Michael Just, untitled (What's done cannot be undone) I-X, 2014, metal leaf on aluminum, 67 x 50 cm. Courtesy the artist and Cydonia Gallery.
Michael Just at Cydonia Gallery
Michael Just, untitled (Bluten/blossoms) II, 2014, charcoal and lacquer on aluminum, 175 x 131 cm. Courtesy the artist and Cydonia Gallery.
When I reached a certain age I came across a book by James Loewen entitled Lies my Teacher Told Me. At the time—I was probably 15—I recall being blown away by what I perceived as my history textbook's egregious "heroification" of historical figures like Woodrow Wilson and Christopher Columbus.
It turns out that as we grow older we become accustomed to the knowledge that the "facts" we were taught comprised "history" are in fact anything but. It seems the curse of knowledge is knowing we'll never truly know anything about anything.
That's the rather elementary train of thought my mind was taking as I left Berlin-based artist Michael Just's solo show, What's done cannot be undone, on view at Dallas' Cydonia Gallery through Feb. 20.
Much of Just's practice grapples with the complicated nature of history and our tenuous relationship with it. How, at the same time, can history be re-made, re-interpreted and re-experienced, without being undone?
"What's done cannot be undone" is a quote from a philosophy book which Just utilizes as one half of a two-part idea informing his latest body of work. The other side of the coin, if you will, is a quote from Hegel, "The wounds of the spirit heal, and leave no scars behind."
At Cydonia, Just utilizes both statements as the show's framework both figuratively and literally; works of laser-cut text are installed high on the gallery walls, covering, or "guiding" the rest of the work on view.
Hanh Ho, Cydonia's Director, sees Just as having a two-fold artistic process; the first mode being traditional artistry and creation, and the second a more spiritual, or curatorial practice.
It sounds more novel than it is; artists have been utilizing theory and philosophical thought to drive the creation of art for several decades. But I have to agree with Ho in her assertion that Just, along with many of his contemporaries, represents a departure from earlier idea-based art in the sense that not only do contemporary artists, more than ever before, privilege the idea over the technique, it often seems they go out of their way to devalue aesthetics in service of an idea.
The focal piece of What's done cannot be undone is untitled (what's done cannot be undone) I-X, a work composed of screen-printed images of fellow German artist Elisabet Ney's masterpiece, a beautiful sculpture of Lady MacBeth. All the work on view here (excluding the laser-cut text) Just created with a unique process in which he overlays a layer of glue onto a screen-print of an image. In the case of the piece in question, gold leaf is then spread across the glue, and its excess blown away. The result, in the case of Lady Macbeth, is ethereally classical, a representation of the sculpture which is less a meditation on image, than it is an invocation of Lady Macbeth and her tragic history.
On the opposite side of the gallery a similar technique is utilized to enhance two screen-prints, on aluminum, of two banal floral bouquets. Here charcoal is utilized instead of gold leaf, and the result, instead of photographic reproduction of the bouquets, is a more sterile, cold image, in direct contrast to the gauzy glamor of Lady MacBeth.
The two bouquets, untitled (Blüten/blossoms) I and II, are imbued with their meaning once the viewer is aware that Just found the "stickers" he used to stencil the bouquets in an old East German sticker-book, most likely intended for children, manufactured during the period of the German Democratic Republic.
? is this (untitled) Pathways
Michael Just, untitled (Pathways), 2014. Charcoal and lacquer on aluminum, 175 x 131 cm. Courtesy the artist and Cydonia Gallery.
With that knowledge the flowers take on a more sinister tone, prompting the viewer to consider the vast possibility of meaning a simple image of flowers can have. Propaganda perhaps, flowers as a sign of life and hope, here representing the flourishing, or hoped-for flourishing, of the German Communist state. Just's choice of color, black and grey, however, seem to presage the state's demise; casting a hopeful symbol with a pall. The struggle here, is in how the intention of the work interacts with its experience in the now; how we (or Just), standing on this side of history, knowing what we know, can interact with what we view, almost inevitably perhaps, as failure.
Untitled (pathways) is one of Just's more open-ended works, the "paths" here representing the "idea of unfolding," serving as a visual illustration of his questioning of our collective human need for history to have a direction, either personally or globally.
The ideas Just wants or at least encourages his viewers to grapple with, should they so choose, are heavy, and I found myself wondering, as I talked to Just and wandered the gallery, how contemporary artists, if the art really is about the idea, determine when the visual component of an exhibition matches or lives up to its philosophical impetus—or whether that matters at all.
Just's work on view at Cydonia is interesting from a technical and aesthetic perspective, but the real strength of the work lies in Just's very human struggle with history.
How do we handle contradiction? How can we view history and time as circular when every ounce of our being craves an end, a sense of finality? How can we accept that what's done cannot be undone, at the same time, as we reinvent and forgive and heal in new and different ways every day?
There will never really be an answer, we know that, but that doesn't mean we'll stop asking.


text: Liver fluke infection is a major health concern in Southeast Asia as well as Eastern Europe. The trematode culprit of opisthorchiasis is consumed when people eat raw or uncooked fish; ingestion of metacercariae (pictured on the cover) results in infection. In a Feature review by Sripa et al. on pp. 395–407, bile duct cancer caused by Opisthorchis viverrini is addressed, including the pathogenesis of opisthorchiasis and the hope that recent post-genomic advances will aid in controlling this deadly cancer. Photo: courtesy of Banchob Sripa.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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On top of hunting and farming, the Natives also helped us create this beloved cliché. To "bury the hatchet" means to create peace. The thought is that when hostilities are no longer needed, weapons, like the hatchet, can be disposed of as well.
When negotiating peace, the North American Indians would actually practice what we preach. They buried all of their weapons-their scalping knives, clubs, tomahawks-into the ground.
Apart of just showing good faith, this would also make it impossible for the fighting to continue. Thus came the popular expression; burying the hatchet. However nowadays, the idea of "burying" the hatchet seems counter-intuitive to most people, they would rather dig up the old ones.


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The first-ever 3D analysis of a material known as "Zwischgold" has unveiled its composition, along with how medieval metalworkers used it as a gilding material thousands of years ago.
The study was conducted by physicist Dr. Benjamin Watts and his team at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.
What is Zwischgold?
Zwischgold is a blend of both silver and gold, formed into a foil that was commonly used as a coating, or gilding material for medieval objects and paintings. It's not uncommon to find Zwischgold adorning artifacts from the medieval period. The surface layer of gold used on top of the silver base is ultra-thin – more than 2,300 times thinner than a human hair – meaning it would have been cheaper to use than pure gold.
Artisans from this period would have had to be master craftsmen, and more technologically advanced than we previously had thought.
"It is incredible how someone with only hand tools was able to craft such nanoscale material," says Watts. "Although Zwischgold was frequently used in the Middle Ages, very little was known about this material up to now."
A Unique Study
This new study has its origins in finding ways to preserve Zwischgold-gilded objects, given how easily the material corrodes after prolonged exposure to oxygen. Researchers used samples from a 15th-century altar that was likely constructed around 1420, which had been used within a mountain chapel in the Swiss Alps for centuries. The altar features the Virgin Mary, holding baby Jesus in her arms. Samples, supplied by the Basel Historical Museum, were taken from Mary's robe.
The team then leveraged a new 3D diffractive imaging technique called ptychographic X-ray computed tomography (PXCT). The scan helped to further reveal the chemical composition of Zwischgold without compromising its structure in the process.
The imaging allowed the research team to observe the degree of adhesion, the thickness of both the gold and silver layers, and how evenly distributed the thin gold layer was applied to its silver base.
"Many people had assumed that technology in the Middle Ages was not particularly advanced," notes Qing Wu, a member of Watts' team and lead author of the research paper. "On the contrary: this was not the Dark Ages, but a period when metallurgy and gilding techniques were incredibly well developed."
While no documentation has yet been discovered as to how Zwischgold was produced and applied to objects, these new 3D scans give scientists and art historians insight into how it was likely done.
Silver and gold were hammered into foils separately and meticulously, with the gold foil being hammered to a much thinner degree. Once the two metals were hammered out, they would have been combined and worked on in tandem.
"This required special beating tools and pouches with various inserts made of different materials into which the foils were inserted. This was a fairly complicated procedure that required highly skilled specialists," says Wu.
The results of the PXCT scans will be used to further future studies, and to help conservators understand, preserve, and restore these uniquely gilded objects.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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If tourism is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is also a factor in preserving the environment through the development of new trends such as sustainable tourism.
The exponential growth of tourism activities and the emergence of the world's middle class are exerting considerable environmental pressure on the most popular destinations. The assessment of this environmental pressure is generally of interest to travelers and decision-makers. However, despite its obvious importance for all stakeholders, environmental information is not available and therefore not a decisive factor when choosing a destination. This is mainly due to the difficulty of evaluating the impact of tourism activity, excluding transport. Knowing that tourism accounts for 10% of global GDP, the development of environmental indicators indexed to tourism activity is of paramount importance. The provision of this information at the global, regional and local levels is of utmost importance for sustainable environmental and economic activity.
Our proposal aims to develop a service providing this information: measuring and monitoring the environmental pressures due to tourism activities and transmitting them to all stakeholders: a concrete example, Bali.


|K$, and $q$ is the residual cardinality of $K$.
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This is a nice formula! I hadn't seen it before. What happens if you count them up to isomorphism? Perhaps something similar to the groupoid count mentioned by MS comes up? – Minhyong Kim May 12 '10 at 21:29
Serre's formula is valid for all degrees, not just degree $p$. People such as Hou and Keating (2004) have been counting them up to isomorphism, but this gets very complicated already for degree $p^2$. Manjul Bhargava has some nice formulas for counting all etale $K$-algberas of a given degree, which he uses to count the number of quartic or quintic number fields of bounded discriminant. By the way, if you are interested in an elementary proof in the degree-$p$ case, see (some people will never miss an opportunity for self-promotion). – Chandan Singh Dalawat May 13 '10 at 1:52
For the formula in degee n, see this answer…. And yes, Bhargava's formula does have Card Aut $E$ in the denominator. – Chandan Singh Dalawat May 13 '10 at 3:32
An example:
In homotopy theory, it is useful to consider the homotopy groups of spaces. These are isomorphism classes of maps $S^n\to X$.
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Consider a non trivial vector bundle on $S^1$ of rank 1. All its fibers are isomorphic as vector spaces, but if you simply identify them you have no way of dealing with the global structure, e.g. monodromy etc.
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Your Answer


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Making Sound: Magnets
This content is not compatible on this device.
When the electrical current flowing through the voice coil changes direction, the coil's polar orientation reverses. This changes the magnetic forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet, moving the coil and attached diaphragm back and forth.
So how does the fluctuation make the speaker coil move back and forth? The electromagnet is positioned in a constant magnetic field created by a permanent magnet. These two magnets -- the electromagnet and the permanent magnet -- interact with each other as any two magnets do. The positive end of the electromagnet is attracted to the negative pole of the permanent magnetic field, and the negative pole of the electromagnet is repelled by the permanent magnet's negative pole. When the electromagnet's polar orientation switches, so does the direction of repulsion and attraction. In this way, the alternating current constantly reverses the magnetic forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet. This pushes the coil back and forth rapidly, like a piston.
When the coil moves, it pushes and pulls on the speaker cone. This vibrates the air in front of the speaker, creating sound waves. The electrical audio signal can also be interpreted as a wave. The frequency and amplitude of this wave, which represents the original sound wave, dictates the rate and distance that the voice coil moves. This, in turn, determines the frequency and amplitude of the sound waves produced by the diaphragm.
Different driver sizes are better suited for certain frequency ranges. For this reason, loudspeaker units typically divide a wide frequency range among multiple drivers. In the next section, we'll find out how speakers divide up the frequency range, and we'll look at the main driver types used in loudspeakers.


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Mathematician shares her skills at Nelson schools
Susan Milner can't stand the way many people say they can't do math.
"If they were telling you they couldn't read, you'd expect they'd be trying to do something to improve their skills," she said. "But with math, it's almost fashionable to be bad at it."
Milner, a mathematics instructor at University of the Fraser Valley who was raised in Nelson, was in town earlier this month visiting her parents and while here she volunteered to go around to schools to talk to students about where their math skills could take them.
"Our world runs on math," she said. "We don't have computers without it, we don't have business without it."
Also on the list of occupations that require a math skills: science, medicine, engineering, finance, and many more.
Milner said she's noticed that students tend to be most enthusiastic about math in the younger grades, but by middle school only about a third of students will admit to liking the subject. In high school, when math becomes optional for Grade 12 students, many will choose to drop it completely.
"Students think they just won't study math because it's not cool, and they're really closing doors on themselves and the type of jobs they could do in the future."
During her visits to schools, Milner showed students that math is more than just crunching numbers. She had them complete puzzles and games that require the same logic as solving equations.
"They're building their math skills without even realizing, because they're also have fun," Milner said.
From November 19 to 23, Milner visited Trafalgar middle school, South Nelson elementary and Hume elementary, and she plans to return in April to speak at to the schools she'll miss on this trip.
Her visits are organized by Science World BC through its Scientists and Innovators in the Schools program, white invites scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians to share their expertise with science classes around the province through hands-on activities.


Developing good audit recommendations
In short
Recommendations should never be developed in an ivory tower. Rather, bringing in the auditees during the recommendations phase and challenging them to develop SMART recommendations will enhance the quality of your recommendations. Proper process should counter any issues with objectivity that may arise.
Relevant recommendations are hard
This is a no-brainer for most auditors. Concisely describing your findings in a manner that all relevant readers can understand is an often underestimated task. Developing SMART recommendations related to these findings can be even more challenging, especially in a subject area which is technical.
Nevertheless, auditors often insist on their independence and objectivity as an argument to only involve the auditees in the report finalization phase. The auditees are confronted with a set of well-intended recommendations with proposed deadlines, and often only have a limited time to react. And that's a problem.
Recommendations are not after-thoughts
Rather, they are core to the relevance of internal audit as a profession. Hence, ensuring relevance and feasibility of recommendations should never be the last item to check off the checklist before issuing the report. Rather, it should be core to a separate audit phase, the recommendation phase, where auditees and auditors come together to analyze how to best approach the findings.
But what about independence and objectivity?
We can't involve the auditees in the recommendation development phase because involving them will impede our independence. Will it really? I'm not too sure about that.
Independence is a means to objectivity. Objectivity allows to judge adequate due diligence and report on that. That's at the level of findings.
However, adapting processes, systems or behaviour to improve due diligence in an organization is, at the end, a management decision. As auditors we have the right to independently point out the direction we believe to be most optimal to address the issues raised. We cannot take the place of management and force them in a certain direction.
Hence, rather than believing that involving auditees in the recommendation process will impede our objectivity, I am convinced that not involving them in the recommendation development and only allowing their input as an after-thought will empede our future independence. Why? Well, imagine they will chose a route different from the one we as auditors proposed. Imagine that we invested a lot in developing this recommendation. Pride is a human characteristic. I sincerely believe the risk of not being able to objectively assess auditees' response is a bigger issue than involving them in the process to begin with.
Mind first, words later
There's another element to take in account. Most of the obvious solutions we as auditors with a limited working knowledge of practical, technical situations can come up with have been tried, tested and often dismissed as not feasible or ineffective in the past by those auditees.
"Most complex problems have simple solutions, which are most often wrong."
I don't remember the source of the above quote, and I'm not quoting it verbatim either, but there is quite a lot of thruth in it. To not only patch but really solve certain issues, we need to look at creative solutions for them. The best possible way for me is to combine the critical attitude of the auditor with the in-depth knowledge of the auditee to examine new, creative ways of issue resolution.
But what if you don't agree?
Auditors are independent. Imagine an auditee supports a certain solution which you are convinced will never really address the issue. The audit report should clearly state this and describe both the proposed solution by the auditee and the solution or ideas of the auditor, as well as the motivation why the auditee response is inadequate. This way, the audit committee and the board have all relevant information to decide on a recommended course of action.


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Why keep old specimens?
The Australian Museum Collections are over 100 years old. The oldest specimen is a species of duck called a Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, (A.7080) collected in 1828.
The only Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) to have been collected in Australia
Jaynia Sladek © Australian Museum
With large collections occupying expensive storage space, it has been suggested that the collection should be culled of old, redundant or unnecessary specimens. That task is not as easy as it sounds. For each species a core number of individuals is required, plus all the extremes of size, development, distribution and even time. To determine which specimens could be culled is very labour intensive.
While the database contains a considerable number of records, we are still a long way from having everything databased. The publication records for each specimen have been added for very few of the specimens. The many problems associated with removing and destroying 'unnecessary' old specimens from collections will not be easily solved in the near future. In fact the oldest specimens may be the most valuable for some studies.
Old museum records provide baseline data about the past species composition of a region. These data can be particularly useful when examining newly degraded habitats. There is even the potential to use museum specimens of extinct species like the Thylacine (the Tasmanian Tiger) in research that may one day see this species live again.
The value of retaining old specimens was clearly demonstrated by the work of Dr Carl Ferraris of the California Academy of Sciences, who visited the Australian Museum Fish Section in May-June 1999. In his three weeks of research, supported by a Visiting Collection Fellowship, Dr Ferraris worked on the historic collections made by Dr Francis Day during many years of field work in India and the surrounding region during the 1860s, 70s and 80s.
Until Dr Ferraris' visit, the collection was believed to contain 102 of Day's type species. By detailed research with old records and old specimens, Dr Ferraris 'uncovered' an additional 57 of Day's type species in the Fish Collection, increasing the size of the known Day type collection at the Australian Museum by over fifty percent. These scientifically priceless specimens are now housed in the type collection and are available for research.
Clearly the collections are for long term use, not to be "improved" with periodic clean outs or garage sales.
- Paxton, J.R. & M. McGrouther. 1991. Why so many specimens? Muse (Australian Museum News & Events) Aug -Sept. 1991:4, 11, 2 figs.
- Whitehead, P.J.P. & P.K. Talwar, 1976. Francis Day (_PHONE_) and his collections of Indian Fishes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series 5(1): 1-189, pls. 1-4.
Mark McGrouther, Collection Manager, Ichthyology


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Learn to Troubleshooting HVAC Units
Hvac units troubleshooting part 1
The superheat temperature tells us if there is excessive or inadequate refrigerant in the low side of the hvac units. Anything which adds heat to the evaporator coil will boil off more of the refrigerant, thereby increasing the superheat.
Conversely, anything which interferes with the coil's ability to absorb heat will lower the superheat, possibly flooding the compressor.
For this reason we check the evaporator fan motor and coil before measuring the superheat and recheck the superheat after reaching design space temperature.
Since we are following this HVAC troubleshooting process, we have visually determined that the airflow through the evaporator is adequate. Is it, really? Let's test to confirm evaporator airflow.
Measure the temperature of the air entering the evaporator and the air leaving the evaporator. If the airflow is inadequate, the evaporating temperature is lower than design and the slower moving air has more time to cool, so the temperature difference across the coil is greater.
If the difference between entering air and leaving air is more than 20°F, the airflow is inadequate. Note: Colder air leaving the evaporator means less refrigeration, not more.
One way to check air flow across the evaporator is to put the hvac units in the heat mode and raise the thermostat to a point that will bring the heat on. Place the fan switch in the on position.
This should place the fan motor in the high speed setting if the motor is variable speed. Next measure the temperature rise across the heat exchange. Find the BTUH output on the furnace name tag. Insert the known values in the following formula to solve for CFM. CFM = BTUH/(1.08 x ∆T)
For example, if the furnace is rated 100,000 BTUH output and the actual temperature rise is 50 °F, the CFM would be 100,000/(1.08 x 50) = 1852
If you are working with resistance heat, you can convert the Kw of resistance heat to BTU by multiplying the Kw x 3.414 BTU/KW. For example, 10 Kw X 3.414 BTU/Kw = 10,000 X 3.414 = 34,414 BTU'S.
How much air is too much and how much is too little? Most furnaces have a design temperature rise noted on the nameplate for heating. For example, one may see a range of 35° - 36° on the nameplate.
This means that at maximum air flow in the heating mode the temperature rise would be 35°F and at minimum flow it would be 65°F.
For air conditioning, the air flow through the furnace should be close to or above the maximum heating air flow. A good rule of thumb for air conditioning air flow through the evaporator is 400 CFM per ton of refrigeration.
Conditioned Space Temperatures
Warm air flowing through the evaporator coil increases its ability to absorb heat and therefore increases its capacity. When the conditioned space temperature is above its design temperature range we must expect the superheat temperature to be higher than normal.
This is particularly true on cap tube ac unit. For this reason we must recheck superheat measurements after the hvac units has reached its design temperature range in order to obtain true readings.
Suction Line Insulation
Suction lines should be insulated before measuring superheat. By insulating the suction line we eliminate condensation on the suction line and help keep the refrigerant vapor temperature low enough to provide adequate compressor cooling.
We may assume that a compressor is refrigerant cooled until proven otherwise. One exception is the open compressor, which does not need cold vapor to cool its windings since its motor is separate from the compressor.
Another exception is a hvac units that has a suction/liquid heat exchanger. By purposely installing a device which adds superheat to the suction line, the manufacturer is telling us that the compressor is not as sensitive to inlet vapor temperature.
High superheat is caused by undercharge (leak), or restriction. If we add refrigerant until the subcooling is normal and the superheat is still high, the hvac units is restricted. Note: for diagnostic purposes we may consider an underfeeding metering device to be a form of restriction.
If the superheat is no longer high, the air conditioner unit was undercharged. Locate and repair the leak before proceeding.
In most central air unit anything over 30°F superheat at the compressor should be considered too high. In general, lower superheat is better for the compressor, however some manufacturers specify higher than 30°F superheat for their central ac unit, usually low temp refrigeration.
Consult the manufacturers specifications when possible. If in doubt, 20°F at the compressor, at design space temperature, is a reasonable limit for superheat. High superheat is caused by undercharge or restriction.
By holding back the flow of refrigerant, a restriction causes refrigerant to accumulate in the high side while limiting the amount of refrigerant in the low side; therefore, a restriction is identified by a combination of high superheat at design space temperature with subcooling at design ambient.
If we add refrigerant to the central air units until the superheat is 20°F and the subcooling rises above 15°F, the hvac units is restricted.
The point of restriction can be found by taking temperature measurements on the liquid line at the condensing unit and the point where it enters the expansion device and/or across each of the liquid line device, such as driers, valves, etc.. If the temperature drop from one end of the liquid line to the other is less than 5°F, the liquid line and its devices are not restricted. Note: A temperature drop across a heat exchanger is normal.
If the temperature drop across the liquid line is more than 5°F, check for a temperature drop across each of the liquid line devices. If the liquid line devices are not restricted and there is no temperature drop, the restriction is in the liquid line. Check for kinks in the line or an undersized line.
If the temperature drop across the liquid line minus the drop across the heat exchanger is less than 5°F, the metering device is restricted.
Restricted Metering Device
Once we have traced the restriction to the metering device, we must determine whether the device is in fact restricted or simply out of adjustment. In a cap tube central ac it is definitely a restriction, but in a TXV ac unit the inlet screen should be examined before blaming the valve.
If the screen is clear, the problem is in the TXV. Unless you have reason to believe that the TXV has been improperly adjusted, replace the TXV.
Long Suction Lines
Generally speaking, TXV may be unable to maintain accurate control with less than 3°F superheat at its sensing bulb. On a hvac units with a long suction line this could make it impossible to maintain less than 30°F superheat at the compressor inlet.
If the compressor is air cooled, higher superheat at the compressor is permissible. If the compressor is refrigerant cooled, it will need a de-superheating metering device. This is an extra metering device which feeds a small amount of liquid refrigerant into the suction line near the compressor.
Undercharge of refrigerant is identified by a combination of high superheat and low or no subcooling. If we add refrigerant until the superheat at the compressor is 20°F at design space temperature and the subcooling does not exceed 15°F, the hvac unit was undercharged.
Unless you have reason to believe that the hvac was not charged properly, it is reasonable to assume that there is a leak. Locate and repair the leak before continuing the procedure.
The amount of refrigerant in the low side is also affected by the rate of refrigerant flow through the metering device. Anything which slows the flow rate will decrease the amount of refrigerant, thereby increasing the superheat, and anything which increases the flow rate will increase the amount of refrigerant, thereby decreasing the superheat.
Since the condensing temperature (discharge pressure) affects the rate of flow, we checked the condenser fan motor and condenser coil, raised the condensing temperature to simulate design ambient, and checked the subcooling before measuring the superheat.
Low superheat (floodback) is caused by overcharge, overfeeding metering device, or inefficient compressor. If we remove refrigerant until the superheat is normal, and the central air still has measureable subcooling, the central air was overcharged.
If the hvac units has no subcooling, check the compressor efficiency as described later. If the compressor is OK, the metering device is overfeeding.
Low Superheat (cap tube system)
Although we have determined that the amount of refrigerant in the air conditioner systems is not excessive for the condenser (less than 15°F subcooling), on a cap tube system this may be excessive for the evaporator.
In other words, an overcharge is still possible even though the subcooling is not excessive (under 15°F), on a cap tube hvac units.
Anything less than 15°F superheat at the compressor should be considered too low (floodback). If we remove refrigerant slowly until the superheat is normal (over 20°F), and we still have measureable subcooling, than the hvac units has enough refrigerant to satisfy the needs of the evaporator and has refrigerant in reserve (subcooling) to handle heavier heat loads. In other words, the hvac units was overcharged, but is now functioning normally.


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Children will learn all about Jacques Cousteau and the machines he invented.
Grade Level: K-2
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau
A picture book biography of Jacques Cousteau
Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau
Before Jacques Cousteau became an internationally known oceanographer and champion of the seas, he was a curious little boy. In this biography, poetic text and paintings combine to create a portrait of Jacques Cousteau.
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
Provides a top-to-bottom look at the ocean, from birds and waves to thermal vents and ooze.
Submarines and Submersibles
Follows a team of scientists down to the ocean's depths in a vivid introduction to the world of underwater craft.
My Deep Sea Story
Materials: Crayola Gel FX markers, glue sticks, pencils, black construction paper, cardstock
Share images from the book: Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea by Steve Jenkins. (Share section: "Glowing in the Dark", which shows how some deep sea animals use bioluminescent to make themselves glow.)
Give each student one piece of cardstock and have them write a short story describing the types of creatures they might see in the deep sea.Give each student a piece of black construction paper. Have them draw a scene using the Crayola Gel FX markers. Glue ocean scene to the cardstock.
See the Crayola's Glow Fish Under the Sea lesson plan for a similar idea.
Aqua Lung: The first machine that would let a diver breathe underwater for long periods of time.
Bioluminescence: Emission of visible light by living organisms such as the firefly and various fish, fungi, and bacteria.
Invention: A new device, method, or process developed from study and experimentation
Submarine: A vehicle that can travel underwater
Submersible: A vehicle that can travel underwater, deeper than a submarine


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A recipe linking nature and people
25 January 2013 | News story
Have you ever wondered how to represent the links between nature and people in a simple way to facilitate decision making? A diverse group of experts share their tips in addressing this very challenge and suggest possible ingredients of such a representation. The hope is that this'recipe' will help the work of the top new nature platform (IPBES) in relating biodiversity and its benefits to human well-being, sustainability and conservation.
These simple representations, or the so called conceptual framework, provide a shared language and a common set of relationships and definitions. This week experts presented their views to more than 100 governments gathered in Bonn for the first meeting of the IPBES Plenary, the highest governing body of the Platform.
A conceptual framework for IPBES can help to ensure a coherent and consistent approach across the four functions of the Platform - knowledge generation, assessment, policy support and capacity building. It could also clarify linkages and integration between them.
"Indeed, a conceptual framework will be a common approach to discharging each of these envisaged functions and for guiding and framing the implementation of its programme of work, in a multiple knowledge, multiple discipline and multiple scale manner, " says Salvatore Arico of UNESCO. "It will provide a critical lens through which to tackle the complex set of issues IPBES will focus on."
Following the expert suggestions, the governments are currently considering the way forward in developing such a conceptual framework for IPBES. The possible 'ingredients' include biodiversity, ecosystem goods and services, and their benefits for human well-being. There are also institutions, decisions and drivers together with properties and processes that occur at different scales and affect the interaction between the components.
"While unpacking these concepts it is important to keep in mind what appeals to different disciplines – capital is appealing to economists, human well-being to sociologists, and biodiversity to ecologists. We can achieve common understanding by doing so in a group," suggests Georgina Mace, Professor at the University College London.
"By fostering bridges between disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and local knowledge about the interdependence of human well-being, biodiversity and ecosystem services, IPBES will spur innovative ways and research to tackle problems of local, regional, and global societal relevance. A conceptual framework will be central to this goal," says Eduardo Brondizio, Professor at the Indiana University Bloomington and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3.
Thomas Brooks, Head of Science and Knowledge at IUCN emphasizes that "IPBES will harness outstanding scientific input, but its purpose is far from academic. Rather, it will support policy and practice in halting our current, disastrous loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services".
"IUCN supports the suggestions of the expert group and welcomes the interest of governments in developing a conceptual framework for IPBES," adds Cyrie Sendashonga, Global Director of Policy and Programmes at IUCN. "However we also suggest a number of improvements in the proposed 'cooking steps'. For example, as much alignment as possible between the IPBES conceptual framework and the set of indicators used to measure progress in achieving the Aichi Targets is critical. It would identify the gaps and best support appropriate policy implementation and communication at various levels in halting the loss of biodiversity."
The work of informal group of experts in identifying the ingredients of a possible conceptual framework and the outcome of their discussions were produced with the support of UNESCO, DIVERSITAS, IHDP, IUCN, Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and UNEP.
- Summary of expert discussions: brochure "How to bake a conceptual framework for IPBES" (download the interactive version or access the print version);
- Full expert report: Main issues relating to the development of a conceptual framework for IPBES (IPBES/1/INF/9).


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Once you have identified that you are in an emotional affair or you have been caught in an emotional affair, there is a specific reconstruction process to follow to heal your relationship.
These are the first 5 things to do once the initial disclosure has come out:
1. Seek IMMEDIATE help from a profession. The longer you wait the harder the healing process is. Don't expect that you and your partner can navigate your own way through this. You are too emotionally involved to stay focused.
2. The person you had the emotional affair with needs to be gone. Completely cutoff contact.
3.Both of you must make a commitment to the long road of healing for it to work.
4.Full disclosure of things such as who it was with, what happened, when, how long, where, and that it ended are important. No new details can come up after this point. Otherwise you will start back from square one.
5. Look at the causes that lead up to the affair.
Once these first steps are taken then you can start the road to recovery. These steps all happen simultaneously, and must continue over a significant period of time to be effective.
1. Rebuild safety in the relationship
2. Rebuild trust
3.Begin the forgiveness process
4. Manage triggers as they arise
This is a difficult yet powerful process to go though. Remember relationships can heal after and affairthere is HOPE!
Written by: Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW
Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW is a licensed therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Teri enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Teri also does family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield.


text:
Authors: KHALIL FAGHIHI
Abstract: Six new flame-retardant poly(ester-imide)s (9a-f) with high inherent viscosity and containing phosphine oxide moieties in the main chain were synthesized from the polycondensation reaction of N,N-(3,3-diphenylphenyl phosphine oxide) bistrimellitimide diacid chloride (7) with 6 aromatic diols (8a-f) by 2 different methods:--solution and microwave-assisted polycondensation. The results showed that compared to solution polycondensation, the microwave-assisted polycondensation reaction using a domestic microwave oven proceeded rapidly and was completed within about 9-12 min. All of the obtained polymers were fully characterized by means of elemental analysis, viscosity measurement, solubility testing, and FT-IR spectroscopy. Thermal properties and flame retardant behavior of the PEIs (9a-f) were investigated by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA and DTG) and the limited oxygen index (LOI). Data obtained by thermal analysis (TGA and DTG) revealed that these poly(ester-imide)s had good thermal stability. Furthermore, high char yields in TGA and good LOI values indicated that incorporating phosphine oxide moieties in the polymer backbone markedly improved their flame retardancy. These polymers can be potentially utilized in flame retardant thermoplastic materials.
Keywords: Flame-retardant polymers, hosphine oxide moieties, N-(3,3-diphenylphenyl phosphine oxide) bistrimellitimide diacid chloride, romatic diols.
Full Text: PDF


Methods for characterizing protein acetylation during viral infection.
TitleMethods for characterizing protein acetylation during viral infection.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2019
AuthorsMurray, LA, Combs, AN, Rekapalli, P, Cristea, IM
JournalMethods Enzymol
Date Published2019
KeywordsAcetylation, Host-Pathogen Interactions, Humans, Lysine, Mass Spectrometry, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Proteins, Proteome, Proteomics, Viral Proteins, Virus Diseases, Virus Physiological Phenomena
Lysine acetylation is a prevalent posttranslational modification that acts as a regulator of protein function, subcellular localization, and interactions. A growing body of work has highlighted the importance of temporal alterations in protein acetylation during infection with a range of human viruses. It has become clear that both cellular and viral proteins are decorated by lysine acetylations, and that these modifications contribute to core host defense and virus replication processes. Further defining the extent and dynamics of protein acetylation events during the progression of an infection can provide an important new perspective on the intricate mechanisms underlying the biology and pathogenesis of virus infections. Here, we provide protocols for identifying, quantifying, and probing the regulation of lysine acetylations during viral infection. We describe the use of acetyl-lysine immunoaffinity purification and quantitative mass spectrometry for assessing the cellular acetylome at different stages of an infection. As an alternative to traditional antibody-mediated western blotting, we discuss the benefits of targeted mass spectrometry approaches for detecting and quantifying site-specific acetylations on proteins of interest. Specifically, we provide a protocol using parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). We further discuss experimental considerations that are specific to studying viral infections. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the types of assays that can be employed to characterize the function of an acetylation event in the context of infection. As a method to interrogate the regulation of acetylation, we describe the Fluor de Lys assay for monitoring the enzymatic activities of deacetylases.
Alternate JournalMethods Enzymol
PubMed ID31606092
PubMed Central IDPMC6889803
Grant ListR01 GM114141 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
T32 GM007388 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States


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The Pleione Orchid is a terrestrial temperate orchid group of around twenty five cool and alpine growing orchids that prefers cool conditions. They originate from areas such as East and Southeast Asia, more specific Taiwan, China and the Himalayas (Nepal) where they thrive on the rocky outcrops and close to the snow line at the edges of woods and forests. These orchids are semi epiphytic and can be found growing on or around the bases of trees and in leaf litter. The Pleione orchid can be cultivated as a houseplant with high maintenance though. Pleione orchids tend do particularly well on window sills on north-facing window sills in the northern hemisphere, and obviously on south-facing window sills in the southern hemisphere where they will be kept cool. A cold frame or a cold greenhouse would be ideal.
The orchid flower color ranges from pink, white, purple, hues of yellow and even deep apricot, peachy colors. The orchid plant itself has green foliage. Closely allied to Coelogyne orchids, the flowers are large, delicately colored and exotic looking. The Pleione orchid flowers during spring and summer and the orchid flowers look good for several weeks.
These orchids are deciduous orchids and prefer a rest during the winter at which time the round squat bulbs should be stored either in their dry compost or removed for storage. The flowers of the Pleione orchid typically develop before the leaves. It is usually at this point that you would need to repot your Pleione orchid bulbs.
The Pleione orchid can tolerate temperatures that range between 6 and 24° Celsius (42 and 78° Fahrenheit). It should also be said that slightly cooler temperatures will not hurt the Pleione orchid, but provided the orchid plant is kept in conditions that are frost free as frost will damage the orchid bulbs. These orchids will definitely stress if they are exposed to temperatures much over 26° Celsius (78° Fahrenheit) during summer.
Pleione orchids like good light during the active growing season and can be left out doors during summer or alternatively can be cultivated close to the glass if grown indoors. During the Pleione orchid winter resting period they can be placed on a shelf in the greenhouse or a cool room with diffused light. In case you are making use of shade cloth in your orchid cultivation methods, you should preferably use the 50 to 60 percent shade cloth.
The Pleione orchid prefers moist compost during the orchid active growth season. This growth season is usually from early spring through summer right into autumn. It is during this orchid growth spurt that you should ensure to water the orchid plant on a weekly basis (starting sparingly until established) using clean fresh water. From autumn through the winter the compost in which the orchid is planted should be allowed to dry out completely. As mentioned earlier the Pleione orchid is deciduous and will require a rest during the winter.
The Pleione orchid plants are moderate feeders and a balanced orchid plant fertilizer can be applied from spring through to summer at ¼ the pack recommendation given every third watering. During autumn you should change to a higher potash fertilizer (again at ¼ strength) which will encourage the new bulbs to ripen in readiness for the rest period. Refrain from feeding your Pleione orchid by the beginnings of winter and no more should be given until the following spring at which time normal feeding can resume.
Spider mites are small, eight legged, spider-like creatures which thrive in hot, dry conditions (like heated houses). Spider mites feed with piercing mouth parts, which cause plants to appear yellow and stippled. Leaf drop and plant death can occur with heavy infestations. Spider mites can multiply quickly because the female of the species can lay up to two hundred eggs in a life span of a mere thirty days. They also produce a web which can cover infested orchid leaves and orchid flowers. You will need to take prevention and control measures when cultivating Pleione orchids. Keep your Pleione orchid safe by keeping weeds down and removing infested plants.
Dry air seems to worsen the problem, so make sure that you water your Pleione orchid plants regularly. Take advantage of natural enemies such as ladybug larvae. If you decide on making use of a miticide then read and follow all label directions. Concentrate your efforts on the undersides of the leaves as that is where spider mites generally live.
Mealybugs are small, wingless, dull-white, soft-bodied insects that produce a waxy powdery covering. They have piercing/sucking mouth parts that suck the sap out of plant tissue. Mealybugs often look like small pieces of cotton and they tend to congregate where leaves and stems branch. The young tend to move around until they find a suitable feeding spot, then they hang out in colonies and feed. Mealybugs can weaken an orchid plant leading to yellow foliage and leaf drop. They also produce a sweet substance called honeydew (sought after by ants) which can lead to an unattractive black surface fungal growth called sooty mold. This has a more devastating effect on the orchid plants. In the event of your Pleione orchid falling prey to mealybugs, you should isolate the infested orchid plant from those orchid plants that are not infected. Do make use of the mealybugs' natural enemies, for instance the ladybug, to help when you have a mealybug infestation.
Slugs and snails love moist climates since they are mollusks. Slugs and snails will eat their way through just about anything that is not woody or highly scented. They may eat holes in your orchid plant leaves and strip the entire stem. Keep your garden as clean as possible, and try to eliminate all possible hiding places. Groundcover in shady places and heavy mulches provide protection from the elements and can be favorite hiding places. Beer traps works wonders. Alternatively you can also make use of commercial, chemical controls. Do practice caution when you go this route.
Pleione orchids can also fall prey to aphids. These are small, soft-bodied, slow-moving insects that suck fluids from the orchid plants. They will attack your orchid plant leaving stunted, deformed leaves and buds. They produce a sweet substance called honeydew which can lead to an unattractive black surface growth called sooty mold.
Always try to keep weeds to an absolute minimum, especially around your Pleione orchid plants. There are organic and inorganic products that can be used to control aphids. Ask your local professionals for advice.
The Pleione orchid is a terrestrial orchid, though some Pleione orchid species are semi-epiphytic. As such good drainage is important when cultivating this particular orchid. The Pleione orchids will do well in a potting mix that is made up of equal parts loam, sphagnum moss and medium grade orchid compost, this will provide good drainage and moisture retentiveness. Make use of a pot that will accommodate roots and about two years growth, but no more. If your container is too big then you run the risk of over-potting. Make sure that it has a drainage hole. Position the orchid over the pot and ensure that the crown of the orchid plant is just below the rim of the container. Hold the Pleione orchid in that position, then with your other hand, fill pot with moistened soil mix, tapping to firm the orchid potting mix.
Support your Pleione Orchid, especially if it has long flower stalks. Staking is best done as the orchid stem grows and before buds open. Often you will find that orchid growers prefer to insert stake when potting orchid, but it is up to you whether you want to follow this example.
Following are a few commonly cultivated Pleione orchid species. If you are in doubt it is best to grow your orchids in cool conditions and not the alpine conditions.


Jewish Surrogacy
How Judaism influences Surrogacy and Egg Donation Arrangements
Q. How does Judiasm affect Surrogacy and Egg Donation situations?
A. Jewish Surrogacy and Egg Donation allows Jewish Intended Parents to use the services of a surrogate or egg donor to expand their families allowing the resulting child(ren) to be considered Jewish under Jewish Law.
Q. Why do Jewish Intended Parents need this type of service?
A. Many Jewish Intended Parents do not. However, many Jewish Intended Parents who are of the Orthodox faith, who live in the country of Israel absolutely need a Jewish Surrogate or egg donor, in order to follow the halachic views of their Rabbi or the faith.
Q. What is the reason for these views?
A. These views are guidelines for Jewish Intended Parents who want their future children considered Jewish in the eyes of the Jewish faith, without the need of conversion. As well, a child born Jewish reaps certain benefits of citizenship, in Israel. However, each Rabbi may have their own rules about using a surrogate or egg donor, based on their own individual interpretations of Jewish law.
Q. Give me an example of rules that may need to be followed by these Intended Parents.
A. Examples include:
1) A Surrogate/Egg Donor must be unmarried or married to a non-Jew.
2) A Surrogate/Egg Donor must be Jewish based on her mother being Jewish and her maternal grandmother being Jewish.
3) The egg donor must not be Jewish at all. (in some cases)
Q. How can we prove a surrogate or egg donor is Jewish?
A. It is helpful and sometimes important to have some type of documentation that the Surrogate or Egg donor is Jewish. Documents showing maiden names of the surrogate's mother and grandmother, Bat Mitzvah or baby naming documentation, the Donor/Surrogate's Parents' Ketubbah, can be very helpful.
Certification can be done by a national Beth Din organization. I can arrange ceritification with the Beth Din. Their charge is typically $100-$300. In some cases documentation is unavailable or no longer exists. In these cases we have to use maiden names in hope she can be certified or accepted by your Rabbi.
For some Rabbis, documentation is not necessary.
Q. How easy is it to find a Jewish surrogate or egg donor?
A. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find a Jewish Surrogate, especially an unmarried surrogate. The demand is significantly higher than the supply. It can take many months to a year to find a Jewish surrogate, if not longer. It is much easier to find a Jewish Egg Donor, but again the demand is much greater than the supply.
Q. How can Fertility Alternatives, Inc. help?
A. Fertility Alternatives specializes in Jewish matches. However, it takes time to find the right Jewish Surrogate or Egg Donor. Being Jewish myself, and experiencing first hand what it is like to be Surrogate and Egg donor, I am able to narrow down my search and recruiting options. I am also experienced in arranging Jewish certifications for the Carriers/Donors with the Beth Din of America and the Rabbinical Council of California.
It is important to me to find more Jewish women out there willing to help infertile couples and individuals.
Assisted Reproduction and Judaism
by Miryam Z. Wahrman, Ph.D


Art, mythological art, women of mythology
The Sleep of Venus and Cupid by Constance Mayer
Constance Mayer was a French artist who painted portraits, miniatures, genre works and allegorical themes. Mayer was one of the successful women artists following the French Revolution. She had the opportunity to study with Joseph-Benoît Suvée and Jean-Baptiste Greuze, it explains that she adopted soft brush strokes and that she painted some sentimental scenes like her instructors.
In 1802 she began to study with Pierre-Paul Prud'hon; however, they did not have the typical pupil-master relationship, they were more like peers. After 1804 her works were very influenced by Prud'hon.
The Painting
The Sleep of Venus and Cupid by Constance Mayer (1806)
Venus as the goddess of love and sexuality became a popular subject of art during the Renaissance in Europe; since she was a classical figure for whom nudity was the natural state, it was socially acceptable to depict her unclothed and it was allowed a certain degree of erotic beauty in the depiction too.
This painting is today part of the Wallace Collection (London). It was property of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison before being brought by the fourth Marquess of Hertford in 1856. The Marquess lived in Paris during a very important period of French painting, between the years _PHONE_. Analysing his purchases, in general, they reflected the taste of a regular visitor of the annual Salon.
The torch of Venus by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
It follows a previous drawing of Prud'hon, however Mayer's style, by that time, was very influenced by her teacher. Here the use of atmospheric sfumato and the profusion of putti is inspired in Corregio and Albani, some of Prud'hon's favourites.
It is the subject of the awakening of love, which in here was complemented by The torch of Venus by Prud'hon as a symbol of 'Constancy in Love'.
As in many other cases of women artists who were associated with better known male artists, some of her works were in a first moment attributed to Prud'hon and until today is not completely clear exactly what was hers and what was his. This confusion is especially due to fact that they collaborated on several works (he sketched and she made the painting). That is the case of this painting in particular, which was initially attributed to Prud'hon.


putenv (3) - Linux Man Pages
putenv: change or add an environment variable
putenv - change or add an environment variable
_TAG_
int putenv(char *string);
putenv(): _XOPEN_SOURCE
 || /* Glibc since 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
The putenv() function adds or changes the value of environment variables. The argument string is of the form name=value. If name does not already exist in the environment, then string is added to the environment. If name does exist, then the value of name in the environment is changed to value. The string pointed to by string becomes part of the environment, so altering the string changes the environment.
The putenv() function returns zero on success, or nonzero if an error occurs. In the event of an error, errno is set to indicate the cause.
Insufficient space to allocate new environment.
putenv() Thread safetyMT-Unsafe const:env
The putenv() function is not required to be reentrant, and the one in glibc 2.0 is not, but the glibc 2.1 version is.
Since version 2.1.2, the glibc implementation conforms to SUSv2: the pointer string given to putenv() is used. In particular, this string becomes part of the environment; changing it later will change the environment. (Thus, it is an error to call putenv() with an automatic variable as the argument, then return from the calling function while string is still part of the environment.) However, glibc versions 2.0 to 2.1.1 differ: a copy of the string is used. On the one hand this causes a memory leak, and on the other hand it violates SUSv2.
The 4.4BSD version, like glibc 2.0, uses a copy.
SUSv2 removes the const from the prototype, and so does glibc 2.1.3.
The GNU C library implementation provides a nonstandard extension. If string does not include an equal sign:
then the named variable is removed from the caller's environment.
clearenv(3), getenv(3), setenv(3), unsetenv(3), environ(7)


Outside street and metal joints view.
Speech is golden
05 November 2018. Published by Ben Harris, Associate
With voice shopping projected to rise to £3.5 billion in UK sales by 2022, we consider how smart speakers are making waves and breaking barriers in the retail sector.
In the keynote speech of its I/O 2018 developer conference, Google announced "Duplex", an impressive new technology which will enable its Google Assistant AI to schedule hair appointments, make restaurant reservations and find out businesses' holiday opening hours. You ask Google Assistant to make a reservation, and the AI itself phones the business and independently speaks to them on your behalf – using a remarkably human voice.
Duplex is just one example of the maturing technologies and techniques, including voice recognition and machine learning, which are revolutionising the way we interact with retailers. Of these, perhaps the most significant impact will be made by smart speakers, the increasingly sophisticated devices providing easy access to voice-controlled virtual assistants in our homes. With just a short spoken command, consumers can access entertainment, search for information and purchase products online.
Much like apps for smart phones, businesses can also develop'skills' (or 'actions') to expand smart speakers' capabilities, allowing users to do everything from booking flights to dimming the lights. Already, over 10% of homes in the US and UK have one of these AI-powered speakers, and it is predicted that towards 70 million will be used in the US alone by 2019. There are a number of models and AIs to choose from, with the largest tech companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft each offering a different device. Even Facebook has recently shared its own candidate to be your resident AI friend.
Despite their name, however, these speakers aren't always so smart. The AI technology, which the tech companies are improving all the time, still makes mistakes. Reports have included a smart speaker ordering cat food at the inadvertent prompt of a TV advert, an episode of South Park leading to the creation of unwanted 7am alarm clocks, and even one device emitting disturbing random laughter as owners tried to fall asleep. Introducing into our homes a device which is always listening also raises security concerns – with one couple's device recently discovered to have been recording and transmitting their private conversations without their knowledge.
In the face of all these issues, the fact that smart speaker sales are still rapidly increasing is testament to the significant convenience they offer consumers. Users intuitively interact with the speakers through speech, so don't have to get to grips with a touchscreen interface. Groceries can be ordered without lifting a finger, and AI-powered customer service is just a frustrated word away. Experts suggest that, by 2022, the value of purchases made through voice shopping will grow to around $40 billion in the US and £3.5 billion in the UK. With around half of US and UK smart speaker users having shopped with their device, those predictions could well become a reality.
Smart speakers can also provide potential customers with personalised product recommendations. Recent developments in the accuracy of voice recognition technology mean that smart speakers can differentiate between different users, enabling retailers to boost sales through targeted suggestions based on individuals' shopping history. With tools such as Adobe's voice analytics providing companies with valuable data on how customers interact with their brands through speech, smart speakers offer retailers the chance to build unprecedented brand loyalty.
While that might sound like good news for retailers, there are certainly challenges for them to overcome. As voice search accounts for an increasingly high percentage of online searches, and consumers expect short and fast spoken responses from their smart speakers, marketers will have to adapt their strategy, brands and budgets to ensure that their products are among the very first suggested, while developers will have to work to integrate smart speaker interactions seamlessly with existing retail systems. Further, sound-only results (or relatively small screens on some newer models) restrict the extent to which customers can investigate product recommendations before buying. With consumers yet to build real trust in their smart speakers, this limited ability to gather facts and shop around means that repeat orders and purchases of low-value products are currently more prevalent than sales of expensive electronics or the latest fashion.
But for those retailers who do adapt to this voice-driven new environment, the opportunity is exciting. Eager to take control of the market, tech companies are partnering with retailers to maximise their offering to consumers. Google Home provides easy access to shop with many household names such as Argos, Tesco and Costco, while Google's collaboration with H&M on the "Home Stylist" voice app brings a personal stylist experience into the home. On Amazon's devices, tens of thousands of skills enable effortless orders from companies such as Domino's, Starbucks and Uber. Amazon and Microsoft have even partnered together to allow consumers access to both companies' AIs from a single device, recognising that users will want to benefit from the specialised skills of different AIs without cluttering their homes with multiple devices.
As smart speakers and their AIs increasingly infiltrate our homes and voice shopping becomes ever more popular, retailers must plan ahead to make sure their voice, too, will be heard.


text:
List of obelisks in Rome
The city of Rome harbours the most obelisks in the world. There are eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also until 2005 an ancient Ethiopian obelisk in Rome.
For transport down the Nile to Alexandria and from there across the Mediterranean Sea to the capital Rome, special heavy cargo carriers, the Obelisk ships, were used by the Romans. On site, large Roman cranes were employed to erect the monoliths.
 Ancient Egyptian obelisks
|Lateranense||Tuthmosis III / Tuthmosis IV||Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano
||Tallest obelisk in Rome, and the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, weighing over 230 tons. Originally from the temple of Amun in Karnak.map Brought to Alexandria with another obelisk by Constantius II, and brought on its own from there to Rome in 357 to decorate the spina of the Circus Maximus.map Found in three pieces in 1587, restored approximately 4 m shorter by Pope Sixtus V, and erected near the Lateran Palace and basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano in 1588 in the place of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was moved to the Capitoline Hill.|
(41 m)[A 1]
|Vaticano||Unknown||Saint Peter's Square
||map by the prefect Cornelius Gallus on Augustus's orders around 30–28 BC. No hieroglyphs. Brought to Rome by Caligula in 37 for the spina of the Vatican Circus.map Relocated by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 using a method devised by Domenico Fontana; the first monumental obelisk raised in the modern period, it is the only obelisk in Rome that has not toppled since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the gilt ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. Fontana later removed the ancient metal ball, now in a Rome museum, that stood atop the obelisk and found only dust. Pedro Tafur in his Andanças (circa 1440) mentions that many passed between the ground and the "tower" basis "thinking it a saintly thing".|
|Flaminio||Seti I / Ramses II||Piazza del Popolo
||Originally from Heliopolis.map Brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC with the Solare obelisk and erected on the spina of the Circus Maximus.map Found with the Lateranense obelisk in 1587 in two pieces and erected by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. Sculptures with lion fountains were added to the base in 1818.|
|Solare||Psammetichus II||Piazza di Montecitorio
||Originally from Heliopolis.map Brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC with the Flaminio obelisk to form the gnomon of a sundial on the Campus Martius.map Found in 16th century but reburied. Rediscovered and erected by Pope Pius VI in front of the Palazzo Montecitorio in 1792.|
|Macuteo||Ramses II||Piazza della Rotonda
||Originally one of a pair at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, the other being the now much shorter Matteiano. Moved to the Temple of Isis near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Found in 1373 near San Macuto and erected east of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline. Moved to the front of the Pantheon by Pope Clement XI in 1711 over a fountain by Filippo Barigioni.|
|Minerveo||Apries||Santa Maria sopra Minerva
||Originally one of a pair from Sais. Brought to Rome by Diocletian for the nearby Temple of Isis. Found in 1655 and erected in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII on an Elephant base by Bernini, behind the Pantheon in Piazza della Minerva. The other of the pair is in Urbino.|
|Dogali||Ramses II||Baths of Diocletian
||Originally one of a pair from Heliopolis, the other now in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Moved to the Temple of Isis in Rome. Found in 1883 by Rodolfo Lanciani near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Now commemorates the Battle of Dogali, originally in front of Near Termini Station and moved to its present site in 1924.|
|Matteiano||Ramses II||Villa Celimontana
||Originally one of a pair at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, the other being the Macuteo which retains much more of its original height. Moved to the Temple of Isis near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Found in the 14th century and erected east of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline. Moved to Villa Celimontana after Michelangelo redesigned the square in the late 16th century. Lost again; fragments rediscovered and re-erected in 1820. Smallest obelisk in Rome.|
 Ancient Roman obelisks
At least five obelisks were manufactured in Egypt in the Roman period at the request of the wealthy Romans, or made in Rome as copies of ancient Egyptian originals.
||A copy commissioned by Domitian and erected at the Temple of Serapis. Moved to the Circus of Maxentius by Maxentius. The Earl of Arundel paid a deposit and attempted to ship the four pieces to London in the late 1630s but Urban VIII disallowed its export.|
|Quirinale||Piazza del Quirinale
||Originally erected on the eastern flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Esquiline obelisk. Found in 1527. Erected by Pope Pius VI in 1786 on the Quirinal Hill next to statues of the Dioscuri (called the 'Horse Tamers') from the Baths of Constantine.|
||Originally erected on the western flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Quirinale obelisk. Found in 1527 and erected in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V behind Santa Maria Maggiore.|
|Sallustiano||Trinità dei Monti
||Above the Spanish Steps. An Aurelian copy, although smaller, of the Flaminio obelisk of Ramses II in the Piazza del Popolo, for the Gardens of Sallust. Found by the Ludovisi and moved to the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano in 1734, but kept horizontal. Erected in 1789 by Pope Pius VI.|
||Commissioned by Hadrian and erected in Tivoli for the tomb of Antinous. Moved to Rome by Elagabalus to decorate the spina of the Circus Varianus. Found in the 16th century near the Porta Maggiore. Moved to the Palazzo Barberini, then moved to the Vatican by Pope Clement XIV; finally erected on the Pincian by Pope Pius VII in 1822.|
 Obelisk of Axum
There was also an Ethiopian obelisk in Rome, the Obelisk of Axum, 24 m, placed in the Piazza di Porta Capena. It had been taken from Axum by the Italian Army during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1937. It was struck by lightning in May 2002. After being restored, it was disassembled and returned to Ethiopia in April 2005.
 Modern obelisks
There are five well-known modern obelisks in Rome:
- Villa Medici, 19th century copy of the original, found in the gardens and taken to Florence.
- Two obelisks in the Villa Torlonia, 1842, Baveno granite
- Foro Italico, 1932, 17.5 m, Carrara marble, originally dedicated to Benito Mussolini, and inscribed Mussolini Dux
- Marconi, 1959, 45 m, in the centre of the EUR district, dedicated to Guglielmo Marconi, built for the 1960 Summer Olympics. 92 panels in white marble contain illustrations of Marconi's career and allegorical scenes.
- Supported on bronze lions and surmounted by the Chigi arms in bronze, in all 41 m to the cross on its top
 See also
Roman triumphal monuments
- Touring Club Italiano, Roma e Dintorni.
- Travels and Adventures, Chapter 3, Pero Tafur, digitized from The Broadway Travellers series, edited by Sir E. Denison Ross and Eileen Power, translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts (New York, London: Harper & brothers 1926):
On the other side of it is a high tower made of one piece of stone, like a three-cornered diamond raised upon three brazen feet; and many, taking it for a holy thing, creep between the ground and the base of that tower. This was a work undertaken in honour of Julius Caesar and assigned for his burial, and on the top of it are three large gilt apples in which is the dust of the Emperor [


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Renewables currently provide 6% of OECD Asia Oceania's energy demand for heat supply, the main contribution coming from the use of biomass. The lack of district heating networks is a severe structural barrier to the large scale utilisation of geothermal and solar thermal energy. In the Energy [R]evolution scenario, renewables provide 47% of OECD Asia Oceania's total heat demand in 2030 and 90% in 2050.
- Energy efficiency measures can decrease the current demand for heat supply by 13%, in spite of improving living standards.
- For direct heating, solar collectors, biomass/biogas as well as geothermal energy are increasingly substituting for fossil fuel-fired systems.
- The introduction of strict efficiency measures e.g. via strict building standards and ambitious support programms for renewable heating systems are needed to achieve economies of scale within the next 5 to 10 years.
Table 5.62 shows the development of the different renewable technologies for heating in OECD Asia Oceania over time. Up to 2020 biomass will remain the main contributors of the growing market share. After 2020, the continuing growth of solar collectors and a growing share of geothermal heat pumps will reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.


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Issue: February 9, 2008
Can last year's seeds cause curly-top virus problems this year?
I had a severe problem with curly-top virus in my tomatoes last year. This disease was identified by my local County Agent. I am preparing to start my seedlings now and was wondering if plants grown from seed I saved last year will cause this year's plants to be infected with curly-top.
Santa Rosa, NM
Dr. Natalie Goldberg, NMSU Extension Plant Pathologist, assured me that curly-top virus is not seed borne. So, your saved seeds will not be a source of reinfection this year. However, Dr. Goldberg warned that since you had a problem last year, you can anticipate problems again. There are measures you can take to reduce the problem, and perhaps the weather this winter was also helpful in reducing the potential for curly-top next summer.
If the fall and winter were dry, the curly-top virus may not have over-wintered well. The winter annual weeds that allow the virus to survive may not have developed or survived this winter. These weeds also provide winter food and habitat for the insects that transmit the virus from one plant to another. Cold dry winters reduce both the weed and insect populations. The previous winter, followed by your problem, was cold, but wet. This helped provide the proper conditions for winter annual weeds and curly-top virus survival.
However, even if the winter is cold and dry, some weeds will survive and the virus may still exist in your environment. You can reduce the potential for problems by eliminating the winter annual weeds from your property. Do this now so that any insects surviving with them cannot survive until you plant your garden this spring.
Since it is not possible for you to control weeds on your neighbors' properties, you can also do things to protect your garden from imported insects carrying the curly-top virus. The first thing to consider is that insecticides are not effective. You can take measures to keep the insects from your plants. Do this by growing the tomatoes in large tomato cages (large enough to contain the mature plants). By wrapping the cage with insect netting or fine mesh row cover material, you can protect your plants from the insects and diseases they carry. Dr. Goldberg points out that tomato plants are susceptible to infection by curly-top virus throughout the growing season, so the tomatoes must be protected through the whole season. That is why the tomato cage must be large enough to contain the mature plant.
There are some additional benefits to using the wrapping material. The wrapping material will provide protection from drying winds and it will provide slight shading which will benefit the tomato plant. The disadvantage is that the material must be unwrapped from the tomato plant to allow harvest and then reapplied to allow no gaps for insect entry each time you harvest.
For more gardening information, visit the NMSU Extension publications World Wide Web site at _URL_
Send your gardening questions to:
Yard and Garden, ATTN: Dr. Curtis Smith
NMSU Cooperative Extension Service
9301 Indian School Road, NE, Suite 112
Albuquerque, NM 87112
Curtis W. Smith, Ph.D., is an Extension Horticulture Specialist with New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service. New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator.


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All manufacturers strive to produce the highest quality products for their customers. As a result, materials testing services from a materials testing lab like Innovatech Labs are frequently used to ensure that product quality.
Materials testing can uncover the causes of product failures, identify contaminants or toxins, and also determine the chemical composition of samples. When it comes to analyzing the surfaces of products, Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) are two commonly used materials testing techniques. While both have similar applications, each is unique and valuable for different situations.
Below we discuss similarities and differences, and when each technique is utilized.
ESCA and AES are both known for their ability to analyze thin films, stains and contaminants on the surfaces of products. Also, both techniques can be used to analyze passivation layers on metallic surfaces. AES can be performed on conductive and semi-conductive materials, ESCA can be performed on these types of materials in addition to polymers, glass and other insulating materials. As a result, both techniques can be useful for electronics and medical device manufacturers.
Instrumentation and Sample Extraction
ESCA analysis, which is also called X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (or XPS), uses an x-ray beam to excite atoms on the surface of a solid sample, which results in the emission of photoelectrons. Then, an energy analysis of the photoelectrons is performed to identify both elemental and chemical bonding information.
On the other hand, AES uses an electron beam to excite atoms, which results in the emission of electrons known as Auger electrons. Like ESCA, an energy analysis is then conducted to uncover the analytical information.
ESCA analysis can analyze oxidation of chromium and iron. This is especially useful for electronics and medical device manufacturers that worry about oxidation leading to product malfunction or failure. For example, an electronics manufacturer discovered a haze on a polyimide film. The manufacturer believed that the haze was from the chromium film that was not completely etched away during manufacturing. ESCA scanned the area and determined that there was in fact a presence of chromium, supporting the manufacturer's theory.
As for AES, this technique can analyze the chemistry and thickness of passivation layers of stents and small diameter wires. For example, AES was performed on a Nitinol stent to determine any impurities in the oxide layer and the thickness of the layer. Testing revealed that the passivation layer was composed mostly of titanium dioxide and its thickness was approximately 300 angstroms.
When is Each Testing Method Used?
ESCA analysis can be used to:
- Evaluate the passivation of stainless steels and the oxidation of chromium and iron
- Analyze the surface chemistry of polymers, glasses and other insulators
- Resolve issues related to metal interdiffusion, resin-to-metal adhesion or oxidation
AES can be used to:
- Determine the chemical composition of a surfaces and interfaces
- Analyze contamination and stains
- Analyze passivation layers
For more information on ESCA analysis, Auger Electron Spectroscopy or any other materials testing services from Innovatech Labs, contact us today.


_USER_ {2016, title = {Read Operation Performance of Large SelectorLess Cross-Point Array with Self-Rectifying Memristive Device}, journal = {Integration, the VLSI Journal}, volume = {54}, year = {2016}, month = {2016}, chapter = {56}, abstract = {
Memristive device based passive crossbar arrays hold a great promise for high-density and non-volatile memories. A\ significant challenge of ultra-high density integration of these crossbars is unwanted sneak-path currents. The most\ common way of addressing this issue today is an integrated or external selecting device to block unwanted current\ paths. In this paper, we use a memristive device with intrinsic rectifying behavior to suppress sneak-path currents in\ the crossbar. We systematically evaluate the read operation performance of large-scale crossbar arrays with regard read\ margin and power consumption for different crossbar sizes, nanowire interconnect resistances, ON and OFF resistances,\ rectification ratios under different read-schemes. Outcomes of this study allow improved understanding of the trade-off\ between read margin, power consumption and read-schemes. Most importantly, this study provides a guideline for circuit\ designers to improve the performance of oxide-based resistive memory (RRAM) based cross-point arrays. Overall, selfrectifying behavior of the memristive device efficiently improves the read operation performance of large-scale selectorless\ cross-point arrays.
}, keywords = {Memristive device, RRAM, Security, crossbar array memory, memristor, power consumption, read margin, sneak-path currents, verilog-A}, doi = {doi:10.1016/j.vlsi.2016.02.002}, author = {Yansong Gao and Omid Kavehei and Said Al-Sarawi and D C Ranasinghe and Derek Abbott} }


text: Active Inference (AIF) is a framework that can be used both to describe information processing in naturally intelligent systems, such as the human brain, and to design synthetic intelligent systems (agents). In this paper we show that Expected Free Energy (EFE) minimisation, a core feature of the framework, does not lead to purposeful explorative behaviour in linear Gaussian dynamical systems. We provide a simple proof that, due to the specific construction used for the EFE, the terms responsible for the exploratory (epistemic) drive become constant in the case of linear Gaussian systems. This renders AIF equivalent to KL control. From a theoretical point of view this is an interesting result since it is generally assumed that EFE minimisation will always introduce an exploratory drive in AIF agents. While the full EFE objective does not lead to exploration in linear Gaussian dynamical systems, the principles of its construction can still be used to design objectives that include an epistemic drive. We provide an in-depth analysis of the mechanics behind the epistemic drive of AIF agents and show how to design objectives for linear Gaussian dynamical systems that do include an epistemic drive. Concretely, we show that focusing solely on epistemics and dispensing with goal-directed terms leads to a form of maximum entropy exploration that is heavily dependent on the type of control signals driving the system. Additive controls do not permit such exploration. From a practical point of view this is an important result since linear Gaussian dynamical systems with additive controls are an extensively used model class, encompassing for instance Linear Quadratic Gaussian controllers. On the other hand, linear Gaussian dynamical systems driven by multiplicative controls such as switching transition matrices do permit an exploratory drive.


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"Follow the Money" is a video summarizing the results from the project by Northwestern University grad students Daniel Grady and Christian Thiemann. Using data from the website Where's George?, they have been able to track the movement of U.S. paper currency. What can you learn from this? That there are natural borders within the U.S. that don't necessarily follow state borders, and it can also be used to predict the spread of disease because it maps movement of people within the U.S.
From Maria Popova on BrainPickings.org: This may sound like dry statistical uninterestingness, but the video visualization of the results is rather eye-opening, revealing how money — not state borders, not political maps, not ethnic clusters — is the real cartographer drawing our cultural geography. The project was a winner at the 2009 Visualization Challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and AAA.
From Manuel Lima on VisualComplexity.com: Some places, such as Los Angeles, California, have many bills passing through it from across the nation, while others, such as Anderson County in Tennessee - Grady's home - have bills circulating mainly within a more local neighborhood. Shown here are images from the video. The data from the Where's George? project is in fact so pertinent that is also being used by researchers to predict the spread of flu across the United States.
You can see the Northwest project site, which has a much more adademic title "Community Structure in Multi-Scale Transportation Networks".


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|Home » Howtos » Secure code » Taint|
Taint mode is a way of making your code more secure. It means that your program will be fussier about data it receives from an external source. External sources include users, the file system, the environment, locale information, other programs and some system calls (e.g. readdir).
Some functions can unexpectedly cause problems with bad data. For example, the "magical" properties of the perl open function mean that it may be used to open a pipe to any arbitrary shell commands. It's in your interests to ensure that your program is opening the file that you think it should be opening, and not a command line supplied by a mischievous user.
There are differing opinions on when to use taint mode. Certainly as a minimum, any CGI application should use taint mode. When accepting external data you should always program defensively and use taint mode to ensure that the external data matches your expectations.
Some people argue that taint mode should always be used as it forces you to consider the implications of your use of external data. This is also useful because if you write your program without taint mode and then decide you need taint mode later on, you may have a lot of work adding the checks required.
You turn taint mode on by using the -T flag in your hashbang line. For example:
Or if you turn warnings on using -w:
Taint mode cannot be turned off in a script once it has been turned on. Note that the -T argument is read by perl even on those platforms where the hashbang line itself is not used by the operating system.
When your program receives any data in taint mode, that data is marked as tainted. Tainted data may not be used to affect anything outside your program (for example, to open a file, or used in a system call), until you have specifically un-tainted it.
If you assign a variable a tainted value, that variable is also tainted. For example:
#!/usr/bin/perl -T use strict; use warnings; my $arg = $ARGV; my $file = "/home/foo/$arg"; open FOO, ">$file" or die $!; print FOO "Yay\n"; close FOO; exit 0;
This program would fail with the following error:
Insecure dependency in open while running with -T switch at./test.pl line 9.
To untaint data you need to apply a regular expression and any data that you capture is then untainted. Remember when writing your regular expressions that it is better to include patterns that are allowed rather than those that aren't.
For the example above, assume we want the argument passed in on the command line to be a filename (not a path to a file), so we will only allow a filename argument limited to containing any alphanumeric characters, dots and underscores.
#!/usr/bin/perl -T use strict; use warnings; my $arg = $ARGV; # Untaint data and check result $arg =~ m/^([a-zA-Z0-9\._]+)$/ or die "Bad data in first argument"; my $file = "/home/foo/$1"; # Assign untainted data open FOO, ">$file" or die $!; print FOO "Yay\n"; close FOO; exit 0;
It is important to anchor your regular expression (use ^ and $ to ensure you match the entire string) and it is equally important to check that your regular expression has succeeded.
When writing modules and subroutines, you need to be careful that your code doesn't untaint data where it shouldn't. For example, the CGI module used to untaint all parameters because it used a regular expression with capturing parenthesis to capture the data.
Using the above example, if we want the data to remain tainted despite our check, we could use:
#!/usr/bin/perl -T use strict; use warnings; use re 'taint'; # Keep data captured by parens tainted my $arg = $ARGV; $arg =~ m/^([a-zA-Z0-9\._]+)$/ or die "Bad data in first argument"; my $file = "/home/becky/$1"; open FOO, ">$file" or die $!; print FOO "Yay\n"; close FOO; exit 0;
This would fail like the first example:
Insecure dependency in open while running with -T switch at./test.pl line 11.
If you then want to use capturing parenthesis to untaint data, you can use:
no re 'taint';


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IT SPIRAL is a collaborative project by nine universities and four industries to develop a common curriculum for teaching software engineering. It combines existing foundation educational practices at the individual universities, a shared DVD library on advanced software engineering topics, and common intensive sessions led by industry participants. It aims to develop advanced IT skills in top-level students, shared educational skills and materials among the universities, and practical cooperation with industry to focus and advance masters level software engineering education. IT SPIRAL combines fundamentals, advanced topics, and a practical focus in a scalable approach to developing world-class software engineers.


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Updated 01/09/2013 07:40 AM
Biologists begin crow hazing
Crow hazing is underway in Watertown. Wildlife biologists from Loomacres Wildlife Management are trying break up thousands of crows that are roosting in the city. YNN's Carmella Mataloni was at the hazing and tells us how biologists are trying to clear out the problem.
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WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Pyrotechnics and lasers are just some of the tools biologists are using to try and clear out an ongoing crow problem within the city.
"When one bird finds an advantage, they all start trying to take advantage," said Wildlife Biologist, Cody Baciuska.
Cody Baciuska is the Wildlife Biologist conducting the hazing. He says with increasing temperatures in urban environments, a low predator rate and a section of habitat that attracts the crows, makes the perfect home.
"During the winter months is when they look for these advantages to monopolize to help them get through the winter," said Baciuska.
For weeks an estimated 30,000 crows have been found in various nesting spots.
Wildlife officials say with their techniques, they hope to disrupt many of the roosting patterns.
Biologists who are working on the crow hazing say that here by the river is one of the most problematic areas because of all the trees it gives crows more places to roost.
"Our efforts are going to reduce the number of them and split the flocks up. They are only a really big problem when they are forming the really large flocks," said Baciuska.
Wildlife officials hope these techniques will eventually cut the amount of crows flocking to the city in half.
Crow hazing will continue tomorrow from dusk until dawn to make sure the crows won't come back after they've been scared off.