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Multi-Language for Visual Studio
Quick Tour (Windows Forms)
After you have installed Multi-Language for Visual Studio, there will be a new command in the Tools menu in Visual Studio.
This menu item activates Multi-Language and shows it in a tool-window. You can dock this window at the side of the main Visual Studio window, or drag it into a tab group, like other tool windows in Visual Studio. It's probably best to place it at the bottom, in a wide format.
Selecting a project
A Visual Studio solution may contain multiple projects. With Multi-Language you usually work with a single project. To get started, you must first select the project. There are two ways to do this.
|from a dialog||When you select Multi-Language from the tools menu, it will probably show a list of the projects in a dialog. |
Simply select the project and click on OK.
This dialog can be disabled, so if somebody else has already worked with Multi-Language, it might not appear.
|from a drop down list||At the top of Multi-Language's main window, just below the toolbar, there is a drop down project list |
You can select a different project at any time from this list.
Initialising the project for localization
When you select a project for the first time, you must specify what the original language of the project is. Multi-Language will show a list of the languages supported by Windows.|
Select the original language and click on OK.
The buttons below the list change the way the list is displayed. In particular, the button English simply shows the language names in English. It does not select English in the list.
As a second step, you can select one of two ways to handle strings in the source code:|
Named resources is the standard method in Visual Studio. This is recommended for new users.
ml_string() is a custom implementation used in older versions of Multi-Language.
This dialog will probably be followed by second dialog, with options for scanning the project.|
Just click on OK to accept the default options.
Multi-Language will now add one or two new files to your project.
|_ml.xml||This is the project database used by Multi-Language. It is added to the project with BuildAction=None.|
|mlstring.vb or |
mlstring.h +.cpp
|This module contains support functions, in particular the function ml_string(), which is used to load localized strings.|
This file is not added if you selected the option Named Resources.
Scanning the project
Multi-Language will now scan the project. This is performed in two phases:
- scanning controls
- scanning source code
In the first phase, the controls in each Form and each UserControl are scanned for properties with the localizable attribute. In the second phase, the source code of the project is scanned for texts which may require translation.
The results of the scan are displayed in two separate grids in Multi-Language's window.|
You can switch between these grids using the tabs at the bottom of the window.
Adding a second language
To add a new language to the project, click on the
symbol on Multi-Language's toolbar|
This brings up a dialog very similar to one where we selected the original language of the project.
Select a new language from the list.|
If either the Microsoft or the Google Translator supports both
Select one of these options if you want the texts to be translated automatically.
Click on OK to add this language to the project.
Some languages, such as German or French, are considered to be neutral languages. The regional variations, such as German(Germany), German(Austria), French(France) or French(Canada) are referred to as specific languages. You should always add the neutral language before adding a related specific language.
The.NET framework uses a resource fallback mechanism. For example, if a resource is defined for German, but not for German(Austria), then an application using German(Austria) will automatically use the resource defined for German. The best practice is usually to specify all translations for the neutral language, and only regional differences (if any) for the specific language.
After adding the second language, Multi-Language will
- add a new column to the grids for the new language
- search for translations of common texts such as OK and Cancel in the Global Translations Database
- if you selected the Microsoft or the Google Translator option, then it will translate all other texts online the online translation service
Now we will take a closer look at the two grids.
The controls grid
To see the controls grid, make sure that the controls tab at the bottom of the window is selected. The grid should look something like the following screen shot.
By default, the properties are shown in a hierarchical manner, showing the association of properties to controls. As an alternative, you can view the properties on each Form or UserControl in a flat list. To select this mode, click on the button on the toolbar and then select Flat list from the menu, as shown below:
The controls grid will then look something like the following screen shot.
To enter a translation, simply click in cell and type in the new text. If you are able to translate the text yourself, this is the easiest way enter translations.
The background colour indicates the status of the translation, which has one of the following six values.
The original text in the project.
|Edited text||The text has been edited in the grid.|
The text was inserted from the global database.
The text was imported from the a spreadsheet (Excel or OpenOffice).
The text was translated automatically using the Microsoft or the Google Translator.
|Imported localization||The text was imported from the project localization, made without Multi-Language.|
If a text is shown in light grey, then it is the text which would be retrieved at runtime via the resource fallback mechanism. In general, if a text is not defined for a specific language (e.g. Spanish(Mexico)) then the text for the neutral language (e.g. Spanish) would be used. If this has not been defined, then the original text in the project would be used.
The check boxes to the left of the property name indicate that the text has been selected for translation. By default, all properties which contain a non empty string are selected. In the screen shot below, you can see two menu separators with the text "-". It makes no sense to translate these, so we can deselect them by clicking on the check boxes.
In fact, we never really want to see these properties again, so we can go one step further and hide them completely. To do this, we first click on the sun symbol at the left hand margin. The sun symbol is replaced by a moon symbol. Then click on the sun/moon toggle button (, or ) on the toolbar to actuall hide the texts. See also below (Hiding Texts).
By default, properties containing empty strings are not shown in the grid. It very rarely makes sense to translate empty strings, so this if sensible setting. If you do want to see localizable properties containing empty strings, then you can modify this option in the settings dialog. To show this dialog click on the project settings button on the toolbar. Details of this and other options are described in the online help file.
The source code grid
To see the source code grid, make sure that the source code tab at the bottom of the window is selected. The grid should look something like the following screen shot.
As in the controls grid:
- you can select a text for translation by clicking on the checkbox or
- hide the text by clicking on the sun symbol.
In contrast to the controls grid however, none of the texts are selected automatically.
When you click on a line in the source code grid, the corresponding line in the source code will be shown in the source editor.
If you click on a text in the source editor with the right (or secondary) mouse button, you can select the command "Show in Multi-Language" from the context menu, which will locate the text in the source code grid.
This is identical to placing the cursor on a string and clicking on the "Goto line" symbol on Multi-Language's toolbar.
When you select a string for translation by clicking on the check-box, Multi-Language will modify the source code in one of two ways.
If you selected the option Named resources, then Multi-Language will generate a resource string containing the text.|
It will then replace the text with a reference to the named resource.
In the screen shot, the text "Save" has been replaced with a resource string named Save. Multi-Language will automatically generate a resource name based on the text itself.
Note: After compiling the project, Visual Studio should show the content of the resource string as a tooltip on the resource name, as shown below.
If you selected the option ml_string(), then Multi-Language will assign a string ID number to the text and insert a call to the function ml_string() into the source code.|
As you can see, this function has two parameters:
The exact format of the function ml_string depends on the computer language used in the project.
The function ml_string is implemented in the module mlstring which was added to the project from a template file.
All template files are listed in the Multi-Language options pages. You can make a modified copy of any template file and update the configuration to use your modified version.
Once a string has been selected for translation, you can enter a translation simply by typing a new text into the grid.
As with the controls grid, you also have the option of hiding texts which do not require translation, by clicking on the sun symbol at the left hand margin, which is then replaced by a moon symbol. See also below (Hiding Texts).
Hiding texts which should not be translated is an important feature of Multi-Language for


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The fourth annual report, published today, gives an overview of pesticide residues found in food in 2010 in the 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland and Norway. As part of this analysis, EFSA tested an innovative approach to dietary exposure known as cumulative risk assessment. In contrast to established techniques that evaluate pesticide residues individually, this approach considers the potential effects of combined exposure to a number of chemicals that have similar toxicological properties.
EFSA Pesticides Unit head Herman Fontier said: "This annual report on pesticide residues makes important recommendations for improved monitoring at national and EU level. It ensures risk managers have the most accurate and relevant information upon which to make decisions."
The national programmes found that 97.2% of samples contained residues within the European legal limit– known as the maximum residue level (MRL). The lowest MRL exceedance rates were found on foods of animal origin – with 0.1% of samples above permissible limits. MRL exceedance rates of foods imported into the EU, Norway and Iceland were more than five times higher than those of foods originating in these nations - 7.9% compared to 1.5%. MRL values for organic food commodities in the EU are identical to those for non-organic foods. Analysis of 3,571 organic food samples showed an MRL exceedance rate of 0.8%.
The results of the EU-coordinated programme for 2010 showed that 98.4% of samples analysed were compliant with permissible limits. MRL exceedance rates have been broadly stable over the last four years – with the percentage of samples above the legal limits ranging from 2.3% in 2007 to 1.2% in 2009. The 2010 report found the foods with the highest percentage of samples exceeding the MRL were oats (5.3%), lettuce (3.4%), strawberries (2.8%) and peaches (1.8%).
Based on the findings of the 2010 monitoring programmes, EFSA concluded there was no long-term risk to consumer health from the pesticide residues through their diets. In assessing short-term acute exposure, the report found that a risk could not be excluded for 0.4% of samples – or 79 out of a total of 18,243. This conclusion is based on a worst-case scenario that assumed consumption of the largest portion of a food type that contains the highest residue measured of each pesticide.
In addition to the established dietary exposure evaluation, EFSA performed for the first time a cumulative risk assessment as part of the 2010 report. The main aim of the pilot programme was to assess the need for improvements in the way Member States report monitoring data. EFSA highlighted the value of this trial cumulative risk assessment in paving the way for the better use of the approach in future reports. But it also recognised the need for additional data collection by national authorities and modifications to the methodology in order to reduce the significant uncertainties found in the results.
Mr Fontier said: "Cumulative risk assessment relies on a refined analysis and understanding of the possible types of combined toxicity of chemicals in food. It requires sophisticated methodologies capable of handling and combining huge amounts of data. This is why the pilot cumulative risk assessment presented in the latest report focuses on methodology rather than results, which are inconclusive as they contain a high degree of uncertainty."
EFSA has been working intensively on the development of these methodologies and on data collection over the last five years. This undertaking, which is also central to the Authority's work on chemical mixtures in foods, is ongoing and will result in a wider coverage of the combined effects of pesticides residues in future reports.
The 2010 report recommends a series of measures to further improve future monitoring programmes and the enforcement of pesticide residue legislation in Europe.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Scope of Practice
As multi-skilled professionals, dental assistants possess a diverse knowledge base. They effectively perform clinical and administrative procedures through assignment and delegation of duties and responsibilities within provincial legislation.
Dental assistants practice effective interpersonal skills and maintain collaborative relationships with all members of the oral health care team. They are skilled at using technology for communication, exercising critical thinking and decision-making abilities and applying dental knowledge to clinical situations. Their education, training, professionalism and experience, coupled with provincial registration and licensing, qualify them to perform a variety of supportive and direct patient care procedures.
Dental assistants prepare and support patients for treatment by practising universal precautions and infection control, organising armamentarium, attending to patients' comfort and collecting and updating health histories. Dental assistants also assist with and perform a variety of clinical procedures. Using four or six-handed dentistry they assist the operator with the administration of anaesthetics, dental speciality and general dentistry procedures. They perform preventive, orthodontic, and prosthodontic intra-oral procedures as well as post treatment care. These may include selective coronal polishing, preliminary impressions, dental dams and fluoride application.
Dental assistants expose, process and mount dental radiographs for use in dental treatment. They produce records such as dental photographs and study models to aid in diagnosis. Dental assistants support clinical treatment procedures by performing certain laboratory functions. They fabricate study models and appliances as well as perform minor repairs. Dental assistants are responsible for routine maintenance of instruments and equipment in a dental practice. It is vital that instruments and equipment are in proper working order so that patient care can be delivered safely and effectively.
Dental assistants may also perform basic practice management procedures. These may include maintaining inventory of dental supplies, managing patients' appointments or maintaining financial records.
Dental assistants provide oral self-care, disease prevention, post-operative care, nutritional counselling and health education to patients and groups.
As new technologies emerge, dental assistants' scope of practice continually evolves. For this reason, dental assistants have a professional responsibility to learn about new technologies, to consider the impact of these new technologies on the dental profession and their own scope of practice, participate actively in their professional associations and upgrade their skills as regulations change.
CDAA National Occupational Analysis (2007) – lists in detail the allowable skills in each province. This is for reference purposes only. Please contact your dental assisting regulatory authority in your province for further information.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Depending on support condition rafts are of three types; namely raft on soil, raft on piles and buoyancy raft. Depending on structural system raft foundation are of three types as well, namely plain rafts, rafts with beam & slabs and cellular raft having rigid structure with slab, columns and walls.
Raft slab of uniform thickness is very popular as it is simple in design & construction. When column load is very heavy, sometimes pedestals are introduced to transmit load to bigger area.
This type of raft is selected when column spacing is uniform and fairly small and moderate loading are imposed on columns. Raft with slab and beam are chosen, when they have to support heavy buildings. This is usually required to reduce excessive distortion of supported super-structure due to expected variation in compressibility of soil underneath and variation of load on raft.
This type of raft has obviously many difficulties. If the beams provided are deep, the ribs produce problems with placement; if ribs are projected above raft slab, the basement becomes useless and whether an upper slab above inverted beams is provided to form a ground floor or the gaps between ribs are filled up.
In this case, the entire foundation has to be lowered. When ribs are placed below raft slab; the construction of beams need excavation and after casting the gap remains around beams have to be filled which produce disturbance in soil mass and obviously impair bearing capacity of foundation soil. Water proofing in this case becomes very complicated.
Buoyancy raft is also called compensated foundation where weight of soil replaced by basement balances full or large extent of super-structural loading. Cellular raft discussed above can be designed but considering performance, it produces significant uncertainties and construction difficulty is also worth mentioning.
Raft with uniform slab thickness also offer
- Better water proofing
- Ease of fabrication of reinforcement
- Ease in placing concrete
- Ease of design calculation
The usual practice is to support raft solely on soil. But sometimes piles in addition to raft have to be introduced to reduce settlement of foundation. Let take an example of large building supported on deep clay deposit and raft or mat foundation is found sufficient to ensure adequate safety factor in respect of failure due to ultimate bearing capacity but not sufficient to limit excessive foundation settlement and piles are required to reduce settlement.
But it is not wise to design piles on the basis of ultimate load considering piles solely taken all load from superstructure. We have to calculate number of piles required to reduce excessive settlement for a particular type, diameter of pile and ambient soil condition.


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In recent weeks, I've frequently heard or read comments like "cubes will no longer be relevant in HANA" or "flat structures like data store objects (DSOs) will be sufficient". There is no binary (= simple) answer to this, like a clear YES or NO. This blog intends to shed some light into those assumptions. You are encouraged to challenge my thoughts or to add your point of view.
First of all: analytic views in HANA are cubes. They are multidimensional abstractions of an arbitrary schema of DB tables. In other words: the concept of a cube has made it into the new world of in-memory. While this might surprise some people in marketing who have hoped that the (alleged) end-of-life of cubes would provide them with a differentiator for in-memory (vs. the old world) it should not surprise anyone who has created a multidimensional data model at one stage and in any analytic environment during the past decade.
What is important in this context is to distinguish between the conceptualand the physical aspects of a cube:
- multidimensional: dimensions (characteristics), dimension attributes (nav. attributes), hierarchies, measures (key figures)
- update via delta feeds*
- (relational) star schema
- (relational) snowflake schema
- row vs. column store
- proprietary format, like in MOLAP engines
In-memory impacts mainly the underlying physics of a cube. The conceptual setup remains valid. So, when people make comments as cited above it is fair to both, agree and disagree, depending on what you have in mind.
The HANA modeler explicitely distinguishes concept and physics via the logical view and data foundation tabstrips. TheUniverse Designer and the Information Design Tool (IDT)in BI 4.0 support a similar approach, namely to impose a multidimensional view on an arbitrary schema of tables. In BW, the approach is vice versa, namely to derive the physics (= the table schema) from the conceptual view. BPC also follows such a pattern, even more rigidly. Both approaches have their strengths and drawbacks, e.g. the flexbility to work on any given schema (HANA modeler, universes) or the ability to optimize (around a pre-defined schema) and allow write-back (BW, BPC and basically all EPM tools). In any case, the notion of a cube as both, a concept and a physical schema, exist.
Now, let's quickly consider DSOs**. The technical term originates in BW. Still, I'm convinced that many handcrafted data warehouse have handcrafted mechanisms to do (more or less) what a DSO does, namely to translate UPDATE-based feeds (or after-image feeds) into delta feeds. In BW, a DSO can consume (after-image) loads from an extractor that is not capable to provide delta loads. One big advantage of feeding deltas into higher LSA layers is simply performance: just imagine what would happen if transformations were to be processed on all data – rather than the delta feeds – every time.
So what are the conceptual and physical aspects of a DSO:
- flat: key, (not-to-be-aggregated) attributes, measures (= attributes that can be aggregated)
- update (incl. delete, insert) via after-image feeds
- flat tables, e.g. active data – activation queue – change log
- black box objects consisting of a variety of indexes as in the HANA version that will underly BW
In conclusion, this means that the concepts (underlying cubes and DSOs) will continue to be valid and viable while in-memry will impact the physics underneath. In-memory will make those physics less of a concern in the future. Still, cubes as multidimensional perspectives on sets of data is not an inch less significant. It is straightforward from the above that the version of BW that will sit on top of HANA will still have infocubes and DSOs albeit with changed physical layouts. Stay tuned …
* The conceptual significance of deltasin analytic calculations and data flows within a data warehouse must not be underestimated and is worth a separate blog. In the context of in-memory technologies they are even significant on the physical level as they enable INSERT-only setups.
** The discussion focuses on standard DSOs and neglects other DSO types for the sake of simplicity.


Eighth grade survivor "runs" for her life
E. Garcia, Social Media Manager
Amy Flores is a healthy track athlete and she loves what she does. Was it always like this though? When Amy was only eight years old she got diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer called Wilms Tumor.
Wilms Tumor is a type of cancer that starts in the kidneys. It is the most common type of kidney cancer in children. Tumor suppressor genes generally hold back tumor growth and control cell growth.
The symptoms were first noticed when Amy was in the third grade. Everything seemed to be normal until she began to throw up and was sent home. After being sent home, her father noticed a bump on Amy's stomach and knew something was not right with the health of his daughter. They scheduled an appointment with her primary care pediatrician, and received devastating news. The doctor told them that she had to be treated at a hospital, due to a tumor forming in her kidneys. Flores was then rushed to the hospital.
Amy fought this cancer for a whole year, missing most of the third grade. Fortunately, most kids with Wilms Tumor survive and go on to live normal, healthy lives, just like Amy does! When Amy went back to school months later, her classmates welcomed her with love and open arms, although even though some classmates asked if she was a guy because she lost all her hair.
Amy Flores was born October 30th, 2003 and is currently in the 8th grade.
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Index of dispersion
In probability theory and statistics, the index of dispersion, dispersion index, coefficient of dispersion, or variance-to-mean ratio (VMR), like the coefficient of variation, is a normalized measure of the dispersion of a probability distribution: it is a measure used to quantify whether a set of observed occurrences are clustered or dispersed compared to a standard statistical model.
It is also known as the Fano factor, though this term is sometimes reserved for windowed data (the mean and variance are computed over a subpopulation), where the index of dispersion is the special case where the window is infinite. Windowing data is frequently done: the VMR is frequently computed over various intervals in time or small regions in space, which may be called "windows", and the resulting statistic called the Fano factor.
It is only defined when the mean μ is non-zero, and is generally only used for positive statistics, such as count data or time between events, or where the underlying distribution is assumed to be the exponential distribution or Poisson distribution.
In this context, the observed dataset may consist of the times of occurrence of predefined events, such as earthquakes in a given region over a given magnitude, or of the locations in geographical space of plants of a given species. Details of such occurrences are first converted into counts of the numbers of events or occurrences in each of a set of equal-sized timeor space-regions.
The above defines a dispersion index for counts. A different definition applies for a dispersion index for intervals, where the quantities treated are the lengths of the time-intervals between the events, and where the index is equivalent to the square of the coefficient of variation of the interval lengths. Common usage is that "index of dispersion" means the dispersion index for counts.
Some distributions, most notably the Poisson distribution, have equal variance and mean, giving them a VMR = 1. The geometric distribution and the negative binomial distribution have VMR > 1, while the binomial distribution has VMR < 1, and the constant random variable has VMR = 0. This yields the following table:
|constant random variable||VMR = 0||not dispersed|
|binomial distribution||0 < VMR < 1||under-dispersed|
|Poisson distribution||VMR = 1|
|negative binomial distribution||VMR > 1||over-dispersed|
When the coefficient of dispersion is less than 1, a dataset is said to be "under-dispersed": this condition can relate to patterns of occurrence that are more regular than the randomness associated with a Poisson process. For instance, points spread uniformly in space or regular, periodic events will be under-dispersed.
If the index of dispersion is larger than 1, a dataset is said to be over-dispersed: this can correspond to the existence of clusters of occurrences. Clumped, concentrated data is over-dispersed.
In terms of the interval-counts, over-dispersion corresponds to there being more intervals with low counts and more intervals with high counts, compared to a Poisson distribution: in contrast, under-dispersion is characterised by there being more intervals having counts close to the mean count, compared to a Poisson distribution.
The relevance of the index of dispersion is that it has a value of one when the probability distribution of the number of occurrences in an interval is a Poisson distribution. Thus the measure can be used to assess whether observed data can be modeled using a Poisson process.
A sample-based estimate of the dispersion index can be used to construct a formal statistical hypothesis test for the adequacy of the model that a series of counts follow a Poisson distribution.
The VMR is a good measure of the degree of randomness of a given phenomenon. This technique is also commonly used in currency management.
For randomly diffusing particles (Brownian motion), the distribution of the number of particle inside a given volume is poissonian, i.e. VMR=1. Therefore, to assess if a given spatial pattern (assuming you have a way to measure it) is due purely to diffusion or if some particle-particle interaction is involved : divide the space into patches, Quadrats or Sample Units (SU), count the number of individuals in each patch or SU, and compute the VMR. VMRs significantly higher than 1 denote a clustered distribution, where random walk is not enough to smother the attractive inter-particle potential.
The first to discuss the use of a test to detect deviations from a Poisson or binomial distribution appears to have been Lexis in 1877. One of the tests he developed was the Lexis ratio.
This index was first used in botany by Clapham in 1936.
If the variates are Poisson distributed then ihe index of dispersion is distributed as a χ2 statistic with n - 1 degrees of freedom when n is large and is μ > 3. For many cases of interest this approximation is accurate and Fisher in 1950 derived an exact test for it.
Hoel studied the first four moments of its distribution He found that the approximation to the χ2 statistic is reasonable if μ > 5.
See also
Similar ratios
- Coefficient of variation,
- Standardized moment,
- Fano factor, (windowed VMR)
- Signal to noise ratio, (in signal processing)
- Cox &Lewis (1966)
- Cox & Lewis (1966), p72
- Cox & Lewis (1966), p71
- Cox & Lewis (1966), p158
- Upton&Cook(2006), under index of dispersion
- Frome EL (1982) Algorithm AS 171: Fisher's exact variance test for the Poisson distribution. J Roy Stat Soc Series C (Applied Statistics) 31(1) (1982) 67-71
- Hoel PG (1943) On indices of dispersion. Annals Math Stat 14(2) 155-162
- Cox, D. R., and Lewis, P.A.W. (1966) The Statistical Analysis of Series of Events Methuen, London
- Upton, G., and Cook, I. (2006) Oxford Dictionary of Statistics (2nd edition). OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-954145-4


Methods and formulas for T Chart
Select the method or formula of your choice.
Plotted points
Each plotted point, xi, represents the amount of time between successive events.
Center line and control limits
Center line (CL)
The center line is the 50th percentile of the distribution.
Lower control limit (LCL)
Upper control limit (UCL)
Φcumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution
INVinverse cumulative distribution function
Kzdistance from the center line expressed in units of the standard deviation of a normal distribution; the value used for Test 1
Estimating the distribution parameters
The T chart analyzes the durations between subsequent events. If the data are entered as dates or times of events, then Minitab first converts the data to number of days between subsequent events. If all durations are greater than zero, then Minitab estimates the distribution parameters using the maximum likelihood method described in Parametric Distribution Analysis.
If one or more durations = 0
A duration of zero indicates that two events occurred simultaneously. If one or more durations is equal to zero, then Minitab uses an alternative method to estimate the parameters.
Let yi = the duration (in days) between event i and event i – 1. Let xi be defined as follows:
where Rank(xi) is the rank, from smallest to largest, of xi in x.
For each yi = 0, exclude yi and xi from the remaining calculations.
To estimate the parameters for the Weibull distribution, first transform both y and x by taking the natural log of each. Then use simple linear regression to fit the model y = β0 + β1x. The scale for the Weibull distribution is estimated as exp(β0) and the shape is estimated as 1 / β1.
The scale for the exponential distribution is estimated as the regression coefficient, β1, in the simple linear regression equation, y = β1x. Note that the intercept (β0) is not fit in this model.


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deviantART user SharpWriter is fond of depicting scenes from American history, such as Abraham Lincoln riding a grizzly bear while wielding a M-16 and the Emancipation Proclamation. That's January 1, 1863, just in case you are curious. One of his more recent works is this image from Teddy Roosevelt's first full term in office. You know -- when he killed Bigfoot. One nitpick: in the actual historical event, Roosevelt used a Krag-Jørgensen.
Link via Geekosystem


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Marino Dall'Oglio for HALI Magazine
In memory of the noted Oriental carpet collector, Dr Marino Dall'Oglio of Milan, who passed away peacefully on Thursday, 21st November 2013, we publish here five articles written by him. The first, on 'White Ground Anatolian Carpets' was first given as a paper to the 1983 London ICOC, and was published in 1986 in Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies II: Carpets of the Mediterranean Countries _PHONE_. The second article, 'A Discovery at Sion', featured in HALI Issue 27 in 1985. Dr Dall'Oglio's Wher Collection was one of the most important and wide ranging assemblies of classical, historical, tribal and village oriental carpets formed during the second half of the 20th century.


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The seven numeric manipulation functions allow the programmer to access important model values related to a given specific value of that kind. The given value is the value of the (first) argument, which may be any expression that has a (defined) value of that kind. (Three of these seven functions also have a second argument.) These seven useful values and the related numeric manipulation intrinsic functions are shown in Table 3:
Table 3: Numerical Manipulation Functions.
An (idealized) example will illustrate the use of these functions for writing robust portable code. In this example Newton's method is used to find the root to maximum accuracy (for the real kind being used) of a function F, in the minimum number of iterations. This example assumes the function F and its derivative function DF are available, and that the value X is already established in a region in which Newton's method will converge to the root.
... do DX = F(X)/DF(X)! Compute the next delta-X. X = X-DX if (DX<2*spacing(X)) exit! Stop if near the spacing end do! limits of that kind...! in this region.


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Aims: To evaluate the results of chemoradiation with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for the treatment of anal canal cancer patients at three institutions that had advanced devices.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for patients treated with 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin-based chemotherapy and IMRT or VMAT for anal cancer from 2011 to 2013. Complete response (CR) rates, colostomy-free survival (CFS), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities were investigated. Toxicities were evaluated with the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, Version 3.0.
Results: Fifteen patients were included in the analysis. The majority of patients had T2 (53.3%) and N0 (40%) disease according to the staging system that was developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. CR was observed in 14 patients (93%), and the median follow-up was 26 months (13–42 months). The 3-year CFS, DFS, and OS were 86%, 86%, and 88%, respectively. Acute Grade 3 toxicities were observed as 6% of hematological, 26% of gastrointestinal, and 26% of dermatological.
Conclusion: Early results confirm that IMRT or VMAT for anal cancer treatment reduces acute toxicities while maintaining high control rates.


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Example 8.4.9: Applying the Lagrange Remainder
f(x) =where r(x) goes to zero as x goes to c.
Use this result and the function f(x)= to show that
The first statement is a straight-forward application of the Lagrange remainder theorem - try it youself!
As for the application, let f(x)=, which is continuously differentiable around c = 0. According to our statement (and taking the first derivative at zero) we have:
= 1 + x/2 + x r(x)
for some r(x) with r(x) = 0. To apply this to our problem, we need to see involved somehow. Therefore we factor an n to get:
Now we can apply our approximation to the second root, with x = 1/, to get:
which, together with the fact that r(x) = 0 will do the trick.


This article summarise what Model S owners can expect when using the Supercharger network.
What is a supercharger?
Superchargers are proprietary, privately operated, rapid chargers that are built, operated and maintained by Tesla exclusively for the use of their cars.
The network covers most of the countries Tesla sell cars in and is rapidly expanding: for the current status take a look at
Access to the supercharger network is by paying a one-off fee (included in the price of some variants of the Model S) which provides unlimited use of the whole network for the life of the car.
How does supercharging work (briefly!)
Whenever you charge your car AC power (from the mains) needs to be converted to DC power to be fed into the car battery.
When you charge at home or at any Type 2 charge point, the single or dual charger modules inside the car perform this function, converting AC to DC at up to 11kW or 22kW depending on your car's configuration.
A supercharger uses twelve of these charger modules, housed in an external cabinet, to provide up to 120kW DC directly to the car battery (bypassing the internal chargers in the car entirely).
A supercharging station is built with pairs of charging stalls, with each pair of stalls sharing access to a supercharging cabinet. This means that if both of the stalls has a car charging in it then each car may charge more slowly than if they were alone. At larger sites (with 2 – 5 pairs of charging stalls) the charging stands are usually labelled A and B and so, in order to maximise your charge rate, you should try to avoid parking in a stall whose "twin" is already occupied.
How do I use a supercharger?
Drive into the space, making sure you're the right way around (the charging cables are short, heavy and relatively inflexible so good positioning is important). Plug in the charging cable, and wait. It's extremely simple.
If you have the Model S iPhone app you will get notifications from the car when it has reached 80% and when it is full, and you can always check progress on the app or from inside the car itself.
When you want to leave, unlock the car and unplug the connector by pulling it out of the charge socket while pressing and holding the release button built into it.
How quickly will I really charge?
Tesla claim that you can refill a car from 10% – 80% charge in under 40 minutes, and that you can half-fill the car (i.e. reach 50% charge) in as little as 20 minutes.
These are both achievable, but they represent the optimum outcome and there are various factors that affect speed.
If your car battery is either very cold or very warm, charge speed will be reduced so as not to damage the battery. A cold battery will warm up as it is charged, which will allow charging to get faster.
State of Charge
The battery can charge at a much higher rate when it is relatively empty than when it is full (to avoid damaging it). This tapering effect is discussed in more detail below.
Charge Rate Tapering
A supercharger is an extremely high powered charging unit which is capable of delivering 120kW of DC power to the car. The car's battery can only handle this level of power for a short time, and when it is mostly discharged.
The full 120kW is only available until the battery is about 25% full. As the battery fills, the charging rate slows down, and therefore at very high state of charge it becomes barely more than a trickle. Above 80% charge the rate really begins to slow down. Tesla recommend charging to 80% at a supercharger before setting off for your destination or the next charge site. If there is another charger further along your route it is almost certainly preferable to stop charging, drive on, and stop a second time, rather than continuing to charge above 80%.
Above 95% the rate of charge is slower than many home AC charge units. And by 98% charge the rate is so low that it is almost certainly not worthwhile for you to wait for the last 2%.
Sharing (A vs B)
Each supercharger cabinet feeds two charging stalls, so if two cars are charging at the same time their charging rate may be reduced. Since the maximum rate at which cars can charge decreases as they fill (due to Charge Rate Tapering) it is often the case that a car arriving at a supercharger with a low state of charge receives a large proportion of the total available because the first car's battery is likely to have already filled up and therefore its charge rate will already be tapering. However, if two cars of equally low charge are connected to the same supercharger unit then the system splits power between them in a way that favours the car that arrived at the supercharger first. The second car therefore gets a smaller share of the available power initially, but this increases over time as the first car's battery fills and its maximum charge rate reduces.
What if there is a problem?
The supercharger network is extremely reliable, especially when compared with other public charging networks. All sites are actively monitored by Tesla from a central location and faults are quickly fixed. It is extremely rare for an entire supercharger site to be offline.
If you have a problem supercharging (unexpectedly slow rate, or charge will not start at all) then try
 - unplugging/re-plugging the connector
 - another charging stall
 - rebooting the centre console (press and hold both steering wheel scroll wheels).
If none of those works, contact Tesla customer services who are available 24/7.


Leopard seal
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Leopard seal
Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx), also called a Sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is most common in the southern hemisphere along the coast of Antarctica and on most sub-Antarctic islands, but can also be found on the coasts of southern Australia, Tasmania, South Africa, New Zealand, Lord Howe Island, Tierra del Fuego, the Cook Islands, and the Atlantic coast of South America. It can live twenty-six years, possibly more. Orcas and large sharks are the only natural predators of leopard seals.
Along with all of the other earless seals, it belongs to the family Phocidae, and is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. The name hydrurga means "water worker" and leptonyx is the Greek for "small clawed".
The leopard seal is large and muscular, with a dark grey back and light grey on its stomach. Its throat is whitish with the black spots that give the seal its common name. Females are generally slightly larger than the males on average. The overall length of this seal is 2.4-3.5 m (7.9-11.7 ft) and weight is from 200 to 591 kg (_PHONE_ lbs). They are about the same length as the northern walrus but usually less than half the weight.
Like most carnivores, its front teeth are sharp, but its molars lock together in a way that allows them to sieve krill from the water, similar to the crabeater seal.
The leopard seal lives in the cold waters surrounding Antarctica. During the summer months, it hunts among the pack ice surrounding the continent, spending almost all of its time in the water. In the winter, it ranges north to the sub-Antarctic islands. Occasionally, individuals may be spotted on the southern coasts of South America, Australia, and New Zealand, and as far north as the Cook Islands. Juveniles are more often found in the north.
The leopard seal is a solitary creature and comes together in small groups only when it is time to mate. During the mating season, males and females make acoustic calls to each other over distances, with at least the males having individual variability in their vocalising sequence patterns. After a nine-month gestation, the female digs a hole in the ice, and gives birth to a single pup during the Antarctic summer. She protects the pup until it is able to fend for itself.
The leopard seal is bold, powerful and curious. In the water, there is a fine line between curiosity and predatory behavior, and it may 'play' with penguins that it does not intend to eat.
The leopard seal is second only to Orcas among Antarctica's top predators. Its canine teeth are 2.5 cm (1 in). It feeds on a wide variety of creatures. Smaller seals probably eat mostly krill, but also squid and fish. Larger leopard seals probably switch from krill to more substantial prey, including king, adelie, rockhopper, gentoo and emperor penguins, and less frequently, other seals such as the crabeater seal.
Around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) is the main prey. Other prey includes penguins and fish. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) pups and seabirds other than penguins have also been found in leopard seal scats in small quantities.
When hunting penguins, the leopard seal patrols the waters near the edges of the ice, almost completely submerged, waiting for the birds to enter the ocean. It is helped in this endeavor by the penguins themselves, which nearly always push one of their own into the water ahead of themselves. It kills the swimming bird by grabbing the feet, then shaking the penguin vigorously and beating its body against the surface of the water repeatedly until the penguin is dead. Previous reports stating the leopard seal skins its prey before feeding have been found to be incorrect. Lacking the teeth necessary to slice its prey into manageable pieces, it flails its prey from side to side to tear and rip it into smaller pieces.
Human Attacks
Leopard seals are potentially highly dangerous towards humans, but attacks are rarely reported. Examples of aggressive behavior, stalking and attacks have been documented. In 1985, Scottish explorer Gareth Wood was bitten twice on the leg when a leopard seal tried to drag him off the ice and into the sea. His companions managed to save him by repeatedly kicking the animal in the head with the spiked crampons on their boots. In 2003, a leopard seal dragged snorkeling biologist Kirsty Brown of the British Antarctic Survey nearly 200 feet (61 m) underwater to her death, in what was identified as the first known human fatality from a leopard seal.
Leopard seals have shown a particular predilection for attacking the black, torpedo-shaped pontoons of rigid inflatable boats, necessitating researchers to equip their craft with special protective guards to prevent them from being punctured.
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Tag: exploration
The Gospel of Jack
after which he smiled. 7. Then God located the binary swing of the atom and gave it prominence. Thus there emerged from their subsequent dance, the sky and the land. 8. He breathed air and called it Heaven, peopled the land and, called it Hell. 9. People dreamed of flying, watched birds and, like them, wished to fly. It was a grand dream that took grip of their imagination. 10. But, even those who managed to fly, found that sooner or later, they had to return to the ground. 11. What goes up, must come down. It's not rocket science. 12. Where the planes came down, at an aerodrome on the outskirts of town, a bird-chaser lived in a shack. 13. His job was to chase flocks of ducks and seagulls that gathered there and presented a hazard to planes. (They did not consider that, perhaps, the planes were a hazard to the birds). But, the duck chaser did as he was told.
14. His name was Jack and he thought a lot about flight, birds, growing olives and the meaning of life. 15. He was looking for a unified theory of everything. 16. Or rather, he was looking for the words to describe the thing that connected everything. 16. If the world is all that matters and matter is comprised of atoms, why is conscious thought still on the outside of everything? In fact, where is it located? 17. It's a very hard problem he thought. But it can't be rocket science. 18. Jack inhaled great draughts of air and as he did, he had a thought that opened like a flower of light stretching its petals. If heaven is in the sky and, the sky is air and, we breathe air, do we not have heaven within us? Surely we do not need to fly to get to heaven he thought?
a flower of light
19. Jack told his friend Felix, the owner of a local Tavern, about his idea. 20. Many pilots frequented Felix's Tavern and opened up to him about their problems, like in the movies (except this was for real). 21. One night Felix told some of them about his friend, Jack, and his theory that men did not need to fly to reach heaven. 22. You could have heard a pin drop. 23. What does a duck chaser know about the science of flight? they said, and left. 24. The dedicated fliers among them did not like this talk. It made a mockery of their endeavours. 25. Then they became angry. 26. Through friends of friends in high places, they had Jack fired from his job. 27. This did not bother Jack who moved to a shack in the country to grow olives and think.
Country scene by Hannah Scallan
28. The disgruntled airmen flew as often as possible to forget what Jack had said. 29. They grew angry and bitter, he had tainted their flights with doubt. 30. They resolved to call him evil, for he had made impure what had always been pure. 31. Only fliers and those with aeroplanes, or friends with aeroplanes they said, were loyal to the idea of heaven. 32. It is blasphemy for a person to claim that just by breathing, on his own, anyone can find heaven they exclaimed. 33. To know Heaven, a person must fly with an authorised carrier. This, they proclaimed, is the way.
The way
34. And that became law because big money was involved. 35. Jack and his kind would now face legal proceedings if they dared speak against the authorised carriers, big or small. 36. How cruel you are to take from people their dreams. Begone from our midst, leave us at least our dreams the lawyers representing the authorised carriers told Jack. 36. Jack was happy to begone from them. By begone he understood them to mean be quiet. That he could do. 37. And, the lowly breather of air departed from the lawyer's office whistling a happy tune. 38. The lawyers cracked open a box of Cohiba Siglio #3 and celebrated. They laughed and laughed. 39. They had outwitted Jack and his kind. Furthermore, they were friends with people of influence. 40. Soon, it came to pass that there were two kinds of people. Fliers who dreamed of flying and those who grew olives, had regular day jobs and just breathed.
41. The fliers became like gods. They sought to safeguard their knowledge of flight.42. After months of collaboration they produced a very special book: The Authorised Manual Of Flight. It was a Big book.
There were pages of complex illustrations
43. They filled the manual with complicated mathematics and laws of physics and equations to describe force, gravity, velocity and motion. They concluded with a chapter entitled How to fold your parachute and avoid death. 44. Initially there was a great demand for the book but since no-one could understand it, sales dropped and soon it was forgotten. 45. This pleased the fliers. There plan had worked. Their jobs were secure, as was the adoration they enjoyed from the masses. 46. The masses accepted that they were illiterate in the field of flight. They were relieved they did not need to read complicated books or learn to fly. They were happy to pay authorized carriers to carry them. 47 They continued to work hard and save like heck to pay for the privilege of being flown. 48. Everyone was happy. 49. Except the men of influence, the friends of friends of fliers. 50. Everyone was benefiting from flight but them. 51. They introduced a tax for all authorized carriers, big and small. 52. The carriers were busy, the tax was annoying but they had expected it. They increased their fares and paid their taxes. 53. Now, everyone was happy. Those who were not, did not count.
54. Meanwhile, back at his shack, Jack was happily harvesting olives and sharing his ideas with back-packers who came from all over the world to experience honest work. 55. And, they paid Jack for the work they did. This made no sense to Jack, but it was what they wanted. He was happy to comply with their wishes. It's not rocket science. 56. Besides, their company was good. 57. Jack's ideas got traction overseas. He did not spread them but the back-packers who were mostly young were liberated by his notions and upon returning home, many took up flying. They built their own flying machines. 58. The authorized carriers were not happy when they discovered that people were flying independently of them. 59. We must stop these anarchists before they destroy our way of life, they declared. 60. And the headlines in newspapers (owned by friends of friends of people of influence) read: Anarchists threaten our way of life! 61. The young flyers were stunned. They searched for the meaning of anarchist: 62. a person who believes in or tries to bring about anarchy. They then had to search the term Anarchy: a state of disorder due to absence or non-recognition of authority or other controlling systems. 63. They quickly sought legal representation. 64. No lawyers were willing to represent them. 65. The anarchists were arrested.
66. Everyone felt better. 67. Troublemakers are selfish, the tabloids reported, never happy. 68. The authorised carriers breathed a collective sigh, smoked their cigars and went back to the skies. 69. I went back to my olives and shack, smoked my pipe and wrote this down. 70. Now I pickle olives and between thoughts, I breathe, deeply and contentedly. 71. I wish you peace. 72. The end.
I wish you peace
"Why we are never lost."
Renaissance map makers wrote the words terra incognita to indicate land (terra in Latin) that was unknown or unexplored (incognita in Latin). By the 21st century there is little left of the world to map. But what do we mean when we say the world?
In some abstract way we imagine planet earth. However, the world is never more than the square metre around one's feet.
We can never inhabit all of the world (unless you are a super-power) and yet we often speak as if we are intimate with all of it. We speak of how the world is when we can only possibly know how it is for us. How do we form our view of the world? Knowledge of current world events does not constitute knowledge of the world. We hold bits of data in our heads and imagine we know so much.
Other brave people have explored and mapped the globe, but to me it remains largely terra incognita.
I can only hope to know my self, the terrain within. It is difficult terrain and I am not always as brave as I ought to be. I am also not immortal. Time moves on, areas are left unexplored. I grow older, become less curious and more tired. That was yesterday though, today I could take on the, uh, world? Oh dear, it seems we do use the word a lot. It's figurative you see, the world is an idea, not a place.
I do not know the world, and what


text:
Some people call scallions green onions. They aren't really one and the same but both belong to the genus Allium, which includes garlic, shallots, chives and leeks.
They're sold in bunches and except for the root end, are entirely edible.
Here's how to prep them:
1. Trim the root end off the scallion.
2. Rinse the scallion in cold water, shake off excess water, and then remove the outer layer of the scallion if it looks slippery or plain funky. The picture below shows what I've removed from the scallion — the root ends and funky outer layer. The scallions at the top are trimmed and ready to go.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut thin slices of the scallion cross-wise, including the dark green parts. Generally, when I near the end of the scallion, I toss the end bits because they aren't as firm.
4. Store unused scallions in a plastic bag in your fridge. They'll stay for several days. Don't slice them until you're ready to use them.


text:
The quadrature of the circle, the square root of two, and the right-angled triangle, by William Alexander Myers.
|Main Author:||Myers, William Alexander.|
|Other Authors:||Montucla, Jean Etienne, _PHONE_., Babin, J.|
Cincinnati, Wilstach, Baldwin & Co., printers, 1873.
Appendix: A chapter on construction for the use and benefit of draughtsmen, builders, and mechanics: 14 p. at end.
"History of the quadrature of the circle, translated from the French of Montucla, by J. Babin": p. -33.
Authors made use of in the present volume: p. [iv]
1 p. ℓ., viii, -150, 14 p., 1 ℓ.
incl. front. diagrs. on xiii pl.
|Original Classification Number:||QA467.M99|
|Locate a Print Version:||
Find in a library
- Full view (original from New York Public Library)


feast ones eyes
any rich or abundant meal: The steak dinner was a feast.
a sumptuous entertainment or meal for many guests: a wedding feast.
something highly agreeable: The Rembrandt exhibition was a feast for the eyes.
a periodical celebration or time of celebration, usually of a religious nature, commemorating an event, person, etc.: Every year, in September, the townspeople have a feast in honor of their patron saint.
verb (used without object)
to have or partake of a feast; eat sumptuously.
to dwell with gratification or delight, as on a picture or view.
verb (used with object)
to provide or entertain with a feast.
feast one's eyes, to gaze with great joy, admiration, or relish: to feast one's eyes on the Grand Canyon.
1150–1200; Middle English feste < Old French < Latin fēsta, neuter plural (taken as feminine singular noun) of fēstus festal, festive, equivalent to fēs- (akin to fair2) + -tus adj. suffix
feaster, noun
feastless, adjective
outfeast, verb (used with object)
overfeast, verb
prefeast, noun
unfeasted, adjective
2. Feast, banquet imply large social events, with an abundance of food. A feast is a meal with a plenteous supply of food and drink for a large company: to provide a feast for all company employees. A banquet is an elaborate feast for a formal and ceremonious occasion: the main speaker at a banquet.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To feast ones eyes
World English Dictionary
feast (fiːst)
1. a large and sumptuous meal, usually given as an entertainment for several people
2. a periodic religious celebration
3. something extremely pleasing or sumptuous: a feast for the eyes
4. movable feast a festival or other event of variable date
vb (foll by on)
5. (intr)
 a. to eat a feast
 b. (usually foll by on) to enjoy the eating (of), as if feasting: to feast on cakes
6. (tr) to give a feast to
7. to take great delight (in): to feast on beautiful paintings
8. (tr) to regale or delight: to feast one's mind or one's eyes
[C13: from Old French feste, from Latin festa, neuter plural (later assumed to be feminine singular) of festus joyful; related to Latin fānum temple, fēriae festivals]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History
c.1200, from O.Fr. feste "festival, feast," from V.L. *festa (fem. sing.), from L. festa "holidays, feasts," from neut. pl. of festus "festive, joyful, merry," related to feriæ "holiday" and fanum "temple." The spelling -eawas used in M.E. to represent the sound we mis-call "long e." The verb
first attested c.1300. Related: Feasted; feasting.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Bible Dictionary
Feast definition
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
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Can you eliminate conflicts of interest at work?
Navigating conflict of interest
Telling a client you have a conflict of interest isn't a licence to then act for your own benefit.
Conflicts of interest arise when there is a friction between professional duties and personal interests. And while the best way to deal with conflicts of interest is to avoid or even eliminate them, that's not always possible.
The Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants provides several examples of the conflicts of interest that can arise in public practice and in business. They include providing audit and other services to the same client, making procurement decisions that will benefit a family member or a friend, and offering advice that is solely guided by the rewards the adviser is likely to receive.
A common response to managing conflicts of interest is disclosure, but does this always solve the problem? The disclosure of an actual or potential conflict of interest should flag that there's a potential for bias or self-interest.
Yet while disclosure should increase a client or employer's awareness of potential bias, research suggests that often it has the opposite effect. Because a disclosure has been made, it may make recipients more trusting instead of being more sceptical about the objectivity of the advice.
"If there are no safeguards, disclosure alone does not eliminate the conflict of interest."
Disclosure may also lead to what is called moral licensing: it provides a licence to act in a self-interested manner because the client or employer knows about the conflict of interest.
So we need to be aware of the likely effects of disclosure:
Clients or employers may think that the person who has disclosed a conflict of interest will not be biased (although there is a lot of evidence to suggest this is often not the case).
Those facing the conflict of interest may feel that they are such good people for making the disclosure that they don't need to consider the very real possibility that they're affected by self-interest.
Importantly, the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants does not rely only on disclosure; it also has a framework for identifying and dealing with conflicts of interest, and applying the necessary safeguards. If there are no safeguards, disclosure alone does not eliminate the conflict of interest. Disclosure is a consequence of dealing with conflicts rather than the only defence.
We need to seriously consider the potential impact of conflicts of interest in our professional lives. Even good people can be affected by self-interest – consciously but more often unconsciously – and just knowing about it may not be enough to counter its effect.
This article is from the August issue of INTHEBLACK
August 2015
August 2015
Read the August issue


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EVM Measurements for a 802.15.4 (ZigBee®) System
This example shows how to use the COMM.EVMCOMM.EVM System object to measure the error vector magnitude (EVM) of a simulated IEEE® 802.15.4 [ 1 ] transmitter. IEEE 802.15.4 is the basis for the ZigBee specifications.
Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)
The error vector magnitude (EVM) is a measure of the difference between a reference waveform, which is the error-free modulated signal, and the actual transmitted waveform. EVM is used to quantify the modulation accuracy of a transmitter. [ 1 ] requires that a 802.15.4 transmitter shall not have an RMS EVM value worse than 35%.
System Parameters
An 802.15.4 system for 868 MHz band employs direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) with binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) used for chip modulation and differential encoding used for data symbol encoding.
dataRate = 20e3; % Bit rate in Hz
M = 2; % Modulation order (BPSK)
chipValues = [1;1;1;1;0;1;0;1;1;0;0;1;0;0;0];
 % Chip values for bit 0.
 % Chip values for 1 is the opposite.
Section 6.7.3 of [ 1 ] specifies that the measurements are performed over 1000 samples of I and Q baseband outputs. To account for filter delays, we include 1 more bit in the simulation of the transmitted symbols. We chose to oversample the transmitted signal by four. We assume an SNR of 60 dB to account for transmitter and test hardware imperfections.
numSymbols = 1000; % Number of symbols required for one EVM value
numFrames = 100; % Number of frames
nSamps = 4; % Number of samples that represents a symbol
filtSpan = 8; % Filter span in symbols
gain = length(chipValues); % Spreading gain (number of chips per symbol)
chipRate = gain*dataRate; % Chip rate
sampleRate = nSamps*chipRate; % Final sampling rate
numBits = ceil((numSymbols)/gain)+1;
 % Number of bits required for one EVM value
SNR = 60; % Simulated signal-to-noise ratio in dB
We can obtain BPSK modulated symbols with a simple mapping of 0 to +1 and 1 to -1. If we also map the chip values, then we can modulate before bit-to-chip conversion and use matrix math to write efficient MATLAB® code. ZigBee specifications also define the pulse shaping filter as having a raised cosine pulse shape with rolloff factor of 1.
% Map chip values
chipValues = 1 - 2*chipValues;
% Design a raised cosine filter with rolloff factor 1
hTxFilter = comm.RaisedCosineTransmitFilter('RolloffFactor', 1,...
 'OutputSamplesPerSymbol', nSamps,...
 'FilterSpanInSymbols', filtSpan);
hRxFilter = comm.RaisedCosineReceiveFilter('RolloffFactor', 1,...
 'InputSamplesPerSymbol', nSamps,...
 'FilterSpanInSymbols', filtSpan,...
 'DecimationFactor', nSamps);
EVM Measurements
The Communications System Toolbox™ provides COMM.EVM to calculate RMS EVM, Maximum EVM, and Xth percentile EVM values. Section 6.7.3 of [ 1 ] defines the EVM calculation method, where the average error of measured I and Q samples are normalized by the power of a symbol. For a BPSK system, the power of both constellation symbols is the same. Therefore, we can use the 'Peak constellation power' normalization option. Other available normalization options, which can be used with other communications system standards, are average constellation power and average reference signal power.
hEVM = comm.EVM('Normalization', 'Peak constellation power')
hEVM =
 System: comm.EVM
 Normalization: 'Peak constellation power'
 PeakConstellationPower: 1
 MaximumEVMOutputPort: false
 XPercentileEVMOutputPort: false
We first generate random data bits, differentially encode these bits using a DifferentialEncoderDifferentialEncoder System object, and modulate using BPSK. We spread the modulated symbols by employing a matrix multiplication with the mapped chip values. The spread symbols are then passed through a pulse shaping filter. The EVM object assumes that received symbols, rd, and reference symbols, c, are synchronized, and sampled at the same rate. We downsample the received signal, r, and synchronize with the reference signal, c.
[ 1 ] requires that 1000 symbols be used in one RMS EVM calculation. To ensure we have enough averaging, we simulate 100 frames of 1000 symbols and use the maximum of these 100 RMS EVM measurements as the measurement result. We see that the simulated transmitter meets the criteria mentioned in Error Vector Magnitude section above.
% Tx and Rx filter delays are identical and equal to half the filter span.
% Total delay is equal to the sum of two filter delays, which is the filter
% span of one filter.
refSigDelay = hTxFilter.FilterSpanInSymbols;
% Simulated number of symbols in a frame
simNumSymbols = numBits*gain;
% Initialize peak RMS EVM
peakRMSEVM = -inf;
% Create a comm.DifferentialEncoder object to differentially encode data
hdiffenc = comm.DifferentialEncoder;
% Create an comm.AWGNChannel System object and set its NoiseMethod property
% to 'Signal to noise ratio (SNR)'
 'SNR', SNR);
% Loop over bursts
for p=1:numFrames
 % Generate random data
 b = randi([0 M-1], numBits, 1);
 % Differentially encode
 d = step(hdiffenc, b);
 % Modulate
 x = 1-2*d;
 % Convert symbols to chips (spread)
 c = reshape(chipValues*x', simNumSymbols, 1);
 % Pulse shape
 cUp = step(hTxFilter, c);
 % Calculate and set the 'SignalPower' property of the channel object
 hChan.SignalPower = sum(cUp.^2)/length(cUp);
 % Add noise
 r = step(hChan, cUp);
 % Downsample received signal. Account for the filter delay.
 rd = step(hRxFilter, r);
 % Measure using the EVM System object
 rmsEVM = step(hEVM,...
 complex(rd(refSigDelay+(1:numSymbols))),...
 % Update peak RMS EVM calculation
 if (peakRMSEVM < rmsEVM)
 peakRMSEVM = rmsEVM;
% Display results
fprintf(' Worst case RMS EVM (%%): %1.2f\n', peakRMSEVM)
 Worst case RMS EVM (%): 0.19
We showed how to utilize COMM.EVM to test if a ZigBee transmitter complies with the standard specified EVM values. We used a crude model that only introduces additive white Gaussian noise and showed that the measured EVM is less than the standard specified 35%.
Selected Bibliography
 1. IEEE Standard 802.15.4, Wireless Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications for Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks, 2003.
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text:
Project 2: the Story of Stuff Inspired Infographics
Here is a series of information design posters based on improving the environment. The students had to go to the Story of Stuff website, select a topic like "how plastic water bottles are poisoning our environment".
Project 1 – The Roswell Incident Inforgraphic
Objective: The idea is to tell a story without using words.
Process: This is the first project that the students are assigned. They are given the synopsis of the of the alleged flying saucer crash in Roswell, NM in 1949. They must research the story and develop an infographic in order to tell the story without words.


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|Dunedin Railway Station|
Anzac Square and Dunedin Railway Station
|Address||Anzac Square, Dunedin|
|Lines||Main South Line|
|Connections||Taieri Gorge Railway|
|Owned by||Dunedin City Council|
Possibly the best-known building in the southern half of New Zealand's South Island, Dunedin Railway Station is a jewel in the country's architectural crown. Designed by George Troup, the station is the fourth building to have served as Dunedin's railway station. It earned its architect the nickname of "Gingerbread George".
Dunedin was linked to Christchurch by rail in 1878, with a link south to Invercargill completed the following year, and the first railway workshops were opened at Hillside in South Dunedin as early as 1875. Early plans were for a grand main station on Cumberland Street, but these never got any further than the laying of a foundation. Instead, a simple weatherboard-constructed station was built next to the site in 1884, though this was only ever intended to be a temporary structure. It took close to 20 years for government funding to be allocated to the new structure, and planning for the new station only really commenced as the 19th century was drawing to a close.
The logistics of constructing what would be (for a time) New Zealand's busiest railway station took three years before construction finally began in 1903. Dunedin, at the time a major commercial hub, required a station suitable to a wide range of activities: it was a commercial and industrial centre, close to still-active gold and coalfields, and was surrounded by a hinterland that was dependent on both livestock and forestry for its economy.
In an eclectic, revived Flemish renaissance style, (Renaissance Revival architecture), the station is constructed from dark basalt from Kokonga in the Strath-Taieri with lighter Oamaru stone facings, giving it the distinctive light and dark pattern common to many of the grander buildings of Dunedin and Christchurch. Pink granite was used for a series of supporting pillars which line a colonnade at the front of the building. The roof was tiled in terracotta shingles from Marseilles surmounted by copper-domed cupolas. The southern end of the building is dominated by the 37-metre clocktower which is visible from much of central Dunedin.
The booking hall features a mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles. A frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain runs around the balcony above it from which the floor's design (featuring a locomotive and related symbols) can be clearly seen. The station's main platform is the country's longest, extending one kilometre.
The building's foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Railways Joseph Ward on June 3, 1904. The Prime Minister Richard Seddon was also present. The station was opened by Ward, by then Prime Minister, in 1906. The construction of the building was kept within budget, and cost £40,000.
In its early days, the station was the country's busiest, handling up to 100 trains a day, including suburban services to Mosgiel and Port Chalmers, Railcars to Palmerston and the Otago Central Branch and other trains to Christchurch and Invercargill. The city's economic decline and the reduction in the prominence of rail transport mean that only a handful of trains use the station today.
The station used to have dock platforms at both the north and south ends and a crossover midway along the main platform. Large shunting yards, most of which have now gone, occupied land to the south of the station. Much of this land has now been subdivided into wholesale and light industrial properties.
With the decrease in passenger rail traffic, the station now serves more functions than the one for which it was originally designed. Bought by the Dunedin City Council in 1994, the station's uses have greatly diversified, though it is still the city's railway station, catering for the Otago Excursion Train Trust's Taieri Gorge Railway tourist train. Much of its ground floor is now used as a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society. A produce market is held in the station's grounds to the north of the building every Saturday morning. Every year in March, the station takes centre stage in the South Island's main fashion show, with the main platform becoming reputedly the world's longest catwalk.
A thorough refurbishment of the exterior took place in the late 1990s, accompanied by the landscaping of the gardens outside the entrance, in Anzac Square.
In October 2006, the centenary of the station was celebrated with a festival of railway events, including the operation of eight steam railway locomotives from all over New Zealand. In 2006 the Dunedin Railway Station was recognised by DK Eyewitness Travel as one of "The World's 200 Must-See Places".
On February 12, 2008, a freak accident occurred when a container wagon struck and partially destroyed a historic footbridge which stands at the southern end of the station. Four pedestrians were on the bridge at the time, with one suffering minor injuries when she fell 4.5 metres from the wreckage. Reconstruction of a footbridge of similar design on the same site joining Anzac Square with the industrial zone close to Dunedin's wharves is due to begin in September 2008.
The square lies at the southern end of Anzac Avenue, a kilometre-long tree-lined street running roughly parallel to the railway, which leads to Logan Park, the northern end of which is part of State Highway 88, which links Dunedin with Port Chalmers. Logan Park was the site of the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, and the avenue and square were named to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the "ANZACs", who were New Zealand's main military force during the then recently concluded First World War. After the refurbishment of the square, a large plaque dedicated to New Zealand's Victoria Cross recipients was relocated to the north end of the square, close to the start of Anzac Avenue. This has since been relocated again, and now stands close to the city's main war memorial in Queen's Gardens, 400 metres to the south.
The northern end of Anzac Avenue is likely to be severely affected by the construction of a new city stadium to replace Carisbrook close to Logan Park, and it is likely that the course of State Highway 88 will be diverted away from the northern end of Anzac Avenue. Directly across the square from the station is Lower Stuart Street, which leads to the city's centre, The Octagon.
Dunedin Railway Station is served by daily sightseeing trains to Middlemarch or Pukerangi via the Taieri Gorge, and to Palmerston. Although lacking any facilities specific to bus travel, the station is Dunedin's terminal for shuttle vans to Dunedin International Airport and for most long-distance bus companies, other than Intercity, which has its own terminal nearby.


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Photograph by David Liittschwager, National Geographic; collection of Mandy Aftel
Published August 30, 2012
Sperm whales eject an intestinal slurry called ambergris into the ocean, where the substance hardens as it bobs along. Eventually it gets collected along shores—most often as sheer happenstance, as in the case of eight-year-old Charlie Naysmith in the U.K. a few days ago.
Walking along the beach in Dorset with his dad, the boy found what looked to be a very odd rock. He and his dad used Google to help identify it as ambergris. Weighing more than a pound, it is said to be worth up to U.S. $63,000.
The value of ambergris lies in its role in the fragrance industry. High-end perfumes from houses such as Chanel and Lanvin take advantage of the ability of ambergris to fix scent to human skin.
The smell of ambergris itself varies from piece to piece, ranging from earthy to musky to sweet. If a perfume house's "nose"—the person responsible for choosing scents—likes the aroma, the ambergris can be worth thousands an ounce.
Though it is illegal to use ambergris in perfumes in the U.S. because of the sperm whale's endangered status, foreign markets, especially French, remain strong. (Learn secrets of whale evolution in National Geographic magazine.)
Scientists still don't know for sure the exact origins of ambergris. They do know that when sperm whales have a stomach or throat irritant, often a squid beak, they cover it in a greasy substance and cast it out.
It was once thought the ambergris was ejected by mouth. As of now, the argument seems to be weighted toward the back end of the whale.
Johnna Rizzo is a Departments editor for National Geographic magazine and the author of the nonfiction children's book Oceans. More of her writing on ambergris will appear in the magazine's October issue.
Bug-eyed frog and "Chewbacca bat" among 1,200 newly discovered species in Africa.
Armchair astronomers can see a live web broadcast of Saturn this week and pose for a snapshot of Earth from space next month.
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Chapter 1, The Creation; Chapter 2, The War of the Aesir and Vanir; Chapter 3, The BUilding of Asgard's Wall
1. In the creation story, the fiery region to the South is known as _______, according to the book.
2. In the creation story, the icy region to the North is known as _______, according to the book.
3. The area in which the North and South regions meet is known as ___________, within the book.
4. The Giant that is revealed when the ice melts is called ________, as told in the book.
5. _______ is the sacred cow that licks Buri out of the ice within the myth stories.
6. ________ is the home of the Aesir, according to the book's myths.
7. _______is the home of the giants, according to the myths told in the book.
8. Asgard is linked to Midgard by _______, the rainbow bridge, according to the book.
This section contains 3,066 words
(approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page)


Smart Glass being Invented by Corning could Analyze DNA
DNA imageRecently, Corning Incorporated, together with Polytechnique Montreal, is developing a type of smart glass mainly used as the touchscreen of the smartphone, which can detect people's physical condition and can even analyze the user's DNA through reading the spit on the surface of the smart glass. Besides, this smart glass can also detect the composition of the atmosphere.


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1. First, according to the production capacity set conveyor speed, note that the belt speed can not exceed the maximum speed of reflow soldering process (here refers to meet the preheating heating rate of ≤3℃/s, welding peak temperature and reflow time should meet the welding requirements).
2. Set the temperature for the first time.
3. In order to ensure temperature stability in the furnace, the first temperature curve test.
4. Analysis of the measured temperature curve and the design of the difference between the temperature curve, the next temperature adjustment.
5. To ensure temperature stability in the furnace and to test the SMA cooled to room temperature, the next temperature curve test.
6. Repeat (4) ~) process until the measured temperature curve is consistent with the desired temperature curve of the design.


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Jo-Anne Duggan Prize
Guidelines for Creative Work and Exegesis entries
A creative work represents any independent, imaginative and unique creative product that may stem from a range of disciplines or a multi-disciplinary framework within the fine arts and visual communications. Creative works may reflect a particular interpretation or argument through their aesthetic quality, or exhibit pure visual effects, or both. Examples of creative works therefore can include: a painting, drawing or sketch; a sculpture; a short story; a poem; any kind of photomedia; a short film; a creative performance. The creative work for submission in the Jo-Anne Duggan Prize may also incorporate more than one artistic genre.
The exegesis is an essay of c.2000-3000 words, which supports the creative work. It should describe the purpose of the creative work and locate it within its historical and/or cultural contexts. It should identify the theories and the artistic practice that you have used in creating the work.
The following points should be taken into account when you prepare it:
- Introduction: introduce the creative work and the conceptual framework which supports an understanding of it; outline where the work sits within its wider artistic, cultural and/or historical contexts, as well as what theoretical and practice-led works have informed the process and end product; also identify the purpose of the creative work, which may focus on your interpretive intentions or the work's actual function; outline the points that will unfold in the discussion of the exegesis.
- Body: developing a discussion over several paragraphs, the body of your essay should address the following points, ensuring internal consistency between paragraphs: the historical and/or cultural contexts; the contemporary theories and practice that underpin the creative work; the process engaged with for the production of the work; the significance – your interpretation and/or the function – of the work. Further relevant points may of course be discussed.
- Conclusion: sum up the discussion points and the overall purpose of the creative work, including any theoretical or philosophical points, if relevant.
- Bibliography: a full list of the works you have cited.


start_routine
Note that the thread pointer and the attributes structure (attr) are optional -- you can pass them as NULL.
The thread parameter can be used to store the thread ID of the newly created thread. You'll notice that in the examples below, we'll pass a NULL, meaning that we don't care what the ID is of the newly created thread. If we did care, we could do something like this:
pthread_t tid;
pthread_create (&tid,...
printf ("Newly created thread id is %d\n", tid);
This use is actually quite typical, because you'll often want to know which thread ID is running which piece of code.
Note: A small subtle point. It's possible that the newly created thread may be running before the thread ID (the tid parameter) is filled. This means that you should be careful about using the tid as a global variable. The usage shown above is okay, because the pthread_create() call has returned, which means that the tid value is stuffed correctly.
The new thread begins executing at start_routine(), with the argument arg.
The thread attributes structure
When you start a new thread, it can assume some well-defined defaults, or you can explicitly specify its characteristics.
Before we jump into a discussion of the thread attribute functions, let's look at the pthread_attr_t data type:
typedef struct {
 int __flags;
 size_t __stacksize;
 void *__stackaddr;
 void (*__exitfunc)(void *status);
 int __policy;
 struct sched_param __param;
 unsigned __guardsize;
} pthread_attr_t;
Basically, the fields are used as follows:
Non-numerical (Boolean) characteristics (e.g., whether the thread should run "detached" or "joinable").
__stacksize, __stackaddr, and __guardsize
Stack specifications.
Function to execute at thread exit.
__policy and __param
Scheduling parameters.
The following functions are available:
Attribute administration
Flags (Boolean characteristics)
Stack related
Scheduling related
This looks like a pretty big list (20 functions), but in reality we have to worry about only half of them, because they're paired: "get" and "set" (with the exception of pthread_attr_init() and pthread_attr_destroy()).
Before we examine the attribute functions, there's one thing to note. You must call pthread_attr_init() to initialize the attribute structure before using it, set it with the appropriate pthread_attr_set*() function(s), and then call pthread_create() to create the thread. Changing the attribute structure after the thread's been created has no effect.
Thread attribute administration
The function pthread_attr_init() must be called to initialize the attribute structure before using it:
pthread_attr_t attr;
pthread_attr_init (&attr);
You could call pthread_attr_destroy() to "uninitialize" the thread attribute structure, but almost no one ever does (unless you have POSIX-compliant code).
In the descriptions that follow, I've marked the default values with "(default)."
The "flags" thread attribute
The three functions, pthread_attr_setdetachstate(), pthread_attr_setinheritsched(), and pthread_attr_setscope() determine whether the thread is created "joinable" or "detached," whether the thread inherits the scheduling attributes of the creating thread or uses the scheduling attributes specified by pthread_attr_setschedparam() and pthread_attr_setschedpolicy(), and finally whether the thread has a scope of "system" or "process."
To create a "joinable" thread (meaning that another thread can synchronize to its termination via pthread_join()), you'd use:
pthread_attr_setdetachstate (&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);
To create one that can't be joined (called a "detached" thread), you'd use:
pthread_attr_setdetachstate (&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED);
If you want the thread to inherit the scheduling attributes of the creating thread (that is, to have the same scheduling algorithm and the same priority), you'd use:
pthread_attr_setinheritsched (&attr, PTHREAD_INHERIT_SCHED);
To create one that uses the scheduling attributes specified in the attribute structure itself (which you'd set using pthread_attr_setschedparam() and pthread_attr_setschedpolicy()), you'd use:
pthread_attr_setinheritsched (&attr, PTHREAD_EXPLICIT_SCHED);
Finally, you'd never call pthread_attr_setscope(). Why? Because Neutrino supports only "system" scope, and it's the default when you initialize the attribute. ("System" scope means that all threads in the system compete against each other for CPU; the other value, "process," means that threads compete against each other for CPU within the process, and the kernel schedules the processes.)
If you do insist on calling it, you can call it only as follows:
pthread_attr_setscope (&attr, PTHREAD_SCOPE_SYSTEM);
The "stack" thread attributes
The thread attribute stack parameters are prototyped as follows:
pthread_attr_setguardsize (pthread_attr_t *attr, size_t gsize);
pthread_attr_setstackaddr (pthread_attr_t *attr, void *addr);
pthread_attr_setstacksize (pthread_attr_t *attr, size_t ssize);
pthread_attr_setstacklazy (pthread_attr_t *attr, int lazystack);
These functions all take the attribute structure as their first parameter; their second parameters are selected from the following:
The size of the "guard" area.
The address of the stack, if you're providing one.
The size of the stack.
Indicates if the stack should be allocated on demand or up front from physical memory.
The guard area is a memory area immediately after the stack that the thread can't write to. If it does (meaning that the stack was about to overflow), the thread will get hit with a SIGSEGV. If the guardsize is 0, it means that there's no guard area. This also implies that there's no stack overflow checking. If the guardsize is nonzero, then it's set to at least the system-wide default guardsize (which you can obtain with a call to sysconf() with the constant _SC_PAGESIZE). Note that the guardsize will be at least as big as a "page" (for example, 4 KB on an x86 processor). Also, note that the guard page doesn't take up any physical memory -- it's done as a virtual address (MMU) "trick."
The addr is the address of the stack, in case you're providing it. You can set it to NULL meaning that the system will allocate (and will free!) the stack for the thread. The advantage of specifying a stack is that you can do postmortem stack depth analysis. This is accomplished by allocating a stack area, filling it with a "signature" (for example, the string "STACK" repeated over and over), and letting the thread run. When the thread has completed, you'd look at the stack area and see how far the thread had scribbled over your signature, giving you the maximum depth of the stack used during this particular run.
The ssize parameter specifies how big the stack is. If you provide the stack in addr, then ssize should be the size of that data area. If you don't provide the stack in addr (meaning you passed a NULL), then the ssize parameter tells the system how big a stack it should allocate for you. If you specify a 0 for ssize, the system will select the default stack size for you. Obviously, it's bad practice to specify a 0 for ssize and specify a stack using addr -- effectively you're saying "Here's a pointer to an object, and the object is some default size." The problem is that there's no binding between the object size and the passed value.
Note: If a stack is being provided via addr, no automatic stack overflow protection exists for that thread (i.e., there's no guard area). However, you can certainly set this up yourself using mmap() and mprotect().
Finally, the lazystack parameter indicates if the physical memory should be allocated as required (use the value PTHREAD_STACK_LAZY) or all up front (use the value PTHREAD_STACK_NOTLAZY). The advantage of allocating the stack "on demand" (as required) is that the thread won't use up more physical memory than it absolutely has to. The disadvantage (and hence the advantage of the "all up front" method) is that in a low-memory environment the thread won't mysteriously die some time during operating when it needs that extra bit of stack, and there isn't any memory left. If you are using PTHREAD_STACK_NOTLAZY, you'll most likely want to set the actual size of the stack instead of accepting the default, because the default is quite large.
The "scheduling" thread attributes
Finally, if you do specify PTHREAD_EXPLICIT_SCHED for pthread_attr_setinheritsched(), then you'll need a way to specify both the scheduling algorithm and the priority of the thread you're about to create.
This is done with the two functions:
pthread_attr_setschedparam (pthread_attr_t *attr,
 const struct sched_param *param);
pthread_attr_setschedpolicy (pthread_attr_t *attr,
 int policy);
The policy is simple -- it's one of SCHED_FIFO, SCHED_RR, or SCHED_OTHER.
Note: SCHED_OTHER is currently mapped to SCHED_RR.
The param is a structure that contains one member of relevance here: sched_priority. Set this value via direct assignment to the desired priority.
Note: A common bug to watch out for is specifying PTHREAD_EXPLICIT_SCHED and then setting only the scheduling policy. The problem is that in an initialized attribute structure, the value of param.sched_priority is


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Whistle Sharing by allied male bottlenose dolphins
|Two allied males (PRNK and BSLC) escort a female (FB11). (SDPR)|
|Allied males FB66 and FB76 travel together. (SDRP)|
|Data collection on the RV Hobo (SLW)|
|Focal follow data collection on the RV Hobo (Randy Wells)|
|Breaching dolphin in Sarasota Bay, Florida (Stephanie Watwood)|
Peter L. Tyack, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Randy Wells, Chicago Zoological Society c/o Mote Marine Laboratory
Edward C.G. Owen, University of California - Santa Cruz
Male dolphins form stable, long-term alliances comparable to long-term relationships formed by terrestrial species. The goal of this project was to determine the effect of the formation of these alliances on vocal development. Comparing whistles produced in isolation revealed that alliance partners have similar whistles, while non-partners do not. Whistle similarity seen in alliance partners mirrors group-specific vocal convergence in stable groups of birds and bats.
Males produce more variable whistles than females, and females have more stable whistle repertoires. Unlike males, females do not maintain the strong, stable relationships seen in male alliances. Increased vocal plasticity in males may be related to modifying whistle production while forming alliances. Females produced whistles that were less similar to other females than to males. Females may rely on whistle distinctiveness for mother-offspring recognition, while males may rely on whistle convergence to maintain specific social bonds.
The whistles produced by an isolated individual may not represent its complete repertoire. A hydrophone array was used to record whistles of free-swimming, socializing individuals to compare to the whistles produced by those animals in isolation. There was no significant difference in the whistle repertoires of restrained vs. free-swimming dolphins for over 60% of the animals, and most produced at least one whistle type in both contexts. Therefore, animals use similar whistles in isolated and free-swimming conditions.
Recordings of different social groups were examined to test if signature whistles function as contact calls. An allied male produced signature whistles most often when separated from his partner and least often when with his partner. Signature whistles were also highly individually distinctive, and therefore well suited as contact calls, while variant whistles were not. Separations and reunions between alliance partners were examined to determine if whistles are used to maintain contact between preferred associates. Most whistles recorded from separated males were signature whistles. The timing of whistle production was correlated with the timing of the maximum partner separation and the initiation of a reunion. Few whistles were produced as the partners separated. Therefore, whistles may initiate reunions between partners. This project demonstrates that free-ranging male dolphins use signature whistles in the same way as females and captive dolphins.


GFAP gene
glial fibrillary acidic protein
The GFAP gene provides instructions for making a protein called glial fibrillary acidic protein. This protein is a member of the intermediate filament family of proteins. Intermediate filaments form networks that provide support and strength to cells. Several molecules of glial fibrillary acidic protein bind together to form the type of intermediate filament found in astroglial cells. Astroglial cells support and nourish cells in the brain and spinal cord. If brain or spinal cord cells are injured through trauma or disease, astroglial cells react by rapidly producing more glial fibrillary acidic protein.
Although its function is not fully understood, glial fibrillary acidic protein is probably involved in controlling the shape, movement, and function of astroglial cells. Some researchers have suggested that astroglial cells play an important role in the functioning of other cells, including specialized cells that surround nerves (oligodendrocytes) and are involved in the production and long-term maintenance of myelin. Myelin is the fatty substance that forms a protective coating around certain nerve cells and ensures the rapid transmission of nerve impulses. Additionally, astroglial cells may assist in maintaining the protective barrier that allows only certain substances to pass between blood vessels and the brain (the blood-brain barrier).
Researchers have identified more than 50 GFAP mutations that cause Alexander disease. Most of these mutations change one of the building blocks (amino acids) used to make glial fibrillary acidic protein. A few mutations add or remove two amino acids in the protein. All of these changes alter the structure of glial fibrillary acidic protein. The altered protein probably disturbs the formation of normal intermediate filaments. As a result, the abnormal glial fibrillary acidic protein may accumulate in astroglial cells, contributing to the formation of Rosenthal fibers, which impair cell function. It is not well understood how impaired astroglial cells contribute to the abnormal maintenance of myelin, causing the signs and symptoms of Alexander disease.
Cytogenetic Location: 17q21.31, which is the long (q) arm of chromosome 17 at position 21.31
Molecular Location: base pairs 44,905,626 to 44,915,552 on chromosome 17 (Homo sapiens Annotation Release 108, GRCh38.p7) (NCBI)
 - FLJ45472
 - Glial Intermediate Filament Protein