the chemical equation... Answer to FeO s CO g ---->Fe s CO2 g calculate the standard enthalpy change for this reaction from these reactions of ir Skip Navigation Chegg home... how to calculate Feo in Fe2o3 Collapse X Collapse Posts Latest Activity Search Page of 1 Filter Time All Time Today Last Week Last Month Show All Discussions only Photos only Videos only Links only Polls only Events only Filtered by Clear All new... Chemical Equation Balancer Fe2O3 CO = FeO CO2 Balanced Chemical Equation Fe 2 O 3 CO = 2 FeO CO 2 Reaction Information Hematite Carbon Monoxide = Iron Monoxide Carbon Dioxide Calculate Reaction Stoichiometry Calculate Limiting Reagent... Fe2O3 is iron III oxide or ferric oxide In this compound iron forms a 3 ion which combine with oxygen again a 2- ion in a 2 3 ratio In Fe2O3 iron is in its highest oxidation state FeO is black Fe2O3 is red Fe2O3 is more common FeO is a better conductor than Fe2O3... To convert Fe2O3 to Fe divide by 14298 It is worked out from the atomic weights of the elements and calculated as a proportion Atomic weight Fe = 55847g/mol atomic weight oxygen = 15999g/mol... The Fe2O3/FeO ratio is a challenging variable of chemical analysis where all Fe is measured as Fe2O3 Depending on the initial nature of your rocks of interest it will vary... To obtain Fe and FeO from Fe2O3 what is the reducing agent used May 12 2018 To obtain Fe and FeO from Fe2O3 what is the reducing agent used Why is the furnace used for the extraction of iron called a blast furnace Contact US... Iron III oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Fe 2 O 3 It is one of the three main oxides of iron the other two being iron II oxide FeO which is rare and iron II III oxide Fe 3 O 4 which also occurs naturally as the mineral magnetite... Fe2O3 3CO=2Fe 3Co2 suppose that 164kg of Fe are obtained from a 262kg sample of Fe2O3 ore assuming that the reaction goes to completion what is the percent purity of the Fe2O3... Separation of FeO and Fe 3 O 4 Nanoparticles Using an Inverted Linear Halbach Array By Jason Heitler-Klevans Magnetic nanoparticles are tiny particles that act like little magnetic dipoles but which behave significantly differently from larger magnets When coated properly and... Apr 29 2018 0183 32 Iron Ore Fe 60 A wide variety of iron ore fe 60 options are available to you such as fines The Top Grade Iron Pyrite For Extract Sulphur And Manufacture Of Sulfuric Ac Uses For Fe2o3 Uses For Fe2o3 Suppliers and Manufacturers at Gravity Separation Magnetic 12 Sf Flotation Cell Flotation Cell... Apr 01 2008 0183 32 4 Fe 3 O2 gt >2Fe2O3 is the balanced equation a the ratio between Fe and Fe2O3 is 4 2 10 mole of Fe2O3 can be formed if 20 moles of Fe react... Prolonged lifetime and enhanced separation of photogenerated charges of nanosized α-Fe 2 O 3 by coupling SnO 2 for efficient visible-light photocatalysis to convert CO 2 and degrade acetaldehyde... Chemical Equation Balancer Fe3O4 FeO O2 = Fe2O3 Balanced Chemical Equation-1 Fe 3 O 4 5 FeO O 2 = Fe 2 O 3 Warning Negative coefficients mean that you should move the corresponding compounds to the opposite side of the reaction Reaction Information Iron ii iii Oxide Iron Monoxide Dioxygen = Hematite... The conversion of iron oxides--Fe3O4 to Fe2O3 2004 Q I am a post-graduate student doing research in converting iron oxide Fe 3 O 4 magnetite into Fe 2 O 3 hematite As we know Fe 3 O 4 can be considered as crystal 1 1 ratio of FeO Fe 2 and Fe 2 O 3 Fe 3 and FeO can be oxidized into hematite at 600 176 C... FeO is iron II oxide or ferrous oxide In this compound iron forms a 2 ion which combines with oxygen Mass of Fe= Mass of Fe2O3 Mr Fe/ Mr Fe2O3 Share to You heat 3970 g of a mixture of Fe3O4 and FeO to form 4195 g Fe2O3 The mass of oxygen reacted is 0225... Re Conversion of Fe2O3 into Fe ppm/ppb Hi Gents To convert Fe2O3 to Fe divide by 14298 To convert to PPM multiply by 10000 It is that simple He... Oct 23 2011 0183 32 Best Answer Flip the top equation round and change the delta sign So that we can cancel the O2 after the next step Fe2O3 s ->2Fe s 3/2O2 g dh = 8242 kj Multiply the bottom equation so that the O2 has the same number of moles as the top equation... Apr 26 2011 0183 32 FeO s delta H -2719 delta S 6075 Fe s delta H 0 delta S 2715 O2 g delta H 0 delta S 2050 Fe2O3 s delta H -82216 delta S 8996 Determine the temperature in C above which the reaction is nonspontaneous The answer should be 2438 C... To determine the FeO/Fe2O3 contents there are standard wet chemical methods based on the dissolution of the soil and titration to determine FeO then determine Fe2O3 by difference from the total Fe... Iron III Oxide Reactions Reactions of Fe2O3 Ferric Oxide...
https://www.belgianshepherd.co.za/annual/8469/xlvos8d8r2rc.html
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative is an international network of investors working together to put the United Nations’ six Principles for Responsible Investment into practice. The PRI works in partnership with UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) and UN Global Compact (UNGC). Incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. As can be seen, implementing the PRI Principles goes beyond simply signing on to an initiative. With this in mind investors need guidance and support from a service partner which understands the complexities of ESG. Firstly, there is no one-size fits all definition of good ESG investment research. Furthermore, the materiality of ESG issues varies greatly, depending on the type of investment. Collecting and managing ESG information is therefore extremely time-intensive, and the lack of consistent disclosure makes data analysis especially complex. Added to which, investors have differing investment beliefs and policies. Therefore, in keeping with Manifest’s pioneering governance information management systems, and our 20 year commitment to helping investors make informed decisions, we have developed a fully integrated range of PRI solutions. With help from Manifest, investors can more easily have their “Say on Sustainability”. In summary, Manifest can help investors with a suite of thoughtful and pragmatic solutions to support the Principles of Responsible Investment. To find out how Manifest’s Say on Sustainability could meet your needs please e-mail [email protected] or call +44 (0)1375 503500 to arrange a personal presentation. Manifest has been a PRI signatory since 2010.
https://www.manifest.co.uk/what-we-do/pri-solutions/
In response to the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) payment strategy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnostic testing, a bill-only code will be added for orders that meet the new CMS turn-around-time requirement. For additional information refer to www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-changes-medicare-payment-support-faster-covid-19-diagnostic-testing. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Like other coronaviruses that infect humans, SARS-CoV-2 can cause both upper and lower respiratory tract infection. Symptoms can range from mild (ie, the common cold) to severe (ie, pneumonia) in both healthy and immunocompromised patients. SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs primarily via respiratory droplets. During the early stages of COVID-19, symptoms maybe nonspecific and resemble other common respiratory tract infections, such as influenza. If testing for other respiratory tract pathogens is negative, specific testing for SARS-CoV-2 may be warranted. SARS-CoV-2 is likely to be at the highest concentrations in the nasopharynx during the first 3 to 5 days of symptomatic illness. As the disease progresses, the viral load tends to decrease in the upper respiratory tract, at which point lower respiratory tract specimens (eg, sputum, tracheal aspirate, bronchoalveolar fluid) would be more likely to have detectable SARS-CoV-2. Undetected A "Detected" result indicates that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA is present and suggests the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Test result should always be considered in the context of patient's clinical history, physical examination, and epidemiologic exposures when making the final diagnosis. An "Undetected" result indicates that SARS-CoV-2 is not present in the patient's specimen. However, this result may be influenced by the stage of the infection, quality, and type of the specimen collected for testing. Result should be correlated with patient’s history and clinical presentation. An "Indeterminate" result suggests that the patient may be infected with a variant SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-related coronavirus. Additional testing with an alternative molecular method may be considered if the patient does not have signs or symptoms of COVID-19. An "Inconclusive" result indicates that the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the specimen could not be determined with certainty after repeat testing in the laboratory, possibly due to RT-PCR inhibition. Submission of a new specimen for testing is recommended. Sequence analyses have predicted that this assay will detect the circulating variants reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/scientific-brief-emerging-variants.html), such as the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1) variants. The FDA has provided emergency use authorization (EUA) of this test for testing human nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens. The sensitivity of the assay is dependent on the timing of the specimen collection (in relation to symptom onset), quality, and type of the specimen submitted for testing. The test is specific for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and positive test results do not exclude the possibility of concurrent infection with other respiratory viruses. Undetected (ie, negative) results do not rule out COVID-19 in patients and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or other patient management decisions. Result should be correlated with the patient's history and clinical presentation.
https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/Clinical+and+Interpretive/608825
Many quantum systems are being investigated in the hope of building a large-scale quantum computer. All of these systems suffer from decoherence, resulting in errors during the execution of quantum gates. Quantum error correction enables reliable quantum computation given unreliable hardware. Unoptimized topological quantum error correction (TQEC), while still effective, performs very suboptimally, especially at low error rates. Hand optimizing the classical processing associated with a TQEC scheme for a specific system to achieve better error tolerance can be extremely laborious. We describe a tool Autotune capable of performing this optimization automatically, and give two highly distinct examples of its use and extreme outperformance of unoptimized TQEC. Autotune is designed to facilitate the precise study of real hardware running TQEC with every quantum gate having a realistic, physics-based error model. Many quantum algorithms now exist, including factoring Shor (1994), searching Grover (1996), simulating quantum physics Lloyd (1996), problems in knot theory Subramaniam and Ramadevi (2002), and much more Jordan (2012). Large-scale simulations of topological quantum error correction (TQEC) indicate that gate error rates between 0.2% and 0.5% are sufficiently low to enable practical overhead, high reliability quantum computation Wang et al. (2010a); Fowler et al. (2012a). This is tantalisingly close to experimentally achieved two-qubit gate error rates of 2% Monz et al. (2011), the best achieved to date in a system with the potential to implement the required 2-D array of qubits. This motivates the serious study of mapping TQEC schemes to physical hardware to enable realistic engineering trade-offs to be determined and optimizations found. We would very much like to collaborate with any experimentalist with a potentially 2-D qubit system and an interest in making use of TQEC. Given the transversely invariant nature of TQEC, experiments involving as few as two qubits can be sufficient to determine whether a system could successfully implement TQEC (see Appendix A). Neutral atoms in optical lattices Jaksch (2004) motivated the development of TQEC. Optical lattices lack the ability to easily implement arbitrary patterns of two-qubit gates, making them unsuitable for other types of quantum error correction Shor (1995); Calderbank and Shor (1996); Steane (1996); Knill (2005); Bacon (2006). 2-D architectures designed for TQEC have since been developed for phosphorus atoms in silicon Hollenberg et al. (2006), nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond Devitt et al. (2009), superconducting circuits DiVincenzo (2009), quantum dots probabilistically entangled using linear optics Herrera-Mart et al. (2010), quantum dots deterministically entangled using nonlinear optics Jones et al. (2012), and ion traps Stock and James (2009); Monroe et al. (2012). Basic TQEC has been experimentally demonstrated using linear optics Yao et al. (2012). In short, the best architectures in all scalable quantum computer technologies now make use of TQEC. Every effort has been made to make this paper self-contained. Required quantum information background is provided in Section I. In Section II, TQEC is defined and examples given. Automated methods of analyzing and visualizing the propagation of errors when using TQEC are presented in Section III. The extreme performance difference of unoptimized TQEC and Autotuned TQEC is numerically demonstrated in Section IV. Section V concludes with a discussion of our planned future extensions of Autotune. I Quantum information Quantum computers manipulate quantum systems with two relatively stable quantum states that are denoted and . These quantum systems are called qubits. Unlike classical bits, which can be either 0 or 1, qubits can be placed in arbitrary superpositions , where and . The quantities and represent the probabilities that the qubit, if measured, will be observed to be or , respectively. In addition to initialization to and measurement, we will initially be interested in two quantum gates, Hadamard and controlled-NOT. To define their action we first define |(1)| |(2)| leading to |(3)| Given two qubits in states and , the state corresponds to the outer product |(4)| Given the above definitions, Hadamard () is a single-qubit gate |(5)| and controlled-NOT (CNOT or ) is a two-qubit gate |(6)| Note that and CNOT are unitary matrices. This is a general property of quantum gates other than initialization and measurement. In this instance, and CNOT are also Hermitian, and therefore self inverses. As defined above, CNOT flips the value of the second (target) qubit if the value of the first (control) qubit is and does nothing otherwise. Very general quantum errors can be expressed in terms of only and errors Shor (1995), where |(7)| |(8)| A state that contains an error and is then acted on by results in the state . This can be verified by simple matrix multiplication. In other words, an error commuted through an gate transforms into a error. Similarly, |(9)| |(10)| |(11)| |(12)| |(13)| For brevity, where clear from context, outer products such as are frequently written as . We shall use the above rules for propagating errors extensively. Quantum circuits provide a convenient notation for expressing complex sequences of quantum gates. Fig. 1 defines common circuit symbols. Two simple periodic quantum circuits are shown in Fig. 2. When the measurement value of these periodic circuits changes value, the local presence of one or more errors is indicated. These measurement value changes are called detection events. Two similar (sometimes identical) but conceptually distinct circuits are always required to detect all quantum errors requiring correction. We arbitrarily label one of these primal and the other dual. Primal (dual) detection circuits lead to primal (dual) detection events. Errors that lead to primal (dual) detection events are called primal (dual) errors. Ii Topological quantum error correction For the purposes of this paper, topological quantum error correction (TQEC) is defined to be a collection of quantum circuitry on an arbitrary dimensional, nearest neighbor coupled lattice of qubits with the property that a single error leads to a pair of primal and/or dual detection events unless the error is near a boundary of the lattice. Near boundaries, a single error can lead to just a single detection event. A 2-D planar circuit with these properties is shown in Fig. 3. This circuit is associated with the surface code Bravyi and Kitaev (1998); Dennis et al. (2002); Raussendorf and Harrington (2007); Raussendorf et al. (2007); Fowler et al. (2009, 2012b). Examples of errors resulting in a pair of detection events and a single detection event are shown in Fig. 4. Note that error correction codes have traditionally been defined in terms of stabilizers Gottesman (1997), however our definition in terms of quantum circuits is both more general and how Autotune works internally. The notion of a detection event as defined above can be significantly generalized. Defining measurement to report the results +1 and -1 for and respectively, a detection event can be associated with a set of measurements with product -1. Examples of appropriate sets are shown in Fig. 5a. This figure also contains arrows indicating nearby temporal and spatial boundaries. This information, sets and boundaries, is required by Autotune to correctly construct detection events and associate single detection events with the correct boundary. Armed with these definitions, we can also consider more complex TQEC schemes, such as 3-D topological cluster states Raussendorf et al. (2006, 2007); Fowler and Goyal (2009). A cluster state Raussendorf and Briegel (2001); Raussendorf et al. (2003) can be prepared in two stages by first initializing a number of qubits to . Physically, this typically corresponds to initializing the qubits to and applying Hadamard. Next controlled-phase (CPHASE or ) gates are applied to pairs of qubits, where |(14)| A topological cluster state has the form shown in Fig. 5b. This basic structure is tiled in 3-D. When all topological cluster state qubits are measured in the basis, typically achieved by applying Hadamard and then measuring, errors can be detected by multiplying the measurement results in sets of the form shown in Fig. 5b. As above, a -1 product indicates a detection event. This is discussed in more detail in Fowler and Goyal (2009). Exactly why this is true is not important for the purposes of this paper. The only feature of TQEC required to read this paper is that detection events are associated with particular locations in space-time and that single errors lead to detection events that are local to one another. If two errors would lead to a detection event at the same location, their contributions cancel and no detection event is observed at the shared location. Instead, an error chain is formed, with detection events only at the endpoints of the chain. Assuming some characteristic error rate and independent errors, long error chains are exponentially unlikely. Assuming a low error rate, a typical pattern of detection events consists of well isolated pairs as shown in Fig. 6a. The higher the error rate, the more difficult it is to guess the location of the errors leading to the detection events. A high error rate pattern of detection events is shown in Fig. 6b. A number of different algorithms exist taking detection events in topological codes and determining locations to apply corrections Wang et al. (2010b); Duclos-Cianci and Poulin (2010a, b); Landahl et al. (2011); Bombin et al. (2012); Wootton and Loss (2012); Sarvepalli and Raussendorf (2012). Edmonds’ minimum weight perfect matching algorithm Edmonds (1965a, b); Fowler et al. (2012a, c) is the fastest known algorithm capable of handling practical circuits of the form described in this Section. Minimum weight perfect matching is conceptually simple — after connecting detection events in pairs or individually to nearby boundaries such that the total length of connecting paths is minimal, corrections are applied along the connecting paths. The errors leading to the detection events in Fig. 6a would be corrected with high probability, those in Fig. 6b may not be successfully corrected. The error rate at which adding additional qubits fail to improve the probability of successful correction is called the threshold error rate . In minimal gate count fault-tolerant implementations of the surface code, simulations indicate Wang et al. (2011); Fowler et al. (2012a), consistent with the proven lower bound to the threshold error rate of Fowler (2012a). Autotune uses our own implementation of minimum weight perfect matching Fowler et al. (2012a, c). The details of this implementation lie outside the scope of this discussion as Autotune itself treats matching as a black box process. The primary question we wish to address is how to define the distance between two detection events. If we assign coordinates to detection events such that neighboring events , of the same type (primal or dual) differ by one unit in one coordinate, the default metric is the Manhattan metric |(15)| This metric was used in early TQEC works Raussendorf and Harrington (2007); Fowler et al. (2009); Wang et al. (2010c). Iii Tracking and visualizing errors The Manhattan metric takes no details of the underlying gate sequence or error models of each gate into account. If we imagine every potential location of a primal or dual detection event in space-time, namely the location of each primal or dual set, the Manhattan metric can be visualized as a cubic lattice. Fig. 7 shows the Manhattan lattice associated with the primal sets shown in Fig. 5a. Each cylinder represents a weight 1 path. A similar lattice exists for the dual sets. The distance between any given pair of sets is defined to be the shortest (lowest weight) connecting path through the corresponding lattice. Cylinders apparently leading to nowhere actually lead to spatial or temporal boundaries. Given a lattice and randomly generated detection events, minimum weight perfect matching can be used to match detection events to one another or nearby boundaries such that the total weight of all connecting paths through the lattice is minimal. Manhattan lattices are trivial to construct for the surface code and topological cluster states. However, as we shall see in detail in Section IV, Manhattan lattices lead to very suboptimal performance. The reason for this can be deduced from Fig. 4a, in which a single error can be seen to lead to a pair of detection events separated by two units of space and one unit of time. In other words, when using a Manhattan lattice, this single error is treated the same way as some three error chains. In Fowler et al. (2011), we showed that this shortcoming leads to a given size surface code only being able to guaranty correction of half the number of errors it is theoretically capable of always correcting. This shortcoming was removed by laboriously hand analyzing the surface code circuits and error models and including diagonal weight 1 links (additional diagonal cylinders with the same diameter) in the lattice wherever necessary. Weight 1 links do not take into account the relative probability of different pairs of detection events. Generally speaking, diagonally separated pairs of detection events are less probable than pairs separated only along one axis of the cubic lattice. In Wang et al. (2011), with even more laborious hand analysis, all distinct types of error were propagated through the surface code and polynomial expressions were obtained for the probability of each link as a function of a characteristic physical gate error rate . This analysis was performed only for the body of the lattice, and not attempted near the boundaries. Links to the spatial boundaries were simply assigned the same probability as a horizontal link of appropriate direction from the body of the lattice. It was deemed too complex and laborious to perform this analysis for the different types of boundaries and corners of the lattice. When given an arbitrary TQEC circuit and arbitrary stochastic error models for each gate, Autotune performs a full analysis of the propagation of all errors through all parts of the circuit to determine the probability of all pairs of local detection events. As this is not conceptually complex, we shall not describe the details of how is this is achieved here. A description of the Autotune algorithm can be found in Appendix B. The analysis typically takes less than one second. A lattice is then constructed with link weights equal to , where is the total probability of all errors leading to a given link, discussed in more detail in Appendix B.4. This ensures that low probability links have larger positive weights and are therefore used less often. It also ensures that the sum of weights along a path through the lattice is related to the product of probabilities along that path. Fig. 8 shows the Autotune generated lattice corresponding to Fig. 5a. Cylinders now have a diameter proportional to the probability of that link, which we find more useful than the weight for visualization purposes. Note the varying diameters of cylinders to the boundary. Fig. 8 was created with a standard depolarizing error model. Initialization and measurement produce or report the wrong state with probability , identity and Hadamard gates introduce an , or error each with probability , and CNOT introduces one of the 15 nontrivial outer products of , , and each with probability . Fig. 9 shows a lattice generated with measurement error rate , identity error rate and a CNOT with total probability of error but with any error containing or 100 times more likely than an error containing only and . Note the much thicker vertical cylinders due to the high measurement error rate. Autotune is designed to handle absolutely any set of stochastic error models. Note that after the first few layers the structure of the lattice repeats. Exactly the same pattern of links and probabilities will be generated since the TQEC circuit is repetitive. This means that we do not need to endlessly perform an analysis of the propagation of all errors, rather we perform the analysis until it becomes repetitive, then simply continue to generate the repetitive structure without the analysis. Iv Unoptimized versus Autotuned TQEC When we simulate the surface code, we study the situation of a lattice of finite spatial extent and potentially infinite temporal extent. In practice, the lattice is generated dynamically as gates are simulated and random errors generated. We are interested in the logical error rate per round of error detection. A logical error is a chain of errors after correction that connects distinct boundaries. These errors can be detected in simulations as changes in the logical state. The distance of a code is the minimum number of operations required to change the logical state. For each pair, we typically let our simulation run until 10,000 logical state changes are observed. Fewer state changes are occasionally permitted at very low and high as the runtime of the simulations increases rapidly due to the very low logical error rate and consequent large number of required rounds of simulated error detection. We have recently developed fast analytic methods to calculate the low logical error rate for arbitrary even Fowler (2012b). The logical error rate per round of error correction for a range of values of and when using Manhattan lattices is shown in Fig. 10. This should be contrasted with the performance when using Autotune generated lattices, shown in Fig. 11. The parallel asymptotic curves for distances 5 and 7 in Fig. 10 are correct. In Fig. 4a, an example of a single error leading to detection events are separated by two units of space and one unit of time is shown. When using the Manhattan lattice, three corrections must be inserted to pair such detection events. Said another way, when using the Manhattan lattice, this single error is indistinguishable from a three error process. A logical error occurs when detection events are incorrectly matched forming a logical operator of errors and corrections. Logical operators are associated with paths through the lattice connecting opposing boundaries. The shortest paths make use of the same number of links as the code distance. There exist logical operators in a code that do not follow a shortest path and are associated with of a total of 9 links and incorporate two single-triple errors. Given the detection events associated with these single-triple errors, matching will choose to match incorrectly (inserting 3 corrections) rather than correctly (which would require 6 corrections), forming a logical error. This is why the asymptotic curve for is only quadratic. Similarly, a code contains logical operators consisting of 11 links incorporating two single-triple errors and matching will choose to match incorrectly (inserting 5 corrections) rather than correctly (6 corrections). Fewer combinations of two single-triple errors lead to failure in a code, explaining the lower logical error rate. Autotune lattices do not suffer the shortcomings described in this paragraph as they include all necessary diagonal links and therefore guarantee correction of errors. If we focus on physical error rates of , a reasonable medium-term goal for scalable two-qubit interactions, the distance Autotuned logical error rate is nearly a factor of 10 lower than the Manhattan logical error rate. At , the improvement is over a factor of 40. The ratio of outperformance continues to grow with . The ratio of outperformance also grows rapidly as is decreased. At , the outperformance is already a factor of a hundred at , and over five orders of magnitude at . This extreme performance difference makes Autotune an essential tool for analyzing the surface code. Turning our attention to topological cluster states, the first step is to describe a way to progressively build the cluster state using only a 2-D lattice of qubits and nearest neighbor interactions. We start with a double layer of qubits. The required sequence of initialization, measurement, and gates is somewhat complex, however an attempt to convey this clearly can be found in Fig. 12. An appropriate single layer of qubits and interactions capable of implementing the same sequence is shown in Fig. 13. We assume the same error model as that used for the surface code, including the explicit use of Hadamards gates and initialization and measurement in the basis only. The primal nest resulting from the described gate sequence and error model for a distance 4 topological cluster state is shown in Fig. 14. Figs. 15–16 showed the Manhattan lattice and Autotuned lattice error correction performance, with the distance 5 logical error rate in particular showcasing the advantage of using Autotune. Note the parallel asymptotic curves for and 5 in the Manhattan case, caused by single errors leading to detection events separated by two links. V Conclusion We have described a tool Autotune that is capable of handling in a natural manner both fully fault-tolerant surface codes and 3-D topological cluster states, with the full code distance achieved in both cases. This generality is achieved through the definition of sets of measurements which are used to detect error chain endpoints. Arbitrary syndrome measurement circuits are supported along with arbitrary stochastic error models for each gate. The details of the measurement circuits and gate error models are analyzed before simulation begins to ensure high error correction performance. The algorithms upon which Autotune is based are highly efficient, with per round runtime comparable to that reported in Fowler et al. (2012c). In future work, we plan to take correlations between errors into account, improve the efficiency of Autotune’s handling of qubit loss, parallelize the core matching engine, and develop the capability to analyze complex logical circuits consisting of many braided defects, including the precise simulation of the complete quantum state. Vi Acknowledgements This research was conducted by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (project number CE110001027), with support from the US National Security Agency and the US Army Research Office under contract number W911NF-08-1-0527. Supported by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) via Department of Interior National Business Center contract number D11PC20166. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright annotation thereon. Disclaimer: The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of IARPA, DoI/NBC, or the U.S. Government. References - Shor (1994) P. W. 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It must be clear where an arbitrarily large number of additional qubits will go, where all of the control lines will go, where all of the control electronics will go, scalable cooling if required, and scalable construction methods for the complete large-scale hypothetical quantum computer. No issues can be ignored. This is best achieved with a modular design, such as that described in Devitt et al. (2009). The simplest possible modular structure capable of being assembled into a large 2-D array of qubits contains just a single qubit with the ability to connect to four neighboring modules. Two such modules connected together are sufficient to demonstrate initialization, measurement, identity, single- and two-qubit gates. If the error rates of all of these quantum gates are below approximately 1%, the experiment will have demonstrated that nature permits large-scale quantum computation. We believe that the importance of such an experiment cannot be overstated. A number of trade-offs are possible. For example, measurement error rates of approximately 10% are acceptable provided two-qubit interactions, CNOT or CZ, are possible with error rate approximately 0.1%. Precise trade-offs can be determined for specific hardware using Autotune. Each module need not be a physically separate device. A pair of solid-state modules may consist of a pair of coupled qubits together with coupling hardware for the six additional nearest neighbor qubits, which may or may not themselves actually be present. At least the coupling hardware needs to be present to ensure that control and decoherence challenges associated with scaling have indeed been overcome. It is possible that additional qubits and coupling hardware may need to be present if the mechanism achieving qubit interactions significantly couples more than just nearest neighbor qubits. To take a specific example, consider a scalable ion trap quantum computer based on a regular array of interaction regions connected by a square grid of transport paths. Provided the design is truly scalable, it would be sufficient to build just two unit cells of the scalable array containing in total perhaps just two interaction regions and two transport junctions. Four ions would be required, two data ions and two sympathetic cooling ions. One would then need to demonstrate high fidelity (¿0.99) initialization, measurement and single-qubit rotations. Most challengingly, one would need to demonstrate an interaction process consisting of transport of one ion to the other interaction region, sympathetic cooling if necessary, combination, high fidelity interaction, separation, transport, more sympathetic cooling if necessary, and prove that the entire process had fidelity ¿0.99. One would also need to show that an identity gate of duration equal to the interaction process could be achieved with fidelity ¿0.99. Finally, one would need to show that ion loss and leakage to non-computational states were low probability events, preferably less than 1% per interaction process or other gate. An experiment of this form would put a price tag on a qubit and enable one to calculate, using Autotune, the precise size, cost and performance of a large-scale quantum computer based on many of the experimentally demonstrated unit cells. This would reduce the problem of building a quantum computer to one of price-performance, a problem sure to attract significant industry interest. We would be delighted to have arbitrarily detailed discussions with anyone wishing to design a “nature permits quantum computation” experiment in any type of hardware. Appendix B Autotune algorithm The purpose of Autotune is to enable the precise analysis of real hardware running topological quantum error correction (TQEC). This is achieved by taking user-defined error models for every quantum gate and user-defined quantum circuits implementing TQEC and working out exactly where every possible error on every gate would be detected in space-time and which errors lead to the same detection events. When simulating the operation of the hardware stochastically, the detailed error propagation information produced by Autotune can be used to reliably guess which errors led to the observed detection events. This results in extremely effective correction of physical errors. In this Appendix, we describe how Autotune represents error models, how these errors are propagated through quantum circuits, how errors are detected (sets of measurements), how the detailed error information is visualized (nests of balls and sticks), and how the detailed error information can be reduced to simpler structures that can be generated efficiently during stochastic simulation (lattices of dots and lines). b.1 Error models and tracking Autotune is capable of handling any error model with outcomes that can be described by a single integer per qubit. For example, , , , , leaked to a non-computational state = 4, qubit lost = 5. Only single-qubit and two-qubit gate error models are currently supported, however this could easily be extended. The user can specify how is transformed by each gate, for example controlling whether a CNOT between a leaked qubit and a non-leaked qubit results in two leaked qubits, or no effect on the non-leaked qubit, or any other effect describable by single integers. An example of a Pauli channel CNOT error model file is shown below. |(16)| The first line states the number of qubits the gate is applied to. The second line states the value the relative strengths of the various errors should be normalized to sum to. This makes it easy to handle different gates with different overall probabilities of error, e.g. . The third line states the number of different errors in the model. The next lines contain integers specifying the relative strength of that error and the value of to apply to each qubit. The user can specify exactly how different errors combine . Each time a quantum gate is called, it is passed an error rate and an error of any kind is applied with probability . Error is then applied with relative probability . The final line is the gate duration in arbitrary units. For discussion purposes, we include the internal representation of the error model below, which makes use of explicit relative probabilities rather than integers. |(17)| Error models are not only used to generate stochastic errors. Every time a gate is applied, all possible errors are generated and added to the list of errors on each qubit touched by the gate. The probability is recorded in each error data structure. Each error is given a unique label. Multiple-qubit errors are represented by single-qubit errors on each qubit, each with the same label. If one executes a long sequence of unitary gates, the number of errors per qubit that need to be tracked will grow (linearly) without bound. Each unitary gate transforms all errors present on all of the qubits it touches. An gate will transform errors into errors and vice versa. Multiple-qubit gates can create new propagated errors which will have the same label as the original and can combine or cancel multiple errors on a single qubit with the same label. For example, CNOT(, , = 0.01) applied to qubits |(18)| |(19)| where (, , ) represents the error type, scaled relative probability and label and the arrows represent a linked list, will result in |(20)| |(21)| b.2 Sets of measurements Autotune currently supports only single-qubit measurements in the and bases. applied to eq. 21 will create a measurement |(22)| The errors and components of errors have been removed. All errors will be removed from the qubit. To use the qubit again it must be explicitly initialized. If the qubit does not need to be used immediately after being measured, Autotune provides a dead gate that advances the qubit in time but does not generate or track any errors. This models incoherent evolution. Every measurement is associated with either two sets or a single set and a boundary. A set of measurements has the property that the product of the measurement results (+1 or -1) indicates whether a chain of errors has ended nearby. In the standard surface code, sets contain consecutive pairs of syndrome qubit measurements. In a 3-D topological cluster state, sets contain the measurements on the faces of individual primal and dual cells. See Fig. 5. Sets must be specified by the user. Sets can also be associated with boundaries. The bottom layer of sets in Fig. 5a is associated with the primal initial time boundary. In the second layer of sets, sets in the left row are associated with the left primal boundary, those in the right row are associated with the right primal boundary. We use the terminology primal/dual instead of rough/smooth as used in Fowler et al. (2009) to ensure uniform terminology when discussing both the surface code and 3-D topological cluster states. Note that the middle row of sets in the second layer is not associated with any boundary. The association of sets with boundaries is currently manually user specified. b.3 Detection events When all measurements in a set have been performed, further processing is triggered. A measurement may contain many errors. A set may contain many measurements. Autotune determines which errors with the same label appear an odd number of times. For each such label a detection event is generated. Fig. 4a contains an example of a single error leading to a pair of detection events. Detection events are stored in a hash table to enable one to quickly determine whether a detection event with a given label has already been generated. Pairs of detection events immediately trigger the creation of sticks, described in the following subsection. Errors near a boundary can lead to single detection events (Fig. 4b). Such single detection events must generate sticks leading to the nearby boundary. One must decide with care when to conclude that a detection event is unique and that no matching detection event will be generated in the future. To deal with this, we define a measure of error detection progress big_t to increment only when every stabilizer of the code has been measured at least once. An example of an error leading to detection events two big_t in the future is shown in Fig. 17. This is the maximum delay possible. Detection events three big_t in the past that are unique are guaranteed to remain so. Detection events can be primal or dual depending whether they are associated with primal or dual sets which are in turn associated with primal or dual stabilizer measurements. It is a good idea to design stabilizer measurement circuits with the property that single errors do not lead to the creation of more than one pair of primal and one pair of dual detection events. This ensures that minimum weight perfect matching Edmonds (1965a, b) is well-suited to correcting errors generated during the execution of the circuits. b.4 Nests of balls and sticks When a set is processed to generate detection events, it is said to be finalized. At this point in time, a ball is generated and associated with the finalized set. This ball represents a location in space-time. A pair of detection events leads to the creation of a stick between its associated balls. A stick represents a potential connection between a pair of space-time locations arising from a single error. Many single errors can lead to the same stick Wang et al. (2010a). The probability of a given stick, given a list of errors leading to it each with its own probability , is therefore, to first order |(23)| We have a simple Blender based visualization tool for nests, used to generate Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, and Fig. 14. A nest contains full tracking information of which gate led to which collection of errors and which of those errors led to which sticks. This is highly useful, however computationally cumbersome. Autotune does delete all errors, measurements, sets, detection events, balls and sticks when they are no longer required, which keeps total memory required finite, however it remains challenging to generate the nest fast enough to obtain good statistics in simulations, let alone keep pace with a real quantum computer. Note that nest generation is computationally efficient in the computer science sense, with constant memory and time required to generate each layer of the nest on qubits, however mere efficiency is insufficient for practical purposes. b.5 Exploiting regularity Motivated by the difficulty of rapidly generating nests, we first cut down the data stored therein to the minimum required by the minimum weight perfect matching algorithm. For every ball in a nest we create a dot, which again simply represents a space-time location. For every stick, we create a line. Lines connect the dots corresponding to the balls the stick connected, however they contain just one number, the weight . The lattice is kept for much longer than the nest is as with low probability the matching algorithm can require all prior matching history to correctly match the latest data. A sufficiently long history must be kept to ensure the probability of requiring more is negligible. This is possible as the probability of requiring additional data in the past decreases exponentially with kept history size. The simplicity of the lattice keeps the memory required low. The nests shown in the all have a great deal of regularity in their structure. This can be exploited to enable direct generation of lattices, avoiding the need to generate expensive nests on the fly. During a boot-up phase, Autotune analyzes each new stick and stores new unique sticks as an offset that contains only the geometric information associated with the stick — just enough to create a line. Furthermore, each new ball is analyzed to determine if it corresponds to a new pattern of offsets. Such unique patterns are stored as blocks of offsets. Finally, each round of error detection is analyzed with structurally unique rounds stored as layers of blocks. All data is then stored in a recipe that contains all necessary information to rapidly create any part of the lattice. Currently, Autotune is capable of analyzing either error detection circuitry that eventually leads to identical repeated layers or a finite number of rounds of error detection that can have any structure whatsoever. The former could easily be extended to a finite number of cyclically repeated layers, however it remains unclear whether one could avoid generating full nests when simulating probabilistic error detection in which all syndrome measurements can take a randomly variable amount of time. The performance of Autotune has been described elsewhere Fowler et al. (2012c). Its complexity is optimal, requiring only time to simulate and perform the necessary classical processing associated with each round of error detection on an array of qubits. Given constant computing power per unit area, all algorithms within Autotune can be parallelized to . This optimal parallelization is a direct consequence of the topological nature of the codes used and the fact that on average this implies that one only needs local information to correctly process a given space-time region of measurement results. The local runtime does not depend in any way on the global size of the computer.
https://www.arxiv-vanity.com/papers/1202.6111/
People in the modern West take for granted that events proceed in a line stretching from the past through the present and into the future. They also believe that each point in time is unique—two events can be very similar, but no event or chain of events is ever exactly repeated. This view of time is called linear time, and it is so deeply ingrained in Westerners from birth that it is difficult for them to imagine any other view of time. However, the overwhelming majority of people who have ever lived have had a very different view of this fundamental aspect of existence. The alternative to linear time is a belief that time endlessly repeats cycles. I have great difficulty convincing my astronomy students that, from an observational point of view, cyclical time makes much more sense than linear time. I ask them to place themselves in the ancient world with no clocks or telescopes or computers, but only their senses to guide them and imagine what they would be capable of understanding about time. The days would be marked by the daily motions of the Sun and other celestial objects rising and setting in the sky, the months would be marked by repeated phases of the Moon, and the years would be marked by the reappearance of certain constellations in the sky. Other cycles in nature, such as the seasons, tides, menstrual cycles, birth-life-death, and the rise and fall of dynasties and civilizations, would dominate ancient life. It should therefore be no surprise that the religion and worldview of many cultures were based on a belief in cyclical time. Among them were the Babylonians, ancient Chinese Buddhists, ancient Greeks and Romans, Native Americans, Aztecs, Mayans, and the Old Norse. These societies practiced an ancient astronomy called astrology which had as its chief function the charting of the motions of heavenly objects to predict where people were in some current cycle. It was a complicated process, because there are multiple cycles occurring in the heavens at any time, and ancient beliefs were based on the idea that human fate was determined by cycles working within other cycles. As a result, ancient calendars, such as the Hindu and Mayan, were very elaborate with a sophistication that surpasses those of the modern West. The idea of cyclical time continues in the present day with Hindu tradition and native European tradition such as that of the Sami people of northern Scandinavia. Not only does cyclical time make sense in terms of what people observe in nature, but it also satisfies a deep emotional need for predictability and some degree of control over events that the idea of linear time can’t. If time flows inexorably in one direction, then people are helplessly pulled along, as though by a powerful river current, toward unpredictable events and inevitable death. Cyclical time gives the promise of eternal rebirth and renewal, just as spring always follows winter. These pagan beliefs were so powerful that they continue to influence all of us today; for example, the celebration of the belief in the constant process of renewal is the basis for the New Year holiday. Obviously, all people have thought in terms of linear time on a daily level, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to function. But on the larger scale of months, years, and lifetimes, the notion of linear time was viewed as vulgar and irreverent. A cyclical view of time was a way for people to elevate themselves above the common and vulgar and become connected to that which appeared heavenly, eternal, and sacred. This view also offered a form of salvation in the hope that no matter how bad things are in the world at the moment, the world will inevitably return to some mythical ideal time and offer an escape from the terror of linear time. You and I would consider this ideal time to be in the past, but in cyclical cultures, the past, the present, and the future are one. Primitive cultures, like the Australian aborigines, had no word for time in the abstract sense—that is, a concept of time that exists apart from people and the world. For them, time was concretely linked to events in their lives—the past, the present, and the future formed an indistinguishable whole as the great cycles determined everything. The ancient Hebrews also had no word for and therefore no concept of abstract time, yet their concept of time was a linear one in which events occurred sequentially. These events formed the basis for their concrete notion of time. Except for the first six days of creation, time as described in the Old Testament was completely tied to earthly events like seasons, harvest, and, most importantly, God’s interaction with the world. The ancient Greeks also believed the universe was cyclical in nature, but unlike other ancient cultures they also believed in an abstract notion of time that exists separately from events. They had two words for time—chronos and kairos—representing quantitative/sequential time and qualitative/non-sequential time respectively. From chronos we derive familiar time-related words such as chronological, chronic, and anachronism. In order to appreciate the Greek concept of time, one has to understand that to the Greeks time was motion. It’s not difficult to envision since the length of a day is measured by tracing the path of the sun and stars across the sky. When Plato spoke of time, he described an “image of eternity … moving according to number.” His student, Aristotle, said that time is “the number of motion in respect of before and after.” The Judeo-Christian beliefs about time that emerged during the time from Moses to that of Jesus mark a profound break with the thinking of the ancient past. Events of the Bible clearly indicate a unidirectional, sequential, notion of time that is utterly counter-intuitive to what the senses observe in nature. Time is not discussed directly in the Old Testament, but we can gain an understanding of the ancient Hebrew notion of time from the language. The ancient Hebrew root words for time were related to distance and direction: the root word for “past” and “east” (qedem, the direction of the rising Sun) is the same; the root word for the very far distant in time (olam), past or future, is also used for very far distant in space. Perhaps the ancient Hebrews anticipated the early 20th century mathematician Hermann Minkowski, who postulated that space and time are two aspects of a single entity called spacetime. In any case, the Hebrew practice of viewing time from a perspective that looked backward was eventually adopted by modern astrophysics. The Judeo-Christian concept of linear time developed into our modern view of time and became one of the great foundations of modern science. Something very powerful was required to overcome the ancient perceptions of and feelings about time. Though the concept of linear time started with Judaism, it took hold and was spread throughout the Western world by the rise of Christianity. In the fifth century, Augustine noted that the Bible is full of one-time events that do not recur, beginning with the creation of the universe, culminating with the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and ending with the Second Coming and Judgment Day. He realized that Christian time is therefore linear rather than cyclical. The desire for some sense of control and the hope for eternal renewal became better satisfied by a belief in a loving Creator and the resurrection of his Son who was sacrificed on the cross. (It is interesting to note, however, that cyclicality does have some place in Christianity—we are born when we leave the womb and we are reborn when we go to heaven.) Nearly a thousand years after Augustine made his pronouncement, the era of clock time emerged. Clock time is measured by mechanical apparatuses rather than by natural events, and marks the final triumph of abstract linear time over concrete, cyclical, event-driven time. Mechanical clocks were invented in Europe in the 14th century, followed by spring-driven clocks in the 15th century. Refinements to spring-driven clocks in the 16th century enabled Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe to make his famously accurate celestial observations, which were used by Johannes Kepler to formulate the laws of planetary motion. However, the motivation for increasing precision in time-keeping was not motivated by pure science, but rather by the application of science in the quest for accurate navigation. Sea-faring navigators required precise measurements of time so that they could use the positions of star-patterns to determine longitude. With these highly precise clocks, it was possible to keep excellent time. It is interesting to note in the phrase “keeping time” the abstract notion, meaning we keep up with the external flow time rather than events defining the concrete notion of time. It is not a coincidence that the era of modern science began after the invention of high-precision time-keeping devices. Modern science began with the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries, starting with the Copernican Revolution, but it progressed slowly because of a lack of necessary technology. Galileo, for instance, was forced to time some of his experiments by using his own heartbeat. By the late 17th century, Newton had formulated the branch of mathematics now referred to as calculus and published his laws of gravity and motion. His work was based on his belief in a flow of time that was both linear and absolute. Absolute time means that it always takes place at a rate that never changes. Remember that the ancient Greeks viewed time and motion as one. This is important because the scientific study of motion based on the principle of cause and effect requires linear time. Newton’s laws and his view of time as absolute held sway for almost two hundred years. But Newton suffered from limited perspective just as the ancients had—humans perceive time on Earth as always taking place at the same rate, but that isn’t true. Newton is still considered the greatest scientist who ever lived, but we know now that he did not have the full picture. It was Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity that gave humankind the strange truth about time. By the early 20th century Einstein had succeeded in demolishing Newton’s notion of absolute time, showing instead that time is flexible, it goes by at a rate that is different in different places in the universe, and it is really dependent on the location and movement of the observer of time. It is interesting that the Bible anticipated this in Psalms 90:4, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” The current scientific view of time is a combination of the ancient Greek abstract notion of time, the Judeo-Christian notion of linear time, and Einstein’s relative time. Cosmology, the branch of physics that deals with the overall structure and evolution of the universe, works with two times: local time, governed by the principles of relativity, and cosmic time, governed by the expansion of the universe. In local time, events occur in the medium of spacetime as opposed to being the cause of time. Time is motion, motion is time, and objects may freely move in any direction in space. But the next big scientific question is, can objects also move in any direction in time? Physicists have determined that the arrow of time points in one direction. But how can we determine that direction? Biblically, we understand that time flows from the creation to Judgment Day. Scientifically, it has been less clear. Ultimately, physicists determined that the arrow of time points in the direction of increasing disorder. A branch of physics known as thermodynamics, the study of how energy is converted into different forms, quantifies disorder using a concept called entropy. The second law of thermodynamics states that in a closed system, entropy (the amount of disorder) never decreases. This means the universe will never spontaneously move back in the direction of increasing order. It is the progression of the universe from order to disorder that provides the direction for the arrow of time. The linearity and direction of time determined by thermodynamics seemed clear until physicist and mathematician Henri Poincaré showed mathematically that the second law of thermodynamics is not completely true. The Poincaré recurrence theorem proved that entropy could theoretically decrease spontaneously (the universe could go back in the direction of increased order). But, the timescale necessary to give this spontaneous decrease any significant chance of happening is so inconceivably long, much longer than the current age of the universe, there is little probability that it will happen before the universe could reach maximum entropy. Nevertheless, some Western thinkers mistakenly took Poincaré’s theorem to mean that reality is cyclical in a way that does not provide the ancient escape from the profane to the sacred. This led these thinkers to despair about the possibility that human existence is nothing more than the pointless repetition of all events for all of eternity. Nineteenth century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was one who took the Poincaré recurrence theorem to the hasty and illogical conclusion that there was no purpose or meaning to existence. On the other hand, there is little comfort to be gained from contemplating an endlessly expanding universe in which everything becomes hopelessly separated from everything else. One may well wonder if there is no escape from time. Christians need not despair. The Bible tells us that the universe in its present form will cease to exist on Judgment Day, which will presumably occur long before there is any significant probability of a Poincaré recurrence, and will certainly make the notion of an endless expansion moot. If that is true, we inhabit a universe that is for all purposes linear and finite in time, and we have a much happier fate than being condemned to a never-ending repetition of meaningless events or a universe that expands forever and ever. While it is important that Christians understand that modern science confirms the biblical view of time, it is also important that Christians understand the role of biblical belief in shaping modern science. Modern science developed only after the biblical concept of linear time spread through the World as a result of Christianity. True science, which at its root is the study of cause and effect, absolutely requires linear time. The foundation of 21st century astronomy and physics is the big bang theory—the “orthodoxy of cosmology” as physicist Paul Davies describes it—which relies on linear time with a definite beginning. The false cyclical view was perpetuated by two human limitations: limited perspective and misleading emotions. It took faith in the Word of God enshrined in the Bible and trust in the scientific method to overcome these limitations so that humankind could understand the true nature of time.
https://sixdayscience.com/2014/05/30/time/
Category : Total pages :129 GET BOOK Knowledge-based approaches to planning and control offer benefits over classical techniques in applications that involve large yet structured state spaces. However, knowledge bases are time consuming and costly to construct. In this dissertation I introduce a framework for analytical learning that enables the agent to acquire generalizable, domain-specific procedural knowledge in the form of goal-indexed hierarchical task networks by observing a small number of successful demonstrations of goal-driven tasks. I discuss how, in contrast with most algorithms for learning by observation, my approach can learn from unannotated input demonstrations by automatically inferring the purpose of each solution step using the background knowledge about the domain. I discuss the role of hierarchical structure, distributed applicability conditions, and goals in the generalizability of the acquired knowledge. I also introduce an approach for adaptively determining the structure of the acquired knowledge that strikes a balance between generality and operationality, and for making the algorithm robust to changes in the structure of background knowledge. This involves resolving interdependencies among goals using temporal information. I present experimental studies on a number of domains which demonstrate that the quality of acquired knowledge is comparable to handcrafted content in terms of both coverage and complexity. In closing, I review related work and directions for future research. Goal-driven Lesson Planning for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Publisher : University of Michigan Press ELT Release Date : 2010 Category : Education Total pages :140 GET BOOK This book is more than a collection of activities or ready-made lesson plans to add to a teaching repertoire. Instead, Goal-Driven Lesson Planning is intended to empower teachers and help them create a principled framework for their teaching--a framework that will shape the varied activities of the ESL classroom into a coherent teaching and learning partnership. After reading this book, teachers and prospective teachers will be able to articulate their individual teaching philosophies. Goal-Driven Lesson Planning shows readers how to take any piece from English language materials--an assigned text, a random newspaper article, an ESL activity from a website, etc.--and use it to teach students something about language. Readers are walked through the process of reflecting on their role in diagnosing what that "something" is--what students really need--and planning how to get them there and how to know when they got there in a goal-driven principled manner. This book has chapters on the theory of setting specific language goals for students; how to analyze learner needs (including an initial diagnostic and needs-analysis); templates to use when planning goal-driven English language lessons; explicit instruction on giving corrective feedback; how to recognize and assess student progress; and the mechanics and logistics that facilitate the goal-driven language classroom. Advances in Web-Based Learning -- ICWL 2013 Publisher : Springer Release Date : 2013-09-08 Category : Education Total pages :352 GET BOOK This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Web-Based Learning, ICWL 2013, held in Kenting, Taiwan, in October 2013. The 34 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from about 117 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on interactive learning environments, design, model and framework of e-learning systems, personalized and adaptive learning, Web 2.0 and social learning environments, intelligent tools for visual learning, semantic Web and ontologies for e-learning, and Web-based learning for languages learning. Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence Research Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media Release Date : 1991-08-28 Category : Computers Total pages :255 GET BOOK This volume contains the invited and submitted contributions to FAIR '91, the first of an intended series of workshops on issues in the theoretical foundations of artificial intelligence. FAIR '91 was held in Czechoslovakia in September 1991. Handbook of Research on Improving Learning and Motivation through Educational Games: Multidisciplinary Approaches Publisher : IGI Global Release Date : 2011-04-30 Category : Education Total pages :1462 GET BOOK "This book provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings on game-based learning to help readers who want to improve their understanding of the important roles and applications of educational games in terms of teaching strategies, instructional design, educational psychology and game design"--Provided by publisher. AI Magazine Publisher : Unknown Release Date : 1995 Category : Artificial intelligence Total pages :129 GET BOOK Meta-Learning in Computational Intelligence Publisher : Springer Release Date : 2011-06-10 Category : Computers Total pages :359 GET BOOK Computational Intelligence (CI) community has developed hundreds of algorithms for intelligent data analysis, but still many hard problems in computer vision, signal processing or text and multimedia understanding, problems that require deep learning techniques, are open. Modern data mining packages contain numerous modules for data acquisition, pre-processing, feature selection and construction, instance selection, classification, association and approximation methods, optimization techniques, pattern discovery, clusterization, visualization and post-processing. A large data mining package allows for billions of ways in which these modules can be combined. No human expert can claim to explore and understand all possibilities in the knowledge discovery process. This is where algorithms that learn how to learnl come to rescue. Operating in the space of all available data transformations and optimization techniques these algorithms use meta-knowledge about learning processes automatically extracted from experience of solving diverse problems. Inferences about transformations useful in different contexts help to construct learning algorithms that can uncover various aspects of knowledge hidden in the data. Meta-learning shifts the focus of the whole CI field from individual learning algorithms to the higher level of learning how to learn. This book defines and reveals new theoretical and practical trends in meta-learning, inspiring the readers to further research in this exciting field. Student-Driven Learning Publisher : Pembroke Publishers Limited Release Date : 2012 Category : Active learning Total pages :128 GET BOOK Advances in Case-Based Reasoning Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media Release Date : 1995-10-11 Category : Computers Total pages :306 GET BOOK The type of material considered for publication includes drafts of original papers or monographs, technical reports of high quality and broad interest, advanced-level lectures, reports of meetings, provided they are of exceptional interest and focused on a single topic. DNA Leadership Through Goal-driven Management Publisher : Goals Inst Release Date : 1997 Category : Business & Economics Total pages :420 GET BOOK Methods and Applications for Advancing Distance Education Technologies: International Issues and Solutions Publisher : IGI Global Release Date : 2009-04-30 Category : Education Total pages :434 GET BOOK Provides communication technologies, intelligent technologies, and quality educational pedagogy for advancing distance education for both teaching and learning. Machine Learning Proceedings 1992 Publisher : Morgan Kaufmann Release Date : 2014-06-28 Category : Computers Total pages :448 GET BOOK Machine Learning Proceedings 1992 Understanding Language Understanding Publisher : MIT Press Release Date : 1999 Category : Education Total pages :499 GET BOOK This book highlights cutting-edge research relevant to the building of a computational model of reading comprehension, as in the processing and understanding of a natural language text or story. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of reading, with contributions from computer science, psychology, and philosophy. Contributors cover the theoretical and psychological foundations of the research in discussions of what it means to understand a text, how one builds a computational model, and related issues in knowledge representation and reasoning. The book also addresses some of the broader issues that a natural language system must deal with, such as reading in context, linguistic novelty, and information extraction. Case-Based Reasoning Research and Development Publisher : Springer Release Date : 2013-11-13 Category : Computers Total pages :416 GET BOOK This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning Research and Development (ICCBR 2012) held in Lyon, France, September 3-6, 2012. The 34 revised full papers presented were carefully selected from 51 submissions. The presentations and posters covered a wide range of CBR topics of interest to both practitioners and researchers, including foundational issues covering case representation, similarity, retrieval, and adaptation; conversational CBR recommender systems; multi-agent collaborative systems; data mining; time series analysis; Web applications; knowledge management; legal reasoning; healthcare systems and planning and scheduling systems.
https://www.macnabclanuk.org/folder/goal-driven-learning
Domaine de la Madeleine In the big barn, 29 by 12 meter wide, on the ground floor we have three large family rooms . These rooms are so divided that one family room has a terrace at the front, the second family room has a terrace on the side of the house and the third family is on the back and there is the terrace, All family rooms are suites, are each about 50 m2 and each contain two bedrooms and a bathroom. This extra large chambres d'hôtes are ideal for families with children, families or two couples travelling together. The large room is about 30 m2 and has a sitting area, small dining table, television, Internet connection (wired and wireless), refrigerator (mini bar) and kettle for coffee or tea. From this room you can use a private hallway to the bathroom or to the 2nd bedroom (approx. 13 m2). The bathroom has a sink, shower and toilet. The beds are single boxspings (90x200) for married couples and couples who are pushed together as double. Three barns, a shed, a house and 1.6 acres of land that is La Madeleine. Until the end of 2008 was a lease of the farm nearby Château Pont Lung, but the farmer retired. The cows are still there, but now in the possession of a neighbouring farmer. The buildings remain standing and be gradually restored serving chambres d'hôtes and gîtes. In the big barn, 29 by 12 meter wide, in 2009 on the ground floor three large family rooms serving realized chambres d'hôtes. All chambres d'hôtes are suites and each contain two bedrooms, a lounge and a bedroom and a bathroom. This extra large guest rooms are ideal for families with children, families, two couples travelling together or 2 people who just a nice spacious room of about 50 m2 want. All rooms have their own outside entrance, terrace, TV, internet access, mini-bar and coffee and tea making facilities. The environment is not very touristy and is especially popular for the quiet, rolling countryside that is very suitable for cycling, walking and resting. From La Madeleine start cycling and hiking treks along chambres d'hôtes but you can also place a cycling or walking into in our domain. Click on packages for more information. At 5 km away is the spa resort town of Bourbon l'Archambault with shops, restaurants, an outdoor pool and a castle ruin. On 10 minutes drive from the swimming lake with a beach of Vieure, sunbathing area and restaurant. Because La Madeleine in central France, and only a half hour drive from the N7, the A77 and A71, our location is ideal as a stopover on their way to the south, or back to the north. Click address & route for a description of the route where you can see that should not to drive if you want us to stop.
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FODMAP foods are carbohydrates and sugars that the body cannot easily digest. Keep in mind that FODMAP intolerance is not an allergy, but a reaction to certain foods triggered by the good bacteria found in the colon that ferment carbohydrates. Additionally, the condition causes there to be too much water in the large intestine, resulting in diarrhea, bloating, and gas. Early research suggests that some people with diverticulitis may benefit from limiting FODMAP foods. These foods include: Receive updates on the latest news and alerts straight to your inbox. This site offers information designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on any information on this site as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or as a substitute for, professional counseling care, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional.
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Pathworking: Close your eyes and move inwards. Take a deep breath and become aware of any distractions from the outside world— sounds, sensations, thoughts and feelings that came with you to this moment. Gather these distractions together ••••• and bid them depart until you return from this journey. ••••• Open your eyes briefly and then close them again holding within yourself the image of where you are in the here and now. See a sparkling mist rolling, slowly filling your vision. See it grow thicker, and thicker, and thicker until you are enveloped in swirls of pearly mist, rosy mist, that glistens with sparkling motes. ••••• Although you are still, you feel motion all around you. Although you are still, you feel the fog swirling all around you. The mist begins to thin and to lift up. As it thins you find that you are in a great forest with the buds on the trees just starting to open. It is early in the morning. The sun’s slanting light spreads honeyed light across the land. Smell the richness of the forest in the air and listen to the layered sounds of the wilderness. ••••• You notice that there is a faint path through the woods. A faint path where the passage of feet, paws, and hooves have pushed aside enough of the plants so that you know where to walk. You take the path and hear the crunch of leaves and twigs with each step. We hear faint chanting that grows stronger with every step. ••••• ••••• (Salt and Water chant) You step into a large clearing in the woods and find yourself among a circle of people. The crowns of the trees are intertwined forming a living temple. ••• You hear a voice made from the breeze, made from the stirring of branches, from the notes of birdsong, and the beating of your heart. It is strange and familiar and fills you with longing. •• It speaks to you of the rising power of life returning, of the power of the green, • and the buzzing of bees, of the knowledge that life cannot be held back. The voice speaks to you with the tones of a dear friend offering comfort and encouragement. Listen. ••••• A golden shaft of sunlight rushes through the crowns of the trees and illuminates a stone altar in the center of the clearing. There you see bowls of seeds and mounds of Spring flowers, and goblets filled with water surrounded and interwoven with bright ribbons and lace. It is gloriously abundant and bright with color. ••• You look around and see the smiles upon the faces of all the people that form a ring around the clearing. •••• With unspoken agreement you all bow reverently to the center. •• Some silently and some aloud the gathered company speak the names of the Great Ones, the Shining Ones, the Powers, and all call for the blessing of Spring. •• A deep sense of presence fills the space and your heart. •• (Sweet Water, Warm Sun chant) You feel drawn to go to the central altar, others are doing the same. Some have started to chant again. ••• You walk up to altar. ••• With smiles of encouragement, those at the altar point to the seeds and the goblets of water. • You lift the goblet and raise it to the sky. •• You lower the goblet and pour some water on the ground, and then you drink the water. •• The water is crisp, cool, refreshing, and moves through you with the joy of a creek rushing with the fullness of Spring rains. ••• You reach out to one of the bowls of seeds and run your fingers through them feeling each texture and shape. • • As you run your fingers through all these possibilities, one seed seems especially right for you and you take hold of it. •• This is the seed that will go home with you and be planted in soil, or mind, or heart, as needed. ••• You return to your place in the circle. • There you watch with a full heart as others have their time at the altar. •• All have been refreshed and given a seed of promise. As one voices are lifted in thanks and gratitude. ••• You offer your words as well. ••• (Promise of Green chant) A fog begins to roll into the clearing •• The fog carries singing voices and you listen. •••• Although you are still, you feel motion all around you. You feel the swirling and the turning all around you. •• Little by little, the fog lifts and you flutter your eyes open and find yourself back in the here and now. Back in the place where we began. Back in the place you held in your memory so that you could return. ••• Take a deep breath. Move your toes and fingers. Be here and in the now. Be here and in the now. And you are here!
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